Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Book, 2015

I have already made a review for the film version, Love, Simon (http://narrativemultiverse.blogspot.com/2018/07/love-simon.html)

General rule is that I include all singular stories and their adaptations under one entry UNLESS the title is changed, so here we are with the book!

Premise - Only one other person in the world knows Simon Spier is gay apart from himself, and that is the other closeted gay kid at his high school, "Blue." Under the pseudonym "Jacques," Jacques and Blue exchange daily e-mails in which they fall deeply in love but are too frightened to share their true identities with each other and the rest of the world.


Review - I saw the movie first (shame on me?) and loved it. I'm now really trying to get in the habit of reading the book versions of movies I have enjoyed and vice versa. If I like a story, I want to commit to all iterations of it. It is especially important to acknowledge an original piece of work as the source of inspiration for other adaptations. Change in title aside, I was surprised at how starkly different the book and film are.

I'll try my best not to talk too much about the film here, and keep that analysis separate. But overall, the film is highly formulated. It's chaotic, but somehow that chaos still feels formulated, like something out of Shakespeare. We're presented with a structure of suspect #1, suspect #2, suspect #3, a confused period where all 3 have been debunked, a red herring, and then a discovery that Blue was suspect #1 all along. Meanwhile we have a complicated love triangle, or trapezoid, that's insanely twisted due to the dramatic irony of the blackmail, and eventually untwists itself. It's so satisfying and makes for storytelling at its finest. It's also wild, funny, and entertaining.

The book has a much more realistic, muted tone. The characters are not particularly popular or well-known. As introverts, they truly bond over their quiet, intimate e-mails. Blue is especially soft-spoken (in the movie he's like rich and throws parties, NOT AT ALL like book-Blue). Hidden sexuality aside, their personalities alone make them susceptible to falling in love over e-mail. The book gives much more intimate insight into their communications and we see how compatible they truly are, not just because the other is the only other closeted gay kid. I fell in love with their love much more thoroughly. The e-mails are so intimate, in fact, that the book almost feels intrusive. You just want to give the two of them their privacy to talk sex and romance.

Nevertheless, ultimately the book is comparatively far less structured. It begins in media res, when Blue/Jacques have already been exchanging e-mails for some time. There's no big finale moment on a ferris wheel where the reveal happens, nor a dramatic moment where the whole school instantly finds out Simon is gay and Blue deletes his e-mail. Everything happens more gradually and softly... tenderly. Neither version is better nor worse, they are just different.

I found my heartstrings aching throughout the entire novel. I love secret identity stories more than just about any other trope. I found myself repeatedly fantasizing about all the different ways in which they could have revealed themselves, either accidentally or purposefully. Instantly noticing how different the book and film were, I realized that watching the film did not necessarily inform me which direction the book was going. I got to experience the story all over again and I loved it (94/100)

Quote - “He kisses like Elliott Smith sings.”

What to read for - The e-mail exchanges between Blue/Jacques make up a large portion of the book, and were my favorite part. They were much more in-depth than a movie could have offered.

If you liked this book, I'd recommend the movie Love, Simon!

Written by Becky Albertalli
Published by Balzer and Bray