Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 320
Format: E-book
Published: April, 2015
Price: $10.99 -> Rp155.289 (Amazon)
Rating: 5 / 5 stars
Date started: August 28, 2015 - Date finished: September 3, 2015
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.
Simon Spier knows he's gay, he's okay with it and he's comfortable with who he is. The problem is he's not out yet to anyone, he's still in the closet. One day, Martin—one of Simon's high school peers approached him and said that he knew about Blue. He said that he took screenshots of Simon and Blue's exchanges. Blue is Simon's e-mail pen pal and the one guy he has a crush on, both of them have been corresponding with each other through e-mails under a pseudonym and no one knows this yet. Simon doesn't want anyone to know about Blue because he feared that if everyone knows it'll drive Blue away and Martin with that information decided to blackmail Simon into getting him closer to one of his best friend Abby. Simon was hesitant at first, but he didn't have any other option.
Each and every day Simon and Blue's relationship progressed along with his curiosity of Blue's identity. Simon kept giving hints about his identity to Blue in an attempt that Blue would to the same in return but Blue's smart he gives out as little as possible to Simon. There is only one thing that Simon knows about Blue, the fact that Blue goes to the same school as him. Simon really want to meet Blue in real life but he's not ready yet. Meanwhile Simon and Blue's relationship kept progressing as they develop feelings toward each other, Blue still has to get Martin closer to Abby even though every fiber of his being don't want to.
Besides following through with Martin's blackmail terms, Simon also had to face problems surrounding him and his friends. Leah, Abby, and Nick are Simon's best friends, they hang out with each other a lot. One of the problems is when Leah started distancing herself with Simon because she thinks that Simon preferred Abby than Leah. So, all of those problems are in Simon's life right now plus the fact that he still haven't figured out how to come out to the people around him yet.
“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.”
People weren't kidding when they say that this book was good. For me this was one of the best books that I've had the pleasure of reading this year. PLEASE TURN THIS BOOK INTO A MOVIE! I feel like like this book would've made a pretty cool movie if it ever was adapted. Everything was perfect about this book, it was sweet to the point that it made me giggle, smirk, and smile. It was funny to the point that I laughed loosely.
This book was written from Simon's POV, and of course Simon's narration is oh so hilarious. Becky Albertalli really did a great job creating this character because throughout reading it I sort of became Simon. It is immersive. The writing was also very easy to read, it was written in a casual tone and I must say the author has a flair in voicing out young characters.
“The way I feel about him is like a heartbeat—soft and persistent, underlying everything.”
I love most of the characters in this book, I can't even hate Martin! but hands down Simon is my favorite, and Blue comes in second place. I just really love this undeniably cute chemistry between them. Let's talk about favorite scenes because I've got a lot of them. First is of course the ultimate favorite, which is the carnival scene where Blue and Simon finally met each other. Second is every e-mail exchanges between them because they're just so funny at times.
“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.”
This book was one of those books that you just can't help but read more and more of and suddenly you've finished reading them. I find myself wanting more of Simon's story, I would like to know the continuation of Blue and Simon's relationship. Could there possibly be a sequel? But I'm not sure that there should be a sequel because there's a possibility that the sequel could be disappointing and I don't want to be disappointed. After reading this book, I'm really eager to pick up more YA LGBT books. If you guys haven't read this book yet I suggest you pick it up now!
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