Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

51 reviews

tankytoon's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Such an emotional roller-coaster ride this book is: there were lots of laughs and lots of tears. 

I liked Dev in the first half but I ended up not liking him as much as I liked Charlie's character. But the dynamic between the two is amazing. I loved how Charlie grew stronger and became Dev's support like Dev was at the beginning of the story.

There were a lot of kernels of truth and realization in this book that could glean a book of quotes. There's a lot of sweetness as much as punch, and the writing is fresh and crisp. 

I also liked the representation of racial and gender diversity. I also admire how this book addresses mental health issues. But most of all, how it tells you that love and relationships don't have to be all neat and tidy. That it's all about the effort you put in and loving someone in spite of their flaws. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism

smasson13's review

adventurous hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The moment I realised that the author, Alison Cochrun, was a teacher, I knew it was going to be good. 

The adorable love story aside, this story has some of the best mental illness representation that I have read in a long time. She treats the topic and the characters with dignity without shying away from the difficult and often messy parts. It was refreshing and great to see. 

While the love was adorable and realistic, the conflict resolution seemed a little random. But overall, a great queer read about loving quirky people! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Cursing, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Bullying

kennyscoffee's review

emotional funny 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

4.0

Very Red, White, and Royal Blue which I didn't think was a bad things. This book explores deeper mental health issues than RWRB but had less sexual content and less "we can overcome it all" in my opinion. The book has POV from both characters which allows you to see each characters's feelings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual harassment, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Biphobia

OCD, Depression, Anxiety Disorder, Token hiring

werewolvesnotswearwolves's review

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

ridesthesun's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

Five FUCKING stars!!!

This book is just. It's everything. Vulnerable and funny and sweet and raw and just 🥺🥺🥺🥺 the DIVERSITY. Racial diversity. Sexual and gender diversity. Is mental illness diversity a thing? Well it is in this book. And all of it so so so so so well done.

The two mains are so chaotic and beautiful and hilarious and *good*. I love them with my whole CHEST.

As an asexual person, I've NEVER seen a character who is explicitly ace. Maybe a handful that were ace-coded, but never actually using the word. AND THIS BOOK DOES IT TWICE! TWIIIIIICE!!! And I've *certainly* never seen it from a main character. And it was *good* rep. Actually accurate rep. And two different characters that showed two different places on the ace spectrum!! I can't believe this is real tbh. It's just brilliant and made me feel so loved and seen 🥰🥰🥰

Anyways go read this book it's brilliant and lovely and goofy and 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Biphobia, Outing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, and Vomit

sedammit's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

new favorite book unlocked

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Alcoholism

20sidedbi'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Homophobia, Alcoholism, and Biphobia

charleshasalibrary's review

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Biphobia, Bullying, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Cursing

Moderate: Addiction, Vomit, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Outing, and Misogyny

justkimmithings's review

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism

forsan's review

emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

Charlie has been tapped as the next male lead on a popular dating show---realistically, he's on it to try to improve his image after he was booted by his co-founder from the company they jointly founded. The lights and forced romance of a dating show aren't really for him, though, and his anxiety and OCD are quickly sent into overdrive. Dev, who's worked on the dating show for years, is assigned as his personal handler, and the two grow closer against the looming countdown of the show's filming schedule.

I really, really enjoyed this. Charlie was such a sweet and genuine human being, and I absolutely loved the range of queer and mental-health representation in this book. It was a really sweet (and not overly on-page graphic, for what it's worth) romance, and it definitely made me emotional at points. While dating reality shows aren't usually my preferred genre of mindless tv, I also thought that it was a fun, sometimes silly backdrop to Charlie and Dev's relationship.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol and Mental illness

Minor: Biphobia and Alcoholism