Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Surprisingly (almost) as good as I remember.

I first read this in middle school or early high school, prior to the movie coming out and I remember devouring this, relating to Simon so much. I’m about to graduate college now and I still relate to his loneliness in gay identity. I also think this was a very realistic presentation of being a teen. Albertalli didn’t dumb the characters down or make them petty in a way that didn’t make sense (mostly). They were very grounded in their emotions and identities, which was awesome!

Cons:
- Leah was a little annoying because she was always the victim, but I was also bitter and angry in high school so I can’t really say much about that. I will say that she seemed to fetishize gay men (she draws yaoi, like, ew, gross) which made me uncomfortable. Even though I think she

comes out as bi

in the next book, it doesn’t redeem her, she just kinda sucked overall.
- Harry Potter (barf, though it makes sense for the period it was written in)
- The way race was handled was just slightly off to me but I can’t put my finger on how. Maybe I’m looking too deep into it though, idk
- I would’ve liked more development with the parents! I felt like they didn’t do much

All in all, this read is pretty good! Definitely better than the movie.

Content Warnings

ophycore's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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thaliareads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While this was very good, it didn't make it into my list of favorites. I really liked the use of the emails for storytelling. I think that was a very fun and inventive choice. I think I was mostly not a huge fan of Simon as a main character, because for the most part I really enjoyed the story. I just felt that as someone who was scared of letting his friends in on who he was he started to loose sight of being a good friend. I also felt like the few times he drank he didn't just act drunk, he tarted to feel like a different character.

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