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May. 29th, 2018 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsI enjoyed the Love, Simon film enough that I have finally read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which was definitely the right order to do it in. The film was charming, but the book was definitely much more my speed, and also had many fewer moments when I had to hide my face in my hands to overcome contact embarrassment.
Anyway, in case you missed it, the story is a coming-of-age rom-com centering on Simon, a closeted queer teen processing his experience by engaging in an anonymous correspondence with another closeted queer teen at his school. Complications, of course, ensue, including blackmail, mistaken identity, teen friendship drama, and Inconvenient Feelings.
Things I really liked about the book that I did not realize the film was missing until I read it:
- an actual sense of place; the book is set in Georgia, and it's relevant. I assume the film was also set somewhere, but I could not have told you where
- a realistic depiction of high school social dynamics that includes actual close friends, your friends' close friends that you don't really know but you sit with at lunch, people you hang out with exclusively during extracurriculars, and people who are probably assholes but you don't really know because you've never actually interacted with them
- a legitimate super tropey slow-burn secret identity epistolary romance featuring two whole real characters, rather than one character and one Mystery Love Interest
...OK actually I did realize when I was watching the film that it didn't really give us much of a sense of who Simon's pen pal love was as a person outside of their status as the object of Simon's affection, but now I'm extra aware of it!
Anyway, in case you missed it, the story is a coming-of-age rom-com centering on Simon, a closeted queer teen processing his experience by engaging in an anonymous correspondence with another closeted queer teen at his school. Complications, of course, ensue, including blackmail, mistaken identity, teen friendship drama, and Inconvenient Feelings.
Things I really liked about the book that I did not realize the film was missing until I read it:
- an actual sense of place; the book is set in Georgia, and it's relevant. I assume the film was also set somewhere, but I could not have told you where
- a realistic depiction of high school social dynamics that includes actual close friends, your friends' close friends that you don't really know but you sit with at lunch, people you hang out with exclusively during extracurriculars, and people who are probably assholes but you don't really know because you've never actually interacted with them
- a legitimate super tropey slow-burn secret identity epistolary romance featuring two whole real characters, rather than one character and one Mystery Love Interest
...OK actually I did realize when I was watching the film that it didn't really give us much of a sense of who Simon's pen pal love was as a person outside of their status as the object of Simon's affection, but now I'm extra aware of it!
