Reviews - Boy Like Me | The StoryGraph

205 reviews for:

Boy Like Me

Simon James Green

4.53 AVERAGE

queenoflexis's review against another edition

5.0

miss_hart_stopper's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Hands down the best book I’ve read this year !!

jessiemessy's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful sad

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

I forgot how funny this author is and thought from the premise that this book would be all serious and dark, and it is more serious than his other books that I've read, but I was very happy for the levity because this one hurt my heart.

It took me a few pages to get into the semi-autobiographical fourth wall breaking writing style but once I did I loved it, especially since I've been interested recently in learning more about what it was like to live through section 28. It added a lot of depth to know that the characters were based on real people and that it was all clearly inspired by the author's own experiences.

Also loved the shout-out for Gay's the Word in London!

(This whole premise also reminded me of the time I borrowed Simon Vs the Homosapiens Agenda from the college library in sixth form and found a note someone had left in it, which turned out to have been from one of my friends)

Content Warnings

bookyanna's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

While, as Simon Green preempts in his footnotes, the narrative voice in this novel does take some getting used to (and is at times annoying), I cannot fault the story itself. It is funny, heartbreaking, and important. It draws clear parrallells between state-sanctioned homophobia in the 1990s, and the current anti-trans political narrative. It reminds us that freedom of access to information is essential, and that individuals should always think critically about any political agenda masquerading as objective truth. It should be in every library, in every school.