The different perspectives and narrative styles were a delight for me to read. The Cupid Column and Mabel and Audrey show that love and romance aren't perfect, that it can be messy and difficult and no one specific way for it to be, regardless of the tropes and formulas used in rom-coms. In the movies, even the characters who just can't seem to ever get along or come to agreement on things somehow magically end up together, even if they're complete opposites who seem like they would never work out together. It isn't all rainbows and sunshine and then, boom, the main character and love interest get together, despite any original conflicts or misunderstandings and arguments. I really like how the story progressed and it felt really realistic. So it was nice to see some of the characters contemplate and have discussions on it. We might tweak our labels a bit over time with self-reflection but that doesn't make any of our identities any less valid. We're also reminded that the LGBT and coming-out experiences are different for everyone and also a lifelong journey we take. She also provides us with great diversity - we have lesbian, aromantic, asexual, bisexual, and trans (I use this one as its umbrella term because two of the characters' identity aren't actually stated, I think?) representation as well as the use of neopronouns. I loved the characters as well and Alex writes them unique and with different facets to each of them. So it's pretty much the same formula we're familiar with, but it achieves it in a more modern, adolescent perspective. The storyline isn't anything unique, especially because it's intended to be a rom-com and references so many of the classic rom-com movies. The Cupid Column delivers with a great storyline and diverse characters. I don't know how Alex nails it every single time with every single book, but they do 😭 This is a great question! Really hard to pick just one so I’m going to break them up by genre/age group.Thank you, as always, to Alex for giving me the pleasure and privilege of reading an early copy!! I'm eternally grateful!

The Cupid Column by Alex Nonymous