Leah on the Offbeat (Creekwood #2)

I whipped through this book in two days and love author Becky Albertallis writing style. I am a fan of dialogue and witty banter is even better: you get that with this book. I just felt it was missing something. That something special that came with the experience of reading Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

Note: Leah on the Offbeat is a continuation of the Creekwood series; Simon being Creekwood #1. It can be read as a standalone but then you wouldnt really know the characters and I absolutely recommend reading Simon! That is a given.

Leah is Simons best friend. Like Simon in Book #1, she has her own secret that is holding her back from being happy. She is sarcastic, snarky, and moody but you love her anyway because she is not malicious. She only stands in her own way.

I will not go into the rest of the story, because you need to read it to experience it.

It is hard to compete with all the awesomeness of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. But, I expected something new from this one and was a bit disappointed. It felt a bit rushed and lacking the care the first book had. I do still think its worth a read, especially if you loved Simon and want to see what some of the characters are up to. Just dont expect to be blown away.

After loving the hell out of “Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda” and “The Upside of Unrequited” I couldn’t wait to read “Leah on the Offbeat.” As a matter of fact, since I had to get a hardcover copy of the new book, I upgraded my copies of Simon and Upside to hardcover, so the set would match on my shelf. (A little OCD, I know…) What a disappointment! It’s not often I get to the last page of a book and feel so unsatisfied, and totally angry that I can’t get those hours of my life back!
***Spoilers Ahead***
Leah was a rude, miserable, cynical, abrasive, sour-puss… who ultimately got everything she wanted, and still seemed only marginally happy about it. I’m shocked that the author chose to glorify and reward Leah’s behavior. What a horrible message to give young readers.
Leah helped break up Abby and Nick! Okay. I get that teenage romance rarely lasts past graduation. But making Abby suddenly become bi and fall for the most negative and moody girl on the planet? Seems pretty deus ex machina to me.
The author’s style and wit was consistent with her previous books. At least there was that! The story just wasn’t good. I can’t help but feel that a totally awesome story COULD HAVE BEEN told about Leah, had Albertalli taken a different path.
Two things would have made a boatload of difference, in my humble opinion: First, anyone but Abby! That was just a bad choice. She could have ended up with Nora and that would have been more believable. This was the perfect opportunity to develop a new character. Second, Leah really needed an attitude adjustment! I wanted to like her, but I hated her, and hated that she got what she wanted in the end without any self-improvement. Ya gotta give in order to get; at least a little something. I keep thinking of Ally Sheedy’s transformation in “The Breakfast Club.” Not the physical make-over, but the change in attitude; coming out of her shell near the end of the movie. Something like that.
Unfortunately, if Albertalli writes another Creekwood book, I don’t think I’ll be in much of a rush to go get a copy.

I have to admit that after reading a few mixed/negative Amazon reviews, I was nervous to read this novel. I loved “Simon vs. Homo Sapiens Agenda” and didn’t want to be disappointed by a subpar sequel. My overall verdict is that “Leah on the Offbeat” is an enjoyable read, but not quite as emotionally c ompelling as its predecessor due to poor plotting.

First, let me focus on what “Leah on the Offbeat” does well. By telling the story from Leah’s perspective, author Becky Albertalli draws attention to issues glossed over in “Simon,” like bisexuality, racism, and socioeconomic status. Some readers may be uncomfortable with the change in emphasis, but I thought they were handled well for the most part. Nearly all of the characters from “Simon” make appearances in the sequel and there’s plenty of cuteness to go around. Simon and his boyfriend are still madly in love a year after Simon’s involuntary outing. At times, they come across as the most stable characters in the story.

To me, the main problem with “Leah Off the Beat” is that it has an uneven plot. While “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” was rife with suspense that drove much of that story (who is Blue? Will Martin out Simon? How will people react?), “Leah” lacks the same sort of unity. What we get instead are a handful of interrelated character conflicts about college application drama and prom night that don’t quite pack the same emotional punch. The events leading up to prom night feel more like an episode of Glee than a poignant emotional roller coaster. And though there’s a happy ending, the abrupt closing scene and epilogue don’t give readers the chance to see how most of the other characters handle the immediate aftermath. The epilogue just tells us what happened. And that’s disappointing. (It’s especially stark compared to “Simon,” where Blue’s identity is revealed three chapters before the end of the book, leaving plenty of time to wrap up loose ends).

In all, fans of “Simon vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda” will probably find “Leah on the Offbeat” to be an enjoyable sequel, even with its imperfections.

Of course this was amazing.

I loved being in Leahs head. I love her snark and sarcasm and RBF. I loved that we got so much Simon and Bram. I loved Leahs mom.

I loved the story and the ending and the Harry Potter references and the Doctor Who reference and the everything.

There is not one thing about this that I didnt love.

I received an advanced copy of the book by the publishers via Netgally in return for a truthful review.
I had just finished reading Love Simon which I fully enjoyed so was over the moon to get the chance to get to straight into the new book.

The book takes place one year after the events of the previous book Love Simon (I won’t get into the in and outs of the previous book for those who havent read it yet, but it’s a brilliant book and I would strongly recommend reading it before you start this). Whereas the previous book is focused on Simon (and is told from his point of view) this book is told from Leah (one of simon best friends from the previous book) point of view and tells her story (but don’t worry Simon fans he is in this book so you found out what happend to him from the previous book).

Leah like Simon has a secret too which no one knows and she is struggling how to come to terms with it.
On top of this Leah has more problems from family live (coming from a divorce family, having a teenage mum who has working full time & doesn’t have time with her along with dealing with her mum new boyfriend).
Applying for high school, the up coming school prom along with dealing with her friends and how there friendship will survive once school out and everyone moves on.

Apon reading I thought I would not enjoy this book with it being from a girls point of view however it didn’t bother me and I still related to the characters and what they were going through.

Becky has done it again another classic teenage coming of age book, which I fully enjoyed. I didn’t want to put down. I strongly recommend this book and I can’t wait to see if there going to be a third installment to the series to find out what happens next.

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