Review - Love, Simon

Love, Simon

Title: Love, Simon (originally Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda)
Series: Creekwood (Goodreads)
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Genre: Romance, LGBT, Coming Of Age

Age Group: YA

Source: Penguin Random House Pulp Shelf (this did not affect my opinion)

Review 

Love, Simon it would seem is a book that is either wholly loved or loathed by its individual reader. For me, I cannot say it was as simple as either loving or hating it. I found that at times this book had great moments but also some troubling ones. Reading this book the style of writing itself felt bland and stilted therefore giving it a rather slow-moving pace and for an already short book that wasn’t encouraging.

Some of the issues I had relating to the characters was a lack of development this wasn’t just for the protagonist but the supporting characters as well. Descriptions of the characters were given at some moments in the book but were never really developed enough to give volume to a character to make them feel real. For example, for some characters they became defined by one single aspect of their identity in Nick’s case this was about him being Jewish. Whilst at a teen party a small group of Simon’s friends discuss their potential heritage. Relating to Nick it is assumed by his friends that he is automatically of Israelian descent because all Jews come from Israel, Simon even states ‘I really thought Jewish people came from Israel’, when in fact Nick’s family is from Russia. I will note that this conversation does take place at a teen party and a few of them have had an underaged drink. However, for me this kind of conversation shouldn’t really be held on such an occasion. For me, the issue surrounding Jewish people is more complicated, arguments have been had about whether a Jew should be defined by race and or religion, and whilst this is an important discussion to be had about the representation of Jews in literature and the real world in Love, Simon this was dealt with on a superficial level with no depth to the kind of discussion being had around literature (both YA and Adult) as well as the wider real-life issues.  

What I do believe is good about this book though is the representation of the LGBTQ+ community. This is one of perhaps many books to be written in the present and future years to represent LGBTQ+ people which is hugely important because literature reflects the world we live in. So why wouldn’t we write or read about a young gay man? I even believe that the emails sent between Blue and Simon was one of the most captivating aspects of the novel. I think this was because the email provides both Blue and Simon the chance to explore their own identities as well as begin to get to know one another. The safety of the email allows both of them to discuss their own experiences of being gay and trying to understand what that means for themselves, each other, and the important people in their lives (their family and friends). In one of the first exchanges of emails titled ‘when you knew’ this was one of their first honest exchanges between the two of them. For Simon this an important moment when he learns to confront his own identity and the beginning of his journey to self-acceptance about being gay ‘I had girlfriends…because I didn’t one hundred percent believe I was gay. Or maybe I didn’t think it was permanent’. This is a key quote I believe because it is relatable to people that don’t identify as completely straight, because they don’t have to question their sexuality in the same way. Whereas non-straight people are more likely to question their sexual identity and acceptance not only of themselves but from their loved ones because for many years they have been told that it is unnatural and criminal to be something other than straight. Therefore, in regard to this book it begins to engage with other emerging literature surrounding the representation of LGBTQ+ people and this is what makes the book an important one worth reading.  

Synopsis (From Goodreads)

Straight people should have to come out too. And the more awkward it is, the better.
Simon Spier is sixteen and trying to work out who he is - and what he's looking for.

But when one of his emails to the very distracting Blue falls into the wrong hands, things get all kinds of complicated.

Because, for Simon, falling for Blue is a big deal . . .
It's a holy freaking huge awesome deal.

Key quotes 

'Being secure in your masculinity isn't the same as being straight.'

'...he does like to talk about social media as a vehicle for constructing and performing identity'

Afterthoughts 

Are there any books you would reccomend that are similar to Love, Simon?
How did you feel reading Love, Simon?

Love, Eastendreader98