I don’t know if there are any spoilers in here so I’m just warning you in case there are any, like when on the back of a packet of almonds, they tell you that there might be eggs in there, just so they can cover their backs in case you go into anaphylactic shock after eating them and try to sue M&S for their eggy almonds.

I first heard of this wonderful book quite a while ago, through the book YouTuber Christine Riccio (aka polandbananasBOOKS), a gal who I would highly recommend for those of you who love reading, comedy skits and general, all-round bookish hilarity. If I remember rightly, when she raved enthusiastically about this book on her channel, my mental reaction was something very enthusiastic like: “Ooh, interesting.” I made a mental note to look into it, which was inevitably soon forgotten in the cavernous void that is my long term memory. It was kind of like the reaction you have when your friend texts you and you tell yourself that you’ll reply to it after you’ve finished your 48th episode of Orange is the New Black in two days but then you forget and the text message just disappears into the technological abyss and your friend gets angry. So, to summarise that unnecessarily long-winded explanation, until recently, I had forgotten all about this book.

Enter Nick Robinson. I saw a humungous poster of him at a bus stop advertising ‘Love, Simon’ (the film adaptation of this book) and I simultaneously died, was resurrected and fell madly in love within about 3 seconds. In case you didn’t know, Nick Robinson plays Simon Spier, the protagonist of this story, and he is a rather nice looking young man (aka a god in mortal form) who I have a rather large soft spot for. Obviously, my friends and I had to see the film ASAP because a) I remembered it sounded good when Christine Riccio talked about it on YouTube b) it had Nick Robinson in it and c) I would most likely die if we didn’t see it. So we did. Watched the film, not died, just to clarify. And it was just as good as I had hoped it would be.

For those of you who don’t know, ‘Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda’ or ‘Love, Simon’, as the film is called, is about a closeted high school teenager called Simon who embarks on an anonymous email exchange with another gay kid from his school. For some reason, I really connected with this story. It wasn’t entirely because of the fact that the typical, coming-of-age stereotypes had been taken in a progressive new direction with a gay protagonist, although that was amazing. It wasn’t the adorable, lovable, relatable Simon, who I adore. It wasn’t even the TOP NOTCH soundtrack, which made me want to massively step up my music taste (Les Mis and Moana don’t exactly feature on the playlists of rock gods). It was really just the tone of the story and the relatable emotional core of it, which was figuring out who we are when we are no longer a child. In my opinion, when you have a favourite film, it isn’t necessarily the actual film that you like, it’s how that film represents the way you feel at that point in your life. And I saw myself so perfectly reflected in this story at this moment in time, not in any specific character but just in the tone of self-discovery and uncertainty and friendship that was the whole undercurrent of the film. That’s why I was full of excitement and adrenaline and practically bouncing off the walls when I left the cinema, as if I’d just gone to watch an action film rather than spectate on an awkwardly lovable theatre kid trying to navigate high school.

So after that whirlwind adventure, I just had to read the book. There was no forgetting it this time. I whacked it straight on the top of my birthday list and as soon as the spotty wrapping paper was off, I charged through it in almost one sitting. About 4 cups of tea later, I was sitting on my bed, running solely on Digestives, my cheeks spasming from smiling and laughing at this book so much, my left hip bruised from when I got up to go to the toilet but continued to read and then went on to crash right into the end of my bed. Painful, but worth it for Simon.

One of the details of the book that I loved was when Simon and his theatre friends were singing Disney songs in a stairwell because I HAVE DONE STUFF LIKE THAT TOO and I hate it when the two types of teenagers in a story are nerdy loners and those who live to a soundtrack of beer, slamming aforementioned nerds’ faces into lockers and engaging in other similar laddish antics. The characters were far from being that boring and two-dimensional – there was Leah: a drummer, fan artist, strongly characterised, full of sardonic humour and such a different female character to what I’m used to. I loved Simon’s narrative voice, nerdy and sweet and sarcastic and a little reserved and hilarious. You can just imagine these kids who are different, who are kind of misfits but just breathe life into the story. Simon’s friend Abby, a cheerleader, the typically lusted after pretty girl who moves to a new town, is given a substantial and lovable personality, unlike most cheerleaders in these sorts of stories, who often have fewer distinctive character traits than your typical household saucepan. The characters were so well-rounded and I’m not going to lie, I kind of want them to be my friends.

