Review of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

ByJen
26 Comments

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

To be published on April 7, 2015 by Balzer + Bray
Source: eARC for review

Plot Summary for Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda 

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.

Review of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Last week, I wrote about my love for books with male narrators. Not only does Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda feature one of my favorite new guy narrators of all time, it’s just such a fantastic book — funny, relatable and moving.

Simon’s a high school student who is thinking about coming out. But there are some complications:

He’s exchanging flirty emails with a mystery guy who isn’t sure he’s ready to reveal himself.

“He’s someone. He may even be someone I know. But I don’t know who. And I’m not sure I want to know.”

Three of his friends have developed an awkward friendship triangle, and he’s stuck in the middle.

“I have a policy of not falling for Nick. But Leah has fallen. And it’s caused all kinds of problems, especially now that Abby’s in the picture.”

His family should be supportive — except that, like everyone’s family, they see him in a certain way and shut him down every time he tries to show them that he has other sides to himself.

“They put me in a box, and every time I try to nudge the lid open, they slam it back down. It’s like nothing about me is allowed to change.” 

And he’s being blackmailed over the aforementioned flirty emails.

“I seriously can’t believe I’m having this conversation with Martin Addison. Of all the people who could have logged into Gmail after me.”

All these elements are balanced so beautifully together into a story that’s just sheer YA perfection, a perfect blend of awkwardness, humor, adolescent angst, friendship, romance… this book has it all. I had my theory about who the mystery emailer, a.k.a. Blue, was, but I was completely wrong. 

Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is among my favorite books of 2015 so far. I highly recommend it. 

Jen has been blogging about books since 2011. In that time, she has read and reviewed over 1500 books. She loves helping readers find their perfect next read and helping books find their audience.

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26 Comments

  2. I've already heard of so many praises so I'm so glad you loved it too! Simon sounds really relatable! I can't wait to read this one 😀

    Reply

  3. Wow, this does sound special, Jen. As you also say, it sounds like the perfect blend producing YA perfection 🙂 I didn't know about this, so thanks for opening my eyes. I can't wait to read it!

    Reply

  6. I am so, so looking forward to this one! Seeing so many fabulous reviews, and I love me some male narrators from time to time.

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  7. Ahhh this one seems so frickin cute and funny and just plain adorable. I am DYING to get my hands on it and I'm so happy this one worked for you Jen! Now I can't wait (even more) for it!
    Lily @ Lilysbookblog

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  12. Among your favorites of this year? THAT IS HIGH HIGH PRAISE. I'll definitely have to check this out–although I will admit it doesn't sound like a me book ;P BUT OOOOHS.

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