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av0universe's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Biphobia
Minor: Homophobia
archiveofrasa's review against another edition
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!
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,
if you want a fun, lighthearted read like Red White & Royal Blue (but less political) then do check this out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Ableism
Moderate: Vomit, Homophobia, Biphobia, and Sexual content
joensign's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Sexual content, Biphobia, Vomit, and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual assault and Alcoholism
kal517's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Biphobia and Sexual content
bekacrook's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Charlie and Dev felt like real people, they had flaws and personalities that weren't skirted over or just added in to make them seem relatable. They were sweet and sensitive, and there was a mix of genuinely funny moments and moments that made me feel so sad and heartbroken for both of them.
I liked the premise of the book, and the setting of a reality TV dating show and how that interfered and added a different dynamic to the whole thing. The side characters really added to the story and honestly they each had a little bit of surprise with them and felt really human. Naturally, it was a little bit predictable in what was going to happen but I found that comfortable, not boring.
The mental health representation is great, it feels honest but still hopeful with an onus on you getting help for yourself and because you want to, not because other people want or expect it. It explains why people behave differently but never uses it as an excuse for people to be rude or mean.
I just really liked Dev and Charlie together, they strengthened each other and helped each other without fundamentally changing who the other person is. There was so much acceptance and hope within them both. I thought the ending was super cute, I just really enjoyed reading it.
I liked the premise of the book, and the setting of a reality TV dating show and how that interfered and added a different dynamic to the whole thing. The side characters really added to the story and honestly they each had a little bit of surprise with them and felt really human. Naturally, it was a little bit predictable in what was going to happen but I found that comfortable, not boring.
The mental health representation is great, it feels honest but still hopeful with an onus on you getting help for yourself and because you want to, not because other people want or expect it. It explains why people behave differently but never uses it as an excuse for people to be rude or mean.
I just really liked Dev and Charlie together, they strengthened each other and helped each other without fundamentally changing who the other person is. There was so much acceptance and hope within them both. I thought the ending was super cute, I just really enjoyed reading it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Homophobia
andiezzzz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Biphobia, Alcohol, Cursing, Racism, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse
ish9999's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders
moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
- 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 was a cute romance with some really great representation of mental illness. There was also some really neat discussion about reality TV and representation at large.
If I wanted to nitpick, I could find things that weren't believable about parts of this, but I was so engrossed with the story and characters that I didn't want to - any of it didn't break my reading experience (and certainly any gripes that I could search for to have are well within the norm for this genre anyways). I stayed up way too late reading this because I was so invested. I'm excited to read more from this author!
If I wanted to nitpick, I could find things that weren't believable about parts of this, but I was so engrossed with the story and characters that I didn't want to - any of it didn't break my reading experience (and certainly any gripes that I could search for to have are well within the norm for this genre anyways). I stayed up way too late reading this because I was so invested. I'm excited to read more from this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Ableism, and Mental illness
Moderate: Vomit
plsnotanotherdamselindistress's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
- 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
Their love story was just very wholesome and I really liked that it was just as much about character development.
It took some time getting into the storymainly because of how Dev describes this show realistically as bad as it is but glorifies it completely almost till the end, which made him partly unlikeable as the morals of the MCs are important to me .
But I loved the inclusion of mental health issues because they sometimes seem not to fit in romantic contexts but actually should be represented in romantic stories because some people have mental health issues and they are still worthy of love even if they themselves don't feel that way.
So thank you to the author for making me hopeful, thank you for writing this story :)
It took some time getting into the story
But I loved the inclusion of mental health issues because they sometimes seem not to fit in romantic contexts but actually should be represented in romantic stories because some people have mental health issues and they are still worthy of love even if they themselves don't feel that way.
So thank you to the author for making me hopeful, thank you for writing this story :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, and Racism
telliot's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Homophobia