e-Audio, 08:59:43
Narrated by: Jade Wheeler
Release Date: January 14, 2025
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: January 4-6, 2025
Companion to Courtesy of Cupid
Source: Libro FM (I received a copy of this e-ALC from the publisher and Libro FM.
Content Warning: Mental Illness, Panic Attacks/Disorders, Bullying, Child Death (recounted)
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Sci Fi, Irregular Timeline, Historical, Retellings, Mythology, MGA girl learns the hard way to be careful what she wishes for in this sweet and funny middle grade rom-com featuring a chaos-loving West African trickster god.
Birdie has big plans for eighth grade. This is the year that she gets a boyfriend, and since she and her best friend, Deve, do everything together, it makes sense that Deve will get a girlfriend. This is the kind of math Birdie doesn’t find intimidating—it’s Eighth Grade 101. (Birdie + Boyfriend) + (Deve + Girlfriend) = Normal Eighth Grade Experience. And normal is something Birdie craves, especially with a mom as overprotective as hers.
She doesn’t expect Deve to be so against her plan, or for their fight to blow up in her face. So when the West African god Anansi appears to her, claiming to be able to make everything right again, Birdie pushes past her skepticism and makes a wish for the whole mess to go away. But with a trickster god, your wish is bound to come true in a way you never imagined.
Before long, Birdie regrets her rash words…especially when she realizes what’s really going on with her and Deve. With her reality upended, can Birdie figure out how to undo her wish?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I didn’t even know what this was about to know I wanted to read it. I LOVED Jones’ Cupid book and I heard this one had something to do with wishes? I thought it was genies, but it was even better than that! It was about Anasi! It’s been a while since I read something with him in it, but it was also a MG. I’m so glad that children are able to learn about him and African mythology!
Ok so the thing about this I loved the most is how it’s all these different genres but the reader never feels confused. Like with the time loop it’s actually considered sci fi because she keeps going to different universes and finding different ways her world has been screwed up now lol And then there was the romance. We don’t know right away that it’s a romance, but that’s because the main character doesn’t know herself lol And then the historical bit is when it’s kicked back to Anansi and his tale is shown first before it’s kicked back to the present to show how its being re-told in the present. I thought this was so clever and so smart. <– Idk another way to put it lol I was just incredibly blown away again by Jones and the way she was able to tell this story.
The romance was cute, but I do wish we had a tiny bit more. I understand this is MG, but in the Cupid one there was more. Idk maybe it was just because it was the bit about Cupid, but I thought it still should have had more than just a kiss on the cheek. They went through way too much just to end it there. They needed to flirt more. It was almost like someone told her cut the romance because people don’t want the romance in books. And that’s crazy. They fought their way back to each other the whole book just to barely flirt. (And yes I understand this is a MG book. But I also read her first one and there was more romance in that one than this.)
Obviously my favorite character was Nancy lol She made things HE double hockey sticks for this girl. I think I would have snapped a long time ago. Especially since she recognized that Nancy knew what she was saying but was intentionally making things go wrong. Ugh it was so good. Even at my big age I had no idea how she was going to fix that last mess. But I think that’s what makes me rate this what I did. We don’t get a really good reason as to why she decided to reverse everything. They’re just friends one day again and it was weird lol I’m just not a huge fan of open endings. I want to be able to know definitively what happened because I know I won’t be able to make it as good as the author lmao I cannot write.
The other thing I loved about this audio was the fact that its narrated by one of my faves, Jade Wheeler is EXCELLENT! If you’ve never listened to anything she’s done, please change that right now. She is amazing at inflections, adding emotion, and just everything. So when I say read this via audio, I’m totally being biased, but she does a good job and I think she also needs to be praised like the author. (However I can say her voice for Nancy was weird lolol)
I was waiting on the MG book since I knew it was coming out. I’m glad it lived up to almost every expectation I had. Nashae Jones is truly gifted and I REALLY hope there is more coming out for this companion series. I’m just saying, there’s more West African gods out there lol
Overall, I give this
