We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.
Book: The Charm Offensive & Perfect Fit
Me - I don’t even know where to start with this review. The Charm Offensive is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read!
I loved both Charlie and Dev so much, and the representation of their respective mental health struggles was incredible. The romance between these two was also everything I could ever want in a romance. First of all, I love it when two characters who have been consistently mistreated in the past finally find someone who shows them how they deserve to be treated and this relationship was exactly that. Charlie and Dev were messy, flawed, and complicated but they never shied away from each other. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen two people put so much time and effort into being there for each other in exactly the way each of them needed. Each of them helped the other feel comfortable being their truest selves because they loved all of each other, flaws and everything, and it brought me to tears many times. Not only was their emotional connection stunningly beautiful but their banter was also great and the chemistry jumped off the page.
Outside of Dev and Charlie, I also loved the side characters! It’s rare for me to get invested in side characters in books, especially more than one, but I loved Jules, Parisa, Angie, and Daphne. I also enjoyed Skylar. By the end, I even felt fond of Ryan. The friendships between Jules and Dev, and Charlie and Parisa, respectively, were so sweet and heartwarming and I loved that their dynamics were so different yet there was just as much love.
The plot was fun as well. I loved watching Charlie go on dates with the contestants on Ever After all while falling in love with his producer behind the scenes. I loved the practice dates Charlie and Dev went on to help Charlie feel more comfortable with dating the women on the show. I also really appreciated and enjoyed that some of the women were genuinely significant throughout the book and got to have their own personalities and stories rather than just being presented as obstacles in the way of Dev and Charlie’s relationship or tools to get them together. I enjoyed the awkwardness with which Charlie interacted with them at first and even more so, I enjoyed how he and the women all grew to care for and support one another.
This book was amazing. I loved Charlie and Dev individually, I loved their relationship, I loved their friends and friendships, and I loved every moment of their story. While this isn’t the only reason I loved it so much, I’ll add that this book reminded me of Red, White & Royal Blue more than anything else I’ve read before, and I don’t make that comparison lightly. Everybody who enjoys romance should read this!
Mom - Today I am recommending Perfect Fit by Claire Gilmore. When Josephine has to hire a consultant for her business, it turns out to be Will Grant, the twin brother of her ex-best friend. Even though she and Will were never friends, they shared a kiss during her senior year of high school that ruined her life. A relationship between her and Will would be wrong in so many ways. Besides, she doesn't have time for a relationship anyway. Yet, she keeps finding herself being drawn to him.
This is a sweet and appealing story. Josie is a likable character. She is quite relatable in many ways. Even though she started her own business in her twenties (that part of her life is not so relatable), she lacks confidence and worries about what others think.
However, the main side characters, Will and her current best friend, Cami, seem a little too perfect to be true. Will in the past was not always so nice to Josie nor did he seem too fond of her. However, Will in the story is always there and doing and saying the right things. Cami is also always there for Josie and always knows exactly what to do and say without Josie even having to ask. The conflicts between the characters seem easily resolvable and seem to be mostly in Josie's mind especially the ones between her and Will.
There are outside conflicts that keep the story moving along and interesting. Plus the relationships between the characters are still sweet and moving. They are the boyfriend and the best friend we aspire to have, and even if we can't have that in life, sometimes it's nice to have it in a book.
Today we are recommending Chasing Chasing Amy. This documentary discusses the impact of the film Chasing Amy as one of the foundations of Queer Cinema. The filmmaker, who was a teenager in Kansas struggling with sexual identity when the film came out, it was life-changing, lifesaving, in fact. Others in the Queer community took issue with it. They saw the movie as showing that all it took was "the love of a good man" to turn a lesbian as if gayness were a choice and not part of who one is.
The movie includes interviews with the show's creator, stars, and others. It does a good job of presenting different points of view regarding the film while emphasizing the impact it had on the filmmaker's life. Even if you are not personally gay and even if you have never seen the movie, Chasing Amy, this is still an interesting film.
Chasing Chasing Amy is in theaters now.
And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.
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