Blanche’s Book Club: ‘Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda’.

What? A blog post on a Sunday?! Yes, I’m living a little, y’all! Actually, I saw the movie “Love, Simon” last night after finishing this book earlier in the week, and I just couldn’t wait any longer to share how awesome it is!

I’m going to get into the book first, and then I’ll talk some about the movie. PS. The last two movies I’ve seen were based on books, and I think that’s just how it should be from now on.

Anyway, so it’s “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli. Here’s the description from Amazon: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Incredibly funny and poignant, this twenty-first-century coming-of-age, coming out story—wrapped in a geek romance—is a knockout of a debut novel by Becky Albertalli.

I hadn’t heard much about this book until I started seeing the previews for the movie, but I found out that it was (and still is) a very popular YA novel. So, when I stumbled upon it in Half Price Books, I bought it and pretty much expected to love it. And I did! Here’s a few quotes I took note of while reading:

• Someone can trigger your sexual identity crisis and not even have a clue they’re doing it.
• But I’m tired of coming out. All I ever do is come out. I try not to change, but I keep changing, in all these tiny ways. I get a girlfriend. I have a beer. And every freaking time, I have to reintroduce myself to the universe all over again.
• So when the school day ends and nothing extraordinary has happened, it’s a tiny heartbreak. It’s like eleven o’clock on the night of your birthday when you realize no one’s throwing you a surprise birthday party after all.

I think a lot of books, especially YA novels, have depictions of high school, but they aren’t always right. This one brought me there – in the good ways, and bad, and especially in the way of that high school crush. It’s all encompassing, and if (when) it goes south, it can seem as if your entire world is crumbling.

To top it off, Simon is a very lovable character, and you’ll be rooting for him before you know it!

So, when I finished this book, I immediately looked to see the movie, “Love, Simon” was showing in Austin. I was in luck and bought a ticket to see it Saturday night (last night) at the Drafthouse. Yesterday, I drove nearly 30 minutes to get to this particular theatre, but when I got there, I didn’t see it on their marquee.

My ticket said it was in theatre 7, so when I walked to theatre 7, it definitely said “Super Troopers 2”. So, I found an employee and showed them my ticket.

“Yes, you’re in the right theatre,” she said, and started typing into a computer. A few minutes later, she said it was some sort of server malfunction and she apologized that no one contacted me, but “Love, Simon” was not showing at that theatre.

I can’t be too mad, because the Drafthouse staff was really nice and they refunded me my ticket with no hassle, and gave me a pass for a free movie of my choice.

So, I went back to my car and started searching to see if it was showing anywhere else. Luckily, there was a showing one hour later, at a theatre about 10 minutes away. Off I went!

Upon arrival, this AMC was definitely in a MALL. I have not been to a mall since 2014, and I was having serious flashbacks and PTSD from my retail days. There was a Spencer Gifts inside, and I didn’t even know those places still existed! There was also a Cheesecake Factory where I saw lots of high schoolers dressed up for prom.

But the movie theatre had tickets available for “Love, Simon”, so I was glad and also realized I haven’t been to a non-Drafthouse theatre in more than two years. Concession stand? How do those work? It took me forever to settle on food, as I was really hankering for the cauliflower buffalo wings at the Drafthouse. But I decided on soft pretzel bites, chocolate covered raisins, and a Cherry Coke Zero.

When I got to my seat, it was a Lazy Boy! Seriously, it had the leg rest and everything. There was also a bar right outside the theatre, so patrons could bring wine and mixed drinks in.

Anyway, the movie itself was so good! It was definitely different from the book in that if you hadn’t read it, it was still good, but if you HAD read it, there were still some surprising twists. The characters (they left a few out) were mostly how I’d imagined them, and some of the lines seemed like they were pulled directly from the book.

I will admit it, I almost cried a few times, but overall, the movie made me feel happy and excited about life. Cheesy, but true!

I’m recommending this book to anyone who loves YA novels, and to anyone who’s looking to feel nostalgic about their high school experience. The next book Blanche’s Book Club will be reading is “Searching for John Hughes” by Jason Diamond.