Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

This was the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and savory. What does that even mean, you might ask. Books aren't a 3 course meal at your favorite local diner, you might say. But aren't they though? Getting introduced to the characters during the appetizer, learning about their stories and relationships in the entree, and wrapping everything up with a sweet dessert. That was this book. Nothing earth-shattering, but enjoyable all the way through, and leaves you feeling happy and content when you roll yourself out of your chair and all the way home. The main romance was so lovely; I really liked the email correspondence, and how their relationship grew within and without that medium. The side characters were great, although I think there were a few too many for any of them to be fleshed out as much as I would've liked. I wish Nick and Leah had gotten as much page time as Abby (I did love Abby though. What an angel.)

But. I really despised the entire Martin arc, which is why I'm giving this 3 stars rather than the 4 my heart-feels want to give it. I get that the plot sort of depended on the blackmailing and Simon getting outed, but it just made me so uncomfortable and I don't think it was entirely necessary. I think there would have been enough conflict just with Simon deciding on his own terms if/when he wanted to come out, and with Blue not wanting to reveal himself to Simon when Simon wanted to meet. And then Martin trying to apologize and his email at the end just felt too much like an attempt to make him seem sympathetic. I was not about that at all.

I also wish Blue's identity had been revealed earlier. I thought it was pretty obvious who he was from around the halfway point, and it was a little frustrating having the drawn out reveal when Simon and Blue could've been holding hands and eating Oreos together at least 50 pages sooner!!! Also this irked me so much I have to say it: Frank Ocean is BIIIII, not gay wipes away the nervous sweat that's been accumulating on my forehead since I read that sentence okay it's fine I'm okay now.

Although I had some issues with it, this book was truly very cute and it left me feeling really warm and fuzzy. I hope the movie is just as sweet (and maybe spends less time on Martin, pls).