Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda
by Becky Albertalli
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So I finally caved after all the hype surrounding this book. I figured since Becky Albertalli’s second book was out, I could get away with finally reading this book. But then there’s all the hype about it becoming a movie. Let me just say, hype is a MAJOR TURN OFF for me. That being said, I was still pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.
It was a super cute read that took on some pretty deep topics, but did it in such a way that it didn’t seem so heavy and without making light of the situation. If that makes any sense. I would really like to commend Becky for her skill of crafting this story. It just made it that much more enjoyable for me.
I really liked Simon as a character. I think he was extremely brave and mature. Especially given that this is his coming out story and nothing went the way he would have liked it to go. He still faced it head on and showed how he was the bigger person. I really, really liked that about him. I LOVED that he wasn’t this overly dramatic (despite being in the theater club) teenager that acted like his life was over when he was outed. A++ on Simon’s character FOR SURE!
To be honest, none of the characters in this story were extremely unlikeable. Even the characters that were meant to be unlikeable still really weren’t. For instance, Marty. If you read the story, you know exactly what I mean about him. There was also Leah, I really wanted to dislike her character, but I just couldn’t. I feel like there’s something so much deeper to her character and her moodiness. That’s why I’m so glad there’s a story to be released from her POV! Simon’s whole family unit were awesome and so were his two other best friends Abby and Nick, who were all completely unphased by Simon’s sexuality.
The only reason I couldn’t give this book 5 stars was because there wasn’t really a WOW FACTOR for me. It was a cute read, but it didn’t really pack home a punch or leave me overly emotional. Those are typically the books I give 5 stars too. But that should not take away from this story AT ALL.
I also want to talk a little bit about the ending, without giving away an spoilers of course. I was slightly disappointed with who BLUE turned out to be. The whole story was basically focused on trying to figure out who this person was. I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted it to be someone else. It was a little strange for me when we figured out who it was. But on the flip side of that, I feel like the relationship was completely unique and made a whole lot of sense. I wish we could’ve seen a little bit more of their in person relationship develop because going from online to IRL are two different things.
I also really enjoyed the chapters that were told through Simon and Blue’s emails. I very much enjoy a different kind of formatting in any book. It’s just a nice change to have something different.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I’m looking forward to reading The Upside of Unrequited as well!
I know I’m like the last person on the planet to read this book, so I won’t ask if you have read it already. LOL So what were your thoughts on this book?
If you have read Simon and Upside, which one did you like more? Let me know in the comments below!
See a master list of my reviews?
I have yet to read it!!
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It was pretty good. And such a quick read! You should read it soon!
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