Cupid’s Match by Lauren Palphreyman was a mash up of Supernatural and Greek mythology with a Lucifer twist. This whole idea of a match making service run by cupids was original and creative and most importantly, made complete sense. Drawing from Greek mythology and incorporating several infamous stories like Pandora, The Minotaur, Aphrodite and more is just a taste of what’s to come in this story. There’s even sirens and the mention of a certain notorious killer that terrorized London.
I want to thank Netgalley and the publishers at Wattpad books for giving me an early copy of Cupid’s Match.
“Just go back to the desktop…no…no, don’t click there. See that little bin icon?....No…not that one…’ He moves the mouse wildly about the screen and I bite back the growing spurt of frustration. It reminds me of the time I tried to show my grandma how to send an email.”
I loved the surprising twist of mixing old lore with new technology because it served as a great dynamic between the story and its characters. At one point Lila is trying to teach Cal how to use the computer and she compares him to her grandma. Great addition of humour! They also used simulations to enact punishments where it would trap you in your own personal hell. It was interesting and added a tech edge to the Cupids preferred archaic bow and arrow primary choice of weapon. It sounds like the two ideas would clash but they actually seemed to work well together and I think that gave this book a relatable factor for today’s society.
“You were talking all the way through history,’ he goes on. ‘Legends not your thing, huh?’
‘No,’ I say, looking him in the face. ‘Not really. I’m not one for fairytales. I prefer the present, not relics from the past.”
This MC, Lila has snark and I’m pretty sure she reserved every single ounce for Cupid, her match. It made some awesome banter like the one above. Now I usually fall for these charismatic, charming jokesters like Cupid but for some reason this time I was drawn to the cold and brooding brother, Cal. But there is enough romance in the air that fans of either brother will be happy!
“He looks at me coldly. Then, as he disappears beneath the ivy-covered arch, I hear him mutter, ‘Should have known his match would have an attitude problem.”
Cal is the male snarky version of Lila and I loved all of his murmured comments like this one!
“My life hasn’t been normal for awhile now, not really. Not since my mom left us.”
Ok, this phrase was frusatingly incorrect and yet it appeared often. Lila lost her mom to cancer but here it sounds like she left on her own accord, like she packed her bags and she was outta there. But no that’s not the case, this would also work if her mother killed herself, therefore she’s outraged that her mom chose to kill herself but again that was not the case. This was a poor choice on the author’s part and I found myself always double checking what really happened to her. It was poor phrasing and only creates confusion for the reader.
One more thing that got me and must not be overlooked is the pure amount of characters whose names started with the letter ‘C’. There was Christian, Cupid, Charlie, Cal, Crystal and those are just the ones that I can remember off the top of my head. The point is that there’s too many. I found myself confused on who was in what scene and who knew what. It was hard to keep track of who was who when so many of them had similar names. I don’t know if there was supposed to be some symbolism with the names and that’s why they start with ‘c’ or what but I just think it added more confusion and stalled plot progression.
Overall I enjoyed this book immensely. It had humor, romance and a very snarky and independent MC. I’m going to miss Lila, Charlie, Cupid and Cal and I am definitely hoping to see more of them. Wattpad has two more novels available which continues their stories and Cupid's Match is set to release in paperback October 1st. Hopefully the success of this book will bring us more of Palphreyman's stories! I’ll close this review here but I will leave one final quote because it’s too hilarious to stay hidden!
“Jeez, Cal,’ I say. ‘What is it with you and eyeballs?”