Review Detail

Simon Spier has been e-mailing with a boy named Blue for a while. He doesn't know Blue's true identity and Blue doesn't know his, but that doesn't matter. They talk about everything. Blue is the only person who knows Simon is gay. Until one day when the e-mails they've been exchanging find their way into someone else's hands, class-clown Martin, who starts blackmailing Simon.

Going into reading this book, I wasn't sure what to think at first. I knew it was getting a lot of hype and the cover really intrigued me but the hype made me nervous. But I ended up really loving this book. It was funny, easy to read, the characters were amazing, and I loved the e-mail exchanges between Simon and Blue.

It didn't take long for me to love Simon. His voice was great and I loved seeing how he grew throughout the book. He was hilarious. There were so many times I was laughing, loudly, while reading(not a good idea to read this when people are sleeping). He was a well-rounded character, he didn't fall into the cliche were his sexuality was the only thing ever mentioned about him. He was in the school play, he liked Harry Potter, he played Facebook scavenger hunt with his family, he loved Oreos.

There were so many amazing characters in this book. Simon's family, his parents and two sisters, were so much fun. Even when Simon acted annoyed at their antics, it was so easy to tell that they were a close, loving family. His two best friends, Nick and Leah, and newer friend Abby, were all very different from each other. They were close but they would fight, like friends do, and things would be awkward or uncomfortable, but they had each other's backs. Also, Simon's drama teacher was amazing. By the end, I really wanted to applaud her.

Blue, though he was mostly present only through the e-mails, he was such a huge part of the book and Simon's life. The e-mails were a great way to the reader to get to know Blue, to understand why Simon was falling for him, without having to reveal who he was before the climax.

Those e-mails, I loved those e-mails. They were an important part of the story. Sometimes they were lighthearted, sometimes they were flirty, sometimes they were full of angst and drama. But they all pushed the relationship between Simon and Blue forward. In the end, I did want to know who Blue was, but I knew I would be fine with whoever he turned out to be because Simon was already in love with him. The e-mails did their job of making me want them together even without knowing Blue's identity.

It was impossible to keep a smile off my face while reading and I have no doubt a smile will appear whenever I think of Simon. It was that kind of book and he was that kind of character.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.