Review: Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Why am I not surprised that I adored this book so much? Because Goodreads can't be wrong. Lately it has become my one-stop-shop for book picks and it rarely disappoints. I had been wanting to read a light, nice contemporary book and Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda came to my book pile. The cover was intriguing, and I hadn't really read a book relating to sexual identity before.

Simon is gay, and he has been emailing Blue (identity unknown), a boy attending the same high-school. They keep their real identities hidden from each other, because neither of them has had their 'coming out' moment. Simon's not sure when he'd be ready--he knows that his family would be accepting, but with their annoying tendency to be over-enthusiastic about anything he does beyond their pre-conceived notions of him, it's a bit difficult. Then there's the whole idea of being bullied by school kids. One day, though, Simon's emails to Blue are read by his classmate, who begins to blackmail him. The story moves forward combining Simon toiling for, sometimes avoiding, Martin, fearing that he would spill his secret when he isn't ready. We meet Simon's friends and go through their lives as well, and we feel Simon's pangs to know the real Blue.

It was quite a refreshing read, actually. The writing is simple and fun, the (almost) typical contemporary narration making it a quick and easy read. However, the fact that I couldn't put it down unless I had read till the end proves that, at least for a picky reader like me, the book serves well to break any reading slump you might be facing. Also, it gives you perspective. How do you feel about being gay and unable to come out with it? Does society or the idea of bullying scare you? Do you get pissed off when straight people find it difficult to admit they like someone of the opposite gender? How do you perceive a friend or schoolmate who's gay?

Book title: Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda

Author: Becky Albertalli (do read. It's unique and fun!)

Pages: 320

Published: 2015 by HarperCollins (Blazer+Bray)

Find it on Amazon here

My rating: 4/5!

~Things I enjoyed~

1. The perfect balance of family understanding and discord. People are there for Simon, but don't exactly make it easy for him to 'come out' because of their tendency to highlight anything out of the ordinary.

2. Characters. I liked how Alice, Simon's elder sister, remained in the background for most of the book but still comes across as a supportive and fun sister. Simon is likeable enough, and he seems realistically vulnerable when he begins being blackmailed by Martin. He's a fun mix of weird and nice. I liked many more character portrayals, but what I liked more was how they were balanced throughout the book. No overdose of any single character. 

3. The school setting. This is purely personal because I hadn't read a book with a school setting since maybe Vampire Academy? Who knows. I, for one, don't keep a tab on book settings. I have a hard time remembering character names the next day. Anyway, the school setting made it 'refreshing' for me. It has also been realistically done. (I don't know how realistic it is though, to have many people who'd support gay rights when they're teenagers. I hope it is very much real!)

4. The mystery. All things apart, the constant mystery of Blue's real identity could have been the prime reason I couldn't put the book down! Minor spoiler alert: For a long time I felt I knew who he was, but then I didn't. Tch.

5. Ms. Albright, the drama teacher. Particularly towards the ending, she turned into a badass woman who won't tolerate bullying. She was quite likeable from the start, though, as a teacher who makes things funny and comfortable for the students by, say, speaking in their language. 

6. The ultimate meeting of Simon and Blue!!! The revelation of Blue. I was hugely anticipating someone as Blue, though it was also somehow unimaginable, but then it ended up being someone I had also imagined as a possible Blue but it had seemed irrelevant at that time. Looking back, the subtle foreshadowing was CUTE. I don't even know it anything in this para makes sense. Writing without spoilers is no good. *sigh* 

What my ebook copy looked like when I went to the park to read

~Things I did NOT enjoy~

1. Character development when it comes to Simon's friends. Simon's own character development isn't intense per se, but visible enough for readers to note. However, I did wonder why Abby and Nick didn't seem to be bothered about Leah. [The following text COULD be a character personality spoiler for some, so read at your own risk.] They both seemed to have been self-absorbed. I get that Leah's behaviour wasn't exactly rational, but Simon handled it way better than the other two. And if I were the choose between Leah and Abby, it would be Leah because Abby, no matter how friendly and cute, was ALWAYS oblivious to Leah and sometimes I was all, 'Doesn't this girl think before speaking stuff?' When I read some Goodreads reviews before getting to this book (not always a great idea. There's always a spoiler), some of them seemed to think Leah's behaviour as selfish. I expected it to be, but ended up feeling quite the opposite. [end of probable spoiler]

2. The play/musical taking up a huge portion of the reader's time, which made me anticipate something AMAZING during the actual play, but things seemed... normal. Sure, there were a couple of things that happened, but nothing worth the hype. What happened with the homecoming was perfectly balanced, in fact.

