Scan barcode
A review by itscassreads
Playing Cupid by S.C. Alban
2.0
Thank you to Netgalley & The Parliament House for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
TW// loss of a parent, parental death, mention of mental health and child abandonment
I want to preface that I went into this book with completely different expectations because of the blurb and how it is targeted towards readers. It comes off as a rom-com twist on a classic holiday fairytale we as a society have played into. I was both pleasantly surprised and a tad disappointed that the story didn't match my expectations. Without spoiling and giving too much away I want to focus on the positives that this book brought to the table.
+ There are important discussions of loss, love and healing (loss of a parent, parental death etc.) and I appreciate the way the author handled these topics and the discussions the characters had.
+ Humorous/funny moments: Cupid & Megan's interaction made this book extremely enjoyable.
+ The second half of the book was much stronger and the epilogue was a pleasant surprise.
Some of the issues that overall made this a 3 star read for me was definitely the pacing and the overall execution of the story.
- Even though I was fully rooting for that breakthrough moment with Megan, she as a main character was very unlikeable, and pretty insufferable at times.
- The story felt rushed at times and every trope was pretty predictable.
- And lastly the love interest was not only a little bland (he was mentioned very little throughout the story as it was more focused on Megan's character development) but the connection between Megan and Jay came off very insta-lovey.
Overall, this book dealt well with heavy topics and showed great character development but fell short on delivering what I wanted with my reading experience.
★★★ stars
TW// loss of a parent, parental death, mention of mental health and child abandonment
I want to preface that I went into this book with completely different expectations because of the blurb and how it is targeted towards readers. It comes off as a rom-com twist on a classic holiday fairytale we as a society have played into. I was both pleasantly surprised and a tad disappointed that the story didn't match my expectations. Without spoiling and giving too much away I want to focus on the positives that this book brought to the table.
+ There are important discussions of loss, love and healing (loss of a parent, parental death etc.) and I appreciate the way the author handled these topics and the discussions the characters had.
+ Humorous/funny moments: Cupid & Megan's interaction made this book extremely enjoyable.
+ The second half of the book was much stronger and the epilogue was a pleasant surprise.
Some of the issues that overall made this a 3 star read for me was definitely the pacing and the overall execution of the story.
- Even though I was fully rooting for that breakthrough moment with Megan, she as a main character was very unlikeable, and pretty insufferable at times.
- The story felt rushed at times and every trope was pretty predictable.
- And lastly the love interest was not only a little bland (he was mentioned very little throughout the story as it was more focused on Megan's character development) but the connection between Megan and Jay came off very insta-lovey.
Overall, this book dealt well with heavy topics and showed great character development but fell short on delivering what I wanted with my reading experience.
★★★ stars