ARC Review: Cupid's Revenge by Wibke Brueggemann

*I was given a copy of Cupid’s Revenge in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Macmillan and Wibke Brueggemann*

Synopsis:

For the record, it was never my intention to fall in love. But you know Cupid: he’ll get you when you least expect it . . .

Tilly isn’t looking for a girlfriend, but her best friend Teddy is.

Enter Katherine Cooper-Bunting: beautiful, charming, and perfect for Teddy. So why does Tilly find herself using any excuse to join the theatre production they’re starring in?

And why can’t she stop thinking about Katherine?

Review:

Cupid’s Revenge was a fun theatre-themed read that dealt with some quite heavy topics. I went into this book thinking it was going to be a cutesy little story about amateur dramatics, but that wasn’t the case. Well, it was cute for the most part, but it does deal with serious topics such as dementia and even touches lightly on eating disorders – this isn’t talked about so openly but it is heavily implied.

From the little knowledge I have, the dementia storyline was done very well. It wasn’t completely over the top, which I know can happen as authors sometimes like to over-dramatise things for entertainment, but that wasn’t the case here. It seemed like an honest experience and I loved how Tilly didn’t treat her grandad differently because of it. If anything she was just more caring and she really grew throughout the book.

Although she liked to keep secrets and was generally a bit of a crap friend, Tilly was a good character. She felt like an authentic teenager.

Based on the cover, I thought this was going to be a middle-grade book, so imagine my surprise when the characters talked about sex a lot. Obviously nothing wrong with this, but I didn’t realise for quite some time they were 16. I still found it a little strange for them to be talking about sex so much, but it is the legal age of consent in the UK so it’s not that weird.

The side characters really shine in this story. They all have such distinct personalities and they really brought Cupid’s Revenge to life. The whole ensemble was a joy to read and I’d actually like to read another book with them present. I especially loved Miroslaw and Olivia, they were hilarious without even trying to be.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the main romance plotline as it felt a little contrived. The build-up just wasn’t there and I didn’t root for them at all. There is, however, a sneaky little romance that pops up near the end and I was hoping for it to happen for at least half of the book.

Cupid’s Revenge was a pretty decent read. It was very fast to get through and I enjoyed many of the characters. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sold on the romance aspects, but I had a good time reading this.