THE SUNDAY REVIEW | LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT – BECKY ALBERTALLI

I’ve had this sitting on my shelf for YEARS, but by the time I got it I had mostly forgotten what happened in Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and didn’t have a clue who Leah even was (I had forgotten who Blue was as well, and even that he was called Blue, so don’t think it was specific to Leah). I knew I should re-read Simon before picking up Leah, and until this month, I just didn’t find the time. Too many new books to read. But it’s been a rough few months (…. years?) and it felt like time to revisit some old favourites. Plus I got some audiobooks which enabled me to zoom through them in record time.

This one is a tricky one to review, so let me start with what I liked.

I liked that, like in Simon, this book has more diversity than a lot of YA books, and more than that, it discusses racial bias and racism in a way that I think might help teens who haven’t had much experience with the topic to shift their perspective in a productive way. I liked that it’s a love story not between a thin, popular girl and a jock. I like that Leah’s mom is a young single mother, and that Leah has been brought up to recognize the value of money and necessity for hard work. I like that they talk to each other and that they are friends as well as mother and daughter. I like that the characters in this book tie in with Simon so it felt familiar.

But there were things I didn’t love. I think mostly personal to me, not actual flaws with the book. Though I like what Leah and Abby stand for, and the diversity they represent, I didn’t actually like either of them as characters all that much. Which meant I wasn’t overly invested in the story and had trouble feeling all that much about any of the events. That was disappointing as I had expected to probably be even more into this story than I was Simon. But I liked him a hell of a lot more, and Blue as well, so this one fell a bit flat by comparison.

I’m glad I finally got around to reading this book, because there is a lot here that I think is absolutely great. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for queer love stories featuring teens, and anyone who wants a more realistic portrayal of teenage relationships. If you liked Simon, chances are you’ll like this book as well. If you loved Leah and Abby in Simon, you will love it.

Leah Burke—girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier’s best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda—takes center stage in this novel of first love and senior-year angst.

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.

So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.  – Goodreads

Book Title: Leah on the Offbeat
Author: Becky Albertalli
Series: Yes – Creekwood #2
Edition: Paperback/Audiobook
Published By: HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray / Audible
Released: April 24, 2018
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, LGBTQIA+
Pages: 208
Date Read: September 3-4, 2020
Rating: 7/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.87/5 (55,274 ratings)