Review: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Author: Becky Albertalli

Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Page Count:  320 pages, Hardcover
Date Published: April 7th 2015
Find it on Goodreads: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda
Source: Borrowed an ARC from Raeleen (thank you!!)

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.

It's been difficult for me to sum up my feelings for this book in words... but basically this GIF of a smiling Jeremy Renner probably gives you a good idea of my face after finishing it: 

I. loved. this. book. Here's why:

• It kept me guessing about who Blue was. The entire time I was reading, my mind kept making scenarios up about the different possibilities of Blue's identity and how Simon would react. 

• Simon wasn't a clichéd LGBTQ character that I've seen ten million times before! He was so much more than just the 'gay best friend' or the 'closeted tough-guy jock.' He had a legitimate personality that revolved around things OTHER than his sexuality.

• The friendships were awesome and complex and relatable! This friend group had problems, but they talked them out instead of getting all dramatic about them! Platonic friendship representation is so great in YA and I wish there was more of it!

• The book brought up really important societal issues about sexuality, gender, and race, like this quote (taken from goodreads) : 

"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.” 

YES.

• SIMON. Probably one of my all time favourite YA characters, he was cynical, funny, a lover of Oreos and Harry Potter, and just all around incredible. I felt like I knew him, like we were friends, which is one of my favourite feelings when I'm reading a book.

• It made me happy! While this book does bring up some super important ideas, it is also just plain sweet!

I have so much more to say about this book, but I might have to add onto this review later, because for now I'm tired and need to post this asap! Please, please pick this book up if you get the chance. It's cute, it's funny, and it's important. 

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Review: Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour

Author: Nina LaCour

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Page Count:  307 pages, Hardback
Date Published: May 15th 2014
Find it on Goodreads: Everything Leads to You
Source: Purchased eBook

A love letter to the craft and romance of film and fate in front of—and behind—the camera from the award-winning author of Hold Still.

A wunderkind young set designer, Emi has already started to find her way in the competitive Hollywood film world.

Emi is a film buff and a true romantic, but her real-life relationships are a mess. She has desperately gone back to the same girl too many times to mention. But then a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend leads Emi to Ava. Ava is unlike anyone Emi has ever met. She has a tumultuous, not-so-glamorous past, and lives an unconventional life. She’s enigmatic…. She’s beautiful. And she is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.

Nina LaCour wowed me with The Disenchantments but this book completely blew me away. Definitely in my top 3 favourites this year so far, Everything Leads to You was touching and magical and real and all of these things at once. The imagery was phenomenal. LaCour painted perfect pictures in my mind and I could see exactly what Emi was envisioning; everything was so vivid. I've always loved set design and how one piece of furniture can change the mood, so it was interesting reading about a character so passionate about this. There was also a really great girl friendship in this between Emi and her best friend which is always awesome! There wasn't any pointless girl drama, just two best friends who loved each other dearly and helped each other every day.

I loved that this book wasn't a coming out story... Emi already knew her sexuality and so did Ava, so it didn't focus on the fact that they were two girls. It was about two people falling in love. And yes, this book is fluffy and crazy romantic and all that, but it was also more. Emi and Ava's love story was beautiful, but it was also filled with painful truths, realizations about the meaning of family, and the fact that real life is a little less dramatic than the movies, but doesn't have to be any less magical. While a quick read and probably really light for a lot of people, this book got to me in a lot of ways that are maybe too personal at the moment, but I appreciated reading nonetheless. My heart is smiling but also is sad and I just loved loved loved this book more than I can describe. Absolutely a new favourite of mine and one I would recommend to anyone looking for a sweet romance with awesome female characters.