Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

     Reading this was like watching one of those good episodes of Catfish. Where the person is actually the person they say they are. Those are my favorite episodes. There aren’t nearly enough of them. Just like there aren’t nearly enough of books like this.

“But I’m tired of coming out. All I ever do is come out. I try not to change, but I keep changing, in all these tiny ways. I get a girlfriend. I have a beer, And every freaking time, I have to reintroduce myself to the universe all over again.“
pg. 41

Simon doesn’t like to let anyone in on his life to avoid making everything a big deal. But suddenly  his email account comes up to someone who doesn’t care that Simon is trying to avoid these things. He blackmails him. Help him land someone or he’ll expose his secret. The bad thing is, it’s not only Simon’s secret, it’s Blue’s (the boy he’s been talking to) secret too. Eventually Simon is ready to come out to Blue… And more importantly, the world.

“I actually hate when people say that. I mean, I feel secure in mt masculinity, too. Being secure in your masculinity isn’t the same as being straight.“
pg. 46

I have to admit… At the beginning I wasn’t really pulled all the way in. I don’t want to say it, but it seemed like there was too much hype surrounding it. I get it. It’s about a very important topic that all teens that may be going through this should read, but it really felt like a regular contemp to me. Maybe because there never really was a “default” to me, I’m not sure. But Simon and Blue are completely cute and their emails are adorable. But at the beginning that’s the only reason I wanted to keep reading. The actual story line wasn’t the best for me. It moved really slow and I found myself trying to speed read through it just to get to the next emails. But towards the end the story sped up and I fell completely head over heels for their relationship. They seriously brought the swoons and I could see what made one fall for the other. They were seriously one of those “gross, mushy couples.”

“…don’t you think everyone should have to come out? Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it should be the big awkward thing whether you’re straight gay, bi, or whatever. I’m just saying.“
pg. 101

As for the characters, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Simon’s friends and family. His sister didn’t know what a dementor was, one of his friends didn’t know who Jason Aldean was, and everyone was calling it “the Tumblr,” But otherwise all the characters were amazing besides that. One of his friends was Wonder Woman for Halloween…. We know how I felt about that lol But they were fully thought out and everyone played an important role in the story. It made it intimate and close which fit the story.

“White shouldn’t be the default any more than straight should be the default. There shouldn’t even be a default.“
pg. 177

This story is important in so many ways. Simon shows that it’s ok to not be “default.” As a diverse person myself, I love that this book is getting so much attention. It may start slow but in the end it will completely suck you in and you won’t want to put it down.