Review: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Genre: Contemporary
Publication: 4/7/2015 by Balzer + Bray
Pages: 320 Pages
Format: eBook
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
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Summary
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.


With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

My Thoughts
I have heard so much about this book over the last 2 years, so it was finally time that I picked it up. I did enjoy this book, but it followed the same kind of story line as a lot of YA contemporaries that I have read. This book is diverse in that it is a M/M romance, which is awesome for someone who is looking for a story that represents them. But for me, it was still pretty predictable. I was much more invested once Blue and Simon met in real life. They were very adorable and I was really rooting for them.

One thing that did throw me off about this book was the description on masturbation. I like that it was normalized (because let's me real we all do it) but I felt uncomfortable reading about a 16 year old doing it. I am much older than 16 and it just felt uncomfortable. However, it was nice to see it normalized, so I am still conflicted about it.

In the end, this was an enjoyable read. I read it on vacation by the pool and I just flew through it. I would recommend if you are looking for a cute contemporary. It was pretty predictable but if you want a book that represents you better, check this out.