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Rating: 3/5 Stars
Title: Leah on the Offbeat
Author: Becky Albertalli
Synopsis:
When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic.
She’s an anomaly in her friend group: 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.
Initial thoughts:
As soon as I hear that this book was coming out, I knew I was going to have to read it. I have read Becky Albertalli’s Simon Vs. the Homosapiens Agenda as well as the Upside of Unrequited and this book is going to take place in the same universe as Simon VS. so I was excited to read this and be reacquainted with old characters who I loved. From just the synopsis, I loved the idea that music was going to be what the story revolved around as in intersected with the idea that love is a tough concept to wrap one’s head around and even come to terms with.
Something else I want to say is that I seriously loved the cover of this book. The colors simply pop and drew me in with an energy that I felt suited this book completely.
Plot:
What I liked:
In this book, the characters were all very interesting. Of course this book was taking place during their senior year and things were complicated and it certainly made me remember the anxiety that came with my senior year in high school looking for colleges and figuring out how best to stay in touch with my friends. I thought that the complications were pretty realistic in a sense and I enjoyed that.
What I didn't like:
This book, though a cute romance, seemed to be very repetitive to me for the most part. Leah had a very one track mind and there were some things that didn't seem to get resolved in the ending of the book due to this fact. The book was also rushed toward the ending as it felt Becky was trying to find a way to resolve the problems that had occurred in a mere two pages.
Characters:
Leah: She was a true teenager. Her anxieties were very real as well as the way that she handled them by pushing people away, but she seemed to have a one track mind.
Simon: I loved Simon and I loved him from his own book as well. He was always stuck in the middle it seemed and wanted to find a way to keep the peace between his friends.
Abby: I liked her, but she was obviously in a weird position. She was so bubbly and kind, but she also was figuring out a lot of things about herself.
Nick: He had his own issues that he needed to figure out, but he tried to handle his problems in the wrong way and his friends didn't know how to help him.
Bram: I loved him and how supportive he was of his friends including them. I do wish that we could have seen more of him, but he wasn't as close to Leah as he was Simon and the others.
Garret: This kid was a sweetie, but he could sometimes put his foot in his mouth. I enjoyed him as a character.
Leah’s mom: She really was a supportive mother and cared about her daughter, but she had trouble connecting with her because Leah always seemed to want to keep her distance.
Overall:
I read this book in a single day and found myself wishing that there was more story to it. It was a very quick read and a nice romantic story, but I found that this was not my favorite book that Becky has written and that things simply seemed to move in circles as it continued on. I did like the characters for the most part and the LGBT representation though and would certainly recommend this book to others.