Rating: 94%
About:
Simon Spier is hopeless. Hopeless at school. Hopeless at parties. And hopelessly in love with a guy he’s never met. Which is a problem. Simon isn’t straight – not by a long shot – but no one knows except him and Blue. The emails Simon shares with Blue are his only refuge, until one of those emails falls into the wrong hands, and he is forced to make some decisions about his life a lot sooner than he expected.
“Straight people should have to come out too. The more awkward it is, the better.”
Review:
When I wrote this review the first time, it was 1:37 in the morning and I was mildly hysterical. Because the book was totally, irrevocably, mind-blowingly (I know that’s not a word) awesome. Logically, I knew I should have put the pen down so that I could get some sleep, but I seriously needed to gush. This book is so cute and tender and heartwarming. I love Simon (ha!) so much and this boy needs to be protected.
This book was really interesting for me to read because I’ve never considered the whole “coming out” to be this huge deal. I’ve always thought it was something you’d tell friends here and there, but casually; I never wanted expected to be this momentous occasion that needs everyone to be sitting down. Reading this book, though, I realised that it really could be a Big Thing™. Simon had to gather so much courage and confidence to be able to put a label on himself, to allow himself to be defined by certain stereotypes. This book showed me how much it can hurt if that choice, the choice to take that step, to find that courage, is taken away from you. The book showed me that we all grow and learn and take different steps at our own pace, and that’s okay. We don’t need labels, and if anyone says you do, they’re assholes.
Another thing that I found very interesting about the book is that the romance wasn’t painted as this perfect, wonderful thing, when it very easily and believably could have been. Simon recognised the fact that Blue was human, and may have been hesitant to do certain things, and he didn’t try to force him into anything. Simon didn’t put Blue on this impossibly high pedestal, and it makes me so happy because a relationship like that could only end one way. The relationship that developed between Simon and Blue was modern and young and new and real.
It was also incredibly easy to relate to each of the characters in the story. Normally, I can only really relate to one or two of the characters in a specific story at a time, but each of the characters in Love, Simon, were written in such a way that it was difficult not to find something of myself in them.
Simon was also a very self-aware main character. Not the fourth-wall breaking type, but a character that acknowledges his faults at some point throughout the story. He learns and adapts and fixes his mistakes. He embarrasses himself, he gets angry and he grows up. I have a friend who can’t understand why I like Young Adult fiction so much, and I think this story has helped me finally develop a proper answer for him. Young Adult literature presents real, relatable issues in a way that doesn’t make it about the issue. Simon’s life was a disaster, sure, but it was written to be a part of growing up – everyone goes through a stage where everything they do is wrong and cringe and just awful. It’s part of learning who you are and how you want to define yourself. YA has helped me do the same.
If you can’t tell yet, I loved this book, and I highly recommend reading it as soon as you can.
“…the curtains start to open. And I keep moving forward.” – Becky Albertali, Simon vs the Homo sapiens Agenda.
Trapped in Reality 