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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
5.0

Reread: 21/02/18 (audiobook)

(5/5 stars)

"Why is straight the default"

I FREAKING LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. If you asked me why I rated this book four stars six months ago, I wouldn't be able to tell you, I think because it was one of the first YA contemporary books I ever read, so maybe I didn't know what I was supposed to expect? But I can tell you now that this book is adorable, and so meaningful, and I love it. I didn't actually review it the first time I read it so I'm going to make up for that now.

This story follows Simon, a closeted teenage boy who is pretty okay with how his life is going. He likes his friends, Nick and Leah, he likes his parents, he likes his sisters, Nora and Alice, and he likes his school. The only problem is, none of these people know his secret, he's gay. The only person who knows this is a boy from his school, Blue. Simon and Blue have been emailing back and forth, telling each other things no one else knows about them, like the fact they are both gay. Simon even finds himself starting to fall for Blue. The only issue is, Blue isn't his real name, and Simon is signing his email with Jacques. And then when a fellow theatre club actor starts to blackmail Simon with these emails, Simon has to figure out how much he actually wants to keep this a secret.

I think part of the reason I like this story so much, is the fact that Simon isn't necessarily afraid to come out because he's gay, he is pretty sure everyone will accept him for who he is. It's mostly because he's sick of "coming out". Every time something about him changes, he has to reintroduce himself to the world and he doesn't want to do that anymore.

I also really like the fact that Simon is in theatre club, he has all these friends in theatre club, and then his best friend is on the soccer team and he has friends from that aspect of his life. Then his other best friend has different interests besides, and she has her own friends, and they all sit together at lunch. I often find when reading YA novels set in high school, that it is never really reminiscent of my high school experience, we didn't really have cliques based on your interests, we all just had friends. I found this story to be relatable in that sense.

I also quickly have to shoutout one of my favourite side characters from this book: Ms. Albright. She is genuinely who I aspire to be as a teacher. And one of my favourite quotes from the book is "Just know those assholes are getting suspended. I'm not even kidding. I will make it my hill to die on"

While I read the physical book the first time and loved it, this reread was done via audiobook and I highly recommend it. It's narrated by Michael Crouch and he does a fantastic job.

This book is really amazing, in so many ways, it continues to be one of my favourite books I've ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. I even got my boyfriend to listen to the audiobook with me, and he also enjoyed it (4/5 stars). I truly believe there is something in it for everyone to relate to.

Original: 08/08/17

(4/5 stars)