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Simon Says
Simon Templar always imagined the worst thing that could happen to him was his parents' decision to give him the same name as a fictional hero. But then his entire life changes one evening when his drunken father-in-law to be divulges some shocking news about his daughter—the love of Simon's life. In the aftermath of the revelation Simon attempts to rebuild his hopes through the strength of his best friendship with Sean and many failed attempts at new relationships. Simon Says is about learning to love again, forgive mistakes and completely understand the meaning of FUBAR.
169 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 23, 2016
3.5
Posted in full http://www.reviewedthebook.co.uk/2016...
Simon Says is a witty romantic comedy told purely from a male perspective, which is something refreshingly different in this genre. I was interested to see how the man’s take on romance would come across and protagonist Simon is the perfect character for us to follow through this romantic comedy because he is, truly, hopeless and therefore with his lack of tact, we get to see his honest take on all things love, whereas normally the guy is the secondary character we only get small insight into.
Simon is happily in a relationship with Meredith until a drunken comment from his father-in-law reveals that for the first six months of their relationship, Meredith was seeing a guy called Dean at the same time. Though he tries to put on a brave face, this confession wrecks Simon – he’s no idea what to do with himself and how to approach Meredith. All he can picture is her with another guy and he’s not sure how to feel. As he tries to figure things out, he turns to his best mate Sean, and this was my favourite part of the book.
The friendship between Simon and Sean is a really fun aspect of the book. They both contrasted well with each other, with Simon being a bit clueless and acting without thinking first coming to rely a lot on Sean’s voice of reason. Sean was a great friend – always just a text or lads night in away from Simon and always there to support him. I liked getting to see Sean’s character develop too and I felt just as invested in his life as I did Simon’s, which is something I don’t often feel about supporting characters.
A lot of their communication, and actually a lot of all the conversation in Simon Says was via text message which was an aspect I enjoyed more than I thought I would! Daniel’s writing showed off the true trauma of texts – how to word things right, how things can be taken the wrong way, how many kisses to put on the end, what’s too formal, too informal, the need to make sure you’re sending to the right contact, the text message signs that someone is pissed off with you etc etc. Whoever said sending a text message is simple was lying, and Simon Says just proves it.
Another thing seen a lot in Simon Says was movie references. There were tons and tons of movie references, from characters to quotes (and intentional misquotes) to ending scenes. Now I appreciate this was part of the style of the book, and it made sense with the tone of Simon and Sean’s friendship, but I have to confess that most of the references went over my head as I’m not much of a movie buff. I found myself wishing I could get the joke as most of the time I couldn’t, but I suppose it serves me right for always having my head in a book and not stopping to watch a film! What I did get was some of the music references and I constantly had a song in my head throughout reading this book.
The romance in this book felt very genuine and believable, at least until the end. As Simon bids to at least try and move on from Meredith, he goes on a few different dates and there’s a mixture of women he meets and each date is different but also traumatic. Dating was hard-work for Simon, as I’m sure many people can relate to. I laughed and cringed my way through some of his unfortunate dates and wondered if he would ever get the hang of talking to a woman! The only thing I didn’t really buy was the ending. I kind of saw it coming, because the way Simon was being made to feel bad about the whole situation from his friends hinted at it. Personally I didn’t really feel he warranted any of the stick he was getting, so I would probably have preferred a different resolution. But it was tied up nicely. A quick read at less than 200 pages, Simon Says is an amusing read, quick-witted and very honest.
(review copy)
January 3, 2016
Simon Templar (yes, as in the Saint as in the TV series) is happily engaged to Meredith when a shocking revelation spins his life out of control, and he ends up on his best mate's couch re-discovering life as a single and experiencing the downfalls of the current dating scene.
This was a quick, fun read. As a female, I found it quite interesting as it was written from a male perspective, kind of a chic-lit book for males. It was pretty amusing and certainly kept me engaged throughout, but the one thing that stopped me from rating it higher was the emphasis on references to films and music, which became a little over the top. The ending was also far too neat for my liking. But for a couple of hours of light entertainment, it was a pretty good read. The author certainly managed to draw quite a tender portrait of human relationships and friendships, which were all believable. The focus on text messaging as a major communication tool for sorting out relationship and life issues in general, was hilarious and sadly, felt very authentic, too.
Thanks to the author and publisher for my copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
This was a quick, fun read. As a female, I found it quite interesting as it was written from a male perspective, kind of a chic-lit book for males. It was pretty amusing and certainly kept me engaged throughout, but the one thing that stopped me from rating it higher was the emphasis on references to films and music, which became a little over the top. The ending was also far too neat for my liking. But for a couple of hours of light entertainment, it was a pretty good read. The author certainly managed to draw quite a tender portrait of human relationships and friendships, which were all believable. The focus on text messaging as a major communication tool for sorting out relationship and life issues in general, was hilarious and sadly, felt very authentic, too.
Thanks to the author and publisher for my copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
February 5, 2016
Well, this did not work for me, I’m afraid. I liked the idea of the novel way more than I enjoyed the novel itself.
