Simon is gay but not out yet. He's been emailing anonymously with another gay student — Blue — and they've fallen for each other without knowing who the other is. Then someone threatens to out him if he doesn't cooperate. One of the most purely delightful YA romances ever written.
Clean YA — sweet and emotionally rich.
Skip if you dislike:
Moods: Sweet Funny LGBTQ+ Nostalgic
Tropes: LGBTQ+ Coming Out Email Pen Pals First Love
Yes — Love, Simon (2018) is a beloved adaptation.
Yes — Leah on the Offbeat continues in the same universe.
Yes — it's sweet and the content is appropriate for younger YA readers.
Every Sort By Cravings guide is written after a full read-through — not scraped from publisher blurbs or Amazon summaries. We map tropes directly from the text, cross-reference BookTok and Goodreads reader reactions across 500+ community posts, and calibrate heat ratings against reader consensus before publishing. Mood tags, spice numbers, and “skip if” notes reflect actual reading experience. Read our editorial standards.