Overall, you should consider three things:

1. The easy and fun writing style that'll keep you hooked.

2. Your sensitivity towards people's sexual identities and their dilemmas would be greatly enhanced.

3. Your weekend wouldn't be boring if you read this book. :)

Or maybe you could consider a couple of quotes:

“People really are like houses with vast rooms and tiny windows. And maybe it's a good thing, the way we never stop surprising each other.”

“The way I feel about him is like a heartbeat -- soft and persistent, underlying everything.”

Yeah? Feel warm and woozy? Good. Buy your copy here.

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Book Title: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 485

Published: 2007

Find it at: Amazon

My Rating: 4/5!

Another book series I didn’t read while the world was going crazy about it. (I just DON’T know what’s with my aversion to reading books at the same time as others). I wish I had read it before. City of Bones introduces us to a new world—dark, mysterious and fascinating—a world that’s closely intertwined with ours, visible only to those with the Sight. There are humans, of course (called ‘mundanes’ because we can’t see the real excitement in the world, I guess) and then there are Shadowhunters, who are part human and part angel. The Mortal Cup is an instrument that was used to make the first Shadowhunters (by mixing in blood of humans and angels and getting a prospective Shadowhunter to drink it. I’d have thought a vampire would like it more). There are also the Downworlders, creatures that have demonic blood or tendencies in them (include everything else—vampires, werewolves, faeries, etc). In City of Bones, we see how all these worlds mix up in the quest to fight the feared Shadowhunter-gone-wrong called Valentine, who wants the world full of “pure blood” Shadowhunters and absolutely no demons.

That’s the background. The story is narrated in third person, but the central character of the story is Clarissa (Clary) Fray, a fifteen year old living in Brooklyn with her mother, Jocelyn. She has a best friend, Simon. One evening when Clary and Simon are visiting the popular hangout club Pandemonium, Clary witnesses a murder. The baffling thing was, the victim’s body evaporated and she was the only one who could see the killers—teenagers just like herself. Clary is drawn into a world she had no memories of, meets people she should have known but doesn’t, and realizes that what she knew about herself was barely true.

City of Bones has a compelling storyline. Though I could draw some parallels with other books (such as Harry Potter), I do think that this story stands on its own, particularly in terms of characters and their motivations. The author lays heavy emphasis on past events, relationships and emotions of characters to control their behaviour in the present. Every character has a backstory that validates their actions or thoughts, and it feels so realistic. That’s probably one of the best things about this book. Sure, there were some places where the characters seemed to be acting on sudden impulses or had changed emotions in a jiffy, which felt too rushed to me, but it wasn’t really bothersome. The characters are memorable, to say the least.

There is a good amount of action and suspense too, fairly presented and well-spaced. Because the story focuses on family dynamics too, one of the major twists pertained to familial ties, and it was indeed so surprising, I totally did NOT see it coming. Another thing I found different and “fresh” about a YA novel such as this was that it also touches upon sensitive themes such as family separation, being an outcast and homosexuality.

Some parts in the story were quite touching and sad. Needless to say, I loved the balanced mix of everything. It was appealing in a curious way… despite all the darkness, the raw discomfort of what was happening, I couldn’t put the book down. At first, it was interesting but not as gripping as I thought it would be—I had a feeling it was overrated—but it seemed to pick up pace after about 40% and then it was hard to put it down. I did read a lot of it while I should have been working. The writing style is good… pretty normal, I guess, because I didn’t observe it that much, except that some really good vocab is used in places and I was just wondering how each character has such a good repertoire of vocab.

This book came as a ‘different’ kind of story compared with the ones I’d been reading the past two years. It relates more to the YA books I read while in college, and the reading experience felt very good. I’ve begun to read City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) and I’m already excited!! Any of you read these books?

(Sharing some quotes from the book below):

“The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.”

“Where there is love, there is often also hate. They can exist side by side.”

“All knowledge hurts.”

 PS- I'm not much of a movie person but I just saw that there's a movie on this!!!! I don't like the feel of the characters (in the photographs) though. Books are always so much better. 

