It's been so long since I've sunk into a YA this heavily. I haven't loved characters this deeply and thoroughly since John Green. The amazing stupidity of the teen years is captured so beautifully by Brueggemann. Even though the language is embarrassing at times and like half of the problems here could've been solved by a conversation, that just made it all feel more authentic somehow. Teens say dumb shit, and they avoid problems, and they do stupid things without thinking them through, and everything feels like the end of the world. I loved being back in that setting for a little while (I also loved being able to leave).

10/10

First and foremost, the cover of this book is gorgeous! The moment I saw it I wanted to pick it up.

I loved the representation within this book! Sapphic coming-of-age stories will always have my heart.

Overall, this book does an incredible job of portraying a realistic teenage experience, full of ups, downs, and confusing feelings. Tilly dealing with her grandfather’s dementia really emotionally affected me. I think this book would have been wonderful for me to have read in high school.

DNF @ 50%

As a theater kid the premise of this book sounded perfect for me. A girl who falls for her guy best friend's crush while putting on a play sounded amazing. I really wanted to like this book. I tried really hard to like this book, but unfortunately this just wasn't for me.

The main character, Tilly, felt like a 30 year old woman cosplaying as a teenager. Imagine the mom from means girls that thinks she is a "cool mom" and that is exactly how this FMC talks and acts. No teenager talks in the way that Tilly does and it was so cringy and hard to read.

I also didn't vibe with this writing style. The writing style was ok at times (Typically during moments that were side plot lines), and just not good in the main storyline. I really struggled with this one. None of the characters are likable and there are a lot of things said that just didn't vibe with me from the constant digs at how terrible Fanfic is to the constantly calling artistic people weird, I struggled to get into the story. I also understand this is supposed to be a coming of age story destigmatizing sex, but it was done poorly. The random sexual thoughts felt gross and always came at strange times that didn't flow in the story.

This premise was good and I loved the idea, but I just didn't enjoy the execution. If I hadn't received an ARC of this I would have DNF'd a lot sooner, but I really wanted to love this book so I gave it more chances than I should have.

Okay, full disclosure, I was a little nervous that this book wouldn't be an ideal fit for me. Although I spent a bit of time around theater in high school, I can't always related to the stereotypical theater kid experience and I worried that might make me struggle to connect with the main characters, but I was so pleased to be wrong about that!

I absolutely loved the writing style of this book. It took me back to the way I thought and acted as a teenager (including my less-than-perfect decision making skills, haha). I felt connected to so many of the characters and I loved how many different ages were represented despite the main characters being teens. This felt like the perfect balance of serious and a bit silly, and I loved every moment of it.

I would recommend this book to folks who enjoyed drama as a teen, folks interested in a queer love story, and anyone with a complex relationship with an aging family member. It was sweet in all the right ways, complex in all the relatable ways, and overall such a great read!

when tilly’s best friend, teddy, ropes her into a plan to woo his crush, katherine cooper-bunting, tilly reluctantly agrees. this plan involves auditioning for the same play as katherine, though neither tilly nor teddy are the artsy type. in such close proximity, tilly can see what teddy sees in katherine—and, unfortunately, cupid strikes her hard.

as a former theatre kid, it made my heart so happy to read about a girl formerly uninterested in theatre find a home there. tilly didn’t play a role, but she was assistant director, which means she went to the practices and had a lot of contact with the others (including, of course, katherine). so, the aspect of friendship was pretty strong, which i unfortunately do not see enough of in romance books. i liked the romance aspect as well, since tilly and katherine’s relationship was a slowburn and they had to keep it secret. overall, this was a great read and i recommend it to ya romance readers.

As a former theater kid, the plot of Cupid's Revenge sounded right up my alley and I was excited to dive into it. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed and vaguely annoyed.

The premise itself is straightforward enough—our main character Tilly joins the local play with her best friend Teddy to help him impress his crush, Katherine. Of course, hijinks ensue and Tilly finds herself gravitating more and more towards Katherine.

Let's start with what I liked; I thought the side plot of her grandfather's onset of dementia and living with Tilly's family was beautiful. It, truth be told, was my favorite part of the novel and I think demonstrated Wibke Brueggemann's writing best. There were moments of clear prose that always struck me, a stark difference from the prose from the rest of the book.

However, that's about as much as I liked. As someone who loves an unlikable main character, I really struggled to connect with Tilly, and honestly most of the side characters. I know I am no longer a teenager myself but they all felt shallow and one dimensional, when I think there was real opportunities to dive deeper. Tilly also is very sex-driven and it's written in a way that sometimes feels uncomfortable for the reader, in my opinion. There were moments where these thoughts of hers came out of left-field and took me completely out of the scene. I also felt like Brueggemann struggled with striking a balance of the emotions in the book: there's a significant subplot that involves Tilly's grief and yet, I feel like we never truly dove into it. If the author intended on connecting Tilly's unlikable traits with said grief, it was not done well.

Also (spoilers at this section), there is an outing plot that resolves far too quickly and isn't given proper attention. It really really left a sour taste in my mouth.

In terms of the actual writing itself—there were moments where I was pleasantly impressed but most of it felt too conversational, including hashtags, LOLs in real conversations, and a lot of "likes". It could be a stylistic choice but it just didn't feel complete. There were a lot of moments that felt very cringe—and not an intentional, writing about teenagers sort of way.

I found myself racing to finish it just to be done, unfortunately. While I rounded up to two stars, I do believe I personally would rate this 1.5 stars.

I’m a big theater fan so a YA romance centered on theater students sounded fun. Tilly is sixteen and is trying to help her best friend Teddy with a show audition. Teddy wants to do the show because his new dream girl Katherine Cooper-Bunting is also trying out. But Tilly can’t help being drawn to Katherine herself. Tilly is also dealing with her grandfather's dementia, a storyline which I thought was handled well. There are a lot of inner thoughts in the story and a lot of drama. There is frank and honest talk about sex and good representation, lesbians, gay and nonbinary characters.

I think the book tries too hard to be hip. I never hear kids speak this way. Also so many hashtags. At its core it is a sapphic romance which I wanted to enjoy more. I’m too old to be the target audience and can see this for high schoolers and up. It will probably hit better with its intended audience.

When your best friend drags you into his plan to woo his dream girl, the last thing you expect is to fall for her yourself. Matilda "Tilly" never really intended to fall in love but when her best friend Teddy asks her to help him woo his dream girl, aspiring actress Katherine Cooper-Bunting, Tilly finds herself falling for Katherine. Tilly knows Katherine is off-limits because Teddy is in love with her... yet the more time Tilly spends helping Teddy with the play that Katherine is in the more she finds herself being drawn to Katherine... and the fact that Katherine herself is interested in Tilly. But dealing with this complicated situation on top of dealing with the loss of her friend and her grandfather being diagnosed with Alzheimer's is a lot for a sixteen year old girl. Can Tilly figure out her heart and navigate this crush before it destroys a friendship? This was a fairly cute sapphic rom com about unexpected romances and dealing with difficult friendships and situations. Tilly was going through so much, and yeah she made a few bad decisions but she's sixteen and sometimes we do ridiculous things to try and not hurt people we love. This was a overall cute read and I had fun with it.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A beautiful debut, full of comedy and romance, I found the characters interesting and a delight over all.

* I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I DNF'd this book at ~14%. I couldn't read any more of it and I was really trying to finish it to give as honest of a review as I could, but it wasn't possible.

I try not to be overly negative in my reviews as often as possible, but reading this book has made that difficult. I can't think of anything that I liked at what I read of this book.

The writing was cringe-worthy more than it wasn't. The main character was just awful. I didn't want to hear her story because I couldn't stand anything about her. Beyond the general un-likeability she was also such a flat character.

I had originally thought the storyline was cute and all- which is why I requested the ARC in the first place, but as soon as the book started, I changed my mind.

I am sure there are plenty of people that will love this book. I am not one of them.

Unfortunately, Cupid’s Revenge was not for me. While the plot had good promise, reading this story in Tilly’s point-of-view gave me similar feelings to her watching The Phantom of the Opera scene. The constant “LOL” and hashtags through her thought process felt like the author was trying too hard to showcase that she is a teenager learning about romance through the internet, and the character’s tone-deafness towards her friends’ feelings and her family trying to cope with losing their matriarch and watching a close family member go through dementia was heartbreaking.

Tilly somewhat redeems herself in the end, but not enough to have me forgive her overall actions. If a complimentary copy had not been forwarded to me to read, I would not have finished it.

This story may be for you if want a novel with a more conversational feel, or if you like a story about community coming together.

Content warning for: Post COVID-19, death, dementia, accidents, caregiving, disordered eating, “Outing”

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Cupid’s Revenge drew me in for a number of reasons, especially the theater theme. And I immediately liked how the theme bled through the book, from the dramatic structure of the book in acts and scenes instead of the traditional chapters with a dialogue-heavy focus (although it’s still told in standard prose) to the highly dramatic premise, complete with a love triangle.
And while love triangles aren’t my favorite, I did like the choice to highlight the drama without making the characters be petty about it. Tilly does care for her best friend, Teddy, and tries to put his needs first, but Cupid gets in the way. And ultimately, Katherine doesn’t like Teddy back, but likes Tilly. At the end of the day, I’m glad things were resolved fairly maturely, with everyone able to move on without much hurt between them.
And the romance itself was really sweet. Their actual romantic development did suffer a tad with all the will-they, won’t-they, not to mention the play stuff, but the stuff that was present was fun.
The plot itself was a little slow in places, being sometimes bogged down due to the aforementioned play stuff, which while interesting, definitely took over the plot a lot. But there’s also time spent on a meaningful side plot with Tilly’s grandfather who has dementia, and it was great to see how Tilly and her family reckoned with that.
This was a pretty fun book, and I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy YA queer contemporary romances.

This absolute charmer of a queer young adult rom-com is perfect for fans of I KISSED SHARA WHEELER, HEARSTOPPER, or FANGIRL. Tilly is the only non-artist in a family of savants, just like her best friend Teddy--so when Teddy drags Tilly with him to a community theater audition, Tilly is concerned, even though it's all part of Teddy's master plan to woo the girl of his dreams, Katherine Cooper-Bunting. Now, Tilly is somehow part of the magical world of theater (ack), surrounded by artists (double ack), and discovering that Katherine Cooper-Bunting might just be her dream girl, too... Take that friend guilt and mix it with some unresolved grief, then add in a host of complex emotions from her grandfather's recent Alzheimer's diagnosis and move into their family home, and Tilly has a whole mess on her plate!

I loved this delightfully fluffy romance, which dials up the Shakespearean antics while also packing a real emotional punch. Tilly is snarky without being annoying, and her tendency to pile all responsibility on her own shoulders (and just assume she's correct in doing so, resulting in a lot of stress and resentment) will be relatable to any readers. Brueggemann's handling of grief is particularly well done--younger readers have had an adolescence marked by COVID, escalating domestic terrorism, and impending climate disaster, and they're grasping for books to help them navigate complicated feelings of anxiety and grief. Tilly is grieving the sudden loss of her best friend and the anticipated loss of her grandfather, and her anxiety bubbles up in the form of panic, racing thoughts, and obtrusive worries. At the same time, she's a fully rounded character who's trying to deal with her parents' expectations (or at least her perception of them), friend drama, and the realities of dating and having sex for the first time.

Absolutely loved this one & will happily recommend it to anyone looking for a delightful read!

There were parts of this book I really enjoyed. The Grandad was for sure one of them. At times I found Tilly difficult. It is obvious she still has a lot to sort through but keeping secrets and being mean to the people she loves is hard. Her mom was also hard to love but in the grand scheme it felt realistic. Overall I liked the story a lot.

Cupid's Revenge is an experience for sure.

Tilly is dragged to audition for a theater event by her best friend Teddy because he is "in love" with Katherine who is auditioning. Tilly falls for Katherine too, resulting in a big mess. Meanwhile, Tilly adjusts to her grandfather moving in, and he has early Alzheimer's.

I usually enjoy a story surrounding theater, especially if it's sapphic. This one was...a journey. The best aspect was Tilly's grandfather and the way the author handled his dementia. Tilly's obsession with Katherine is weird throughout most of the book. I didn't understand the attraction between them at all. It literally felt like Tilly wanted her just because Teddy did. I liked the rest of the theater group, especially Robin, but it was weird that Tilly only referred to two of the actors based on their audition piece even after she definitely should have learned their names. I did appreciate the dynamic between Tilly and her parents and the struggle she goes through to have them be present.

Rep: lesbian (MC), nonbinary (SC), gay (SC), dementia

i think i was expecting something else so i was kinda disappointed when it wasn't what i imagined
the cover is perfect tho

thank you netgalley for the e-arc!

Cute romance story about a girl who falls for her best friend's crush. Tilly, our main character, also deals with family issues such as a grandfather with memory loss.

This book was quite an emotional rollercoaster for me. I was rooting for all the main characters to find happiness and forgiveness by the end! The story has a ton of Shakespeare references and I absolutely loved the search for the donkey head!

Thanks NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for the eARC!

Wibke Brueggemann writes a great overall romance novel, it was everything that I was looking for in this type of book. I enjoyed the romance aspect and had a great collection of characters. I’m so glad I got to read this and can’t wait to read more like this.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. While the premise was interesting I didn’t connect to the characters or plot in a meaningful way. That being said, it was an enjoyable YA!

I don’t think I was the intended audience for this book, but I think had I read it when I was younger I would have enjoyed it even more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this e-arc. I loved the romance so much. It was just what I needed ALL THE FLUFF.