
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
by Becky Albertalli
Pages: 303
Published on April 7th 2015
by Balzer + Bray
Genres: Adolescence, Contemporary, Romance
Narrator: Michael Crouch
Length: 6 hours 45 minutes
Source: Purchased for Audible
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Also by this author: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Simon VS the Homo Sapiens Agenda, The Upside of Unrequited, Leah On The Offbeat
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.

As you know, our dear Bee loves Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. If you don’t know this, then I assume it’s your first time visiting Quite the Novel Idea, in which case, Welcome! In any case I listened to Simon because of Bee (of course!) and since both her and Rach have raved about it, I will keep this review short and sweet.
Simon
Simon is SO sweet. He’s in high school and if that isn’t stressful enough, he’s dealing with the realization that he’s gay and trying to figure out what that entails. Specially in a conservative place like Atlanta. He’s well liked, has good grades, is active in drama class and has a group of close friends that are there for him. Simon has a strong narrative voice, a clear personality, it is easy to get to know and love him.
Emails
For a big part of the book is of the emails between Simon and Blue. I love them. They give the reader such an incredible insight to the inner workings of their minds. We get to know each of them as they know each other, we get to love them both and we want to see them be together. They are so cute that there was no doubt in my mind that at the end, love would prevail.
Becky Albertalli’s Writing
This is Albertalli’s first book. Seriously. Her writing was fascinating and so full of the feels. She captured Simon’s feelings so clearly: the frustration, fear, uncertainty, anger, love, delight… She has so much talent, that I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next! There are some difficult topics to tackle in this book, homosexuality, race, and bullying being the big two and she did it gracefully.
Family and friendship
Simon’s family is ever present in the story, which I love. It makes the story more realistic, even if he thinks they are overwhelming in their “caring”. I also loved his relationship with his sisters and the fact that they had his back. Nick, Abby, and Leah are Simon’s best friends and support group. I do have to say that Leah was a bit needy and got offended rather easily. I think she realized that by the end.
Discovery
I think Simon vs. the Home Sapiens Agenda is a book about discovery. Not only of accepting who you are – quirks, personality and sexuality included – but also on dealing with difficult situations and believe me, Simon has quite a few of those. Growing up and high school is not easy, and having to deal with “coming out” and what that entails in a conservative community is even harder. I think that Simon did a lot of self discovery during the length of the book.
Romance
The romance between Blue and Simon is slow, real, growing, and plain adorable.
Although Michael Crouch has quite the list of narrated books, this is the first time I listen to one of them. I really enjoyed the experience. It’s usually harder for me to hear male narrators making the female voices, but I think Crouch did a pretty good job. I was never confused or wondering who was talking. I also love that Crouch acting talent shines throughout the reading of the book, it’s full of feeling, trepidation, wonder, and so many of the beautiful feelings that make Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda so special.
Overall, here are two words to describe this book: adorable perfection.

- {Liza Reviews} Re-reads Her Favorites - July 13, 2018
- {On a Personal Note} Liza’s Updates - July 9, 2018
- {Liza’s News and a Goodbye of Sorts} - April 30, 2018
Twitter: Jeann Wong
Awww you’re bringing back all the feels that I had about this book too! I loved those emails and I loved how Simon slowly learnt about Blue and about the importance of communication. Lovely review Liza!
Twitter: Liza
Thanks Jeann! I think it’s impossible to read Simon and not love it 🙂
Aaah I’m always hearing amazing things about this book, need to read it!!!
Twitter: Liza
Go for it! If you like audiobooks, I would try that format.
AHHHHHH! I love Michael! <3 He's a lovely, lovely guy! And I wanna listen more to the audiobook coz I only got to listen to a snippet <3
Twitter: Liza
I’m glad I went with the audio, it was SO good. I’m looking forward to more of this narrations 🙂
Twitter: Emily
HAHA. Doesn’t everyone on the PLANET know how much Bee loves this book? But yes, it’s adorable. The emails were my absolute fave.
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
Most likely. And I won’t stop talking about it until everyone in the universe has read it.
Twitter: Liza
Indeed! I had to read it before she kicked me out of the blog, right?
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
YASS you read it! I will make the whole world read this book and love it, or else… Mhuahahaha.
Twitter: Liza
Plan accomplished you evil genius 🙂
I’m so happy you liked this book! I’m not one to read contemporaries very often, but this book was one that did not disappoint. I loved reading Simon’s narrative. I felt like I connected to him in a lot of things and it made me laugh a lot because of how he was reacting. I feel like we could’ve been great friends haha. The emails were honestly my favorite parts. I was looking forward to them like Simon was!
I’m honestly so surprised that this is Becky’s first novel. It’s so well written and Simon is just so likable from the start.
Twitter: Liza
I felt the same way Alexa. All the feels came into play and I adored Simon from the beginning.
I’m so glad you loved this one, Liza! I don’t think Bee would have let you stay on if you haven’t – and I’m only slightly kidding. 😉 I’m definitely considering reading this in audiobook format this year if you enjoyed it like that. And yes, the emails were one of my favourite parts too. Adorable! <3
Twitter: Liza
You are SO right Rachel! I better read Schwab books next before she noticed I haven’t read those either 😉
Don’t worry, I haven’t read those yet either. We’ll have to catch them up soon!
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
You know I can read these comments, right? x)
Twitter: Liza
Oh no! The secret’s out 🙂