Before Love, Simon comes to the big screen on March 16th, 2018, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I picked up the audiobook on Hoopla, my favorite streaming app these days, and I loved it. I haven’t read any of Albertalli’s other books, but I’ve heard good things about them.
I love a good mixed media book, and even though I was listening to this book instead of reading it, I enjoyed the juxtaposition between the prose and the email format. I think the idea of 17-year-olds anytime after 2013 using email and not direct messages or some other platform is funny, but it works for the story. I think the way that Simon and Blue originally connect feels very organic and so high-school secretly-gay without being cliched. Like Simon, I was trying to figure out who it was the whole time, and I suspected the answer, but I wasn’t 100% positive, which made me enjoy the book a bit more.
Having supporting characters in a book like this is important, but I think the conflict with Leah and the Nick/Abby relationship got too many mentions for not enough importance to the story. Leah as a character was a point of contention a lot and I felt bad for her when she was left out, but I also couldn’t really understand her role in the story when she was there. She felt extraneous to me.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It’s an interesting take on the LGTBQ high school story that avoids some of the major bullying tropes and stigmatization. Simon is a likable character and his love interest develops overtime and sees strife in the interim, making it more realistic. I don’t know if I’ll be running towards her other books anytime soon because I’m not a huge fan of YA contemporary, but if they cross my desk, I might pick them up. I’ll definitely be going to see Love, Simon when it hits theaters this March.
Watch the trailer for Love, Simon here and let me know what you think!
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