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ruthlessreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Sometimes you read a perfect romance and you know it's gonna stick with you for years. Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert was like that for me and now I can add The Charm Offensive to the (very) short list of best romance books I've read.
Cochrun is a master at creating emotional moments with real-feeling characters, then tying all those moments into a (mostly*) believable plot. I loved every moment of this book and it made me feel seen in a variety of ways. More queer love stories with people who have mental illnesses, please!
*mostly becausethe firing of the showrunner after she was openly homophobic didn't ring true LOL but I still loved that moment anyway.
Cochrun is a master at creating emotional moments with real-feeling characters, then tying all those moments into a (mostly*) believable plot. I loved every moment of this book and it made me feel seen in a variety of ways. More queer love stories with people who have mental illnesses, please!
*mostly because
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
lee_noel's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I do not like reality television but this book was incredible. Highly recommend for the gays, the mental health moments, and the epic (not a fairy tale) romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
jess_always_reading's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I absolutely loved this story. It's light, quirky, and fun with great mad and queer representation. The main characters are lovable and I was fully invested in them and the side characters were also wonderfully layered.
A perfect cozy read.
10/10 would recommend
A perfect cozy read.
10/10 would recommend
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault
madelinedalton's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Biphobia and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault and Vomit
amanda_bookdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
levilore_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book was awesome and really hit me in the feels. It was nice to see such a diverse book that explored mental health issues well and also had good OCD rep. I really enjoyed how the characters learned how to be healthier for themselves first before they were in a relationship.
The plot was also very interesting, and I liked how the side characters were implemented into the story plus the importance of diversity in tv, even reality tv, which is often left out of diversity discussions. Overall, a really good book.
The plot was also very interesting, and I liked how the side characters were implemented into the story plus the importance of diversity in tv, even reality tv, which is often left out of diversity discussions. Overall, a really good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
kim_gzt's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Amazing book with great characters. I originally thought that it would be a pretty flat Romcom but I was totally wrong. For being a pretty short book, Dev and Charlie characters were developed deeply. I enjoyed reading it from both their point of views a lot. It gave you a lot of inside of who they are. I also loved the queer representation and awareness for mental health. A 5/5 read for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
knitsandnovels's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Biphobia and Homophobia
ziggyreadz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i really enjoyed The Charm Offensive. it was subversive in centering mental health and in its core message — that everyone is deserving of love.
i really liked charlie, it was so nice to see someone neurodivergent and anxious (like myself) grow into himself and become more comfortable with time. i wish he had stayed a bit truer to the beginning of the book — when he had more strict boundaries around overstimulating things — because i feel like that would have honed in on the themes of the book better.
dev i was a little more unsure about. in the first half of the book he was great, but his denial of his feelings/charlie and his’ relationship got old after a while. i have complicated feelings about him (and by extension the ending) because on one hand, i feel he should have been punished more by the narrative for being kind of shitty (and that would have made a more realistic and interesting ending), but on the other, i couldn’t tell what was him vs. his mental illness, and i also found his arc to reinforce the core message of the book.
i thought the premise was really fun and i enjoyed learning about the girls on the show (i definitely cared less about the other producers, but that may be because i listened to the audio book and dev’s reader would do incredibly obnoxious voices for those characters).
the ending made me very emotional, though exactly what emotion, i’m not sure. it was a mix of frustration, excitement, relief, anger, happiness — i consider it a win.
i know this is sort of par for the course for these kind of modern rom-coms, but some of the quippy dialogue was grating, though i felt it was kept at a minimum (comparatively).
the way the book talked about mental health was definitely better than the standard, but not the best it could have been — it was a little simplistic. still, i felt it was subversive and interesting.
would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good lgbtq rom-com!
i really liked charlie, it was so nice to see someone neurodivergent and anxious (like myself) grow into himself and become more comfortable with time. i wish he had stayed a bit truer to the beginning of the book — when he had more strict boundaries around overstimulating things — because i feel like that would have honed in on the themes of the book better.
dev i was a little more unsure about. in the first half of the book he was great, but his denial of his feelings/charlie and his’ relationship got old after a while. i have complicated feelings about him (and by extension the ending) because on one hand, i feel he should have been punished more by the narrative for being kind of shitty (and that would have made a more realistic and interesting ending), but on the other, i couldn’t tell what was him vs. his mental illness, and i also found his arc to reinforce the core message of the book.
i thought the premise was really fun and i enjoyed learning about the girls on the show (i definitely cared less about the other producers, but that may be because i listened to the audio book and dev’s reader would do incredibly obnoxious voices for those characters).
the ending made me very emotional, though exactly what emotion, i’m not sure. it was a mix of frustration, excitement, relief, anger, happiness — i consider it a win.
i know this is sort of par for the course for these kind of modern rom-coms, but some of the quippy dialogue was grating, though i felt it was kept at a minimum (comparatively).
the way the book talked about mental health was definitely better than the standard, but not the best it could have been — it was a little simplistic. still, i felt it was subversive and interesting.
would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good lgbtq rom-com!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content
lou_loo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is wonderful, amazing, and full of honest emotions, raw feelings, happiness, sadness, love, friendship and amazing relationships between lovable characters.
The whole cast is so gorgeous, inside and outside, the characters are fully fleshed, well developed and each has a distinctive personality.
I loved how the story unfolded, how the characters discover who they are, who their friends are and what they want their relationship to be.
The rep in this story is so well done, characters are from all types of different backgrounds and are all different sexualities, and the asexual spectrum was explored very beautifully and gracefully by the author. The mental health was also very well researched.
I absolutely love this book it deserves more than 5 stars, it deserves the world, and it deserves to be read by so many more people and enjoyed by everyone ready to read a love story full of raw emotions, full of humanity, and very real.
I could go on and on for ages, but I think it best to pick up this book and read it.
Or re-read it !!
The whole cast is so gorgeous, inside and outside, the characters are fully fleshed, well developed and each has a distinctive personality.
I loved how the story unfolded, how the characters discover who they are, who their friends are and what they want their relationship to be.
The rep in this story is so well done, characters are from all types of different backgrounds and are all different sexualities, and the asexual spectrum was explored very beautifully and gracefully by the author. The mental health was also very well researched.
I absolutely love this book it deserves more than 5 stars, it deserves the world, and it deserves to be read by so many more people and enjoyed by everyone ready to read a love story full of raw emotions, full of humanity, and very real.
I could go on and on for ages, but I think it best to pick up this book and read it.
Or re-read it !!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual content