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avpolski's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.0
aimeeinfinity's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
anna_banana2010's review against another edition
4.0
ok first of all. when i saw this at barnes and noble, i thought it was gonna be a little cute gay-romance-coming-out sorta thing. but DANG that was emotional.
both charlie and dev struggling with mental health is really amazing cuz you dont really see romance books that show real life problems, plot twists, and just overall so good.
and! alison cochrun taught at mountain view high in portland oregon! (i live near there)
in the authors note at the end, she talks about her coming out story and how writing the book helped her through that. and yes, im straight so this might be kinda weird for me to be saying all this, but this book helped me understand more about queer people in general.
if you couldnt tell, i love this book.
-.-..-.-..- - i will forever do that <—
^
“calm” in morse code. its what charlie does when he gets really anxious
both charlie and dev struggling with mental health is really amazing cuz you dont really see romance books that show real life problems, plot twists, and just overall so good.
and! alison cochrun taught at mountain view high in portland oregon! (i live near there)
in the authors note at the end, she talks about her coming out story and how writing the book helped her through that. and yes, im straight so this might be kinda weird for me to be saying all this, but this book helped me understand more about queer people in general.
if you couldnt tell, i love this book.
-.-..-.-..- - i will forever do that <—
^
“calm” in morse code. its what charlie does when he gets really anxious
nellocrayola's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
bhnmt61's review against another edition
4.0
I usually have a couple of books in my library queue that I’ve heard enough good things about to make me curious, but for whatever reason, I’m not interested enough to buy them. This was one of those books, and the reason I wasn’t sure I’d like it is because I’ve never been a fan of reality dating shows. I figured I would read the first two chapters and probably return it. But by the end of the first two chapters, I was hooked. I ended up really liking it.
The story opens with the filming of the first night of show, where the Prince Charming character — Charlie— meets the 20 women who will be vying for his affection. But Charm Offensive is never really about the 20 women. Many of them come and go without even being described. It is about everything going on behind the scenes.
Dev, a production assistant who has proven himself to be the best at handling difficult women, finds out minutes before filming begins that this season he will be handling Charlie, a nervous, anxiety-ridden tech millionaire who should never have agreed to be on the show. Before long their tentative friendship is blossoming into something more. Complications ensue. Of course.
Cochrun never ignores the moral ambiguities of a reality dating show, and there is some great honest talk about mental health, all of which I appreciated. The reason I’m not giving it five stars is because some of Dev’s reactions in the last couple of chapters are so out of character that they seem purely planted to draw out a big climax. At one point I found myself thinking, wow, Charlie deserves better than this. But it all comes right in the end, of course, and other than that, this is a fun read. Would be a perfect book for a day of planes and sitting in airports.
The story opens with the filming of the first night of show, where the Prince Charming character — Charlie— meets the 20 women who will be vying for his affection. But Charm Offensive is never really about the 20 women. Many of them come and go without even being described. It is about everything going on behind the scenes.
Dev, a production assistant who has proven himself to be the best at handling difficult women, finds out minutes before filming begins that this season he will be handling Charlie, a nervous, anxiety-ridden tech millionaire who should never have agreed to be on the show. Before long their tentative friendship is blossoming into something more. Complications ensue. Of course.
Cochrun never ignores the moral ambiguities of a reality dating show, and there is some great honest talk about mental health, all of which I appreciated. The reason I’m not giving it five stars is because some of Dev’s reactions in the last couple of chapters are so out of character that they seem purely planted to draw out a big climax. At one point I found myself thinking, wow, Charlie deserves better than this. But it all comes right in the end, of course, and other than that, this is a fun read. Would be a perfect book for a day of planes and sitting in airports.
eweaver1028's review
5.0
Okay this book actually served. It was such a great mix of fun, serious, and sweet. It wasn’t too over the top, but there was the right amount of ridiculousness because of the reality TV setting. I absolutely loved how Dev and Charlie were so patient and careful with each other. My favorite thing in romance is when characters push each other to be better versions of themselves. They are complete and fully fleshed out on their own, but the other person brings them to the next level. It also had one of my favorite tropes, which is when the characters are oblivious that the other person is into them. There were some serious moments with both characters’ mental health, so that is something to be aware of. Overall, this had a lot of my favorite aspects of romance books so it was a huge success for me!
kim_gzt's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Amazing Rom-Com with great characters. I originally thought that it would be a pretty flat Romcom but I was totally wrong. For being a pretty short book, Dev and Charlie characters were developed deeply. I enjoyed reading it from both their point of views a lot. It gave you a lot of inside of who they are. I also loved the queer representation and awareness for mental health. A 5/5 read for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
bengaliyaoi's review against another edition
2.0
I will give credit where credit where credit is due—this book makes no qualms about what it is. Cheesy, sappy, silly romance between two gay dudes that could honestly work as a fanfiction if you tried hard enough. Just replace the names with your characters of choice. It has that over red white and royal blue, I’ll tell you that much. I think what just irritated me and annoyed me to hell and beyond was the writing style. Every other page and every other conversation was some fucking GSA spiel about labels and their importance or mental health and so much of the cast of the book was clearly diverse for the sake of diversity. Dev being Indian doesn’t impact him or his character in any way, and is about as relevant as the color of his underwear.
I do not understand how so many people love this book, and okay, sure, some books aren’t meant for me, but the writing style for this book just infuriated me. If it wasn’t some conversation about asexuality and neurodivergence, it was the attempts at being witty and funny that just felt flat. If it wasn’t that, it was the random ass fucking metaphors (“his violin eyes” “hands spaced apart like she was building a small IKEA shelf”), and if it wasn’t that, it was the way the characters just interacted with each other like every conversation was a Reddit thread or a twitter debate. Maybe people like that! I certainly didn’t! Who even the fuck gives a shit! Dev could be a white gay dude and it wouldn’t make a difference! You could cut out 30% of this book and nothing would change!
Still better than red white and royal blue tho so
I do not understand how so many people love this book, and okay, sure, some books aren’t meant for me, but the writing style for this book just infuriated me. If it wasn’t some conversation about asexuality and neurodivergence, it was the attempts at being witty and funny that just felt flat. If it wasn’t that, it was the random ass fucking metaphors (“his violin eyes” “hands spaced apart like she was building a small IKEA shelf”), and if it wasn’t that, it was the way the characters just interacted with each other like every conversation was a Reddit thread or a twitter debate. Maybe people like that! I certainly didn’t! Who even the fuck gives a shit! Dev could be a white gay dude and it wouldn’t make a difference! You could cut out 30% of this book and nothing would change!
Still better than red white and royal blue tho so