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A review by anagha585
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
3.0
My Best Friend Kangs™ and I were discussing this the other day, and I realized I actually have quite a lot to say about this book.
Honestly, it was somewhat disappointing . Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is one of my absolute favorite YA contemporaries, so it's safe to say I had high-ass expectations for this book. Furthermore, I'd read 2 or 3 really good reviews for this, so yeah. I was psyched.
The first thing that let me down immediately was Leah's character. Frankly, she seemed like a completely different Leah. Definitely not the sensitive, mostly-nice, slightly-insecure, uses-sarcasm-as-a-defense-mechanism, complex AND realistic Leah I read about in Simon. She didn't seem to care about her "best friend" Nick's feelings nearly as much as she should have. All her caring, kind qualities seemed to have disappeared as she became the classic Snarky™ YA heroine in this book. (Also, can I just add that I would get one tight thappad if I spoke to my mom the way Leah spoke to hers). I guess this difference could be interpreted as how Simon views Leah vs how Leah views herself, but she just felt so foreign to me that I couldn't bring myself to believe that.
Regarding the other characters, there were so many that I didn't give a flying fig—not even one flying fig—about. Anna, for example, literally had no contribution to the plot (that I can remember), besides trying to bridge the gap between Leah and her racist friend. And much like Leah, many of the characters seem to have undergone a personality transplant (see: Abby Suso and Nick Eisner).
As for the actual plot of the story, there wasn't much of one. I believe the main story-line was centered around the road trip that Abby and Leah take to visit UGA. Which wasn't really that exciting because nothing much happened, rather like the rest of this book. I guess the prom scene at the end was meant to be highly emotional as Leah and Abby were sobbing about how they couldn't be together because of Nick. Was I the only one who thought they were being extremely melodramatic? I mean, they're going to the same college and they're probably going to be roommates. They basically have their whole lives ahead of them but just have to wait like a month for Nick (who might I add is Leah's supposed best friend ) to somewhat heal. So, they were essentially weeping because they couldn't be each other's prom dates. Sheesh.
Though this review has been mostly negative so far, I actually did like the book. The love story wasn't horrible, and as much as I didn't like the changes in Abby and Leah's personalities, they definitely had chemistry. It was wonderful to see Simon and Bram happy in their relationship (the Love Actually promposal was everything). And unlike the previous book, the setting description in this book really hit home! I grew up in Atlanta and totally had an American Girl phase, and hence it was so much fun to see the crew wind up in the American Girl bistro in North Point mall and even comment on the creepy dollholders (which is exactly what they are) in the bathroom stalls. I actually burst out laughing. This sounds so cliché, but it was as though the author had taken a clip from my Childhood Memories Archive™ and put it on paper.
So, yeah. That's pretty much it. Here's my final verdict: disappointing compared to its predecessor, but still... enjoyable?
Honestly, it was somewhat disappointing . Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is one of my absolute favorite YA contemporaries, so it's safe to say I had high-ass expectations for this book. Furthermore, I'd read 2 or 3 really good reviews for this, so yeah. I was psyched.
The first thing that let me down immediately was Leah's character. Frankly, she seemed like a completely different Leah. Definitely not the sensitive, mostly-nice, slightly-insecure, uses-sarcasm-as-a-defense-mechanism, complex AND realistic Leah I read about in Simon. She didn't seem to care about her "best friend" Nick's feelings nearly as much as she should have. All her caring, kind qualities seemed to have disappeared as she became the classic Snarky™ YA heroine in this book. (Also, can I just add that I would get one tight thappad if I spoke to my mom the way Leah spoke to hers). I guess this difference could be interpreted as how Simon views Leah vs how Leah views herself, but she just felt so foreign to me that I couldn't bring myself to believe that.
Regarding the other characters, there were so many that I didn't give a flying fig—not even one flying fig—about. Anna, for example, literally had no contribution to the plot (that I can remember), besides trying to bridge the gap between Leah and her racist friend. And much like Leah, many of the characters seem to have undergone a personality transplant (see: Abby Suso and Nick Eisner).
As for the actual plot of the story, there wasn't much of one. I believe the main story-line was centered around the road trip that Abby and Leah take to visit UGA. Which wasn't really that exciting because nothing much happened, rather like the rest of this book. I guess the prom scene at the end was meant to be highly emotional as Leah and Abby were sobbing about how they couldn't be together because of Nick. Was I the only one who thought they were being extremely melodramatic? I mean, they're going to the same college and they're probably going to be roommates. They basically have their whole lives ahead of them but just have to wait like a month for Nick (who might I add is Leah's supposed best friend ) to somewhat heal. So, they were essentially weeping because they couldn't be each other's prom dates. Sheesh.
Though this review has been mostly negative so far, I actually did like the book. The love story wasn't horrible, and as much as I didn't like the changes in Abby and Leah's personalities, they definitely had chemistry. It was wonderful to see Simon and Bram happy in their relationship (the Love Actually promposal was everything). And unlike the previous book, the setting description in this book really hit home! I grew up in Atlanta and totally had an American Girl phase, and hence it was so much fun to see the crew wind up in the American Girl bistro in North Point mall and even comment on the creepy dollholders (which is exactly what they are) in the bathroom stalls. I actually burst out laughing. This sounds so cliché, but it was as though the author had taken a clip from my Childhood Memories Archive™ and put it on paper.
So, yeah. That's pretty much it. Here's my final verdict: disappointing compared to its predecessor, but still... enjoyable?