It took me a little while to get fully invested into this story, but by the end of it I was grinning at everything. If you don't, you have no heart. God, it was just... so cute.
Simon is fine. He's nice, if a little clueless, and has a great family support. I did wish Simon wouldn't push Blue into meeting in person so much. Blue had stated that he wasn't ready for that yet. But he's a teenager, and he's not flawless. Abby and Nick are good best friends, and Abby especially shines. It's easy to see why she'd be the first person Simon would tell. I didn't overly like how snippy she got when she found out about Martin, but she does quickly sort out her feelings. Leah is a little more prickly. She hates Abby (because Abby gets on well with both her crush and her best friend) and has a tendency to get angry at her friends over very slight things. However, it is clear that she is concealing a lot of anxiety issues, and I would be interested to read Leah on the Offbeat just to see things from her POV. Martin belongs in a dumpster full of the worst characters in all of literature, alongside Dolores Umbridge.
So, when did people figure out who Blue was? Spoiler: I was pretty sure I knew it was Bram throughout the book, became certain on page 194, than started doubting myself because I didn't know of any Presidents with the first name Bram. /spoiler
This may be the first USYA book I've read where teenagers realistically drink. Simon's parents reaction seemed way over-the-top to me, but that's a cultural difference. In the UK, we can drink at 18, and many parents are okay with teenagers drinking at 16/17. It's sort of a 'you're going to do it anyway, so I'd rather know where you are and what you're up to' thing. So you see, USYA treating alcohol as this 'forbidden subject' has always seemed really odd to me.
One of the best things fiction can do is teach you that your feelings are valid. When you identify with a character going through something similar, Which is even a mantra that Simon preaches, learnt from his psychologist Mom. I'm hoping more teenagers can take away from this that they are entitled to their emotions.
If there's one place I think Albertelli can improve, it's in the description of technology. She calls a Tumblr blog 'The Tumblr' and I don't even think Tumblr is as popular now. I think Facebook would be most logical for a school secrets page. And school computers, I don't know about the US, but over here, if you've logged out of your school account, any internet site is cleared with it. Most teenagers would be hyper-conscious of logging out of an account with that amount of sensitive material on it.
I'd recommend it as one of those books that should be available in all high and secondary schools. It might help teenagers to think about how their actions may effect others, and may help people who are struggling with the idea of coming out.
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