Book talk: Moonfleet by J.M. Falkner

J.M. Falkner (1858-1932)

Book details

Title: Moonfleet

Author: John Meade Falkner (English novelist and poet)

Published: 1898

Find it at: Amazon

This book is about: a silent countryside, smugglers and contrabandiers, adventure, love and loss, human relationships, pursuit of lost treasure

Some cool facts around this book
1. The village of Moonfleet is inspired from East Fleet in Dorset in England.
2. The author, J.M. Falkner had an affinity for weapons and interest in the supernatural.
3. J.M. Falkner had other interests, but is known for his three novels, the most popular of which is Moonfleet. He wrote a fourth novel but it was lost when he left the only copy on a train and never saw it again (*sigh*)

How I came to this book

(I really like listing down such things as how I came across particular books. Some books are loved even more because of the way they came to your life, is it not?)

I had an old, yellow-paged copy of Moonfleet among my first ever book collection, which makes it date back to 2003 (approx.). I forget who gave it to me, with the most probable person being the aunt who has often gifted books in my early years (note to self: be such an aunt to someone!). I think I remember dad telling me how it was my aunt's and how she had enjoyed reading it and thought that I would like it too. 

Honestly, I was intrigued by the book (look at the cover! Plus, it was a battered copy, which is even more alluring) but it has taken me twelve years to get down to read it. I have tried picking it up quite a few times, but either found my way across to another book, or found it difficult to get through more than two pages. A few days back, finally, I picked it up and decided to start reading it during my long metro-train travel to work. I think it was one of those books that you wait to read at the right moment, as I don't think I could have enjoyed it more had I read it somehow on my earlier attempts. It was a delight to read Moonfleet, and I am grateful to whoever made me have this wonderful copy. (Still, I do not forgive the brat who has doodled on some pages. The nerve of some kids!)

What is Moonfleet about?

There is a fifteen-year-old boy called John Trenchard living in the Moonfleet village in Dorset (south of England) with his aunt. John's aunt is strict, though caring, so that John doesn't learn to love her much, though he was affectionate. Until one day, she deserts him for getting into mischief--when John was only following his curiosity and instinct--and leaves John fending for himself. 

Elzevir Block is a man most respected by some village folk, while some kept well away from him, including young John. He knows that Block's son, David, was shot by a Customs Officer, namely Maskew, after which Block had turned even more formidable. Yet it is Block who shelters John and cares for him as if he were his own David. Mr Glennie is the village priest and admin. head while Master Ratsey is the sexton, involved with the smugglers. 

Then there's the whole mystery of the Mohune vault, where Blackbeard, the last of the Mohunes (who had created Moonfleet) also rested and had cast a curse. Like most villagers, John believes in the story of Blackbeard's spirit digging the cemetery grounds looking for his lost treasure, until the time he discovers the secret, and finds a clue that, at first, leads him nowhere close to the cursed treasure. The story, however, is more about the paths John's life takes as he starts living a life among smugglers (of liquor) and his quest to find the lost treasure.

Why do I like Moonfleet so much? 

Writing style: This book is a classic story for children, teenagers and young adults, written in first person with John being the narrator. There's something of a mystery driven in each sentence, purely because of the sentence structures! Here and there, where something of importance would arrive at a later place in the story, the author stresses on the points by tagging those as things John would be discovering later. The language is beautiful, the characters' distinct voices made for by their tones and individual characteristics, and the descriptions detailed and wonderful. 

The story: I like how the author somehow makes it not just an adventure story, but a mix of adventure, mystery, thrills of the sea, and human complexity. I love how he uses the perspective of smugglers to describe all the events that take place, which makes you think quite kindly of people in the smuggling business (just because no one wanted to pay excise for good liquor! You can't be too strict about that, specially in 1750s, when the story is set). It makes a lawful person, who might think of those who follow lawlessness as inhuman, look at the other perspective. A hardened man much respected among the contrabandiers because of never being accused of felony taking immense pain to shelter a boy he barely knew anything about. The story is about John's increasing love and respect for 'Master Block', who had saved his life on more than one occasion. It is about greed, love that is incredibly patient, fatherly love, repentance, friendship, luck and perspective on life. All these themes are beautifully integrated in this story of a small village, sailors, prisoners and shipwrecks. 

I have read a few books based around pirates and ships, and though this one was not strictly only about that, I still will keep it in that category because of the sheer importance of the sea in this story. I hope I would read this book again sometime and enjoy it even more! Recommended for: teenagers, young adults, lovers of mystery, adventure, classics, ships and the sea.