Love, Creekwood by Becky Albertalli
Reviewed by Taylor N.
Love, Creekwood, written by Becky Albertalli, is a part of the Simonverse: a series of
books stemming from the popular #1 New York Times bestseller Simon vs. the Homosapiens
Agenda. It is a short novella featuring many of the characters from Simon vs. the Homosapiens
Agenda such as Simon, Bram, Abby, Taylor, Garrett, and Leah. It follows the crew to
their colleges, and it showcases many of the emotional and social problems they face, how they
overcome them, and how they learn to grow apart from their best friends. Through love and
friendship, they get through their freshman year of college: all while being scattered across the
United States. Near the end of the novella, the group of friends get back together and Simon
reveals a happy piece of information to Bram, his boyfriend.
I liked the formatting of this book, it was very unique! Instead of the traditional style, this
novella showcased this story through emails and email chains, rather than through dialogue and
paragraphs. The experience of reading this book was very refreshing because of the syntax
Albertalli chose to use. This novella was also a quick read and definitely appeals to those who
have read other books in the Simonverse series, or have seen the movie Love, Simon. Having
read Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda, I was able to feel connected to the plot and people in
the book, however, if you haven’t been exposed to any other pieces of work within the
Simonverse, you may feel a little lost. People who are interested in LGBTQ+ social issues and
ideals would also enjoy this book, as the main characters are queer and there is a lot of LGBTQ+
culture in this book. I would recommend this book to an older audience: eighth grade and older
because there are mature themes of sex and sexuality within the novella.
The development of the plot was a little confusing at times because the date of the emails
written is very inconsistent. Sometimes, the emails are written on the same day or only a few
days apart, while in other email chains, they have several-month gaps between them. This, and
the names of the students in the books aren’t given to you. You have to figure them out through
the course of the book and learn who’s email address belongs to whom. Both of those points
confused me while I was reading this book; I had to keep turning back pages to figure out who
was talking and when. That being said, the casual tone of the book was light-hearted and fun to
read. I felt enveloped in the lives the characters (like Simon and Bram) were leading, it was like I
was reading the emails alongside them. This novella reminded me of the popular Netflix show
and comic-book series Heartstopper. Both address issues surrounding queer youth, and both
follow the emotional progression of the teenagers in the story.
If you have read any of the books in the Simonverse, you are sure to enjoy Love,
Creekwood. With all the goofy writing between the characters from the first three books, I felt
like a part of their group while I was reading this novella. Whether you are a part of the
LGBTQ+ community or not, this novella also gives good insight into how people in the
community may live. I thought this was a well-written book, with only a few difficult-to-follow
sections. The only caveat is that you need to have been exposed to other pieces of work in the
Simonverse to truly feel connected to the characters. The way the plot was unfolded the story
was easy to follow, and the interesting layout of the book made it a fun, easy read that left me
feeling satisfied.