Leah on the Offbeat

I whipped through this book in two days and love author Becky Albertalli’s writing style. I am a fan of dialogue and witty banter is even better: you get that with this book. I just felt it was missing something. That something special that came with the experience of reading Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.Note: ‘Leah on the Offbeat’ is a continuation of the Creekwood series; Simon being Creekwood #1. It can be read as a standalone – but then you wouldn’t really know the characters and I absolutely recommend reading Simon! That is a given.Leah is Simon’s best friend. Like Simon in Book #1, she has her own secret that is holding her back from being happy. She is sarcastic, snarky, and moody but you love her anyway because she is not malicious. She only stands in her own way.I will not go into the rest of the story, because you need to read it to experience it.It is hard to compete with all the awesomeness of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. But, I expected something new from this one and was a bit disappointed. It felt a bit rushed and lacking the care the first book had. I do still think its worth a read, especially if you loved Simon and want to see what some of the characters are up to. Just don’t expect to be blown away.

After loving the hell out of "Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda" and "The Upside of Unrequited" I couldn't wait to read "Leah on the Offbeat." As a matter of fact, since I had to get a hardcover copy of the new book, I upgraded my copies of Simon and Upside to hardcover, so the set would match on my shelf. (A little OCD, I know...) What a disappointment! It's not often I get to the last page of a book and feel so unsatisfied, and totally angry that I can't get those hours of my life back!***Spoilers Ahead***Leah was a rude, miserable, cynical, abrasive, sour-puss... who ultimately got everything she wanted, and still seemed only marginally happy about it. I'm shocked that the author chose to glorify and reward Leah's behavior. What a horrible message to give young readers.Leah helped break up Abby and Nick! Okay. I get that teenage romance rarely lasts past graduation. But making Abby suddenly become bi and fall for the most negative and moody girl on the planet? Seems pretty deus ex machina to me.The author's style and wit was consistent with her previous books. At least there was that! The story just wasn't good. I can't help but feel that a totally awesome story COULD HAVE BEEN told about Leah, had Albertalli taken a different path.Two things would have made a boatload of difference, in my humble opinion: First, anyone but Abby! That was just a bad choice. She could have ended up with Nora and that would have been more believable. This was the perfect opportunity to develop a new character. Second, Leah really needed an attitude adjustment! I wanted to like her, but I hated her, and hated that she got what she wanted in the end without any self-improvement. Ya gotta give in order to get; at least a little something. I keep thinking of Ally Sheedy's transformation in "The Breakfast Club." Not the physical make-over, but the change in attitude; coming out of her shell near the end of the movie. Something like that.Unfortunately, if Albertalli writes another Creekwood book, I don't think I'll be in much of a rush to go get a copy.

I have to admit that after reading a few mixed/negative Amazon reviews, I was nervous to read this novel. I loved "Simon vs. Homo Sapiens Agenda" and didn't want to be disappointed by a subpar sequel. My overall verdict is that "Leah on the Offbeat" is an enjoyable read, but not quite as emotionally c ompelling as its predecessor due to poor plotting.First, let me focus on what "Leah on the Offbeat" does well. By telling the story from Leah's perspective, author Becky Albertalli draws attention to issues glossed over in "Simon," like bisexuality, racism, and socioeconomic status. Some readers may be uncomfortable with the change in emphasis, but I thought they were handled well for the most part. Nearly all of the characters from "Simon" make appearances in the sequel and there's plenty of cuteness to go around. Simon and his boyfriend are still madly in love a year after Simon's involuntary outing. At times, they come across as the most stable characters in the story.To me, the main problem with "Leah Off the Beat" is that it has an uneven plot. While "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" was rife with suspense that drove much of that story (who is Blue? Will Martin out Simon? How will people react?), "Leah" lacks the same sort of unity. What we get instead are a handful of interrelated character conflicts about college application drama and prom night that don't quite pack the same emotional punch. The events leading up to prom night feel more like an episode of Glee than a poignant emotional roller coaster. And though there's a happy ending, the abrupt closing scene and epilogue don't give readers the chance to see how most of the other characters handle the immediate aftermath. The epilogue just tells us what happened. And that's disappointing. (It's especially stark compared to "Simon," where Blue's identity is revealed three chapters before the end of the book, leaving plenty of time to wrap up loose ends).In all, fans of "Simon vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda" will probably find "Leah on the Offbeat" to be an enjoyable sequel, even with its imperfections.

This was so much fun!!! I wasn't sure how I was going to get on with Leah - she can be quite abrasive and her negativity and snarky behaviour could be a bit frustrating in the first book. But I really enjoyed this book - all the little references to fandoms and ships, and the way that Leah's friends accepted her for who she was, negativity and all. I found myself really growing to like Leah - I feel that when you're inside her head, her behaviour is easier to understand.The romance in this book is so cute!! No spoilers, but when I found out who the love interest was I wasn't sure I was going to get on with it, because I couldn't see these two characters together at all. But as soon as things kicked off, I was completely invested. They were the cutest, I was so in love with them.I also felt the ending was a teensy bit rushed - we're aware that the two characters getting together has potential to cause drama within their friendship group, but we never see the repercussions. I'm all for happy endings for wlw, but I would definitely have liked to see more of the impact of their relationship and how that conflict was resolved. It felt as though everything was just bundled up and tied in a nice bow without really exploring it, and it felt a little bit unsatisfying - but I understand that it's enjoyable to see ladies loving ladies get a happy ending without all the negativity.Overall I thought this was a great book, it was cute and feel-good and I really enjoyed it!

Becky Albertalli has cemented herself as one of my favourite authors. For someone who keeps saying she doesn’t like contemporaries (but still seems to read them anyway), I will happily devour anything she releases.Do you need to read Simon Vs The Homo sapiens Agenda before reading Leah On The Offbeat? Absolutely. From the get-go this book is riddled with spoilers as, after all, it is a sequel.Leah very much appears to be the outsider of the group at times. She is often the one looking on while everyone has their in-depth discussions and she rarely adds her own input until she’s with certain individuals such as Simon. It’s senior year and, as to be expected, conversations and plot are peppered with college worries, the concept of friendships ending and prom. Leah, just like possibly everyone who’s ever been a teenager, is worrying about everything.She is also having her own internal battle with her sexuality. She is bisexual and only out to her mum. As a fat bisexual girl myself, I was able to relate to Leah in the way that she is quite comfortable with her sexuality but feels like she missed the window in which to declare it to the world; as the title implies, she’s offbeat. She doesn’t quite understand why she is unable to tell people, especially her best friend Simon who is out as gay. However, there is one particular scene that really does not sit right with me (for the sake of preserving the experience I have changed the name to Kelly). During a heart-to-heart with Leah, Kelly comes out as “low-key bi” and in response, Leah completely shuts her down, invalidates the sexuality of someone who is questioning and proceeds to storm off in a huff. In a time where LGBT books are reaching the mainstream in YA, it seems a very odd and harmful thing to include in a book. Normally I’m fine with problematic things as long as it’s called out within context and it isn’t. Leah never apologises and the scene just becomes a footnote in the overall plot. If I had read this book when I was questioning, it probably would’ve had a negative impact and I hate the idea of a questioning teen reading this book and feeling the same. It just seemed a very odd choice for Albertalli to make and I’m not sure how it slipped past editors.There is also an instance of racism towards Abby which Leah is quick to step up and shut down and while it was lovely to see and appreciate, once it had been solved and Abby expressed this, Leah continued to hold a grunge.But, moving on. I liked seeing Leah and Abby getting to know each other better outside of their friendship group obligations and it was nice to see some references to The Upside of Unrequited. I did struggle getting into this book at first as I reread Simon for the film and a few characters in the book are not present in the film, so once I found my feet again the book started to flow better.Another thing that bugged me was the formatting of the Ebook. A few conversations take place through text messages and there were no bold or italic sentences to make it clear what was part of the message and what made up the narrative.This was one of my most anticipated reads for the year, and sadly, it missed the beat.

I received an advanced copy of the book by the publishers via Netgally in return for a truthful review.I had just finished reading Love Simon which I fully enjoyed so was over the moon to get the chance to get to straight into the new book.The book takes place one year after the events of the previous book Love Simon (I won't get into the in and outs of the previous book for those who havent read it yet, but it's a brilliant book and I would strongly recommend reading it before you start this). Whereas the previous book is focused on Simon (and is told from his point of view) this book is told from Leah (one of simon best friends from the previous book) point of view and tells her story (but don't worry Simon fans he is in this book so you found out what happend to him from the previous book).Leah like Simon has a secret too which no one knows and she is struggling how to come to terms with it.On top of this Leah has more problems from family live (coming from a divorce family, having a teenage mum who has working full time & doesn't have time with her along with dealing with her mum new boyfriend).Applying for high school, the up coming school prom along with dealing with her friends and how there friendship will survive once school out and everyone moves on.Apon reading I thought I would not enjoy this book with it being from a girls point of view however it didn't bother me and I still related to the characters and what they were going through.Becky has done it again another classic teenage coming of age book, which I fully enjoyed. I didn't want to put down. I strongly recommend this book and I can't wait to see if there going to be a third installment to the series to find out what happens next.

I bought this book immediately after finishing Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda which I loved. This book focusses on Simon's best friend Leah and her struggles through high school, struggling with feeling socially accepted, her weight, feels of not being good enough, not having as much money as her peers, moving to university and realising that she has feeling for one of her closest friend's girlfriend.Leah is not as easy a character to love as Simon, she is certainly more challenging and more abrasive, rude and determined to make herself unlikable but for all of these reasons I couldn't help but find myself rooting for her. Her struggles throughout the book are far more realistic than Simon's and I think the complicated mess that comes out of falling for a friend who is most likely straight is something that will resonate with LGBT readers everywhere. I know that the story here certainly reflected more accurately some of the trials felt by friends of mine and therefore I think it is a book that is of equal importance if not more importance than Simon's story. Ultimately the book has a happy ending, we get to find out more about what happened to our other favourite characters from Simon and is a great pairing to the first book. You could read it as a standalone as well but I got far more pleasure from it already knowing the characters.

I was really excited to read this book as I really enjoyed Simon's Story, and I thought Leah's would be even better as I worked out I am a bisexual female around the same time in my life as this character. Sadly this book did not deliver though. She spends most of her time complaining about her life and comparing herself to everybody around her and believing that everybody else is so much better off than her. Within the first couple of chapters her narrative became incredibly annoying. I finished the book though, and found that it just didn't get any better. Maybe this character is just a little too young for me to feel sympathetic for her, and a younger reader in school will enjoy this a lot more, as it's not badly written, it's just incredibly immature, especially compared to the first book in this series.