Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Simonverse, #1)

by Becky Albertalli

Michael Crouch (Narrator)

The beloved, award-winning novel is now a major motion picture starring 13 Reasons Why's Katherine Langford and Everything, Everything's Nick Robinson.

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Straight people should have to come out too. And the more awkward it is, the better.

Simon Spier is sixteen and trying to work out who he is - and what he's looking for.

But when one of his emails to the very distracting Blue falls into the wrong hands, things get all kinds of complicated.

Because, for Simon, falling for Blue is a big deal ...

It's a holy freaking huge awesome deal.

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Praise for Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda:

'Worthy of Fault in Our Stars-level obsession.' Entertainment Weekly

'I love you, SIMON. I LOVE YOU! And I love this fresh, funny, live-out-loud book." Jennifer Niven, bestselling author of All the Bright Places

• ISBN10: 0062411500
• ISBN13: 9780062411501
• Publish Date: 7 April 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: Balzer and Bray
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 6 hours and 45 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is one of the best YA books ever! I loved all the characters, they were so realistic. And I loved the dilemmas Simon and Blue faced with realizing they were gay.
This is a book I'm getting for the library at the school where I teach, I think every teenager should read it.

Story:

I don't think there's much I can say about Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda that hasn't been said before. Simon is just the perfect character in a young adult story. He's a little awkward. A little obsessed with himself and his own problems - even if he loves his friends and his family. And he's more than a little hooked on Blue, a guy from his school. Whom he doesn't really know, but then again, maybe he does. And he falls in love with Blue through a whole lot of e-mails.

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda tackles a lot of topics teens deal with in our day and age. There is bullying. Homophobia. Just the growing up and feeling awkward about it. Having strong friendships that suddenly appear a more fragile. Underage drinking. Social media that isn't always used for good. And I think the way these themes are dealt with are astonishing! Of course, I fell in love with the theatre teacher. Because she shut down bullies from the get-go. Plus Simon's parents were delightful in their awkwardness to see their children growing up.

I won't say more, apart from if you haven't read this yet, you really, really should! Even if you think YA isn't for you. One thing that really stood out is how authentic all the characters were, which just made the whole story seem real.

Characters:

Simon is the best male protagonist ever. He's funny - even when he doesn't mean to. And he asks himself a lot of questions about life, himself, being gay, and other things.

Nick is one of Simon's best friends, and I really enjoyed him, even if I didn't get to know him as well as I got to know other characters.

Abby is new to Simon's group of friends. And she's kind of amazing. She listens carefully, and she's loyal and supportive.

Leah is the friend who's a bit on the outskirts. She's in love with Nick. But Nick has a thing for Abby... However, there is none of the awful drama that could have come from this.

Blue. He was also an amazing character. Even if for most of the story, I only got to know him through his e-mail interactions with Simon.

Writing style :

First person point of view, from Simon's perspective. However, there are a lot of dialogues included, and the e-mails between Blue and Simon. The present tense makes everything that happens immediate, as if the readers are right there with Simon and his friends.

Feels :

*sighs* I can't even. All the feels, for sure!



And I'm seriously not in the mood to deal with my family. I probably ha e about an hour until dinner, which means an hour of trying to spin my school day into a string of hilarious anecdotes. My parents are like that. It's like you can't just tell them about your French teacher's obvious wedgie. You have to perform it.

That was the summer I taught myself how to do laundry. There are some socks that shouldn't be washed by your mom.

Honestly, the weirdest part is how they made it feel like this big coming out moment. Which can't be normal. As far as I know, coming out isn't something that straight kids generally worry about.

[boghunden]

So. That's it. It's over. Now to search for fanfiction. So.freaking.good!!

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter



There was so much hype surrounding Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli that I was a little concerned I'd be disappointed. I shouldn't have been too worried! While the hype is what drew my attention to Simon, it was the synopsis that hooked me.

Simon is one of the sweetest and smartest male protagonists I've read in awhile. He made me laugh quite a lot. I also hurt for him. I hurt for what he was put through. I think a lot of the time people are completely unaware of the ripple effects of their actions. This was definitely the case for Simon's antagonist. It doesn't excuse his actions at all though.

