Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda question

I think that Leah's character turning out to be unlikable to many people was an accident. As someone who has been where Leah is, I didn't find her bitterness unjustified at all - I actually loved her for it, because it accurately portrayed the unhappiness of the emotion. The other thing is that she isn't actually BITTER ON PURPOSE... most of the times where her jealousy is mentioned are because Simon, her best friend, knows her well enough to see the unhappiness she's trying to hide.

(Also, the part where she brings cake to school for people's birthday was rlly fricken cute to me?)

I agree I really didn't like Leah she just seemed annoying

I think some of the hate towards Leah goes into the fact that she's a realistically flawed female character. People will hate on female characters when they have no flaws so there's even bigger backlash when they do lol. The points I get with Leah is that she's a very realistically flawed teenager, as in most of the jealousy and bitterness could be something she grows out of. However, given the themes of the book, that the people who surround Simon use his coming out to reflect themselves (he does dress as a dementor after all, lol) it does get a little grating when Leah tries to make Simon's coming out about her. You do feel sorry for her, that in very subtle ways the book shows how Leah tries at every turn for acceptance from others, relating to her physical appearance and family issues, and is unintentionally rejected every time, but on the other hand I've seen some readers criticize her for being jealous that marginalized people like gay boys and a black girl is taking attention away from her (not going to open up that debate today...). Even when they make the trip to the city the group knows Leah will have a problem with it, but do it anyway because she might either be too pushy or not have a good time if they take her anyway. When Simon confronts her about her reactions HE apologizes to HER for not noticing her struggles, but she doesn't seem to regret not supporting Simon in what he went through. I also think in a book that consistently calls out straight allies for things they do, it never brings up the fact that Leah draws slash fanart. They never go into detail about it, but if she's the type of anime fangirl that views gay male characters specifically for her fantasies, then it would make more sense why Simon would feel more comfortable coming out to Abby first.
So overall Leah is a very well-thought-out flawed character, but on the other hand she still isn't the most likable and only makes an effort to change in the form of sequel-baiting. I'm not exactly scrambling for her new solo book, but I'm also not jumping for joy that the movie made her thin, gave her backstory to Abby, gutted out her flaws, and made her feelings for Simon more overt, lol.

At first, I was sort of on edge about Leah being "overly bitter" about how Simon, Abby and Nick went out for a night, but then as I read more I started to realise that her actions, although not "justified", were realistic. I have been in situations where my friends have done stuff without me, and that's completely fine. But when they deliberately not invite me, or tell me about it, I feel left out and the emotions that Leah felt I related to. She was extremely well written.
Honestly, I love Leah's character and I'm definitely going to read the sequel book that focusses on Leah because I want to see where her character goes and how Becky Albertalli progresses on her character.

I actually LOVED Leah throughout the whole book. I felt so bad for her when they all went out without inviting her. It really sucks when your friends leave you out, and they all knew that she already was feeling slightly replaced by Abby. If I was her I would've reacted the same way. Especially considering Simon was just pretending it never happened and that he did nothing wrong. I understand why they didn't want her there, but they still should've invited her to be good friends.

I actually really hope that we get to see a moment where Nick apologizes to her since we never saw it. I don't think Abby needs to, her I understand not inviting Leah considering they don't really get along, but I really think Nick should. I know it probably happened pre Leah's book, but I'd love a flashback of it.

Torie wrote: "I think some of her anger was justified, but in general she was too bitter"

I think this is definitely true. she came off as rude.

I feel like some of the anger was represented by the hard stuff happening at her home, of which we learned in the sequel ( Leah on the Offbeat).

I think that Leah definitely has flaws but every character has to have flaws. She's a well written interesting character.

I believe Leah's character is realistic when it comes to a high school teenager. Aggy and rude for some random reason they don't even know why half the time. Although, she was very annoying during certain parts of the book, because she would sprinkle some negative energy due to her jealously.

She has an awesome name though.

No, I think she was just hurt and worried that she was losing her friends.

I don't think she was unlikable, it just added more depth to her charecter and made her more complex. Just reaad Leah on the Offbea tand a lot will be explained

thanks your site.
http://www.najiteb.com/diaper/

I totally agree! Leah was great. Simon should have told her... But I understand why he didn't.

