Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Leah on the Offbeat

<spoilers> I mostly enjoyed this book and read it quickly, but sometimes I did struggle with Leah’s character slightly, and I felt there was very little character development for her and she had to change very less, whereas for Abby there was a huge amount of character change from the beginning. I also felt like there was huge ‘not like other girls’ vibes off Leah.

Also, The last half/third seemed very rushed. I just felt like a lot was left unfinished and more could have happened.

Content Warnings

rayne_1906's review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

theasbookworld's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

limiwh's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Leah marches to the beat of her own drum, and she's not shy about it. But she is hiding something big. Simon is Leah's best friend, but he doesn't know she is bisexual. No one does, except her mom. Leah is struggling with how to handle herself in her group of friends, which seems to be crumbling at the worst time ever - the months and weeks leading up to graduation. Can Leah be true to herself without losing the people who mean the most to her?

This book was cute. The main character, Leah, is bisexual, which immediately drew me in. The story focuses around her senior year in high school, especially the second half of the year during prom season. The characters were going through some of the big themes that many teens face as high school comes to a close - choosing what college to go to, how to fit in when you get there, whether or not to do long-distance relationships with your high school sweetheart, prom, etc. There were some struggles within the friends group that took me back to my own high school years, too. And of course you can't forget the battle with your parents. This book was chock-full of teenage rites of passage.

If I were a high school or even college student reading this book, I probably would've appreciated it a bit more. While I typically enjoy YA books, this one was a bit too "teen angsty" for me. I don't blame the author or the book for this, since it is targeted at a YA audience, and would probably be very relatable to them. The story was well-written and I liked the characters; I just didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

Content Warnings

More...