Take a photo of a barcode or cover
nerdinthelibrary 's review for:
Leah on the Offbeat
by Becky Albertalli
1) Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda ★★★★★
2) The Upside of Unrequited ★★★★★
This book was so bittersweet for me because I read it all in one sitting (as I do with all of Becky's books) and it was incredible, but this is apparently going to be the final book in the Simonverse and I don't want to let these characters go.
A rundown of everything I love about this book:
- Leah, my wife Leah!! She was one of my favourites in Simon vs. and she's now my number 1 favourite. A girl with resting bitch face who is actually super Soft will always be my favourite thing.
- D I V E R S I T Y! Leah is fat and bi, which is already amazing, but then there are: two main Jewish characters, at least half the mains are women, (including Leah) three main bi characters, two main gay characters, two main black characters and one main Chinese-American character. Then you've got side characters who include: someone who uses they/them pronouns and the Peskin-Susos (my fave queer family). TL;DR SJM is quaking
- This book has the best f/f relationship of the year, don't @ me
- The dialogue is so funny (probably Becky's funniest book so far), especially Leah's inner monologue. And even better, all of it sounds like dialogue that could be realistically said by a teenager. Every other author aspires to write as realistic teenagers as Becky Albertalli tbh.
- The other relationships were so good. Leah & Simon, Leah & her mum, Simon/, Leah & Nora & Taylor & Morgan & Anna, Leah & Wells. Leah and her mum's was a personal favourite of mine because it reminded me a lot of my relationship with my mum.
- Fandom references galore! This means the book is going to get really dated really fast but I don't care. An (incomplete) list of all the references I can remember: Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls, Six of Crows, Percy Jackson, Hamilton, Sailor Moon, Love Actually, Troye Sivan, Fruits Basket, Star Wars, Reece King & Sufjan Stevens. And they all feel organic, not remotely forced!
- As I said, there are multiple mentions of the Peskin-Susos and my heart leaped literally every time Abby would talk about them.
In conclusion, I am a mess and this is definitely going to be one of my favourite books of the year.
2) The Upside of Unrequited ★★★★★
This book was so bittersweet for me because I read it all in one sitting (as I do with all of Becky's books) and it was incredible, but this is apparently going to be the final book in the Simonverse and I don't want to let these characters go.
A rundown of everything I love about this book:
- Leah, my wife Leah!! She was one of my favourites in Simon vs. and she's now my number 1 favourite. A girl with resting bitch face who is actually super Soft will always be my favourite thing.
- D I V E R S I T Y! Leah is fat and bi, which is already amazing, but then there are: two main Jewish characters, at least half the mains are women, (including Leah) three main bi characters, two main gay characters, two main black characters and one main Chinese-American character. Then you've got side characters who include: someone who uses they/them pronouns and the Peskin-Susos (my fave queer family). TL;DR SJM is quaking
- This book has the best f/f relationship of the year, don't @ me
- The dialogue is so funny (probably Becky's funniest book so far), especially Leah's inner monologue. And even better, all of it sounds like dialogue that could be realistically said by a teenager. Every other author aspires to write as realistic teenagers as Becky Albertalli tbh.
- The other relationships were so good. Leah & Simon, Leah & her mum, Simon/
Spoiler
Bram- Fandom references galore! This means the book is going to get really dated really fast but I don't care. An (incomplete) list of all the references I can remember: Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls, Six of Crows, Percy Jackson, Hamilton, Sailor Moon, Love Actually, Troye Sivan, Fruits Basket, Star Wars, Reece King & Sufjan Stevens. And they all feel organic, not remotely forced!
- As I said, there are multiple mentions of the Peskin-Susos and my heart leaped literally every time Abby would talk about them.
In conclusion, I am a mess and this is definitely going to be one of my favourite books of the year.