A review by jbellomy
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

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? Yes

3.5

I actually physically cannot handle how feral this book is. And thus I cannot write a normal review and have chosen instead to write this in list form:
  • Saw on goodreads that some white girl was complaining about the audiobook narrators' pronunciation of Dev's name, which is dumb funny because not only is one of the narrators Indian, it's also the correct pronunciation, which said white girl would know if she'd ever met an Indian person or at the very least watched Never Have I Ever
  • Other ppl on goodreads saying that Charlie's anxiety is over the top when he is literally me (minus the constant vomiting). Rude.
  • Dev also me. Dev obviously has adhd. Cmon now
  • Angie also me
  • YET OTHER PEOPLE ON GOODREADS saying this book is triggering??! Wild. Wild. So wild. How do you ppl operate in the world. Like I am sympathetic to triggers but there are no graphic (or even non-graphic, really) descriptions of trauma in this. If you can't handle reading characters with mental illnesses idk what to tell you. Truly wild stuff.
  • AND THE GOODREADS PPL KEEP TALKING. another top reviewer said that she didn't understand why two people this ill were looking for a relationship. A completely terrible take. Stop. Get some help. Perhaps, even, consider touching grass. Who are you. How do you believe that. 
  • Relatedly: this book is good evidence for my personal contention that sick little freaks need to be with other sick little freaks (I can say that because I am, clinically, a sick little freak)
  • Extremely One to Watch Coded (complimentary)
  • EXTREMELY RWaRB CODED (possibly derogatory...?). Like you absolutely cannot convince me that this didn't start its life as an Alex/Henry fic with the serial numbers ever-so-lightly filed off. She made the Alex stand-in Indian, made him the assuredly gay one, and switched it so that he's the one with depression (not super convincingly I might add). And then she gave the Henry stand-in OCD, took away his britishness, and basically called it a fuckin day. It's complete with a June/Nora stand-in (Jules. Like, she named her JULES!! NOT SUBTLE), a Pez/Bea stand-in (Parissa [sp? I listened to the audiobook]), a drunken first kiss, familial neglect, sexual crises, optics-related conflict, montages of secret makeouts, angsty romeo-and-juliet-esque clownery, the main characters (esp. the Henry) being carted around to various fun locations and into awkwardly staged situations in those fun locations, hammy conversations about various queer identities, an ex-best friend that one of the characters retroactively realizes he was maybe in love with, the side characters being a gaggle of secret gays, (inter)national groundswells of support for the main gays, some of the most FERAL and ILLEGAL wish fulfillment ever put to paper, and fucking CROWNS. Tell me im wrong OH WAIT YOU CAN'T
  • BUT THATS ALSO PROBABLY WHY I HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME
  • CHARLIE ME
  • DEV ME
  • DAPHNE MY QUEEN
  • THIS WAS STUPID. I ENJOYED