It is so difficult to compare Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and the movie adaption Love, Simon. I almost feel as though they're not related at all. Besides the basic plot of Simon falling in love online and being outed to the entire school, the movie definitely took some liberties.
The book was adorable. I was hesitant to read it as it is a very contemporary YA story, which isn't usually my preferred genre. However, I was pretty surprised to find that I actually enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it enough to finish it in one night! The characters were all extremely likable and unique. The writing was very easy to follow; chapters switched from first-person narration to email exchanges, which I think helped make it such a quick read. We follow Simon as he falls for the boy he has been exchanging emails with. Both boys are hiding a big secret: they're gay. The story continues as Simon is blackmailed by Martin, and subsequently outed to the entire school when Martin realizes he'll never attain Abby's love. Simon loses all of his friends, including his mysterious online boyfriend. I thought the plot of this book was actually pretty interesting, and It was never super obvious to me who Blue was until it was revealed at the end, probably because I was reading at 3 am. I was disappointed as to who Blue actually was but, oh well. There were so many cute scenes. When they ditched lunch to have Oreo cereal, I died, too cute. I also loved that Leah had a lot of character development despite being only a supporting character. Overall, this book was super adorable. It was a quick, easy read. I don't think the issues it tackled were too serious but it was still an enjoyable read.
The movie was also adorable. Nick Robinson made a perfect Simon. I was so excited to see the movie since I really enjoyed the book. To be honest, I enjoy cheesy contemporary love stories in the form of movies more so than books. Needless to say, the book was better than the movie. Don't get me wrong! The movie was awesome and I enjoyed it, but there is so much more detail in a book than in a movie, in my opinion at least. Had I not read the book, I think I would've enjoyed the movie a lot more. A lot changed from the book to screen adaption. The number one thing that bugged me was that Simon figured out who Blue was much earlier in the movie. Though, he then thought of different people it could be, so viewers were thrown off. I thought it was strange how they introduced him as a possible Blue so early. He wasn't even a possibility until the very end of the book. Other than that big change, there were lots of little changes. Book Simon had 2 sisters, one in college and one a high school freshman. Movie Simon had one sister, which we can assume was a high school freshman, yet she looked as if she were 10. Leah loved Nick in the book but loved Simon in the movie. A bunch of little changes from the book makes it hard to compare the two. It was almost as if they were telling two different stories.
The book and the movie were both absolutely adorable. I recommend either. Though I don't think its entirely necessary to read the book if you've seen the film or see the film if you've read the book. It was a different experience from a book to movie adaption like Call Me By Your Name, where the book supported the film beautifully, almost like a second layer to the story (not that you can even compare CMBYN to this book, in all honesty).This was entirely different in that the movie and book feel more like two separate adaptions of the same story, which makes sense and is obviously not a bad thing. If you like contemporary romance or gay love stories in general, I think you'll really enjoy this story! (Keep in mind I am often very biased with any gay literature as it is my favorite genre, so I'd love to hear what you thought about the book!)
Have you read Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda? Have you watched Love, Simon? What did you think?
Indiana Grace
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