Simon’s family was wonderful: their funny little traditions were hilarious and it was so great to see a protagonist without a sob story. Although I don’t object to the classic Tragic Back Story™, sometimes they are used to give the character the only depth that they have and it was nice to see a character who had a lot of depth but didn’t have to have a dead parent/dog/goldfish to obtain it. Even though Simon’s family are clearly supportive and loving, this story shows that no matter how amazing the circumstances are for coming out, it’s still hard. It’s an important message to people who may be struggling with the same issues as him – they are validated, supported and not alone and that is very important for readers or viewers, who are in the same situation as Simon, to see. It allows them to live vicariously through him and his story. The media influences our lives and the choices we make so vastly that this story is revolutionary in normalising a storyline that we never normally get to see in mainstream media.

For a long time, I have felt that I am unable to review books or films publicly like this because I am not a critic and I am too young and inexperienced in The Philosophies of Life™ and I tend to just say that everything I ever watch or read is great. And it’s true – I am not a critic. In fact, my fear of my opinions sounding childish or undeveloped sort of held me back from starting this blog in the first place. But I just connected with this book in such a personal way that I haven’t with any book since I came across Hermione Granger that I just had to suggest it to you all.

I often feel like I am not doing what a teenager should be doing. I very frequently worry that I am not who I should be at my age. But if I were to say one thing about this book, it would be that it just takes the word “should”, screws it up, burns it and throws it out the window. You get to see kids who are different and loving and brave and insecure, just like all of us, and that was so refreshing. You just feel like they are your friends and this is your life and it’s happening inside your school and it’s so adorable that it actually makes you just want to burst. If you are tired of the typical high school story formula, this is the one for you.

I must say, the book and the film are quite different – if you’re looking for an exact copy of the book, you will not be fulfilled by the film in this sense. I would say Simon’s general voice as a character is slightly different between the two and in the film, events are reshuffled quite a lot, new motifs are added and characters are slightly altered. It’s never bad though, it’s just different and I like and respect the two versions as much as each other. Also, the film made me laugh out loud, which is always a good sign, mainly because of that SASSY drama teacher who can just adopt me because she is fabulousness personified.

We were actually discussing the film at an English club I go to at school and my teacher pointed out that the kiss at the end of the film was VERY chaste and careful – she suggested that this was perhaps because this story is quite a different take on the classic coming-of-age stereotypes. This made the film feel a little tentative at times and it didn’t have the same freedom of self-expression as the book, especially in the way that it excluded the really adorable scenes at the end between Simon and Blue. However, this book has set the tone for a new generation of stories that celebrate and embrace people’s identities wholeheartedly and help to bring those who have felt rejected or marginalised out of the shadows and into the light. The only way is up.

This book is a definite yes from me. It’s an adorable story that has a new take on entering into adulthood – even if you don’t have the same experiences as Simon, the tone of acceptance will get you hooked and it just affirms that however you are feeling, you are not going it alone. That was really important about this story for me – these relatable, well-rounded and insightful characters told me that I’m not alone. If you haven’t been won over, and don’t want to read the book (which you should), at least go and see the film, even if you are only doing it because Nick Robinson is jaw-droppingly attractive. You never know, you might just see yourself in this story, hidden amongst the theatre productions, email threads and gratuitous Oreo eating. Have fun immersing yourself in this wonderful story – I’ll just be over here, eating Oreos and re-reading this book until I die.

Yours in awe of Becky Albertalli and her words,

Sophie