By Becky Albertalli
303 pages
Let’s start by saying this book is being made into a movie to be released in March. The movie will be called Love, Simon. I wanted to read the book before the movie comes out, so I rushed through it this weekend.
This story follows Simon, a high school junior who is gay but has not yet come out. Simon’s school has a Tumblr that the use to write “confessions” and such. Simon read a post about another student who was having trouble coming out too. Simon commented on the post and the two became anonymous e-mail pen pals. The book alternates chapters between e-mails the two write and what is happening at school.
At the beginning of the book, another classmate sees Simon’s email and blackmails him by threatening to out him to the whole school. As the school year progresses, Simon finds himself falling in love with “Blue.” The two have become close and have even inspired each other to come out. “Blue” comes out to both of his parents and Simon comes out to one of his closest friends, Abby. Soon after, Simon is outed to the world when his blackmailer posts on the school Tumblr pretending to be Simon. At this point Simon comes out to his family.
So, how did I feel about this book? I have kind of mixed feelings. It was a really quick read and I enjoyed the characters. However, I think that parts of it were not quite as serious or mature as I would have liked. While I will admit that some of the reactions seemed pretty believable, I don’t know if they all were. I think that in this book the concerns that “Blue” and Simon have about coming out to their families are legitimate concerns that most people in their position would have.
I enjoyed the book. I thought it was fun and has a happy ending. However, if you are looking for an LGBTQ+ book that has more meaning and more impact, I would recommend either Symptoms of Being Human or George. I read both of these for previous lists, so you can read the reviews first if you are interested. (Their categories were 2016 A Book You Can Finish in a Day – George. And 2017 A Book About a Difficult Topic – Symptoms of Being Human).
3.5 Stars