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A review by waitaminuteash
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
3.0
Leah Burke is a bitch.
This was technically a reread because I read the book a few years back when I was younger. It was the first actual sapphic paperback I read (not including Wattpad or ao3 fanfics) and I got it from my local library. I guess I just decided to reread it because I wanted to see if it's really as good as I remember or if it's just nostalgia.
It's definitely safe to say that it was mostly nostalgia. I remember feeling like Leah was the most badass book character and that I wanted to be like her. Now she's just really bitchy and mean to everyone (even her mom for no reason). Yeah, I get she's anxious about a lot of things, but telling her mom that she's only dating Wells for his money is not something I liked at all. Leah's whole personality and "I'm not like other girls"/"prom is stupid" vibes just really irked me. I feel like one of the biggest things that irritated me was her saying she doesn't like Abby because she's too pretty (whatever that means).
I've read 3 Becky Albertalli books and for some reason all of them have casual biphobia slipped in (even coming from bisexual characters). It feels a little off-putting to me for Leah to tell Abby, who's still figuring herself out, that her thinking she's bisexual is wrong.
I don't know how it's possible that I disliked Leah so much, but I loved the Leah and Abby aspect of the book.
To be honest, Abby was the only reason I kept reading.
This was technically a reread because I read the book a few years back when I was younger. It was the first actual sapphic paperback I read (not including Wattpad or ao3 fanfics) and I got it from my local library. I guess I just decided to reread it because I wanted to see if it's really as good as I remember or if it's just nostalgia.
It's definitely safe to say that it was mostly nostalgia. I remember feeling like Leah was the most badass book character and that I wanted to be like her. Now she's just really bitchy and mean to everyone (even her mom for no reason). Yeah, I get she's anxious about a lot of things, but telling her mom that she's only dating Wells for his money is not something I liked at all. Leah's whole personality and "I'm not like other girls"/"prom is stupid" vibes just really irked me. I feel like one of the biggest things that irritated me was her saying she doesn't like Abby because she's too pretty (whatever that means).
I've read 3 Becky Albertalli books and for some reason all of them have casual biphobia slipped in (even coming from bisexual characters). It feels a little off-putting to me for Leah to tell Abby, who's still figuring herself out, that her thinking she's bisexual is wrong.
I don't know how it's possible that I disliked Leah so much, but I loved the Leah and Abby aspect of the book.
To be honest, Abby was the only reason I kept reading.