Books by Jay: Review | Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Goodreads Summary

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

THIS BOOK GAVE ME ALL THE FEELS!!! So be ready for a messy, unorganized stream of thoughts..

This book is a totally character driven one, where we join Simon on his journey to coming out and figuring out how and when the right time is. It's about a guy - Simon - who finds a guy struggling with being gay on tumblr and decides he will help him. So they start exchanging emails and they fall for each other. In the midst of all this, Simon didn't come out to anybody except for Blue (the guy he emails) and he was on his computer at school one day and Martin - a douche bag - finds and reads his conversations with Blue. He took screenshots of the conversations and threatens to out him if he didn't set him up with Abby, Simon's friend.

“Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn't be this big awkward thing whether you're straight, gay, bi, or whatever. I'm just saying.”

Simon couldn't deal at first with Martin and this book walks us through his and Blue's struggles to come out to their families and being able to deal with the bullying and blackmail. This is such a wonderful story that deals with family, friends, teenager problems, homosexuality and life in general. Becky Albertalli knows how to convey a serious topic through humor and satire, which was a breath of fresh air. Her writing style was easy and flowed perfectly, I found the way Blue and Simon spoke to each other relatable and the teenager thing wasn't overdone like most books do.

“The way I feel about him is like a heartbeat -- soft and persistent, underlying everything.”

Simon was a very lovable character, he knew he was gay and he didn't struggle with figuring out himself and where he stood. He was sure about being gay, but faced difficulties in telling other people. The conversations between Blue and Simon melted my heart, broke it and put it back together piece by piece. I loved loved their relationship and it woven with the ending perfectly. This book was satisfying in so many ways, it made me happy and put a smile on my face. It's definitely my recommendation as a feel good book whenever you need one!

“He talked about the ocean between people. And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.”

In addition to that, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is one of my favorite books of all time. The mystery of trying to figure each other out is amazing. Simon and Blue don't know each other's identities, they only know that they go to the same school. Becky Albertalli leaves clever hints about who Blue is and the reveal was exciting. Although I've known who Blue was beforehand, I was still SO happy to see how the book ended.

The reaction of Simon's family after coming out almost put me in tears. It's absolutely heart-warming to see such an acceptable, supportive family. I loooved them all equally and I can't stress on how good this book is plus yay for DIVERSITY!