Have You Ever Had A Crush?

As you may know, I watch a lot of booktube. I'm a fan and sometimes I come across videos that talk about the next book to movie adaptations. In one of those I got to know about a book called Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, and as you already know I'm also a big fan of cinema and I like to read the books before the movies come out, Simon was not the exception. “Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn't be this big awkward thing whether you're straight, gay, bi, or whatever. I'm just saying.” This quote isn't the first thing you read in the book, actually I think it's on page 100 or so. What I liked about this quote was what it stood for, in this society we have standards for everything including sexuality and we shouldn't assume that someone is straight just because the majority is like that. There's a pretty funny scene in the movie trailer were the teenagers are coming out as gay, bi or straight but they're defining themselves, we shouldn't do that for others and it shouldn't matter what sexual preference they have because at the end of the day we're people. The author, Becky Albertalli, is a clinical psychologist who wrote this book because she wanted to give confidence on LGBT+ people all around the world who are insecure because of this society. Many people struggle because of this non defining characteristic and even though it isn't shown on this book, I think it's great to show how reality should be and this book presents that reality very well.

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda tells the story about a boy, Simon, who is still in the closet, he's gay. And he found someone who is just like him, Blue a code name for a guy, and they've been emailing each other ever since but they've never met on person. One day, Simon leaves he's account logged in one of the school computers and Martin Addison reads everything Simon and Blue have told each other. Now, Martin is blackmailing Simon into convincing Abby, Simon's new friend, to go out with him or he will tell the whole school the truth about Simon. “And you know what? You don’t get to say it’s not a big thing. This is a big fucking thing, okay? This was supposed to be—this is mine. I’m supposed to decide when and where and who knows and how I want to say it.” I completely agree with this quote, there are things that are personal and unless you want everyone to know, YOU should be the one to tell not anyone. I understood how Simon felt in this moment because I had already gone through things like this.

Update:

I really liked this book in so many ways, except one. You can tell it is the author's first book but when you have accustomed to her writing, things flow. I liked how Albertalli totally knew how teenagers were because I felt identified on many parts, I loved many characters like Simon because of his personality, he is a good guy and a geek, and his friends are the best, Abby is like my best friend and I found many resemblances with my life which made the book so interesting and entertaining. I loved how this book feels so real, the situations are exactly what would happen to us and the characters do feel like teenagers. “He talked about the ocean between people. And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.” There were many parts that got to my heart, like this quote because it is so poetic and sometimes poems make us realize that we can also be cheesy. 

My favorite character was Simon because I connected with him so much, he wore a Dementor costume for Halloween, he loves Oreos and he hates alcohol. For those and many more reasons I loved him, because this book was like a letter, one  which he poured out his heart to and showed with no fear his life and his feelings. Albertally did a great job because when Simon was in love I was also in love, when he was angry I shared his feelings. She made an accomplishment by showing us the moods, feelings and fears of Simon, which doesn't happen a lot. That was a great character building. “People really are like house with vast rooms and tiny windows. And maybe it's a good thing, the way we never stop surprising each other.” I totally agree with this quote, we know of people what they decide to tell us or show us. We will never stop discovering things about ourselves and others. 

On the other hand, people say as a negative thing that it is so positive and not realistic because everyone accepts Simon as he is without any rejection. But, I don't think that's wrong because it is how society should react and I believe it is what the author was aiming for. 

In conclusion, I loved this book and it is totally going to be on my top 10 of this year. This is a story everyone should read because it is still important nowadays. Besides the big changes we've done in our society, we still have things to do so we reach total acceptance. I recommend it most to teenagers so we can accept ourselves and other persons.

If you don't like book, I still recommend the movie.

5 out of 5