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A review by gdulecki
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
3.5
This was quite cute and heartwarming and I also have some frustrations about it!!
I loved the concept and the queer awakening via reality tv, and the side characters were so precious. I really felt the chemistry of Charlie and Dev’s relationship as it grew, and I was really rooting for them most of the time.
I appreciate the focus on mental health and the attempt to destigmatize it, but the execution fell a bit flat for me. It felt like the answer being thrown at us was if you go to therapy you will be healthy, good luck!
As for Charlie, I don’t care about millionaires so that wasn’t my fav as a character concept, but it felt like the realities of life were very detached from the plot (which I guess makes sense with reality tv) so that didn’t really impact him as a character that much. I can’t speak to the nuances of the rep from Dev’s character, but honestly it felt like he was Indian just for the sake of a more diverse book, and it wouldn’t have read that much different if he were white??? There was nothing that stood out to me as terribly offputting about his character at least, so that could have been done worse.
I loved the concept and the queer awakening via reality tv, and the side characters were so precious. I really felt the chemistry of Charlie and Dev’s relationship as it grew, and I was really rooting for them most of the time.
I appreciate the focus on mental health and the attempt to destigmatize it, but the execution fell a bit flat for me. It felt like the answer being thrown at us was if you go to therapy you will be healthy, good luck!
As for Charlie, I don’t care about millionaires so that wasn’t my fav as a character concept, but it felt like the realities of life were very detached from the plot (which I guess makes sense with reality tv) so that didn’t really impact him as a character that much. I can’t speak to the nuances of the rep from Dev’s character, but honestly it felt like he was Indian just for the sake of a more diverse book, and it wouldn’t have read that much different if he were white??? There was nothing that stood out to me as terribly offputting about his character at least, so that could have been done worse.