I actually really love Leah. She's my favorite character because of how relateable she is. As I was reading this book, I imagined myself hanging out with her. I understand why she got upset. I think Simon should have just told her everything from the start. She could have even helped Simon and Martin with the whole Abby situation since she had feelings for Nick (or at least I think she did from what I remember). I can see why people would hate her in the movie (really ruined her character), but in the book she was a very good character.

I'm so confused...

I low key couldn't stand Leah...

WOAH. Just because she didn't put up with any BS doesn't make her unlikable! I don't understand this at all.

In Simon's book i didn't dislike Leah but in Leah on the off beat, she was just to cynical, mean, rude, jealous, and just an overall nasty person. The only two people i don't think she was a jerk to is Simon and Bram.

Abby was unlikeable? Oh, just wait until you read Leah on the Offbeat.

what the heck? why would she be the one thats unlikeable? abby was the one unlikeable, at least for me. leah is just the best. can’t wait to read the second book from her point of view.

I love Leah. I don't think she was meant to be unlikeable. Flawed, certainly, but that's what makes a good character, right? She wasn't as good in the movie, but in the books, she's a great best friend to Simon and a funny character. I enjoyed Leah on the Offbeat, I thought it added depth to Leah's character and was also really cute. I think that her feelings throughout the first book are justified, cause that's what high school is like.

Leah's bitterness through the novel felt justified. Not only did her friends purposefully exclude her from plans (knowing full well that she hates being left out), she also felt betrayed by Simon. They had been friends for 6-ish years, and grew close to one another. The fact that Simon first came out to someone he had only known for months must have felt terrible. Of course, Simon had his reasons, but Leah's hurt feelings were justified (and she even stated that it wasn't her place to be hurt, since Simon's coming out is his business). I liked her character because these reactions are realistic. Her friends did do things that hurt her, and she reacted.

I don't think she was unlikable, just misunderstood.
I got the same feeling when finishing the book and then I realised that what bothered me is that she doesn't have time to be fleshed out... I think that is a problem with many characters in this novel because it is told from a first-person perspective...

Leah was pretty awesome, very angsty, but we can't really judge her since she had almost no space in the plot.

She has massive fear of missing out. I also took issue with the fact that she can be upset at Simon for hiding things from her, yet never mentioned to her bestie that she's been drumming for years. What the hell? How does that never come up? Simon loves music.

I have zero interest in Leah on the Beat. I'd much rather have a sequel about Nick, Abby or even Martin.

I feel like most of the characters were too underdeveloped in the book to really get a solid grasp on how I was supposed to interpret their actions/words as a reader. I haven't yet figured out if this was done on purpose or not, considering how streamlined the novel's narrative is, to begin with.

Yes, Leah came across utterly detestable (especially at the Waffle House scene, and I'm not terribly interested in picking up "...On the Off Beat" because of this. But, considering her sense of betrayal by Simon, I suppose an empathetic reader really can't blame a bestie for acting the way she did.

Wait. She's completely hypocritical, though. There's that scene earlier where Simon feels alone because Nick and Leah hang out (despite the pretext that Leah crushes on Nick), and yet she is pissed that everyone went out without her? ....And that's her biggest issue in the story? Not the fact that Simon didn't come out to her? I don't know. It felt like Leah's priorities were kind of out to lunch.

Eh. Leah wasn't unlikable at all. "Likable," generally means an upbeat happy character. She was just different, and if there's one thing I know about people, it's that they don't like different. Plus, she had a right to be pissed off, and, as I'm sure is seen in "Leah on the Offbeat," she obviously had something going on.

Okay, I actually liked Leah. She was realistically flawed and going through stuff. I can’t exactly explain it, but I liked Leah even though she was bitter and a little self absorbed sometimes ( not exactly but I don’t know how to describe it) but I feel not intentionally. She really does care about the people she loves.

Definitely not, I see so much of myself in Leah which is the only reason I didn't really like her. As a character in general though she was really well written, especially since she was realistic enough to make me not like her lmao