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Charming
Seventeen-year-old Char has studied music, but didn't think of it as a future until she posted a video of herself singing and it went viral. So now, instead of going to queer youth events or taking part in the Gay Lesbian Alliance, Char spends her time figuring out how to get enough online fame to fuel a singing career. When one of her videos is bombarded with vicious online comments she is pleased to find an app that offers support and encouragement to people who are being bullied online.
Using the handle Charming, Char gets to know the creator and moderator of the app, who calls herself Cinders. Cinders inspires Char to reconsider her obsession with having the ideal online presence and concentrate on who she really is. But when Cinders turns out to be Ash, a shy girl who goes to the same school, Char must find a way to show Ash how much she means to her.
With a modern female version of Prince Charming as the main character, Charming expands the story of the fairy-tale prince to one of a teen girl who learns the true nature of fame and love.
Using the handle Charming, Char gets to know the creator and moderator of the app, who calls herself Cinders. Cinders inspires Char to reconsider her obsession with having the ideal online presence and concentrate on who she really is. But when Cinders turns out to be Ash, a shy girl who goes to the same school, Char must find a way to show Ash how much she means to her.
With a modern female version of Prince Charming as the main character, Charming expands the story of the fairy-tale prince to one of a teen girl who learns the true nature of fame and love.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 4, 2018
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 12, 2020
Another hi-lo YA book, this time about a lesbian teen musician, Char, who has become too preoccupied with social media likes, at the same time being bullied online. She meets a girl, Cinders, on an app made to help girls being bullied online.
I appreciate the bones of this story, but the execution fell a bit flat for me. There was too much telling about Cinders and Char talking instead of actually showing the conversations. Char says she's in love but I was like, huh, when did that happen? There was also more of Char thinking "I'm not like other girls" than I would have liked, and the bully Mimi and the popular girls aren't humanized or made complex enough, although it seems like this is explored in the companion novel, Cinders.
I imagine my issues with this book wouldn't be as big a deal to the intended teen audience, though, so I wouldn't not recommend it. The only part I am genuinely hesitant about is a line where Char's brown skin is compared to the colour of coffee with cream in it. (Article here why this is bad practice: https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/p...)
I appreciate the bones of this story, but the execution fell a bit flat for me. There was too much telling about Cinders and Char talking instead of actually showing the conversations. Char says she's in love but I was like, huh, when did that happen? There was also more of Char thinking "I'm not like other girls" than I would have liked, and the bully Mimi and the popular girls aren't humanized or made complex enough, although it seems like this is explored in the companion novel, Cinders.
I imagine my issues with this book wouldn't be as big a deal to the intended teen audience, though, so I wouldn't not recommend it. The only part I am genuinely hesitant about is a line where Char's brown skin is compared to the colour of coffee with cream in it. (Article here why this is bad practice: https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/p...)
April 24, 2020
| Reader Fox Blog |
The companion novel to Cinders, Charming by Mette Bach focuses on the alternate point of view of the love interest in this Cinderella story retelling. Another hi/lo title, this book seeks to increase interest and confidence in young readers who have struggled by appealing to common interests of today's teenager and using easy to read language. I am one hundred percent on board with the concept and hope that having books like these out in the published world will help a variety of kids really begin to enjoy reading and improve their skills. I can't say how often this will happen for kids seeking out books on their own, but at the end of the day, it's still a wonderful idea.
I definitely liked Cinders much more than Charming largely, I believe, due to the fact that Char's thought process was not one I could identify with all that much. I appreciated her love for music and found her focus on the negative feedback on her videos very realistic, but at times I felt somewhat annoyed by her. Add in the fact that she later belittles education--something her counterpart did not do in her novel--by suggesting that she doesn't need to attend college due to her dream of succeeding as a musician and this book was pretty much ruined for me.
I have a huge problem with this. And while Char's parents are portrayed as awful people for refusing to give her the money they set aside for her college tuition in order to afford an apartment/house situation with her girlfriend, I found myself siding with them. If my child wanted to throw away the money set aside for their education, I'd be pretty infuriated, too. Now, I'm not saying that putting down someone's dreams is the way to go, but it is never okay to throw away education opportunities. Char could have still attended college, she could have even gone and majored in music. But the idea that it's okay to throw away tuition money and refuse to go to college is not one I am even remotely okay with promoting. I'm sure Ash, who had to fight tooth and nail for her scholarship, wouldn't appreciate the fact that Char had every opportunity and decided not to use it.
And it is for that reason alone that my suggestion would be to skip this book entirely and read only Cinders.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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The companion novel to Cinders, Charming by Mette Bach focuses on the alternate point of view of the love interest in this Cinderella story retelling. Another hi/lo title, this book seeks to increase interest and confidence in young readers who have struggled by appealing to common interests of today's teenager and using easy to read language. I am one hundred percent on board with the concept and hope that having books like these out in the published world will help a variety of kids really begin to enjoy reading and improve their skills. I can't say how often this will happen for kids seeking out books on their own, but at the end of the day, it's still a wonderful idea.
I definitely liked Cinders much more than Charming largely, I believe, due to the fact that Char's thought process was not one I could identify with all that much. I appreciated her love for music and found her focus on the negative feedback on her videos very realistic, but at times I felt somewhat annoyed by her. Add in the fact that she later belittles education--something her counterpart did not do in her novel--by suggesting that she doesn't need to attend college due to her dream of succeeding as a musician and this book was pretty much ruined for me.
I have a huge problem with this. And while Char's parents are portrayed as awful people for refusing to give her the money they set aside for her college tuition in order to afford an apartment/house situation with her girlfriend, I found myself siding with them. If my child wanted to throw away the money set aside for their education, I'd be pretty infuriated, too. Now, I'm not saying that putting down someone's dreams is the way to go, but it is never okay to throw away education opportunities. Char could have still attended college, she could have even gone and majored in music. But the idea that it's okay to throw away tuition money and refuse to go to college is not one I am even remotely okay with promoting. I'm sure Ash, who had to fight tooth and nail for her scholarship, wouldn't appreciate the fact that Char had every opportunity and decided not to use it.
And it is for that reason alone that my suggestion would be to skip this book entirely and read only Cinders.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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July 6, 2019
Really nice look at the other half of the Cinders/Charming story.
I'm about to go back and compare some of the conversations directly. We got some things in Charming that were glossed over in Cinders and vice-versa. What I'd really like is to see them matched up side-by-side for the whole texts! If I had the money to buy two sets (one to keep and one to turn into an art project!) I'd do it myself, but the copies I'm reading have to go back to the library.
I love the dual narrative though and it was nice getting to know the personal side of Charming and not just her convos with Cinders. We see her own insecurities and issues and her own character development. She might not be working on as large of a scale as Ash like creating SendLove or pursuing a huge scholarship, but she's learning how to be her own person and what's really important in her life.
I thought it was kind of odd in Cinders how Char's parents were so pleasant but without us really getting any conversation from them. Here we see their issues with Char's choices for her future and her sexuality. It felt much more realistic and I was glad to see it even though it wasn't pleasant.
We still didn't see any more details about getting the school to vote for Ash in the project competition, and Allison wasn't in this one at all. But, Charming's epilogue actually takes place before the one in Cinders which helped with my disappointment from the first book about jumping straight from the end of school to them moving in together. We see Char discussing it with her parents and that at first they aren't accepting or supportive at all. But as we know from Cinders, Char is right when she says they'll come around.
Also, when I got to the Charming epilogue and saw it was called "Happily" I quickly flipped back through Cinders with bated breath and sure enough, the epilogue in Cinders is called "Ever After." ❤️ I love that they match and that they loop through each other, with Cinders being the first book but the last epilogue.
I'm glad to have found and read these and I hope to buy copies of my own some day soon-ish! (Gotta get these new kitten expenses taken care of first!)
I'm about to go back and compare some of the conversations directly. We got some things in Charming that were glossed over in Cinders and vice-versa. What I'd really like is to see them matched up side-by-side for the whole texts! If I had the money to buy two sets (one to keep and one to turn into an art project!) I'd do it myself, but the copies I'm reading have to go back to the library.
I love the dual narrative though and it was nice getting to know the personal side of Charming and not just her convos with Cinders. We see her own insecurities and issues and her own character development. She might not be working on as large of a scale as Ash like creating SendLove or pursuing a huge scholarship, but she's learning how to be her own person and what's really important in her life.
I thought it was kind of odd in Cinders how Char's parents were so pleasant but without us really getting any conversation from them. Here we see their issues with Char's choices for her future and her sexuality. It felt much more realistic and I was glad to see it even though it wasn't pleasant.
We still didn't see any more details about getting the school to vote for Ash in the project competition, and Allison wasn't in this one at all. But, Charming's epilogue actually takes place before the one in Cinders which helped with my disappointment from the first book about jumping straight from the end of school to them moving in together. We see Char discussing it with her parents and that at first they aren't accepting or supportive at all. But as we know from Cinders, Char is right when she says they'll come around.
Also, when I got to the Charming epilogue and saw it was called "Happily" I quickly flipped back through Cinders with bated breath and sure enough, the epilogue in Cinders is called "Ever After." ❤️ I love that they match and that they loop through each other, with Cinders being the first book but the last epilogue.
I'm glad to have found and read these and I hope to buy copies of my own some day soon-ish! (Gotta get these new kitten expenses taken care of first!)
November 14, 2018
Char is in her last year of high school. Her parents are well-to-do realtors who expect Char to go on to university but she just wants to make music. She uploads videos of herself on YouTube singing to build a following. She is obsessed with how many views she receives and gets bummed when there are negative comments. She suspects she is being trolled by Mimi, a mean girl at her school. She comes across an app called SendLove, which supports people who are being bullied online and becomes friends with the creator, Cinder. With Cinder's friendship, Char realizes that she can be who she really is and not worry about what others think.
This is the second book I've read by this author. This book runs parallel with "Cinders", which is told from Cinder's point of view (both books are written in third person perspective). It was interesting to read both books back-to-back because we get to know the girls more in their own books with their back stories.
Though I'm assuming it is written for the young adult market (so I'm not its demographic), I liked the story and the writing style. As a head's up, there is lesbian activity and I came across one swear word so perhaps the book is for a more mature young adult.
I liked Char. She knows who she is but is afraid to let anyone else see. We see her grow and become more confident throughout the book.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2018/11...
This is the second book I've read by this author. This book runs parallel with "Cinders", which is told from Cinder's point of view (both books are written in third person perspective). It was interesting to read both books back-to-back because we get to know the girls more in their own books with their back stories.
Though I'm assuming it is written for the young adult market (so I'm not its demographic), I liked the story and the writing style. As a head's up, there is lesbian activity and I came across one swear word so perhaps the book is for a more mature young adult.
I liked Char. She knows who she is but is afraid to let anyone else see. We see her grow and become more confident throughout the book.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2018/11...
March 15, 2019
Charming is the second part to Mette Bach's book Cinders. Charming picks up where Cinders leaves off throughout the book, providing the point of view of Char - Ash's love interest. Char is an aspiring musician just starting to figure out the her strengths and weaknesses in a media driven world. I was provided an e-ARC from Lorimer Children & Teens via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I'll be honest, this review was a bit hard to write. I really wanted to find a way to do justice to this story. So here it is, I'm going to lay it out: Cinders and Charming should be ONE BOOK. Apart, they are novellas, apart, Charming does not stand alone. Apart, Cinders is missing too much. Together, they are the fairtale sweet story that Bach was aiming to write. Charming has all the sweetness and magical feeling that Cinders lacks. Cinders has all the bones of a story that Charming lacks. Together they are an incredibly sweet LGBT teen romance that the genre definitely needs.
The rest of this review can be read at Commute Reads.
April 24, 2020
This was more a middlegrade. It was okay, but not the best thing I've read
March 11, 2019
This book is a fun read and I love that the author has a companion book that tells the story from the other person's part of view. They are both super cute books to read for both teens and adults.
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