Book 16/50 ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT, Romance
Series or standalone? Standalone
Pages: 303
Started// Finished: 25/05/15
I read the: UK paperback
Where can I buy this? Here! (via thebookdepository)
Goodreads: Right here!
First Sentence(s): "It's a weirdly subtle conversation. I almost don't notice I'm being blackmailed."
Favourite quote: "'Me and Leah?', I ask. But I'm gay. GAY. Gaaaaaaaayyyyy." (pg. 52)
Synopsis: 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.
Let me just say that I absolutely freakin' loved this book. And the fact that I flew through it in a day (maybe, like 9 hours?) shows exactly that. I should have been studying for my Chemistry final that day. Oops. Don't worry, I did well (especially for Chemistry).
Even though I got to experience the story so fast, there is a negative factor about me finishing this book so quickly. And that is that I didn't get to fall in love with the characters as much as I wanted to. However, I did sympathise with Simon a lot, as I was reading from his point of view the whole time, and I just wanted him to be happy.
The most important factor about Simon VS. is the LGBT+ theme that surrounds it. Our main character, Simon, is gay and he has to go through the painful and awkward process of coming out to his friends, his family and he has to deal with the bullying that was inevitable. One of the most important messages that this book manages to get through is that there shouldn't be a norm either concerning someone's sexuality, race, beliefs, anything. Basically, we shouldn't just assume someone is cis/white/straight, without meeting and knowing them first. And, oh my god, I full heartedly agree with this point.
I enjoyed the writing very much. Simon's humour was something that literally left me laughing out loud every two pages. With the way he thinks, Simon really does achieve getting the message through to anyone who wandered what it's like to be an LGBT+ teen in a place where they're generally not accepted.
Just. Such a brilliant book.
How would you rate this book?
xox
Helen
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