7 Reasons Why You Should Read Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda (Becky Albertalli)

First of all I would like to say that this was a re-read for me. I first read this book back in May 2015, and I wrote a review for it at the time, that you can read HERE.

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.

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1. Because of the Fangirling:

” “And because your glasses make you look like Harry Potter, right Simon?”  One time. I said it once.”  

“Wow, is that Katniss making out with Yoda?” 

” “It’s a dementor robe over my clothes. I think you’ll survive.”   “What’s a dementor?”   I mean, I can’t even. “Nora, you are no longer my sister.”  “So it’s some Harry Potter thing,” she says.”  

2. Because it tells some basic truths:

“Talking to them is more exhausting than keeping a blog.”

“Nothing is worse than the secret humiliation of being insulted by proxy.”

“People are shameless when it comes to cake. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”

3. And then some more:

“I take a sip of my beer, and it’s – I mean, it’s just astonishingly disgusting. I don’t think I was expecting it to taste like ice cream, but holy fucking hell. People lie and get fake IDs and sneak into bars, and for this? I honestly think I’d rather make out with Bieber. The dog. Or Justin.”

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

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

4. Because there shouldn’t be a default:

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

5. And everyone should have to come out:

“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.”

“Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn’t be this big awkward thing whether you’re straight, gay, bi, or whatever. I’m just saying.” 

“It is definitely annoying that straight (and white, for that matter) is the default, and that the only people who have to think about their identity are the ones who don’t fit that mold. Straight people really should have to come out, and the more awkward it is, the better. Awkwardness should be a requirement.” 

6. And people are more than they appear:

“People really are like house with vast rooms and tiny windows. And maybe it’s a good thing, the way we never stop surprising each other.”

7. Because it will make you swoon like crazy!

“It was seriously like five lines, but it was grammatically correct and strangely poetic, and just completely different from anything I’d ever read before.”

“The way I feel about him is like a heartbeat – soft and persistent, underlying everything.”

“Then he smiles and I smile. And then I blush and he lowers his eyes, and it’s like this entire pantomime of nervous gestures. ”

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And there are a lot more reasons to read this amazing book. On my first read I rated it 4.5 stars, but on re-read I bumped it up to 5 stars because this book made me smile and laugh and cry and I loved it even more than the first time around.

This time I noticed EVERYTHING about Blue, because I knew who he was (obviously), and I noticed so much more about all the secondary characters. So, if by some disaster you haven’t read this book yet, go and read it! NOW!