Book Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

I got this one from the thrift store. This book and its subsequent movie have been pretty famous, so I decided to see what it's all about. Book summary:

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.

This book was good, with real-feeling, relatable teen characters and a cute romance. Simon has an anonymous email correspondence with another closeted gay guy in his high school (they use pen names), and they flirt and fall in love through emails. I am a jaded crone and I still found their conversations and romance to be really cute and properly swoony. Simon forgets to log out of the school computer, and this absolute blister classmate, Marty, sees his logged-in email and blackmails Simon: help Marty get together with Simon's friend Abby, or he'll out Simon. Simon has to try to satisfy Marty, avoid betraying Abby, deal with the tension within his friend group, and learn the blocking for the school play, all while falling in love with Blue (the email guy) and trying to figure out who he is. 

SPOILERY PARAGRAPHS AHEAD

Simon is outed, of course, on the school's secrets tumblr (oh man, remember those? This book was published in 2015). Marty, angry that Abby doesn't like him (duh, he has rancid vibes) anonymously submits a profane, homophobic tirade "from"/about Simon. Simon has to deal with homophobic insults and bullying (nothing physical) at school, as well as people gossiping about him. Luckily some boys are sent to the principal after making sexually suggestive comments/actions about Simon, and the drama teacher stands up for him. Simon comes out to his family because of Marty's actions, and they're supportive. There's a hilarious part where his BFF Nick goes to sleep over at Simon's, and Simon's parents are like "keep the door cracked open" bc Nick's a boy and Simon's like "MOOOM!!! It's not like that!!"

I didn't like the way Simon's friend Leah treated him and their other friends: she was jealous and resentful of Abby for being pretty and popular and skinny, and because Nick liked Abby instead of her. She was obviously hurting, but she made her best friends feel like they had to walk on eggshells around her, and she took out her emotions on them/blamed them for her emotions too much. Leah gets her own book later, and I think it's revealed that she's bi, so I feel like part of the thing with Abby is that she also has a crush on her. That's my hypothesis, anyway. I loved her secretly being in a band and playing the drums.

I liked Abby, but I think it was a bit self-centered of her to be irritated with Simon when she found out about the blackmailing, saying he should have told her since she's not a prize to be won, etc. She's right, but she doesn't understand the level of fear a closeted teen has, and how terrified they are of others finding out, and of the severity of Marty's action. Abby does come to her senses about that later and apologizes to Simon.

There's a scene where Simon, Nick and Abby drive to Atlanta and go to a gay-friendly restaurant, where Simon is immediately adopted by some adult gay guys and plied with alcohol until they realize he's not a college student, getting him hammered. I'm not sure if I was supposed to see it as funny, and while I understood how great it felt for Simon to be around his people, this scene was very anxiety-inducing for me. To their credit, the gay guys immediately deposited Simon back to his friends' table once they found out he was in high school, with the very sweet line "go be seventeen, sweet Simon", but WHY didn't they make sure he was 21 or at least 18 before loading him up with alcohol? It made me very angry with them, and worried for Simon. To their credit, when Simon's parents find out he's drunk, they have a talk with him and ground him.

Marty does get some comeuppance, thankfully. Obviously Abby rejects him, and Simon tells him exactly how his actions made him feel in a very cathartic monologue to read ("you took that [coming out in his own time] away from me!"). Marty's older brother, who is gay, finds out what he did and reads him the riot act off-page. Good.

Some reviewers have said there's not enough conflict or real fear for Simon, but I think there's plenty. There were plenty of jerks at his school being homophobic to him, and he didn't know for sure that his parents would accept him, or to what degree. The setting is in the suburbs (I think) of Atlanta, so it's not super homophobic as the rest of Georgia. Blue turns out to be a cute sportsball player, and isn't that the dream for gay teen boys? To end up with a cute jock who's also sensitive and smart? Good for him. 

END SPOILERS I GUESS

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to people who like YA and LGBTQ+ books about coming out. Becky Albertalli writes really well, and I think it sucks that she was basically forced to come out because people on the internet have no sense of boundaries or privacy, and hounded her for daring to write a gay character as a "straight" author. That is not how Own Voices is supposed to work. Sorry for ending this review with a bummer. 

Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Read in: June 30
From: Savers thrift store
Status: keeping for now because I need it for next year's pride rainbow book stack

Cover notes: I like the cover ok. Simon's being headless suggests he's holding back, not showing all of himself. Not sure why the title says "homo sapiens agenda" when it's never discussed. 

