My Week in Book Review: I'm With Cupid

I’m With Cupid by Anna Staniszewski

Marcus is a Cupid. Lena is a Reaper. Opposites attract in the exciting new Switched At First Kiss series by the acclaimed author of The Dirt Diary. When she's dared to kiss the adorkable Marcus Torelli at a party, Lena thinks it's the perfect opportunity to cross First Kiss off her list of "Things to Accomplish Before I Turn Fourteen." It's only when she gets sent on an assignment the next day that she realizes something went horribly wrong. That ZING she felt wasn't the thrill of her first kiss--she and Marcus have swapped powers! Lena is not your average eighth grader; she's a soul collector with a serious job to do. And Marcus turns out to be a supernatural matchmaker (like Cupid, but without the diaper). Now logical Lena finds herself with the love touch, and sweet, sentimental Marcus has death at his fingertips. The truth is that Lena should never have taken that dare...because one little kiss has Lena and Marcus in a whole lotta trouble.

This book is cute and straightforward. It’s younger than I normally read—the protagonists are thirteen, but it still qualifies as young adult per the themes of love, finding yourself, etc. Also, there’s kissing. Awkward and brief, but as the description says, “zingy.” That makes it young adult to me.

Lena and Marcus both have their “things”—Lena likes acting; Marcus likes building model space ships. Lena keeps feelings locked away because her mom left when she was young; Marcus gets shamed by his family for crying when his pet turtle dies. Lena thinks love is the result of brain chemicals; Marcus is scared of death. They’re opposites whose problems they will help solve. Even though the characters did have some depth, I think that did bother me a little—things got resolved pretty neatly and completely. Not that I like loose ends, but some things felt like they should have had a bigger emotional impact on the characters than they did, and that weakened the payoff when they got resolved. Other parts were paid off well though, so I don’t know. There was some intrigue introduced in the epilogue, which reveals something important and hints at issues in books to come (also, spoiler alert—this is a series. Somehow I did not know that).

The book was well written, no complaints, but it also didn’t have me scrambling for my Kindle app to check out the next book right away. I’ll probably read it eventually. I just don’t need it right now. The book actually reminded me of a different series—The Ghost and The Goth by Stacey Kade. That one is older YA—the kissing is more sizzly—but it had a similar feel as far as being paranormal romance.