I really enjoyed all of the secondary characters in Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. They all truly added to the reading experience. There was some mild relationship angst but it wasn't too distracting. Simon has some amazing friends. They are the type of friends you'd want to be surrounded by no matter the situation.

Simon's story is all about how to handle a situation when a life changing decision is ripped from your hands. Simon hit some bumps along the way but he made it through. I think the most important message that I took from this book is hope. Albertalli showed me that not everything in this life is easy. There will be people who don't agree or support or downright hate your life choices but there will always be someone to lift you back up.

[ellieroth]

good shit, good shit

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Si gran parte de tu vida la pasas en tumblr como yo, hay una frase que habrás visto circulando mucho para describir personajes o cosas perfectas, demasiado adorables para su propio bien (digo tumblr porque no lo he visto mucho ni en Twitter ni Facebook) y es: cinnamon roll too good too pure for this world.

He leído tantas buenas reseñas sobre este libro, pero así un montón; y ¿qué ocurre cuando me sobrecargan con algo? Tiendo a ignorarlo. Pero había algo que me decía que TENÍA que leer a Simon, ver tantos set de fotos sobre Simon y las oreo creo que me convencieron.

¿Qué tiene el libro que lo hace tan genial cómo el 99% de las opiniones dice? Es un conjunto de excelente narración, una historia extremadamente adorable y personajes maravillosos y diferentes.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda es una historia que por momentos sí, me pareció demasiado positiva, siendo la persona pesimista que soy, durante un segundo me molestaba un poco, pero la narración te sumerge inmediatamente en la historia y me hizo olvidar todo el recelo que pude tener. Estuve vomitando arcoiris en cada párrafo.

¿Qué más puedo decir? Lee el libro, sobre todo si quieres empezar a leer libros LGBT, es perfecto.

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[Stephanie]

This was really adorable. Also, teenagers can be jerks.

[paperbackjedi]

Simon just wants to continue living in his safe social bubble with his small circle of friends and flirt textually with the mysterious boy he met on tumblr. Unfortunately, life has other things in store for him. After a classmate discovers his secret email correspondence with his crush, code name Blue, he has no choice but to go along with what they want. Even if it means betraying his friends. Because Simon doesn’t want to lose what he has with Blue, even if he’s not sure yet what exactly it is.

Honestly, I don’t even know how to start this review because every time I think of this book, my brain is flooded with happiness and the warm, fuzzy feeling that usually accompanies things like Christmas or the beginning of Summer, new crushes, and your favorite, most comfortable t-shirt. It’s just a lot of good feelings wrapped up in one good book. So I guess you can probably tell that I really loved it.

Let’s talk writing. The best thing about Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda is the tone of voice. Simon is humorous and relatable and incredibly easy to connect to. His internal monologue is honestly such a joy to listen to and be a part of. It’s so easy to put yourself in his shoes and walk around in his life and the experience feels truly authentic. Even as a straight girl, I could definitely remember my first love and flirting through email and experiencing the rush that comes with getting to know someone and developing feelings for them. I never had to conduct my romances in secret, but it definitely struck a chord with me that Simon, for the most part, felt more comfortable connecting almost anonymously via email than in person as that’s very much a character trait of mine. All the while, he remains this incredibly human and wonderful person navigating a very complicated social hierarchy with both his friends and his family.

Simon is the main character and the story is very much his. However, there are a lot of secondary characters and tertiary characters that come into play. You have Simon’s family- his parents and sisters and while none of them were explored hugely in depth, they did have a bit of their own stories showcased throughout the novel. And then you have Simon’s complicated group of friends. It was great to see a realistic depiction of how friend groups can shift and acclimate (and how sometimes they don’t). Simon has a very supportive core group and he has a hugely different relationship with each person in the group which makes things awkward and complicated at times, but also very true to life. I appreciated the nuance Albertarri put into these dynamics and how she illustrated the connections between the people both positively and negatively. Simon also isn’t a perfect character and she holds him accountable for his missteps which was also nice to see.

Obviously, the main relationship is the one between Simon and the mysterious Blue and it was adorable. The emails back and forth, the slow exploration of romance, and the hesitant nature of both boys for different reasons as they come to terms with it. This isn’t exactly a coming out story the way I expected it to be because Simon already knows who he is. His sexuality isn’t something he struggles with and he’s really not afraid to come out, he just doesn’t like attention. The situation is different for Blue and both boys really surprise you in the end with how they handle everything. I was constantly guessing Blue’s identity for most of the novel and even though I sort of knew who it would be, I also kind of wasn’t totally sure so it was fun to think about while reading. And I found myself traveling back through my own high school memories and wondering if anyone secretly had a crush on me. Although, I was a huge nerd, so probably not. :P

Guys, this book made me feel good. It made me feel everything. And I recommend it to everyone. End of sentence.

[Angie]

While it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was undeniably adorable, and Simon actually sounded like a real teenage boy. Simon is gay and hasn't come out yet. It's not that he's ashamed or scared. He just hasn't. But then he forgets to sign out of his account after e-mailing his super, secret pen-pal Blue, and soon Martin is approaching him. He wants Simon to help him get close to Abby, otherwise those e-mails are going up on the school's gossip blog. Simon agrees, but more for Blue's sake than his own.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda has the perfect balance of coming out, friendship, family, and romance. All of these things were very important in telling Simon's story and none of them felt out of place, forced, or underdeveloped. I'm really glad that coming out wasn't some huge, earth shattering deal. Like Simon says (hehe) it shouldn't be, since straight people don't come out. And he doesn't make it into a big deal when he's ready to tell. He just says it and goes about life. Not to say that we don't see some of the negatives of coming out, because we do. But this is a really positive and accepting story.

I do have to say that I wasn't too thrilled with the blackmail plot. I was expecting more funny moments and hijinks, since Martin is described as the class clown. I could only imagine how much help that boy would need to snag the girl he's crushing on. But nothing really comes of that. Simon is hesitant to help, since he's being friggin' blackmailed! But he does, and it's just kind of there. I didn't care. But then Martin has this stupid blowup that made absolutely zero sense, and I was just like what? Then he does something super despicable, and then says he didn't think it would be a big deal, but come on? He's not stupid, he knows his words were disgusting, therefore a big deal. This is why I didn't rate Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda higher (also because Simon kept bringing up that Abby was black and saying white shouldn't be default. Like, yeah, we got it the first time). This just didn't make sense to me at all. Not even after the apology at the end. Just no.

As for the romance...my heart! Simon and Blue are adorable! I loved their e-mails! They're just so funny and sweet and awkward! I'm also glad that I didn't figure out who Blue was. I had my theories (as did Simon), but it was just a nice surprise! Once they were out and together, I just wanted to smoosh their cheeks! Seriously, they're magically adorable.

It did have its issues, but Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was a delight to read. I loved the format of alternating between Simon's narrative and then his e-mails with Blue. I also loved Simon's family! They're so weird! And kind of embarrassing, but loving. It's nice to see nice family dynamics for once.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Jo]

Originally published on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I fell in love with the sound of Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli when I first heard about it. It sounded so cute, with this romance and yet intriguing because of the blackmail and how that would pan out. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it as much as I expected.

Simon has a secret romance with the mysterious Blue, a boy from his school he emails all the time, who's identity is unknown. When Martin discovers his emails after Simon forget to log out of his email account at school, Martin blackmails him; Simon has to help Martin get in with a shot with his friend Abby, or Martin will show people the screen shots he took of the emails. If it's not bad enough that Simon will be outed before he;s ready, his fragile relationship with the very private Blue will be in jeopardy. If this gets out, everything will be ruined, but can he allow himself to be blackmailed?

The thing with hype is it usually makes things out to be better than they are. Or rather, because of the hype, I expect Great Things, and feel let down when I don't get the huge amounts of amazing I am expecting. If Simon Vs wasn't so hyped about, or if I was oblivious to the hype, I think I would have probably enjoyed this a whole lot more. But I picked it up with expectations, and sadly, it just didn't meet them. Hype should not be listened to.

This is not to say that Simon Vs is a bad book; it's not. It's sweet, it's funny, it's actually really bloody adorable, with Simon and Blue's emails being just about the cutest thing ever. I loved their blossoming romance, and how fragile it was. Blue is so very private, and was so scared things wouldn't be as great if they knew who each other was. Simon really wanted to meet him, get to know him in person, but Blue was scared that once they did, that would be the end of it - what if they don't like each other in real life? Blue is so very careful. And Simon really tries to respect his wishes, but it's hard when he so badly wants to get things off the screen and into real life. They were so cute, it's adorable.

The blackmailing was so stupid. Martin is such a twerp. He wasn't even hardcore mean or anything, just an opportunist. And he was, at times, even likable, so for him to do something like this... it wasn't great. It was awful, with Simon really frustrated by him, but god, what can he do?! This is his thing, it's for him to decide to who, how and when he comes out to people, but Martin is threatening to take this out of his hands just to be in with a chance to date Abby. It was just so ridiculous. Not story or plot-wise, just for Martin to think this is a good idea. Really annoyed me.

But otherwise... not much happens. There's the musical a few of them are in, there are a few arguments with friends, and stuff, but there's nothing major, at least not for a good long while. And when things do happen, as crappy as they were, they're not as big as I expected. I worked out fairly early on who Blue was, it was pretty obvious in my opinion. And although I was gripped by the book, most of the time I was just waiting to find out if Martin would do anything, if Simon will find out who Blue is, and what would happen between Simon and Blue, if anything. And when we do find out the answers to these things, again, it wasn't as "Wow!" as I was expecting. There are some quite nice quotes and ideas here and there, too, but overall, I really did feel kind of let down by this book, which is sad, because I was so looking forward to it. I should definitely steer clear of hype from now on.

There have been a number of people who have loved Simon Vs, so please do read some other reviews before deciding whether or not to read this - There are some quite nice quotes and ideas here and there, too, but overall,you might actually love it.

Thank you to Penguin for the review copy.

[Leah]

I have heard nothing but good things about Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda – especially from the fabulous Jen at Pop! Goes The Reader and Debby at Snuggly Oranges. So I had VERY, VERY high expectations going in to the book. Would I enjoy it as much as everyone else said? I have to say, everything Debby wrote in her review is absolutely spot-on. It was literally the perfect novel! It had everything I love in books!

It was just SO DARN CUTE. Simon is the greatest narrator you could every wish to freaking meet. He keeps it so real, and he was just freaking awesome. I’d love to have Simon as a friend. LOVE TO. More people should be like Simon, for real. It actually made me sad to see him struggle to come out to his friends and family because who the heck cares what his sexual preference is, he’s SIMON regardless of whether he likes girls or boys or both, ya know?

The novel had the right mix of normal narrative – where we see Simon in his daily life, with his awesome friends Nick, Leah and Abby (the coolest friends a guy could ask for, FYI), and being part of the drama club (theater club?) and trying to navigate family life with a mom and dad who think it’s news-worthy when Simon changes his socks. Ha. Talk about obsessed, eh? Then there were the adorable, ADORABLE, email exchanges between Simon and Blue. Oh sweet Lord did they make my heart sing and my stomach melt in to a puddle of goo. This book gave me ALL THE FEELS. I was dying to know who Blue was!!! WHO WAS HE?! And the best bit is the reveal was too damn cute. Too freaking cute, as Simon would say. It was perfect. So, so perfect.

Of course it wasn’t all hearts and roses – Simon lives in Georgia so being gay isn’t exactly a picnic, nor something to shout from the rooftops, and that wasn’t helped by Martin blackmailing Simon, which I hated as much as Simon did.

Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda hit all the right notes for me. It was warm, it was funny, the romance was deliciously sweet and cute and adorable and the kind of romance I just love reading about; Simon was the perfect narrator – snarky, but serious and I loved that he loves Oreos. I actually hated it, since I’m dieting, but I loved it, really, because I LOVE OREOS. It made me so hungry, mind.

I can see why everyone is raving about this book, it’s special. So special and very deserving of all the high praise. I loved it so much, Becky Albertalli is a writing star and Simon is easily my favourite character of 2015 so far and ranks VERY high on my list of all-time favourite characters.