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cluckieduck's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Mental illness, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
Minor: Toxic friendship, Violence, and Sexual content
nicolinebl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
3.75
Oh my goodness. I have so much love for this book. So many topics are brought up in such a nice way. It didn't feel like too much. It didn't feel like a list of representation points they were checking off of a list. It was done tastefully and it felt natural. OCD, anxiety and depression. Heavy topics but dealt with so well. And the representation of not only non-binary characters but also asexuality, characters finding out they're gay & lesbian.
The story itself: I loved that it was basically like the bachelor but with a very great, very gay twist. Very engaging for most of the book, but got a little boring around 65% in. Got interesting again very quickly though :) And to be honest, I love when it takes a bit more time before they actually get together. I love the pining for each other without daring to make a move because "no way they like me". So I was a bit sad they got together so quickly lol. But that's definitely not a big issue to most people, probably!
The story itself: I loved that it was basically like the bachelor but with a very great, very gay twist. Very engaging for most of the book, but got a little boring around 65% in. Got interesting again very quickly though :) And to be honest, I love when it takes a bit more time before they actually get together. I love the pining for each other without daring to make a move because "no way they like me". So I was a bit sad they got together so quickly lol. But that's definitely not a big issue to most people, probably!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Biphobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, and Mental illness
Moderate: Violence, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
Minor: Racism and Bullying
vinnyvee's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Homophobia, Violence, and Sexual content
xtsukix's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Biphobia
Minor: Homophobia and Violence
bouebooks's review
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Biphobia
dhwani's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.5
just finished this and am writing the review because yes i'm a huge forgetful mess and i know i would forget about it later. however, there is just so much that i want to talk about.
first of all, i don't know whether to rate it full 5 stars, keep it to 4.5 or reduce it to 4 altogether, so you might consider mine a 4.5 for now. of course, i would never hesitate to give a book 5/5 if i love it so much, but there is just something that i didn't completely like as well so yeah i'll be taking away a 0.5 for that.
before we proceed to the good part where i'll be GUSHING about this amazing book, i'd like to address something that i didn't find appealing. that is, Dev Deshpande as a character. as a person who is Marathi (Indian) (take this review as ownvoices), i didn't like how the character was portrayed with almost no part of him showing his (even the slightest) attachment to his desi-ness. His parents are said to be first gen immigrants, he says he wants to produce a desi queer romance and he's said to have brown skin and that's about it. and not to mention there is just ONE Indian food reference and it is vegetarian tikka masala.
although i know that maybe the character must not be having too close of a connection with his culture, i also think that as a POC main character, it was necessary to be shown. having a desi MAIN CHARACTER just for the name and not mentioning anything else about them is so meaningless. there were times when maybe if not constantly reminded of his skin colour, i would've completely forgotten that Dev was Indian. so what i've been trying to say here is that the author could've used some more research and i'll be happy if i get to see a better POC character in their future works.
coming to the part that i liked about the book, i have to say this has to be my most favourite queer joy book ever! i have not read a lot of them but my heart swells with love and yearning whenever i do and it's just to pure to know that being queer is amazing. i absolutely loved the ace-spec rep and the M/M romance, along with queer side characters and them getting stories of their own. there wasn't any character who was baseless or had no real role and was just standing by. NO. literally every character contributed to the story and i liked that so much!
ALSO DID I MENTION THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL YOU AREN'T READING?? i felt like i was there with the characters, feeling this attachment to them that i have rarely felt so strong.
also liked how the ex wasn't the evil doucheboy who loves to ruin his ex's stuff? at first when the ex was mentioned i was like ew here he comes he's going to ruin everything but by the end i ended up liking him too and understanding that some relationships don't work out and it's absolutely okay!
i liked the narrative based around mental health and how it is important and how loving someone else isn't going to magically cure you or make you healthy. the author intricately focused on how people view getting therapy or help as a weakness and how it has to change, i loved all of it so much.
in the end, i'm going to end this review while asking Parisa to be my life so yeah we'll probably end up falling in love, y'all have a good day though!
first of all, i don't know whether to rate it full 5 stars, keep it to 4.5 or reduce it to 4 altogether, so you might consider mine a 4.5 for now. of course, i would never hesitate to give a book 5/5 if i love it so much, but there is just something that i didn't completely like as well so yeah i'll be taking away a 0.5 for that.
before we proceed to the good part where i'll be GUSHING about this amazing book, i'd like to address something that i didn't find appealing. that is, Dev Deshpande as a character. as a person who is Marathi (Indian) (take this review as ownvoices), i didn't like how the character was portrayed with almost no part of him showing his (even the slightest) attachment to his desi-ness. His parents are said to be first gen immigrants, he says he wants to produce a desi queer romance and he's said to have brown skin and that's about it. and not to mention there is just ONE Indian food reference and it is vegetarian tikka masala.
although i know that maybe the character must not be having too close of a connection with his culture, i also think that as a POC main character, it was necessary to be shown. having a desi MAIN CHARACTER just for the name and not mentioning anything else about them is so meaningless. there were times when maybe if not constantly reminded of his skin colour, i would've completely forgotten that Dev was Indian. so what i've been trying to say here is that the author could've used some more research and i'll be happy if i get to see a better POC character in their future works.
coming to the part that i liked about the book, i have to say this has to be my most favourite queer joy book ever! i have not read a lot of them but my heart swells with love and yearning whenever i do and it's just to pure to know that being queer is amazing. i absolutely loved the ace-spec rep and the M/M romance, along with queer side characters and them getting stories of their own. there wasn't any character who was baseless or had no real role and was just standing by. NO. literally every character contributed to the story and i liked that so much!
ALSO DID I MENTION THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL YOU AREN'T READING?? i felt like i was there with the characters, feeling this attachment to them that i have rarely felt so strong.
also liked how the ex wasn't the evil doucheboy who loves to ruin his ex's stuff? at first when the ex was mentioned i was like ew here he comes he's going to ruin everything but by the end i ended up liking him too and understanding that some relationships don't work out and it's absolutely okay!
i liked the narrative based around mental health and how it is important and how loving someone else isn't going to magically cure you or make you healthy. the author intricately focused on how people view getting therapy or help as a weakness and how it has to change, i loved all of it so much.
in the end, i'm going to end this review while asking Parisa to be my life so yeah we'll probably end up falling in love, y'all have a good day though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Biphobia, Cursing, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
emfass's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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
Perhaps I will come back later to leave a longer review, but for now: this book made me cry multiple times, more than any other romance has, but in the best way: for mental health rep, for aspec + queer rep, for allowing people to be with us in our darkest and messiest moments and helping us realize we deserve love then too, for the idea that every kind of love/orientation deserves to be recognized as valid and is worthy of being represented widely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Religious bigotry
morriganslibrary's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual content
Minor: Violence
caseythereader's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- QUEER SCREAMING HELP I LOVE IT SO MUCH!
- Like, I cannot even cram all the things I loved about this book into an Instagram caption. A Bachelor-type show! A hopeless romantic! Queer love! Discussions of asexuality as a spectrum! Depictions of anxiety, depression, panic disorders and OCD that feel real! Pansexual, bisexual, lesbian, and nonbinary secondary characters! Banter! Two leads falling in love with each other through actually talking and getting to know and support each other! Repeated emphasis on the idea that you deserve to be loved for your whole self and not in spite of your mental illnesses!
- On a personal level, THE CHARM OFFENSIVE is the only book I've ever read where I saw my own queer experience written on the page. Confusion about why no sexual orientation label ever seemed correct to you? Check. Someone else pointing out that you might be asexual? Check. Just so much about Charlie. He has my whole heart. Omg, I'm gonna cry again just thinking about it. Thank you for this book, Alison Cochrun.
- QUEER SCREAMING HELP I LOVE IT SO MUCH!
- Like, I cannot even cram all the things I loved about this book into an Instagram caption. A Bachelor-type show! A hopeless romantic! Queer love! Discussions of asexuality as a spectrum! Depictions of anxiety, depression, panic disorders and OCD that feel real! Pansexual, bisexual, lesbian, and nonbinary secondary characters! Banter! Two leads falling in love with each other through actually talking and getting to know and support each other! Repeated emphasis on the idea that you deserve to be loved for your whole self and not in spite of your mental illnesses!
- On a personal level, THE CHARM OFFENSIVE is the only book I've ever read where I saw my own queer experience written on the page. Confusion about why no sexual orientation label ever seemed correct to you? Check. Someone else pointing out that you might be asexual? Check. Just so much about Charlie. He has my whole heart. Omg, I'm gonna cry again just thinking about it. Thank you for this book, Alison Cochrun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
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