Official Review: Simon Says by William Poe

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katiesquilts
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Official Review: Simon Says by William Poe

Post by katiesquilts »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Simon Says" by William Poe.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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Simon Says by William Poe is the story of a man, Simon, who escapes a religious cult after repressing his homosexuality there for ten years. Once he decides to leave the cult and take a shot at happiness, he encounters a whirlwind of events and people who take his life to many highs but generally leave him feeling low. Escaping his small home town, he moves to Hollywood and starts working as a movie distributor. Like many people who make it big in Hollywood, he finds new vices and his problems slowly start to spiral out of control.

Despite his success at work and newfound freedom to express his sexuality in any way he pleases, Simon is fundamentally challenged when it comes to love. He falls in love too easily and is willing to trade money and cocaine for affection. This causes him to be used not just by his lovers, but by the people around him who know of his wealth, as well as his weaknesses for drugs and alcohol.

This book reminded me of Heaven Is a Gay Bar by Bryan Foreman, a book I reviewed a few months ago which is also about the gay scene in the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s, as well as a man who struggles with love and addiction. However, where Heaven is a Gay Bar was funny and focused on a straight man in a gay world, Simon Says is very explicit and focuses more on drama than humor. There are a few quippy lines, but the overall writing style is very realistic.

Unfortunately, Simon made the same mistakes multiple times without learning from them. He was on drugs for almost 80% of the novel, and when you're not reading about his reactions to the drugs, you're reading about him searching for more drugs or wanting to do them but not being able to. He even tried to quit a few times, but never lasted more than a day, perhaps. At least, that's how long it felt like. I honestly lost track because other than what was going on with the supporting characters, almost every chapter in the middle was the same. I even lost track of how many lovers Simon had because they were all described as younger and better looking than Simon, and they were all after his money and/or drugs. Only one of them stuck around to become a supporting character. Despite the long, drawn-out stories behind Simon's drug trips, the book's ending came completely without warning and didn't leave me feeling satisfied at all.

I had a lot of complaints about the novel's repetitive style, but it was truly well-edited and I was never bored while reading it. In fact, I got through the first half in just one night, but the second half I had to plod through in small chunks. It's a shame that the ending was so abrupt, because if it had given me some satisfaction after Simon's long journey I would have been able to give the book 4 stars. As it is, I feel like I can only give it 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy drama and gay erotica, but I would not recommend it to anyone who has struggled with addiction, or those who cannot handle explicit novels.

******
Simon Says
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Post by Dael Reader »

I was interested when you described the first part of the book and Simon's struggle to break free of the religious cult to be the person he is. But I'm not at all interested in a book focusing on erotica for any sexual orientation. So your review saves me from wasting time on a book I won't enjoy. Thanks!
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Post by kandscreeley »

Wow! It's really sad Simon doesn't learn from his mistakes sooner. I suppose that that is true to life, though. Some people are like that. Still, this really isn't my type of novel. I'll pass, but I'm glad you were able to appreciate it somewhat.
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Post by Sonya Nicolaidis »

It would have been nice to read that, after all of Simon's trials, he finally manages to quit the drugs, meet someone special, and settle down. However, this book seems to leave its readers frustrated at the end and that's a great pity. Thanks for your comments but I'll give this one a miss.
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Post by Sicily Joy »

Too bad the ending was not satisfactory as the rest of the book sounds very interesting. Thank you for a good and detailed review.
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katiesquilts
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Post by katiesquilts »

kandscreeley wrote: 07 Nov 2018, 09:07 Wow! It's really sad Simon doesn't learn from his mistakes sooner. I suppose that that is true to life, though. Some people are like that. Still, this really isn't my type of novel. I'll pass, but I'm glad you were able to appreciate it somewhat.
Yes, you're absolutely right when you said that it's true to life! I had to check and make sure it wasn't a semi-autobiography, because everything was written as if it had actually happened to the author! That was definitely one of the book's pros, but at the same time, the nice thing about fiction is that sometimes miracles happen...
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Post by T_stone »

I don't think I'll be able to go through with this book. Although it has a good start to it, its ending seems drab from this review. Good you were able to enjoy a few parts of the book. Nice review.
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Post by Franc93 »

There is always a lesson to be learned in everything. The book outlines a different aspect of pain and addiction as clearly noted in your review. Even so i think i'll pass
"Are you going to sit there and feel sorry for yourself, or are you going to reshuffle those cards life dealt you."- Stick
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Post by Ak1412 »

This sounds like a very unique and interesting book.
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