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Secondhand Lovers
367 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 20, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 22, 2026
This book was so good!! ( and so sad) I loved it so much 4.75❣️ the themes in it hit very close to home and were super relatable this was such a great debut novel for this author
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May 21, 2026bookstagram bestie published her own book! iM SO PROUD OF HER! GO READ THIS!
June 2, 2026
I'm going to keep this as spoiler free as possible for everyone's sake 😄
First of all, I ate this book up in 2 days. It was really cute, heart-warming, and I think Charis does a wonderful job of really making you feel the characters grief and their journey to healing. I'm basically going to just paraphrase the blurb here, so feel free to skip to the main attraction.
When Karlie and Marcus, two teenagers both struggling with the loss of a boyfriend/girlfriend respectively, they meet at a support group for teen grief and instantly connect. But senior year for them has its ups and downs, and their feelings grow more complicated the more they get to know each other.
POSITIVES:
I'm going to do this in dot point form, as my school has indoctrinated me into doing so.
● It was very easy to read- Charis's writing isn't heavy or requiring a lot of brain power, so it was one of those books for me where I didn't have to think about every sentence I was reading and could just be absorbed in the scene.
● Karlie and her mum's relationship, plus her love for fashion and the descriptions of their shop (I may have internally screamed when I saw it was called Secondhand Love) were really well done. I adored Karlie's mum the entire read.
● Marcus, just as a character in general. He wasn't perfect, and he wasn't a big strong broody man like a lot of romance books have, and I loved how he was flawed, and that he wasn't able to change his bad habits immediately- it felt more grounded than if he had just immediately stopped his hurtful behaviour just because Karlie, or his sister Sydney, told him to.
● The setting. I don't think this needs to be elaborated much on, but if you're thinking cosy town from a 2000s rom com, you'd be absolutely bang on
NEGATIVES:
Honestly, there weren't many, so this is more constructive criticism than anything I actually hated. Here are the only two reasons this book was 4 stars for me instead of 5.
● The ending felt a bit rushed- The events leading up to the epilogue made sense, but I think that I would have liked to see an epilogue a year/few months into the future instead of so soon after the major climax, where the same information could be given but we could see what Karlie and Marcus have decided to do with their lives with everything they're going through
● I would have liked to see more of Marcus's life generally, because it felt to me that a lot of his chapters revolved around Karlie, which is great and all, but more scenes at school or exploring the tension between his baseball team members would have given me more insight into his character and connection like I felt with Karlie
OVERALL:
Totally recommend!! The author is also a teen and this is her debut, so even more reason to support her work! ❤️
I will be reading the rest of this series when it releases 🤭
First of all, I ate this book up in 2 days. It was really cute, heart-warming, and I think Charis does a wonderful job of really making you feel the characters grief and their journey to healing. I'm basically going to just paraphrase the blurb here, so feel free to skip to the main attraction.
When Karlie and Marcus, two teenagers both struggling with the loss of a boyfriend/girlfriend respectively, they meet at a support group for teen grief and instantly connect. But senior year for them has its ups and downs, and their feelings grow more complicated the more they get to know each other.
POSITIVES:
I'm going to do this in dot point form, as my school has indoctrinated me into doing so.
● It was very easy to read- Charis's writing isn't heavy or requiring a lot of brain power, so it was one of those books for me where I didn't have to think about every sentence I was reading and could just be absorbed in the scene.
● Karlie and her mum's relationship, plus her love for fashion and the descriptions of their shop (I may have internally screamed when I saw it was called Secondhand Love) were really well done. I adored Karlie's mum the entire read.
● Marcus, just as a character in general. He wasn't perfect, and he wasn't a big strong broody man like a lot of romance books have, and I loved how he was flawed, and that he wasn't able to change his bad habits immediately- it felt more grounded than if he had just immediately stopped his hurtful behaviour just because Karlie, or his sister Sydney, told him to.
● The setting. I don't think this needs to be elaborated much on, but if you're thinking cosy town from a 2000s rom com, you'd be absolutely bang on
NEGATIVES:
Honestly, there weren't many, so this is more constructive criticism than anything I actually hated. Here are the only two reasons this book was 4 stars for me instead of 5.
● The ending felt a bit rushed- The events leading up to the epilogue made sense, but I think that I would have liked to see an epilogue a year/few months into the future instead of so soon after the major climax, where the same information could be given but we could see what Karlie and Marcus have decided to do with their lives with everything they're going through
● I would have liked to see more of Marcus's life generally, because it felt to me that a lot of his chapters revolved around Karlie, which is great and all, but more scenes at school or exploring the tension between his baseball team members would have given me more insight into his character and connection like I felt with Karlie
OVERALL:
Totally recommend!! The author is also a teen and this is her debut, so even more reason to support her work! ❤️
I will be reading the rest of this series when it releases 🤭
June 13, 2026
This book broke my heart and fixed it all at the same time. The ending was expected but not at the same time and I really hoped that Marcus's mom would be okay but sadly I was wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2026
i loved this book the writing was amazing so we're the characters the book was focused a lot on the topic of grief and how it bound two people together and i love them so much marcus and karlie are the bestt
May 22, 2026
Super cute love story!!! This book came very close to tearing me apart; I agree with some of the depressing things said. This book is so sad but I loved to. Very well written probs to the author!!! I recommend to anyone struggling with loving someone after losing someone you loved. I also recommend to anyone who struggles with self harm because I would say this book has a bit of a healing depth to it.
June 8, 2026
this book was amazing in the way that it dealt with grief and trauma. Karlie and Marcus's relationship was real in the way that neither of them believed that they were worthy of love again after what had happened with their past relationships, yet they discovered profound love in each other. they healed each other, and even before dating, they were best friends, and knew and loved the other before committing to a relationship. I loved reading this book and the message that it sent out to its readers.
June 16, 2026
Charis is one of the sweetest girlies I know on bookstagram and she's an even better writer! Secondhand Lovers was such a bingeable read (I couldn't stop reading it) and I fell absolutely in love with the mcs, Marcus and Karlie (as well as Sydney)! While texting Charis, I learned that she poured some of her personal experiences into this book, which made it feel even more authentic and real. Certain aspects such as the grief and others were written so raw yet thoughtfully well, which fit so perfectly with the book and gave a roundness to the characters! Even though this just recently came out, I cannot wait for book 2 of this new series! If you're looking for a new romance series self-published by a teen author, please go read it!!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews