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

by Becky Albertalli

[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.