Book Review: "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli

Wow. I cannot even begin to put into words how much I freaking loved this book, but I will attempt to. Sappy heart, be still!

Simon Spier is a friendly, slightly goofy high school junior. He knows he's gay, and doesn't think that either his family or his friends will have a problem with it, but he just doesn't want to make a big deal out of it, you know? But when he starts corresponding via email with a fellow gay student he only knows as "Blue," he starts to think more and more about letting everyone in on his secret, almost as much as he thinks about Blue, whom he's falling for, as much as anyone can for someone they've never met.

But when their email correspondence falls into the wrong hands, Simon is pressed into action. He needs to decide what to do—about coming out to his family and friends, and whether or not to continue to press Blue for the chance to meet each other. And all of Simon's decisions have the potential for disaster. What's a music-loving, Oreo-craving guy to do?

"It's strange, because in reality, I'm not the leading guy. Maybe I'm the best friend. I guess I didn't really think of myself as interesting until I was interesting to Blue. So I can't tell him. I'd rather not lose him."

Becky Albertalli's debut novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is beyond wonderful. I absolutely devoured this book in less than a day and now I'm sad that it's finished, because I want to spend more time with these characters. Unlike so many other young adult novels, I didn't feel like the dialogue was inauthentic or too clever for its own good, and I felt like most of the situations the characters found themselves in were realistic, even the negative ones. But beyond that, Albertalli all too perfectly captures the intense feelings of infatuation and indecision, the desire to share the real you with the world but the fear of actually putting it out there.

I've said many times before, I wish that books like this existed when I was in high school, but I am so glad that these books exist now. Everyone should know it's okay to have secrets that you divulge when you're ready to, and that you can never assume to know what another person is going through. I cannot wait to see what Albertalli does next, and I miss these characters already!!