Updated on January 26th, 2025
I am a bit behind on reviewing the books I read recently, so this week will be all about book reviews! The first review of this week will be on Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, which is the sequel to Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda.
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Imagine going about your day knowing someone’s carrying you in their mind. That has to be the best part of being in love- the feeling of having a home in some else’s brain.
I actually read this book before The Upside of Unrequited because Leah on the Offbeat is the sequel to Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, but the events that take place in this book occur after the events in The Upside of Unrequited. I definitely recommend you to first read Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda followed by The Upside of Unrequited then Leah on the Offbeat.
Leah on the Offbeat is told from the perspective of Leah Burke, who is the best friend of Simon Spier, and the story follows Leah through her senior year in high school. To begin with, I did not like Leah in Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and I felt the same way about her in this book. Leah is very sarcastic and avoids situations because they are too difficult and she never knows what to say. Leah seems like a negative person because she is rude to people like her mom for no reason. Also, Leah does have some good qualities about her, but her negative qualities are more in your face, and for all these reasons, she is an unlikable character.
However, the rest of the characters are the same from Simon vs the Home Sapiens Agenda including Simon, Abby, Nick, and Bram. I loved Simon as a side character and it was nice seeing how things have progressed since the end of his book. Even though Leah is an unlikable character, I thought the plot was interesting as it revolves around their senior year and includes another school play, spring break, and prom.
Like with the ending of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and The Upside of Unrequited, the ending of Leah on the Offbeat was sweet. After the story ends, the book concludes with an email from Leah to Simon while they are in college, and it wraps up most of the loose ends by summing up what happened to the other side characters. Even though I enjoyed the plot, having the story told from Leah’s perspective made me not like this book as much as Simon vs the Sapiens Agenda.
Overall, in Leah on the Offbeat, Leah is an unlikable character, but the plot was entertaining and included all of the old characters from Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda.
I’ve not heard of this, I do love reading honest reviews though, its a shame that Leah being an unlikable character can make the book not as good. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Chloe xx
I think having an unlikable main character in books, movies or tv shows can make or break it. For me Leah was such an unlikable character with very little redeaming qualities so it ruined the book.
Great review, I’m glad you said Leah is an unlikeable characters as I think honesty like this really helps x
Thank you! I agree it’s best to be honest 😊
I loved the Simon film but that’s all I’ve experienced from this series. I’d love to read the books! Great review x
I still haven’t seen the movie, but I really want to!
You should read the books! Both Simon & The Upside of Unrequited were amazing! 😊
I’ve only read Simon out of the 3. I wasn’t a fan of Leah either though so I had no desire to read this! Good to hear it was still a little enjoyable. 🙂
You probably wouldn’t like this book since you didn’t like Leah either, but the best part was seeing what happened to Simon & the other characters 😊