At First Sight: A series of strange little events lead Charlie Barrow (girl) and Charlie Adams (boy) to run into each other on their way to different funerals and agree to be each other's plus-one. Before that they had met a total of two times: once when they bumped into each other at the subway, and another when they met at a bar - only that Charlie(boy) ended up on a date with Charlie(girl)'s friend.
Still, given that neither of them is looking forward to the funerals ahed of them, they agree to tag along with each other, so each of them has someone in their corner as they enter hostile territory.
From then on, they strike an easy friendship, with Charlie(boy) quickly falling head over heels, and Charlie(girl) fighting her own growing feelings due to past experiences.
Before they know it they are in a relationship, even if neither of them is ready to call it that.
Second Glance: Naturally, Charlie was a rather cute book. At first I thought the gimmick - that both protagonists were named Charlie and that it was spelled the same way - would get in the way of the story, but it didn't. The story is told from both their points of view, and once I got used to both voices they were distinct enough to make for an easy reading (though each chapter is marked to show which one of them is talking).
At the beginning I found the story a little confusing - mostly the girl's point of view was a little muddled and I wasn't sure about the timeline of things - but once the two Charlies become friends, it was easier. Also at the beginning, the story went back in time a little each time there was a point of view change and that annoyed me a bit, but again, it eventually evened out and it was all good.
For the most part, I thought the story was really cute! and I understand why each of the Charlies were behaving the way they were. There is a point where Charlie has to deal with some emotional baggage, and I wished she had come to her senses earlier, particularly because Charlie's feelings were always so clear, but other than that I really liked her (and I seriously liked him).
Bottom Line: Naturally, Charlie was a cute, romantic story about two people falling into friendship before stumbling their way into love. It was fun and sweet and I really enjoyed it once I got into it. Though I have to admit, I liked Charlie(boy)'s perspective more than Charlie(girl)'s.
Favorite Quote: "Hope can be a dangerous emotion, and it can hurt me as much as help me. But without action, hope has no chance, so I’m going for it."