Actual rating 4.5 stars.

From The Darkness Outside Us, an ingeniously written gays in space, to a queer historical story loosely based on a real person’s life. Eliot Schefer did it again!

Eliot Schefer based this book on John Singer Sargent's painting of Léon Delafosse (1895). The painting is in the Met, New York, and touched Eliot because of the sad but also ambitious and defiant look in Léon’s eyes. Léon, Charming Young Man’s main character, was a brilliant pianist and composer.

As I said, this story is loosely based on Léon’s life, and Eliot has taken plenty of liberties, so it’s far from historically accurate. But the book definitely captures Léon’s sadness, ambition, and defiance from the painting, just like the intriguing cover does.

Eliot pictures Léon as a quiet, shy, and modest seventeen-year-old in vibrant and chic Paris. He soon meets Marcel Proust, a writer, who takes Léon under his wing and also meets Robert de Montesquiou, a dandy and poet, who becomes Léon’s patron. Both boys are potential love interests. But Léon might be in love with Felix, his friend back home.

Even before I met Felix in the book, I had already fallen in love with him and his friendship with Léon. Léon often has Felix on his mind while playing or composing, and those thoughts are so incredibly tender that I wanted them to be together badly. I imagined the French countryside, cattle, tall grass, clouds drifting across a blue sky, and two boys walking next to each other, not even talking but just enjoying one another’s company. And my heart opened up for them, and a smile reached my eyes. I rooted for them so much, even though I knew Léon might end up with someone else. Léon struggles and feels like he’s wrong everywhere he goes. In mundane Paris, he finds people like him and becomes a society success while at the same time, he also has to perform a role he might not want. And in the French countryside, he can’t be who he really is while it is home and maybe where he truly wants to be.

TDOU and Charming Young Man are difficult to compare. While TDOU was a wild ride, a thrilling and insane story, Charming Young Man is more classical and quieter. There are no insane plot twists and no surprises. Instead of a romance, it’s merely a character-driven story about a boy searching for his identity and finding out where he belongs. And eventually it’s a beautiful story about love.

TDOU and Charming Young Man have one similarity, they’re marketed as YA books, but in my opinion, both books could easily be adult stories. Or maybe it even should be adult stories. At least, in my opinion.

This book read like my favorite classic gay literature, while taking me back in time to Paris and this endearingly sweet, relatable musicians story. My heart broke consistently for Leon, but was pieced back together. Like the blurb says, definitely recommended for those who are fans of Malinda Lo's the Telegraph Club.

The Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer is a captivating YA historical fiction novel set in 1890s Paris. The story follows Léon Delafosse, an impoverished young pianist who dreams of becoming France's next great musician. However, without an outside patron, it seems impossible for him to make his way in high society. That's when Marcel Proust, a young gossip columnist, takes Léon under his wing, and the two boys navigate through an extravagant new world. Soon, Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fézensac offers his patronage, and Léon's dreams come true. However, as he gets closer to becoming a great pianist, Léon must choose between his old country life, his family, and his best friend, Félix, whom he may love. The novel beautifully captures Léon's inner conflict and his journey of self-discovery, highlighting the challenges of navigating one's sexuality and the fine line between two worlds. Overall, The Charming Young Man is a must-read for fans of Last Night at the Telegraph Club and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue.