Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

51 reviews

bookobsessedmommy's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

When Dev, hopeless romantic, is assigned to coach Charlie, romantically hopeless, into being prince charming on a Bacheloresque reality TV show, will the final product be an epic disaster or happy ever after? I freaking love this book so much! Secret dating is one of my favorite tropes, but when you add in awkward nerds, self discovery, and a slow burn, I am swooning. The way this relationship develops feels real inspite of the ridiculous premise, and the intimacy and chemistry leaps off the page even with this being mostly fade to black. The way they deal with, or avoid, their mental health struggles, and try to support each other melted my heart. Allison Cochran's writing is so all consuming and descriptive that I could see each scene playing out like a movie, and I think this would make an amazing adaptation! I just finish it, but I already want to read it again. 💗

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism

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

4.5

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Cursing

Moderate: Biphobia, Vomit, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual content

micaelacccc'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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcoholism

alikazam's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Mental illness

Moderate: Vomit and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism

toofondofbooks_'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcoholism, Ableism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Biphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Acephobia/Arophobia

kuroshiro_35's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, and Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

mel_j's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Toxic friendship, Body shaming, and Sexual harassment

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual content, Biphobia, Vomit, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault and Alcoholism

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

The way that Alison wrote about depression in this book hit close to home.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Vomit, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

takarakei's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

• MLM
• dual POV
• Reality tv (Bachelor-like) setting
• amazing LGBTQIA+ rep
• phenomenal mental health rep

THIS WAS SO STINKIN' CUTE!!! I'm honestly obsessed! Charlie and Dev have my heart forever. A MUST for anyone who watches reality tv shows it was such a fun take on that setting. (I don't watch them, and still loved this, so really it's for any queer romcom fans!). I really enjoyed both Dev and Charlie's journey through self-discovery, finding their identities and mental well-being.
Ok one caveat with the audiobook is that the narrator *kinda* makes it sounds like Dev's name is Dave (Dev is just pronounced D-ay-v) - so I just had to mentally picture 'Dev' every time.

3/5🌶️

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Sexual content, Vomit, and Ableism

Minor: Racism