Tips for Tuesday - Books: Okay, Cupid & Everything We Never Said

We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Me - Okay, Cupid by Mason Deaver follows the story of Jude, a teenage Cupid whose purpose on earth is to help humans fall in love. After Jude breaks one of the sacred rules of being a Cupid, they are put on probation and given a chance to redeem themself through a month-long assignment where they must attend high school and help two former best friends reconcile and become something more. Unfortunately, as Jude befriends them and grows more involved in their lives, things begin to go awry and Jude wonders whether they know all that much about love after all. 

This book was really fun! Jude was an endearing main character to follow, and I enjoyed their story, from their struggle with figuring out what being a Cupid versus being a human really meant to them, to the way they worked through how they felt most comfortable expressing their Agender identity. The way they spoke about their identity felt informative yet also natural within the story and most, if not all, of the other significant characters in this book were LGBTQ+ too so the representation was great. 

There were some very sweet friendships in this book, though there wasn’t much development in those relationships, as they formed pretty instantaneously. We also didn’t see that much of a focus on them but whenever scenes did feature moments of friendship, I enjoyed them. Most of all, though, I was delighted by the romance! The official book summary doesn’t mention who the love interest is so I’ll leave it out too in order to avoid spoilers, but the relationship that person developed with Jude was so adorable. Their banter was great and I loved watching the two of them get to know each other, form a friendship, and slowly but surely fall in love. 

The relationship between Jude and their guardian, Leah, on the other hand, left something to be desired. Leah was an adult Cupid who raised Jude because, if I understand correctly, Jude’s parents were also Cupids, and Cupid parents don’t have time to raise their own kids. Jude said numerous times that they loved Leah and looked at her like a sister, but the two of them didn’t interact much throughout the book and most of the times they did were very tense. Leah seemed secretive, unsupportive, and more concerned with what she wanted for Jude than what they wanted for themself. It felt like the actual relationship we saw between them conflicted with the way Jude described it but ultimately their dynamic wasn’t explored enough to really understand it at all.

As for the Cupid aspect of the story, it wasn’t the most thoroughly explained. It’s not really clear whether Cupids are a different species than humans, how they came to exist, or what exactly the capabilities and limitations are of their powers. That said, there is enough information provided for most of what happens in the story to make sense so unless you are someone who needs to understand every aspect of the magic in a book, it probably won’t negatively impact your reading experience; at least it didn’t impact mine.

Unfortunately, the ending of this book kind of ruined it for me. I won’t say much because, again, I don’t want to spoil anything but it was extremely open-ended. Jude’s future was very unclear, it made me a bit confused, and in a lot of ways, I felt like it made the rest of the book pointless. Therefore, I would say if you don’t mind endings like that and you’re looking for great queer representation, magical realism, and a fun young adult romance you should give this one a try. It was well-written and fast-paced and if you don’t think the ending will bother you, you might really like this. However, if you prefer a more concrete ending where you’ll leave off certain of what’s happened and where the characters have ended up, then this one is most likely not for you.

Mom - Today we are recommending Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow. When Ella's best friend Hayley dies in a car accident in which Ella was driving she feels guilty enough. Then, she starts falling for Hayley's boyfriend, Sawyer. However, there was a lot more to Hayley's life and her relationship with Sawyer than Ella ever knew. Hayley secrets put Ella in danger and only the truth revealed in the diary Hayley left behind can save her.

The big twists in this book have been done before, and if you read (or watch) a lot of thrillers you probably have a good idea of what is going to happen. Although there are a couple of red herrings that keep things from being totally predictable when the truth is revealed it doesn't feel like anything that's never been done before.

The book does have a lot of great characters and relationships, however. Ella and Sawyer seem very cute together but to say more about their relationship would reveal too much about the plot. There are a lot of great family connections as well. There is Ella's relationship with her parents and even more so her relationship with her younger sister as well as Sawyer's relationship with his mom and his younger brother. There is also a nice friendship between Ella and her extremely supportive pal, Seema. It is hard to believe that Seema would be so willing to overlook their past history and be such a supportive friend, however.  All in all, this book is a decent read though it would have been better if the big twists were more unique and surprising. 

Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

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