​Review: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 

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Goodreads 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.


Favorite Exerpts:

Page 76:

Okay, first of all, Oreos absolutely qualify as a food group. Second of all, they’re the ONLY food group that matters.

Page 269:

White shouldn’t be the default any more than straight should be the default. There shouldn’t even be a default.


My Review:

I was so emotionally overwhelmed by the awesomeness that is the conclusion of this amazing book that I had to step away froom it for a bit before being able to write a review. I’m still a bit overwhelmed but I’d like to write this before beginning another book so it’s still fresh so here we go!

The characters were so well developed, realistic, and easy to relate to. I absolutely loved seeing the different relationships that developed between each of the characters and helped to better define the characters themselves. I feel like the relationships hinted at greater issues being addressed, but I might be reading too much into it right now.

The world is built well enough that I was able to put myself into it, though I’ve only been to the Atlanta area once and remember nothing of the trip. The descriptions given were so vivid without being rambley (totally a word) at all and I felt like I was literally sucked into it.

The story was excellent from beginning to end and I didn’t want to put it down, though life forced me to a few times. The main character, Simon, struggled quite a lot during the story so I worried a little about how well the story would conclude, versus simply ending and setting up for a sequel. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that worry was unnecessary because Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda concludes so completely as to leave room for no questions. I’m still totally swooning over this book. I can’t wait to read more from Becky Albertalli!

Overall, I rate Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda 5 out of 5 bookworms.

Don’t just take my word for it. Order a copy of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and enjoy it for yourself! A few places you can go to get your hands on a copy are:

For more information about Becky Albertalli and her work, visit her website.

I read this book for the Impedimenta prompt of the Dumbledore’s Army Read-A-Thon because it has been on my TBR since it was first released.

For that same reason, I read this book for the #BeatTheBacklist Challenge.

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