Review: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda (THISBOOKTHISBOOKTHISBOOK)

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda 
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publication Date: April 7th 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

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 Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. 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

Right now my thoughts about Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda are along the lines of thisbookthisbookthisbook, it was when  I finished it, and it still is now, because THISBOOKTHISBOOKTHISBOOK. I know what you're thinking, how do I explain things so well? *cough* It's a gift.*cough*  ;) It's just so freaking adorable and funny and cute, and so much more than just freaking adorable and funny and cute, and again, I know, I explain things so well.  So I'll put it this way, Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda shows how far society has evolved regarding anything LGBTQ, and how everything diverse has changed in YA, but also how it hasn't changed for anyone LGBTQ.

Review: Love Letters to the Dead

Love Letters to the Dead
Author: Ava Dellaira

Publication Date:  May 1st 2014

~A copy was provided by HotKeyBooks in exchange for an honest review~

 

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It begins as an assignment for English class: write a letter to a dead person - any dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain - he died young, and so did Laurel's sister May - so maybe he'll understand a bit of what Laurel is going through. Soon Laurel is writing letters to lots of dead people - Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart... it's like she can't stop. And she'd certainly never dream of handing them in to her teacher. She writes about what it's like going to a new high school, meeting new friends, falling in love for the first time - and how her family has shattered since May died.

But much as Laurel might find writing the letters cathartic, she can't keep real life out forever. The ghosts of her past won't be contained between the lines of a page, and she will have to come to terms with growing up, the agony of losing a beloved sister, and the realisation that only you can shape your destiny. A lyrical, haunting and stunning debut from the protégé of Stephen Chbosky (THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER).

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Love Letters to the Dead is as personal as it gets and for me I had a hard time detaching myself from it because in all retro respect, Laurel could've been me. Or you. Or everyone else. A lot of shit happens in this world, and by the synopsis, you don't even get half of it. And that was the shocking thing because while I was reading it, I picked up a few little hints here and there but I still wasn't expecting it.