Trigger warnings for this book: homophobic bullying (non-physically violent) and mocking, teen is forcibly outed, teen is blackmailed about his sexuality, homophobia, adults ply teen boy with alcohol and get him drunk (not knowing he's a teen), underage drinking, sexism re: the Abby thing, internalized fatphobia (Leah), low self-esteem (Leah), mildly suggestive flirty talk between teen boys, masturbation mentions. I can't remember if any slurs are used. Simon's school has Spirit week which includes Cross-Dressing Day, which is probably transphobic

Book Review: Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari

I bought this one from Book Outlet because it seemed light and fun and sapphic. I was right about the last part. Book summary:

Claire has always wanted to work with superheroes, from collecting Warrior Nation cards as a kid to drafting "What to Say to a Hero" speeches in her diary. Now that she's landed a coveted internship with the Chicago branch of Warrior Nation, Claire is ready to prove she belongs, super or not. But complicating plans is the newest WarNat hero, Girl Power (aka Joy), who happens to be egotistical and self-important... and pretty adorable.
 
Bridgette, meanwhile, wants out of WarNat. After years of dating the famous Vaporizer (aka Matt), she's sick of playing second, or third, or five-hundredth fiddle to all the people-in-peril in the city of Chicago. Of course, once Bridgette meets Claire—who's clearly in need of a mentor and wingman—giving up WarNat becomes slightly more complicated. It becomes a lot more complicated when Joy, Matt, and the rest of the heroes go missing, leaving only Claire and Bridgette to save the day.

The setting is an alternate universe Chicago where superheroes are real and are a cross between celebrities, public figures, and law enforcement. It's similar to Marvel/DC, except the celebrity angle is really pitched up (disclosure: I've only read a few comics). Each big city region gets four superheroes to protect it, and Warrior Nation is a national corporation/publicity machine/etc. The Chicago WarNat headquarters were really cool to read about; they were kind of like a cross between what I imagine the Avengers tower, CIA headquarters, and Google headquarters to be like. The worldbuilding was fleshed out, and the author's love for Chicago shows.

 Claire is obsessed with the superheroes and with Warrior Nation. Her diary mentioned in the book summary is actually a bulging super-scrapbook filled with files and information on all the superheroes and every aspect of WarNat. She's geeky and a little much with her superhero worship. While she initially thinks Joy is full of herself and used to getting her way due to her pretty girl privilege, it's a very short hate to love thing that quickly becomes them making out in WarNat headquarters broom closets. Their relationship is cute, if a bit first-love-cloying. I liked that the WarNat top brass made Claire the Girl Power advisor because she's young; there's a cool scene where she talks them out of making Girl Power wear a revealing sexy costume.

Bridgette's an old hand in WarNat, having dated Matt/Vaporizer for four years. Her part of the story shows the dark underside of superherodom and celebrity. Vaporizer's fangirls bash her online and, when they come across her in real life, scream into her face that her boyfriend can do better than her. She's called all sorts of horrible names, both online and in person. Also, she's in constant danger since Matt has no secret identity and everyone knows they're dating, so she's been kidnapped countless times, attacked in the street, had important public events ruined by mobbing fans and her boyfriend flying though glass windows. Matt often stands her up, and while it sometimes is to rescue a kidnapped girl, it's just as often to film a commercial for something. It was really sad to read about everything she went through, and I'm pretty sure she was only 18 or so. Bridgette deserved better. I liked that she was friends with the other superheroes' significant others, and they made a little "super-adjacent" club.

The summary makes it sound like Bridgette takes Claire under her wing, but in the story, Bridgette and Claire are thrown together because they're kidnapped by superpowered bad guys. Those baddies are the reason why the superheroes disappear, and WarNat is being all tight-lipped about it. With the help of smarmy assistant Teddy, Claire and Bridgette must find out the truth and save the superheroes.

This book was a fun read in the beginning and suspenseful in the middle and end. It really took a hard look at how difficult it must be to be the significant other or parent of a superhero. Much like professional athletes, the supers join Warrior Nation in part because of the huge paychecks, but their loved ones are constantly afraid they will be hurt or killed. The part where the superheroes go missing is harrowing to read about because of their families' and partners' grief and worry. This book isn't afraid to go dark, despite the cover and premise, and for that I respect it. In terms of the queer representation, there is no homophobia in the book. Claire is out, and while no mention is made of whether Joy is out, she does take her on dates in public and stuff, even after she's famous.

Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Read in: June 20-21
From: Book Outlet
Status: give away eventually

Cover notes: I like the hardcover (which I have) book's purple cover better than the paperback's blue cover. The font is fantastic; lightning bolts and hearts are the letter's holes and sometimes legs, which is perfect for the subject matter. The superheroes are on top of the word "Super", while the girls gaze up at their paramours: Claire lovingly and Bridget exasperatedly. I like that Claire is holding her notebook, but the paintbrushes Bridgette is holding aren't her medium (I don't like the splashes of paint on her jumper; if she did paint she would totally cover her regular cute clothes). Bridgette makes intricate paper sculptures; she doesn't paint. It's an important plot point in the book! They gave Claire red hair when it's said to be purple (with an undercut) in the book. This book cover is fairly neutral, if you're worried about being seen reading a gay book; it will appear to the casual cishet observer that Claire is gazing up at Girl Power in a hero worship way, not a gay way.

Trigger warnings for this book: teen girl is stalked and grossly touched/sniffed by creepy adult man, kidnapping, teen girl grabbed and has her hair set on fire by adult man, violence, misogyny, online trolling/hate directed at teen girl, a character's hand is broken (sound mentioned), blood, injuries, verbal abuse of teen girl by strangers, obsessive parasocial relationships with celebrities

Book Review: The Sullivan Sisters by Kathryn Ormsbee

I picked this book up at the Dollar Tree because of its pretty cover, which is in the ace colors. When I saw from a blurb on the back that Kathryn Ormsbee also wrote Tash Hearts Tolstoy, I immediately purchased it. Book summary:

Time changes things.

That painful fact of life couldn’t be truer for the Sullivan sisters. Once, they used to be close, sharing secrets inside homemade blanket castles. Now, life in the Sullivan house means closed doors and secrets left untold.

Fourteen-year-old Murphy, an aspiring magician, is shocked by the death of Siegfried, her pet turtle. Seventeen-year-old Claire is bound for better things than her Oregonian hometown—until she receives a crushing rejection from her dream college. And eighteen-year-old Eileen is nursing a growing addiction in the wake of life-altering news.

Then, days before Christmas, a letter arrives, informing the sisters of a dead uncle and an inheritance they knew nothing about. The news forces them to band together in the face of a sinister family mystery...and, possibly, murder.

The Sullivan Sisters is an unforgettable novel about the ghosts of the past, the power of connection, and the bonds of sisterhood.

So, I'm just going to say it: I was acebaited. I saw the ace-colored cover; I saw that Kathryn Ormsbee wrote Tash Hearts Tolstoy, one of the first ace YA books, and just assumed this book would have at least one asexual character as well. NOPE. I was tricked, deceived, bamboozled; I was acebaited. It should be illegal to have a book's cover be purple, white, grey and black if there are no ace characters! Kathryn and the colors led me astray. Disappointment. At least one main character, Claire, is gay. There are a couple other minor characters who are gay as well, and show Claire what her future can look like as a queer person in a small town.

Despite this, this book was good. It is very sad, what with the death of one parent and the physical/emotional neglect of the other, the family's financial difficulties and alienation from each other. The oldest girl, Eileen, is a teenage alcoholic reeling from the discovery of a family secret. Claire turns to magical thinking and a #girlboss YouTuber for the advice she's missing from her sister and mom. Murphy's desire to be a magician stems from the lack of attention she so desperately craves; she feels invisible. Murphy was probably a bit weaker as a character; she's 14 but feels 12. Even when I wanted to shake the girls, I cared about them and rooted for things to improve for them. 

I have less love for the mother. I can understand working so hard to pay off the father's medical debt, but she didn't have to emotionally withdraw as well. And it made no sense for her to refuse her oldest daughter's money, given their financial situation. She should have been on top of the situation and picked up on her daughters' struggles. Now that I think about it, the mom is totally depressed, but still. She's kind of the least-rounded character; we're mostly told stuff about her.

The story really picks up when Eileen decides to check out their dead uncle's house several towns away, begrudgingly allowing Claire along for gas money; Murphy stows away and surprises her older sisters halfway there. The mystery about their family is quite dark, with murder and abuse involved. It was very interesting and kept me guessing. The book has a happy ending, with the girls starting to get and choose what they want.

Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Read in: June 16
From: Dollar Tree
Status: give away eventually

Cover notes: I have already mentioned how acebaited I was by this cover. It really is quite lovely, although the girls don't look enough like how they're written.

Trigger warnings for this book: murder, blood, gore, parental abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, parental neglect, physical neglect, emotional neglect, maggots in food (including partially eaten food), alcoholism, teenage alcoholic, underage drinking, underage binge-drinking, drunk driving, teen drunk driving, death of parent (from cancer I think?), animal death, animal neglect, animal corpse carried around in tupperware, mention of smell from said corpse, hate mail with threats and slut-shaming, teenage pregnancy mention, poor family (economically disadvantaged), medical debt, bats, creepy doll (does nothing), nice sheriff character