

As I said in my review of SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA, I actually saw the movie before I read the book. I loved LOVE, SIMON so much that I decided to read SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA as my first foray into LGBTQ+ fiction. Subsequently, this is more of a Movie vs. Book post.
I watched LOVE, SIMON on Hulu and fell in love with Simon’s story. I connected strongly with him because of his fear of rejection and/or disappointing those he loved if he came out.
I thought that Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel were perfect in the role of Simon’s parents. I loved Nick Robinson as Simon and the actors who played the other high schoolers. I also thought Tony Hale was amazing as the high school principal. I also loved the dancing scene of Simon’s daydream about college. It made me smile and I laughed at his “maybe not that gay” comment.
When I read SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA, I was surprised to find out that Simon has two sisters and that he and Abby were in the musical together as the movie doesn’t address that at all. Cal and Martin, Leah’s crush, and the ending were all different between the movie and book. I like both endings. I think they both fit the medium well. I liked that both the movie and book explore bullying, acceptance, friendship, and family.
Verdict

I bet you know the verdict before I even say it. The movie’s different from the book, but the spirit of the story’s still the same. Most of the time books are way better than their movies, but in this instance, I think both the book and movie are equally as good.
Have you read SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA? Have you seen LOVE, SIMON? Do you like the book or the movie better?