Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Leah on the Offbeat

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

12 reviews

rafacolog's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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geno's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

'You've got to stop doing this.'
'Doing what?'
'Burning everything to the ground whenever something goes wrong.'

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"Leah on the Offbeat" es una rom-com adolescente en forma de libro.

Es parte del universo de "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" así se requiera cierto conocimiento previo de los personajes, aunque la autora hace un buen trabajo para contextualizar lo que puede afectar a la historia.

En lo personal, no pensé que iba a empatizar tanto con Leah. Es un personaje que balancea muy bien sus puntos fuertes con sus inseguridades y conflictos internos, no cuesta nada suponer que es alguien real.

Respecto a la historia en sí, hay muchos clichés y es predecible, pero tiene corazón, hay intentos de tocar temas serios que están tratados mejor que en libros anteriores, así que se lo voy a dar por bueno.

Sin dudas una lectura que no esperaba disfrutar tanto, pero que tiene la mezcla justa de romance, diálogos divertidos y desarrollo de personajes como para transportarme a mi adolescencia.

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"Leah on the Offbeat" is the typical teen drama. Still, I enjoyed it more than I expected to.

This story it's part of the "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" world, so you need to read that before to understand the characters.

Regarding this book, I loved Leah, she felt like a real person with her motivations and struggles. I enjoyed following her as she found herself, I could empathize with her. I think Becky Albertalli does a great job with her.

This is a very "rom-com" book, so I can see why it might not be for everybody. It has some clichés and it's very predictable but sometimes, that's exactly what you need.

Overall, I really liked this book, the romance was perfect and the bander was cute. It feels like turning back time to my teenage years.

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emmaward55's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love Becky Albertalli's writing and I don't think she could write a book that I didn't at least like. This book didn't quite give me everything that I wanted, but I still enjoyed it and I think it's an important view point both in YA romance and queer romance genres. Rarely do I see books about fat sapphics with happily ever afters, much less ones who are poor or who have divorced families.

In some ways this book felt like a hug from a friend. It was familiar and comforting and I can see myself returning to it in the future. That being said, there were things that I thought it lacked. Mainly a satisfactory ending. I wish we'd gotten to hear Nick's reaction to his ex girlfriend dating one of his best friends. So much of the final arc of the book was about Leah worrying how Nick would feel, but we never get that pay off! I wanted resolution. At the least, I wanted the wrap up chapter to say something vague like "Nick isn't as fast to reply to my texts now, but we still hang out and he seems happy in his new relationship".

Speaking of relationships, the pairing up of every single remaining character at the end felt so weird. Hetero characters who had barely interacted with each other were suddenly an item and it felt like something you'd expect from a straight romance writer. IDK, I can see that it's meant to be part of the "and they all lived happily every after and no one was sad or lonely" vibe, but it's important that teens reading YA romance know that they're not unlovable / broken / wrong for graduating high school without a partner.

Despite all of that, I do really recommend this book. These are minor quibbles over a story that still had a lot of heart and soul in it. It deserves to be given a chance and I'm sure there are going to be readers who don't see an issue with anything written above.

I wouldn't say that this is the female version of Simon Vs., but if you're looking for a comforting wlw story about two girls figuring out who they are to themselves and each other, this is the book for you.

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anntea's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I am happy to say I loved this!!! Went in a bit worried I wouldn't, but thank god I was wrong. Not a perfect 5 stars simply because I rolled my eyes at a lot of parts. But overall extremely cute!!!

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rayne_1906's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Audiobook - 4 hours 42 minutes - This book was *okay*. That's all I can really say about it. I liked how the author chose to focus on a different character in an existing book, but the plot just felt a bit lacking. Nothing really happened. The titular character just raised the same issues about bisexuality, race, and college over and over again, which was fine at first but became boring. It was interesting enough to read about these characters, but it definitely wasn't anything special.

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