It is an old tale (main character finding out they have been cheated repeatedly right before the wedding), one that’s been written many times but not that many from the male perspective, so I was curious to read it. I thought it’d be refreshing, but I felt the same way I feel when reading some similar books from the female perspective: it’s too filled with stereotypes to actually touch me. Too grounded by gender roles (even if some times inverted here) to interest me as something original. The humor, also, was too hard handed, as if the author felt that he had to try to insert what was apparently intended to be uplifting humor but felt more like sarcasm some times or was too juvenile to make me really feel sorry or like Simon. Simon was supposed to be a relatable character, a nice guy who was wronged and was trying to find himself and what to do but even though all that was true, I could not relate to him. I could rationally feel like I should feel sorry for him and cheer for him but I simply couldn’t really care. He didn’t sound charmingly dorky to me but like a 12 year-old that suddenly discovered himself an adult with no real grasp of how to live, joke or act. I can only think I’m either too spoiled by Sophie Kinsella and Sheila Roberts, who can take this kind of simple tale and make me completely invested and entertained all through the book or that, in this case, the distanced, a bit too formal writing in 3rd person prevented a deeper connection between me and Simon’s faith to happen. And I really disliked the ending.
Maybe it was just a mismatch between this reader and the book, I don’t know…
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange of my honest review. This fact did not affect my opinion in any way.
It is an old tale (main character finding out they have been cheated repeatedly right before the wedding), one that’s been written many times but not that many from the male perspective, so I was curious to read it. I thought it’d be refreshing, but I felt the same way I feel when reading some similar books from the female perspective: it’s too filled with stereotypes to actually touch me. Too grounded by gender roles (even if some times inverted here) to interest me as something original. The humor, also, was too hard handed, as if the author felt that he had to try to insert what was apparently intended to be uplifting humor but felt more like sarcasm some times or was too juvenile to make me really feel sorry or like Simon. Simon was supposed to be a relatable character, a nice guy who was wronged and was trying to find himself and what to do but even though all that was true, I could not relate to him. I could rationally feel like I should feel sorry for him and cheer for him but I simply couldn’t really care. He didn’t sound charmingly dorky to me but like a 12 year-old that suddenly discovered himself an adult with no real grasp of how to live, joke or act. I can only think I’m either too spoiled by Sophie Kinsella and Sheila Roberts, who can take this kind of simple tale and make me completely invested and entertained all through the book or that, in this case, the distanced, a bit too formal writing in 3rd person prevented a deeper connection between me and Simon’s faith to happen. And I really disliked the ending.
Maybe it was just a mismatch between this reader and the book, I don’t know…
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange of my honest review. This fact did not affect my opinion in any way.
January 29, 2016
I don’t remember many stories that have touched me the way 'Simon Says' did. It's a fun story that will make you think about friendship, love, relationships ... but above all, about finding yourself. Among musical references and dialogues of films, Simon tries to understand how a lie put his world upside down, triggering a series of misunderstandings.
I found myself taking notes about movies (many of which I've seen hundreds of times) and dialogues between Sean and Simon (as hilarious as deep). I even found a perfect word for when everything goes to hell: FUBAR (I invite you to read to understand).
Reading this novel is impossible not to imagine every scene like a film sequence (with its own particular soundtrack). You will laugh out loud, yes, but also reflect ... and possibly discover that sometimes you do not need to say a word (to say everything).
I found myself taking notes about movies (many of which I've seen hundreds of times) and dialogues between Sean and Simon (as hilarious as deep). I even found a perfect word for when everything goes to hell: FUBAR (I invite you to read to understand).
Reading this novel is impossible not to imagine every scene like a film sequence (with its own particular soundtrack). You will laugh out loud, yes, but also reflect ... and possibly discover that sometimes you do not need to say a word (to say everything).
March 30, 2016
'Simon says' is a lighthearted, entertaining rom-com. It isn't a genre I'd normally choose, but as I'd previously enjoyed reading Daniel Gothard's short fiction, I decided to give it a go.
It's interesting to have a male perspective on how the stresses of a relationship are dealt with - often by avoidance, and much of the time by retreating into films. The characterisation is strong and exchanges between the protagonist, Simon, and his best friend, Sean, ring true. The text etiquette and film references are a highlight for me, and the story has a solid, satisfying ending. A great, fun read.
It's interesting to have a male perspective on how the stresses of a relationship are dealt with - often by avoidance, and much of the time by retreating into films. The characterisation is strong and exchanges between the protagonist, Simon, and his best friend, Sean, ring true. The text etiquette and film references are a highlight for me, and the story has a solid, satisfying ending. A great, fun read.
September 27, 2016
Gothard brilliantly captures real-life moral quandaries with sharp, incisive characters that bristle amongst an urban landscape. His cast love and loathe with equal passion, each trying to make a shifting world fit to their shifting demands. Gothard portrays the unease of postmodern living with a surgical eye for detail in this gripping book. Vibrant and witty, 'Simon says' is a must-read novel by a writer with a sharp eye and an even sharper tongue.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews