My Thoughts On… Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens by Becky Albertalli

My Thoughts On… Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens by Becky Albertalli

Title: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 7th April 2015
Pages: 303
Format: Ebook
Source:: Netgalley Copy
Add It: Goodreads, Amazon UK, Waterstones
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

When this book first came out, a lot of people read it and loved it, urging me to read it. However at the time I just never got around to picking the book up. Then, once the hype started picking up, I felt too scared to give the book a try. What if it didn’t live up to the expectations that were now being placed upon it. Thus, when I finally got around to giving this book a read, I wanted to kick myself for not reading it sooner. I sped through this book with it’s addictive writing and characters, never really wanting it to end.

Simon vs the Homosexuals was not what I assumed it was going to be – but it was so much more. It was an emotional, heart-wrenching story that I got truly sucked into. I fell in love with Simon and Blue. I found myself gripping my kindle harder when something awful happened and wishing to make things better. I also found myself laughing and grinning so much throughout the book too. It is the perfect combination, and exactly what I love in books. A wonderful piece of escapism wrapped up as a powerful story.

Now I’m writing this review quite a while after I read the book but I can still imagine everything that happened clearly which is also a sign of a good book. I felt that all of the characters were really well written and Becky Albertalli has done a fantastic job of creating characters for you to really like. I thought Simon’s journey was really interesting to read. I feel that Becky has done a wonderful job with the coming out, coming-of-age themes in this book and I know that this is a very important book for people read – a book that will help people to truly understand and empathise.

So I’m going to stop gushing about this book now as I don’t want my hyping this book up to put you off reading it the way it did for me. But I will end by saying that this is a truly lovely contemporary book that will sweep you off your feet. It is a book where you will need tissues nearby and one that you might even be able to finish in an afternoon – and if you don’t, you’re going to be itching to read it at every chance you get. I know that’s how I was anyway. So if you’re looking for a powerful and moving LGBT read, make sure you give this book a try.

** I received this copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. **