#four unicorns

As a member of the queer community it is easy to understand Simon and his feelings about coming out and how he wants to do or not do it. One thing that really struck home was how Simon felt about coming out to his family.  He felt he shouldn’t have to. He wasn’t worried that they would disown him or anything horrible like that, but what he was worried about and didn’t want to deal with was that it would change who he was to his parents. To a teenager with a tight knit family that was a pretty horrible possibility. Simon just wants to be Simon. He believes it shouldn’t matter that no one else knows that he is gay, but what if other people knowing does matter and changes who he thinks he is. This kind of panic about identity and what it all means is something you don’t see very often delved into unless it is coated in layers of self-hatred and internalized homophobia. Simon’s worries and fear felt so real because he wasn’t hating himself for being gay, he wasn’t hating anything, he just didn’t want to have to make a proclamation about himself like it was a huge deal, it’s just who he was.

That leads to the next thing that stood out; a high school aged antagonist that was so believable and so amazingly hate-able. This rant will definitely edge into spoiler territory but I need to say this and get it out. The reason Martin as an antagonist really struck a chord was that he was so real. Stuff like this happens in high school all the time and those who act this way don’t always realize how bad it really is. The only thing that fell a little flat was the way the book seemed to beg for the reader to like Martin even after everything he put Simon through. It tried to make it clear that Martin was supposed to be this adorable idiot, but nothing that was said took away the fact that he knowingly black mailed a gay boy and then outed him when a girl didn’t like him back. He felt entitled to Abby’s affection because he liked her but when she didn’t like him back he punished Simon for something he couldn’t even control. This was a case of the author trying to redeem someone who didn’t deserve it. This was a case of wanting there to be no real “bad guys”, but that isn’t realistic. Human beings make mistakes and do crappy stuff, but what makes someone redeemable is what they do after to make amends. Martin was completely in the wrong and could have seriously ruined Simon’s life with what he did, but he “didn’t think it was a big deal” so it should be fine, but when it wasn’t fine he did nothing to really mend the situation with Simon. He apologized but in that same scene he tried to say how he was just as much of a victim, which invalidates the entire thing. Long rant short, Martin was a character that was set up to be hated or at the very least seriously disliked and then the reader is browbeat about how he really isn’t that bad of a guy. Even if it was true, we were only told that but never shown evidence of it.

Now moving on to the much more enjoyable topic of Blue. This is a character that we met entirely through emails with no face or description outside of his url and a vague description of a vague tumblr post. It was an ingenious way to have the readers fall in love with Blue in the exact same way Simon did; through words on a computer screen (or on the page in the reader’s case). There was some drama along the way but it didn’t have the same heavy feeling that typically comes with contemporary queer fiction.

The other characters are back ground players but they still endear you to Simon even more through his interactions with them. Leah, Nick, and Abby are entertaining and the story leaves you wanting to know more but it doesn’t feel unfinished because the story is Simon’s through and through.

Overall the book was entertaining and easy to get into and felt like a young adult romantic comedy that also had a happy helping of gay on top of that. The heavier notes hit well but didn’t overpower the comedy of the rest of the book.

Queer Wrap-up: This one is an easy tally. We have our loveable main character of Simon and his utter gayness. I don’t really count Blue because he isn’t explored as a character outside of the romance. I do wish I could give this book five unicorns, but the situation with Martin and how his arc was handled just rubbed me the wrong way and outside of Simon and Blue we have no other named established queer characters.

Links:

Becky Albertalli’s Website

Goodreads

Love, Simon IMDB

Amazon