Charming as a Verb

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There were also SOOO many Harry Potter references like at least five and as much as I love Harry Potter, I thought the references were overkill. So in short, I feel like demanding to have MORE interaction FIRST to get us all on board with Henri liking Corinne. But I would have wanted to learn more about Henri's culture and how his Haitian culture and American culture intertwine. If Henri and Corinne were more intriguing or this novel dropped the romance altogether, I would have considered the book as charming as it claimed to be. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

Although this book was predictable at times, I found myself easily falling into this story, rooting for Henri much more than I expected to, and falling in love with his best friend Ming.Needing to use it like a verb because it means the difference in your survival, in the opportunities you would never have otherwise, and how necessary it is for some people. I’m looking forward to reading it, but I have to admit, it’s not my favorite when a novel feels like it’s divided into two parts, with each part concentrating on something different. Henri went to ____ college, he gets accepted by his parents after actually talking to them, and we see his relationship develop with Corinne. I don't tend to find many romantic comedy books with Black protagonists so this was a breath of fresh air. I found that I could relate to this book because I've started to list out universities for my potential Masters/ PhD (pls, someone let me do a PhD as an MBA graduate).

Charming as a Verb felt like a great encapsulation of end-of-high-school, beginning-of-the-rest-of-your-life, with all the pressures that comes with it. My favorite genre to read is contemporary realistic fiction, and I'll never say no to a graphic novel.

The story also explores college stress and the whole college application race; how some teens are lucky and get in because of legacy, how some teens have to really 'standout', and how Black kids also face the pressure of being excellent following Obama's presidency. And maybe that was intentional, but to me it just felt like the author realized that Henri needed a passion for the story to work and stuck one in without much thought. It has an adorable romance and relatable final-year scenarios that always made me miss high school, with enough charm and vulnerabilities from our main character Henry that made this book stood out. However, the elements of this novel that made it so utterly relatable for a young, pre-college audience were the same reasons why I couldn't get fully engaged in the story. I’m really excited to read a story by a Haitian author about a Haitian-American main character (because I’m Haitian-American) and the synopsis just makes me want to read it even more.

It’s a thread that is explored throughout the pages as Henri is pulled into a blackmail scheme that ends up being more than each of them bargained. His mum is pursuing her dream to become a firefighter, his father is the super at a Manhattan high rise, he has a thriving social life, his best friend, Ming a shoe-obsessed cinnamon roll and a dream to end up at Columbia. But one that illustrates its depths as Henri navigates being a first generation child of immigrants with their own dreams.Henri agrees and finds himself growing to like Corrine but he can't help but think about how her mother may be the key to his acceptance to the ivy league university of his dreams.

In this story we get to enjoy Henri's internal struggles about going into college, liking a girl that he he didn't expect to like in the first place and parents who expects a lot from him. His operation is not on the up-and-up and one of his neighbours, who is also a student at FATE, Corinne, decides to use this information to her advantage. When Corinne discovers Henri's dog walking "company" is really just him pretending to be a large entity, she sees the opportunity to use this to her advantage to make Henri help her be better with people. One who’s extremely driven, but kind of realizes high school passed her by as she was studying, and at the end is wondering what was the magic elixir she seemed to miss out on. Without reading the book, you already know that this book will be nothing but charming just by looking the cover alone.She seems very prim and proper, but readers quickly learn that there’s more to her than meets the eye. With a lot of humor and hustle, two seniors discover hidden depths to each other in this charming novel about New York City, pre-college anxieties, and finding yourself. I literally do not want to hear about high school kids stressing over college admissions the entire time. Which we thought would make us happy, or fulfill us, but end up having origins that don’t belong to us. When I was first introduced to Corinne, I thought she was pretty intense and determined to reach her goals.