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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Yes, the plot is a bit predictable and cliche, but the book makes up for this weakness by simultaneously making fun of cliches and by way of Leah - one of the best characters ever. She is harsh, awkward, angsty, hilarious, and endearing.
Leah on the Offbeat is a cute and quirky follow up to Simon Vs. the Homosapien's Agenda. Leah, Simon, and their crew are in their senior year and gearing up for college with the potential of going separate ways. There's tension throughout the book as several couples within their friend group consider what their college and future choices mean for their relationships. Leah is keeping a secret bigger than herself and feels like she can't turn to anyone even if she feels deep down that she should be comfortable doing so. Leah learns what it means to love and how to listen to her heart and she brings us along for the adventure.
personally i would not recommend only bc leah is annoying in this, but its about like anxious angry teenager yk BUT SO RELATABLE ON ALMOST EVERY LEVEL
Unfortunately not as good as the first one which was disappointing and I didn't feel part of this books target audience.
Still going back and forth between two and three stars, I’ll just call it a 2.5
I love all of Becky Albertalli's books. She is an amazing writer that captures how young adults actually think/talk. Her books are so relatable and amazing and I love them. I recommend this book to anyone that loves Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda and/or relatable YA fiction.
Things I loved (Honestly I loved everything, but here's a brief list) :
- Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda is one of my favorite books, and I LOVE the fact that you get to see your favorite characters from that book in here.
- Such great character development.
- Leah is such a hilarious and relatable character.
- This book is so inclusive and accepting
- Great friendships.
- I love how this book works through real teen problems/issues.
- The ending- so adorable!!!
Things I loved (Honestly I loved everything, but here's a brief list) :
- Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda is one of my favorite books, and I LOVE the fact that you get to see your favorite characters from that book in here.
- Such great character development.
- Leah is such a hilarious and relatable character.
- This book is so inclusive and accepting
- Great friendships.
- I love how this book works through real teen problems/issues.
- The ending- so adorable!!!
Not my favourite one of Becky Albertalli's, but it was fun to read about the characters that I love so much again.
ETA 23/05: Yesterday I had a very intense chat with the lovely ladies of A Book Nirvana that reminded me how pissed off I am with that half-assed ending, so I've decided to lower my rating from 3 to 2 stars because seriously...
I shamelessly confess that I started this book only because I wanted more Simon + Blue. In that sense I am happy, because the boys show up quite a lot and they even have a small interesting arc and all the time they are their usual super adorable selves :)
I didn't like Leah that much in the first book, but I liked her here. She's still a selfish brat most of the time, but at least now I understand why. Leah feels like a very real teenager with her insecurities, her ups and downs, her fierce love for her friends, her assholy attitude towards her mum and her massive crush on someone absolutely inconvenient. You cannot help but to like the girl in the end.
So I was enjoying the book a lot. AND THEN.
I didn't think it was possible, but there is such a thing as too much cuteness. As in, some bits were way, way too saccharine. And it fits that Leah has had a crush all this time, but seriously, where are the clues It feels too forced that now she's bi too only so Leah can have her happily-ever-after. I loved Leah's struggle with her feelings and they are super cute together but I think I would have liked the book a lot more if they were just friends and Leah would move on to college and meet someone awesome there. Also, Simon's reaction at finding them together was ridiculous. If I find out that my best friend has been lying to me for over a year after everything that happened to him in the previous book, at the very least I would be pissed off. And then that ending… When I reached the last scene at prom I still had about 10% of the book left according to my kindle so I thought, cool, , but turns out that 10% was for the first chapter of Albertalli's next book. So basically prom happens, they kiss, they make up, and then we get an email from Leah to Simon describing her perfect life at college, and everyone is friends again and hooking up with random characters so everyone can have a boyfriend/girlfriend at the end of the book :|
So the first half was 4 stars for me, but the very disappointing ending was barely 2 stars, so in the end I'm (generously) leaving it at 3.
I shamelessly confess that I started this book only because I wanted more Simon + Blue. In that sense I am happy, because the boys show up quite a lot and they even have a small interesting arc and all the time they are their usual super adorable selves :)
I didn't like Leah that much in the first book, but I liked her here. She's still a selfish brat most of the time, but at least now I understand why. Leah feels like a very real teenager with her insecurities, her ups and downs, her fierce love for her friends, her assholy attitude towards her mum and her massive crush on someone absolutely inconvenient. You cannot help but to like the girl in the end.
So I was enjoying the book a lot. AND THEN.
I didn't think it was possible, but there is such a thing as too much cuteness. As in, some bits were way, way too saccharine. And it fits that Leah has had a crush
Spoiler
on Abby and not NickSpoiler
as to Abby liking her back?Spoiler
now they're going to deal with Nick and Garrett and maybe see the families' reactionsSpoiler
with AbbySo the first half was 4 stars for me, but the very disappointing ending was barely 2 stars, so in the end I'm (generously) leaving it at 3.