Reviews with content warning for Biphobia - The Charm Offensive

i would die for devcharlie.

in all seriousness, i adore the exploration of mental health and sexuality and the idea of choice. being able to choose for yourself what makes you happy is such a lovely idea and this book just hits.

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thereadingoutlaw's review against another edition

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emotional 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

ohmygodddd this made me clutch my chest and wish for death in a way I haven't since I read RWRB

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emmaline09's review

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emotional inspiring 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

4.75

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foxmochi's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.25

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av0universe's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

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archiveofrasa's review

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funny lighthearted 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

4.25

needed something light before I delve into more literary stuff, and this is exactly what I needed! I devoured this in just over a day and really loved it. it was actually funny, suited my humour so well, the cast was so loveable and well crafted and the romance?? me when romcom book characters actually have chemistry because these two hit it right off the bat I genuinely believed it when they said they loved each other at the end

that tends to be my gripe with the romance books I've been reading beforehand, I don't really believe they're in love (sometimes I don't even understand why they like each other aside from either being hot or each other's shoulder to cry on lol) but Dev and Charlie have it. it was really refreshing to see. their chemistry was what kept me reading.

I think I wasn't entirely wowed by the representation because I'm from the generation that is aware of all this stuff already, but it was really nice to see the discussion of not only sexuality (in all the queer sense, including asexuality) but mental health in an empathetic and realistic way in a book and not just on online spaces. I've seen this resonate with a lot of adults who didn't have the progressive adolescence that I had, so I'm very glad that's the case for them!

I do have some meh's. I see where people are coming from with Dev as an Indian-American written by a white author; as a child of desi (British) immigrants, I felt the slight distance between Dev and his Indian-ness but I kinda chalked that up to the fact that it's written by a white woman. I don't want to entirely call it out because the Desi Immigrant experience isn't a monolith and is very wide in its range – plus if not careful, Cochrun could've ended up writing someone else's story. But personally I'm all right with it as long as it wasn't offensive, which this book wasn't! I'd say if you want more accurate rep, try to find books written by Indians 😭 this book wanted to focus on mental health and a cute romance and it delivered pretty well.

Going into spoiler territory here for a neutral point but,

at first, I rolled my eyes at Dev's very naïve perception of the show and then I sat on it and realised the subtext (or maybe it was text, I don't know). Dev clings onto happily ever afters because when he can't, he has depressive episodes. It's harder to know if that was intended in a romance book compared to literary novels, but it really made sense. he clings onto Fun Dev so he doesn't fall into that pit of despair, he clung onto these kinda childish views of love to distract himself from his depression. I do really like that aspect of this book honestly, but maybe it could've been done in a way that's more realistic to someone Dev's age perhaps 😭

if you want a fun, lighthearted read like Red White & Royal Blue (but less political) then do check this out!

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joensign's review

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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

3.0

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