It was never Tilly’s intention to fall in love, we’re told in the first line of Cupid’s Revenge. But love doesn’t really care about intentions; it hits you like a truck and simultaneously makes you giddy while wrecking your life. Such is the story of this novel, narrated by sixteen-year-old Tilly, who is dragged into a matchmaking scheme by her best friend Teddy to help him get the girl of his dreams, the gorgeous Katherine Cooper-Bunting. The plan? Get into Cupid’s Revenge, an amateur theatre production that Katherine is in, and make her fall for him. But when Tilly first lays eyes on Teddy’s future girlfriend, she can’t get her out of her head. Of course, she can’t act on these feelings; she could never hurt Teddy like that. And she won’t. Will she?
This funny, heartfelt novel, a sapphic teen romance by Wibke Brueggemann set in post-COVID England, was an enjoyably relatable read. The first-person narration genuinely feels like a friend talking to you, and did a decent job at capturing how a teenager today would actually speak, as opposed to the awkward how-do-you-do-fellow-kids dialogue of some of this book’s contemporaries. Tilly is a compelling and likeable protagonist, whose struggles with being the black sheep of the family, her ailing grandfather’s worsening Alzheimer’s, and moving on from a friend’s tragic death make the reader feel for her and root for her to get a happy ending, even though some of her actions can make you want to scream at her. I’d recommend this novel to anyone interested in theatre or YA romance. If you love both of those, you’re in luck: this is the perfect book for you.
Connie McHugh, 16
Cupid’s Revenge
Wibke Brueggemann
Macmillan, June 2023
Paperback, £8.99
ISBN 9781529033748
