When he got in, he said something along the line of “ I finally got to see the Mainland” and it just… hits. From the award-winning author of The Field Guide to the North American Teenager comes a whip-smart and layered romantic comedy. This reminds me a little of The Map from Here to There by Emery Lord but this sounds like a better read. It was genuinely a struggle for me to get through this book and it took me over a week to read it, when normally a contemporary like this would take me 2-3 days. In the case of his dog-walking business, I didn’t take issue with this trait because he has the necessary skills, just not the reputation and acclaim to back him up.

It has two of my favorite elements: senior year setting and laid back/uptight couple dynamics so it does sounds like it’s going to be a new favorite of mine. I didn’t realize whether it got better or not, but as I keep reading, I certainly got used to his monologues. Henri just complains about college stress the whole time and we don’t really get much of anything else. Charming As a Verb is a charming (pun intended), realistic young adult novel about finding one’s place in the world.This book explores the pressures teens experience during the college application process, and how the expectations of their parents can add a layer of stress to an already tense situation. I loved the relationship Henri had with his uncle, and how not only him, but his family, would go to his uncle for difficult conversations. I disliked Henri, fell in love with Corinne, and laughed my ass off because of Ming and how funny he was.

While this might be a realistic portrayal, it seems to me that if the gender roles were switched, this would bug more people.I really wish that we could have had a dual POV with Corinne and Henri because I think it would have added so much more to the story. The meet-cute is blackmail in the cute and witty YA contemporary where our protagonist Henri is just trying to balance life as a college-bound senior in NYC attending one of the cities most elite private schools. You’re immediately immersed into his side dog-walking hustle, high performance high school and high expectation of his immigrant parents.

Norris’ evolution from cynical outsider to caring insider is a journey well-worth following—especially as it’s accompanied with laugh out loud moments [and]insightful revelations. Charming As A Verb is a great book for those trying to figure out the next steps after school—we've all been there. But what Philippe doesn’t shy away from, and what makes this book so emotional, is Henri’s narration of what lies behind the scenes. Oh, really adore Henri as a main character, he IS charming even though its not l through out the story but this is what makes him a well written character. I truly enjoyed seeing them learn more about each other throughout the story and show their affection for each other.And not writing like her can be a good thing, since I'm still mad at her for giving me a book hangovwer after the song of achilles. Set in my favourite thing ever, New York City, the story follows the young adult life of Henri Haltiwanger. Anyways, Charming as a Verb is about Henri, an ambitious child of Haitian immigrants and owner of fraudulent dog walking company. Today’s snarky young anti-hero instead looks like Norris, the black French Canadian boy in The Field Guide to the North American Teenager .