by thebookprophet

REVIEW: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli // i finally read it, y’all!!

simonTitle: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Author: Becky Albertalli

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 303

Release Date: April 7, 2015

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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.

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I FINALLY READ THIS ARE YOU PROUD OF ME??

You don’t have to answer that – I know you are.

I’m proud of me for finally purchasing this book in Target the other day and reading it. I always used the excuse of there never being a hardcover copy in the stores when I go (since my copy of The Upside of Unrequited is hardcover) but when I saw Simon in Target I felt this pull towards it and I couldn’t not get it.

Let me just say that Becky Albertalli did it again – but only better this time! I loved her other book and this book I found to be even more heartfelt and special.

Even though I knew who Blue was before reading the book (I mean, I was bound to find out with all of the promo for the movie and such – also I didn’t think I’d remember by the time I read this book came around), I still enjoyed this book as much as I would have if I hadn’t known.

I think I liked knowing who Blue was from the start more because then every time the character was mentioned by Simon I’d internally squeal and scream at Simon to notice it’s him. It made the overall reading experience more fun for me.

I loved the characters so much. Albertalli is great at making realistic characters and I was happy to see that the same applied to this book. I love Simon. I love Blue. I love Leah. I loved everybody. Hell, I even sympathized with the ‘bad’ guys.

I found this book to be hilarious but also really important. The line that comes straight from the book and into the movie trailer is one that has stuck with me – it’s one that I think everyone should hear and take to heart because it’s so important.

“White shouldn’t be the default any more than straight should be the default. There shouldn’t even be a default.”

PRAISE QUEEN OF THE OREOS BECKY ALBERTALLI!

Seriously though, there was so much heart put into this book. And it’s a happy gay love story – it’s not sad (don’t get me wrong, I love Adam Silvera books with all of my heart and soul and will read them until my last dying breath, but you have to admit – they’re a bit depressing), the characters are relatable, the friendships are goals, and the ending wraps up so nicely but leaves you hoping for the future.

The only complaint I have is that I wasn’t given enough of the things I loved about this book. I felt like there weren’t enough Simon and Blue interactions – I would have liked to see their relationship develop rather than the book start when they’ve already fallen for each other. I shipped them with all of my heart but I wanted more of their interactions, especially after they figured out who each other were.

I still absolutely loved this book and cannot wait for the movie to come out in theaters next month! Can one of y’all come and see it with me? I don’t think my family would want to haha.

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My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Maybe I’m just being selfish here with wanting more of Simon and Blue, his family, his friends, his oreo obsession – but I really felt like the book fell short a bit. Like maybe if there were just 10 or so more pages that included more of this stuff I would be able to give it a full 5 stars.

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Purchase This Book:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository

Have you read this book? Have you read Becky Albertalli’s other book? What’s your thoughts? Are you excited for the movie? Let me know!

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40 thoughts on “REVIEW: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli // i finally read it, y’all!!”

  1. Pingback: February Monthly Wrap-Up // my twitter hiatus, university hunting & bettering myself | The Book Prophet

  3. Oops, I kinda skimmed through this review because I still haven’t read this book! Holy hell, and it’s been sitting on my shelf for ages… I’m really disappointed in myself and boy, are my friends YELLING at me to freaking read it for once!! I actually know next to nothing about the book and I’m more than pleased having it that way, I’ve managed to stray away from spoilers thus far, haha! Ahh, can’t wait to finally read it! I’m actually considering starting it today..? Who knows:))

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  4. AHHHHH YOU FINALLY READ IT SAVANNAH I’M PROUD OF YOU MY SMOL CHILD

    I JUST,,, LOVED SIMON VS SO MUCH??? IT WAS SO CUTE AND tbh it was understandable that you didn’t like it as much as you expected to?? I LOVED SIMON but also it’s not one of my favorites like it is for everyone else so reLATABLE

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  5. YOU FINALLY READ THIS AND I AM PROUD OF YOU!
    I was really waiting for this review and it was so awesome 😀 I think it’s such a shame that the promo for the movie kind of spoiled the whole surprise about Blue’s identity though. I was so proud of myself for guessing it right from the beginning and these days it’s just like “sure, who else could he be?” hahah
    I also really love how happy and good this book makes one feel. Nothing against tragic and sad books, but sometimes you want to come out of a story with butterflies and not rivers of tears ❤ great post!!!

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    1. THANK YOU! You’re the first to congratulate me on this great accomplishment. It’s actually quite obvious hahaha, Simon was just so blinded by who he thought it was. Becky Albertalli knows how to write a book that makes you smile for sure!

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      1. Right?? It was pretty obvious, but some of my friends were still like “how did you get that so quickly?” hahaha but yeah, Simon just had his preconceived notions of who it might be.
        Anyway, now the wait for the movie continues ..

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  8. It’s great that you enjoyed this! You should at least be proud of yourself for reading this one before me lol Hopefully, I’ll be able to get to it before the movie comes out (bc I’ll definitely be watching that) but it depends on when the book becomes available at my library.

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    1. Awe that sucks that your library doesn’t have it available – probably due to the movie and all, more people want to read it now. Hope you can read it soon 🙂

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    1. I’m soooo excited for the movie!!! Although i can tell they’ve changed some things the excitement is still there and I’ve heard good things about it as well. It’s probably one of my favorite gay romances now as well 😀 Blue is the best!

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  10. I knew you’d like Simon Vs.! As far as more interactions, I know that the movie tie-in edition that just came out has extra emails between Blue and Simon, ones that were originally cut. So that might help!

    Also, it’s funny to see you mention Adam Silvera – he and Becky Albertalli are writing a book together, and I’m super excited about it!

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  11. Yay! I’m so glad you finally read this book and that you loved it – even if you were spoiled about Blue’s identity… with all the movie promotion and everyone talking about it, I feel like it’s going to be very hard for future readers to avoid spoilers there, unfortunately :/ That book left me with the biggest smile on my face ❤ So happy you enjoyed it, lovely review! 🙂

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    1. Yeah, but once promotions are over and the movie’s been out for a little while it probably won’t be as hard to avoid the spoilers… maybe. My face hurt from smiling after reading hahaha 😀

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  12. Awesome Review! I have not read it yet. This is a very hyped book and with each day that passes by and I hear people talking about it, makes me push it up my TBR.

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  14. Glad you enjoyed it! Haven’t read this one but I’m hoping to get to it next month. Not going to lie, I’ve watched a bunch of trailers and stuff but I still don’t know who Blue is. Funny you realised from watching things about the movie! Haha.

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  15. The book was amazing, wasn’t it? OMG after I finished reading it, I just can’t get enough of the cuteness, I had to go to fan fictions to get more of Blue and Simon, and when there’s no more fanfictions to read, I reread the book twice. Thank god for the lunar new Year holiday, so I had lots of time.

    Anyways, awee. But the guessing game when you don’t know who blue is is great too. Haha although, I guess, it was kind of obvious, like blue said.

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    1. Ooops, I accidentally press send.

      Anyways, I agree with you. It would be nice to get more blue and Simon interaction.

      Did you fangirl when they met face to face for the first time? Cuz darn, that’s so cute, I didn’t know how my heart handled it haha

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      1. HAHAHA you know you’ve reached the maximum level of obsession over a ship when you’ve read all of their fanfictions! Yes, I fangirled SO HARD!!!

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