Tour Review: Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (January 4th, 2011)

Reading Level: Young Adult

Hardback: 336 pages

Source: Publisher

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

When you're the daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue, and the Queen can't write it. Alice needs a story for her mother—and she needs one fast.
That's when she meets Errol, a strange boy who claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins to hear Errol's voice in her head and see things she can't explain, she must face the truth—that she's either inherited her mother's madness, or Errol is for real.

Review: This was a very cute book and a fresh tale of someone we have all heard of, Cupid. Alice is responsible far beyond her 16 years. She has been forced to keep the secret that her mother, Queen of Romance, is living in a hospital due to mental illness. Her mother doesn't want her illness to ruin her reputation so Alice takes her place at events and at home. 

Early on, Alice meets an interesting character that hands her an envelope and says to "write the story of Cupid and Psyche". Once he tells her he is Cupid, she knows he has somehow lost his mind. But then Cupid makes her believe him by shooting her with an arrow that makes her obsessed with him. And no matter how many times Alice tries to explain that she is not a writer like her mother, he refuses to listen.

Although Alice is forced to deal with the stress of her mother's illness, and the crazy Cupid following her, she does have some normalcy when she starts crushing on Tony, the adorable skateboarder. Errol doesn't like the fact that Tony has gained Alice's attention. He wants her only focus to be on writing his love story because he has little time left to tell it. 

Alice was an amazingly strong character with a fighting personality. As much as she was responsible, mature, and brave, she was also fun-loving and spirited. Errol had experienced many years of life so it was interesting to see how he saw the world. His sickness kept him weak but his determination was powerful. Tony was simply adorable. He was a breath of fresh air to this story. But these are not the only characters within this story. Alice is surrounded by friendly faces who all care about her deeply. Her neighbors fight to keep her safe and they each brought hope and realism to this story. 

Mad Love is a wonderful tale that gives a modern twist to an old mythological creature. It gave a nice spin to my own perception of Cupid and I enjoyed the stories Errol told. Alice's courage made her shine throughout this book and I enjoyed her sweet romance with Tony. If you are a fan of old legends being seen in a modern light, you will enjoy Mad Love.


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Stop by back tomorrow for a chance to win a copy of Mad Love and Suzanne's other book, Coffeehouse Angel.