I was intrigued and it made me wonder how a 17-year-old would handle being blackmailed for his sexuality. The secret Identity of Blue hooked me, I cannot stop turning pages, I was so curious of who would turn out as Blue (and I’m was not disappointed!)
Synopsis
This book is about Simon, a closeted-gay who is exchanging emails with his schoolmate, Blue, surreptitiously. But one day his emails falls into the wrong hands. He was being blackmailed that his emails, along with his identity would be out in the world if he failed to do what the person who have his emails wants.
“Sometimes it seems like everyone knows who I am except me.”
– Simon (Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda)
Reading this book was nostalgic to me mainly because the high school setting felt so authentic. We get to follow Simon and his friends’ life in high school, particularly being on the drama club. Although that is something that I never got the chance to do when I was junior high, I still felt as if I want to go back in my sophomore year with my friends all over again.
Writing
The Author, Becky Albertalli’s writing style is engaging and easy to follow through, making the book light and fast read. She used present tense first-person point of view in this book. I really enjoyed how she wrote the emails, it was cute and comical that would make you snort in unexpected times.
Plot
When I read the synopsis of this book, it intrigued me and made me wonder how a 17-year-old boy would handle being blackmailed for his identity. The secret Identity of Blue hooked me, I cannot stop turning pages because I was so curious of who would turn out as Blue (and I’m not disappointed!). We also get to follow Simon and his friends’ journey in high school as they rehearse for drama club as well as their bonds in and out of school. Also, the romance aspect was cute and very developed.
Characters
Simon Spier (Protagonist) – The main character was okay to me. He was represented as a bisexual character really well. His actions and reactions to the things that happened to him were understandable. The way he handled his problems was also something I liked from him, he was mature and I’m glad for that.
Blue (Side-Character) – Blue was so funny and intelligent. We get to see him and his story mostly on emails (well, he has appearance on some scenes of course, only we don’t know which of them Blue was. so yup) Still he was such an awesome character. The way he talked in his emails made it hard for me to guess his identity, there were some clues here and there and it was fun to guess who might Blue was.
*Random guy appears*
Me: is that blue?
Random guy: nope.
*another random guy appears*
Me: that is definitely Blue.
Random guy: definitely not.
Leah Burke (Side-Character) – Leah was Simon’s female best friend. She was quite insecure about her looks. She is a sarcastic character which made the reading experience fun. There were parts of her that I didn’t liked, partly because of how she reacted to some things, but it was explained why she reacted the way she did that would make the readers understand why.
Martin Adison (Antagonist) – Martin was the one who blackmailed Simon and as for him, I felt kind of bad. He used a bad way to get what he wanted. He was manipulative and annoying (isn’t that supposed to be how antagonist should be written?) and I understand because he ought to be that way since he was the antagonist.
Overall
I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars on goodreads. It was really a fun, cute read. The characters were developed. The plot is suspenseful that would keep you turning pages nonstop. It has lessons to teach to the readers with great representations. I also listened to the audiobook, it was narrated by Michael Crouch and he did a great job. I must say that Becky Albertalli is such an observant author for writing a realistic setting and set of characters. If you’re looking for humorous, light-hearted book that would make you guess, I would recommend this to you.
About the Author
Becky Albertalli is a clinical psychologist who has had the privilege of conducting therapy with dozens of smart, weird, irresistible teenagers. She also served for seven years as co-leader of a support group for gender nonconforming children in Washington, DC. She now lives with her family in Atlanta. Simon vs. the Homo SapiensAgenda is her first novel.
https://beckyalbertalli.com/
Twitter: @beckyalbertalli
Instagram: @beckyalbertalli
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