Charming as a Verb Book Review

Summary

Henri Haltiwanger is NYC high school senior at a prestigious private school with big dreams. More specifically, big dreams of Columbia University, the school he desperately wants to attend. Known for his signature smile and for being charming with a capital c, Henri knows that acing his interview is the key to his acceptance. But when that doesn’t go according to plan, he winds up in what he hopes will be a mutually beneficial partnership with his intense neighbour and classmate Corinne Troy, the only person he can’t charm.

Soon, what started as Corinne blackmailing Henri into helping her social standing at school, and Henri holding out hope that Corinne’s mom could be the key to his acceptance into Columbia, slowly starts becoming a friendship, and maybe even something more. That is if Henri and Corinne’s budding relationship doesn’t crumble under the pressure of high school and college applications.

Review

Charming as a Verb is not only a truly wonderful and sweet romance but also an exploration of the stresses of college applications, jobs and social pressures that high school students deal with. There is so much that I loved in this book, from the setting to the characters to the romance. Corinne and Henri are the perfect opposites-attract couple, and are both so real and filled with personality. Also, all the characters in the book, even the side characters, have great group dynamics and dialogue. The setting is New York City, which is one of my all-time favourite settings for books, and even within that, Henri and Corinne’s high school is written in a way that is sure to be welcoming and familiar to current and recent high school students, with its inter-school rivalries, clubs, college obsession and social scene. Charming as a Verb is definitely very relatable as a high school student, and I’d highly recommend this to anyone currently going through or about to go through university applications. Overall, despite this book exploring a lot of themes around stress, high school and ambition, the characters and the romance are certain to leave you with a lasting warm fuzzy feeling.

Info

  • Ages 13 and up
  • Author: Ben Philippe
  • 328 pages
  • ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • Buy local via IndieBound

Until next time,