I have 'mad love' for Mad Love

Mad Love

Author: Suzanne Selfors

Publisher: Bloomsbury Teen

Pages:327

Read Time:1 day

Rating (1-5): 5

Tag Words: Hearts, Flowers and Romance, Cupid, Romance Writing, mental health problems, first love, Greek Mythology

My Summary:

When Belinda Amorous, the Queen of Romance is secretly admitted to a mental hospital, her daughter, Alice Amorous is left behind to pick up the pieces of their hectic life. Plagued with worry about money and her new crush, Tony, Alice is unprepared for a strange boys offer, and even less prepared for his crazy declarations. The strange boy, Errol, claims that he is the Greek God Cupid, and that he will give Alice his untold story of true love, if she will write it before time runs out on them all...

My review:

I loved this story, Mad Love has all the elements I love to crush on all together! Cute boys, legends, cute boys, humor, cute boys... cute boys... ERROL! Gah, that clam juice is really gross. I wish there were another cure for getting hit by Cupid’s Passion Arrows! As I was saying, cute boys are a great part of the plot, but there are so many bits and pieces that went into making Mad Love such a fantastic, entertaining and emotion-evoking Love story. It is rare to find a book that has 'everything.'

I will say I was surprised that there wasn't more of a Psyche tie-in due to the fact that mental illness is such a bit part of the plot. I was looking forward to it, but such an illumination never came about. 

I really felt like Selfors knew her characters and allowed them to tell their own fantastical stories. This was the first I had ever read from the author and cannot wait to get my hands on another! 

I highly recommend this book to all who want a well balanced plot that mixes all the ‘bests’ YA has to offer. 

Notes on the Names: Belinda and Alice Amorous. I’m sold. I love the name Belinda so very much and Alice keeps growing on me. This is a preface for the book and I love it! 

““Behold,” the Queen of Romance declared as she gazed upon her baby girl’s face for the very first time. “I have given birth to a new story, and I shall name this story ‘Alice’””

Thoughts on the Cover: It’s a great non-model cover; after you read the book you can almost hear Alice muttering “I don’t believe in Cupid, I don’t believe in Cupid” when you glance at the cover. 

Parental Book Review *spoilers*

Sexual Content: 

Errol/Cupid/Eros is the god of Passionate Love, therefor when he pierces Alice when an arrow she considers going to bed with him. 

Errol’s wife Psyche cheats with multiple men while Errol is away. 

Language: 

Mild

Violence:

Errol shoots invisible arrows at Alice and Tony; they knock them literally off their feet.

Psyche dies of suffocation at the hands of the gods.

Other Notables: 

Alice’s mother, Belinda, suffers from mental illness.

Errol dies of cancer.