Falling in love is easy but sustaining a relationship is tough. Bestselling author Mason Deaver’s Okay, Cupid makes one wonder what happens when Cupids, who are supposed to strike an arrow and make lesser mortals on earth fall in love, end up in a “Complicated” relationship themselves. Mason is an astute modern-day writer, who deftly weaves the story around Cupid (Jude Ricci), a non-binary character who had messed up earlier after falling in love with a human (Jude had kissed a human).
But now Jude (addressed as ‘they’) has a new mission – bringing together two teen besties (Alice and Huy) who are not on speaking terms because of a silly fight. Alice Tran is a girl and Huy is a trans boy. They are both Vietnamese-origin Americans.
The rules taught to Jude in cupid training are clear – be a mediator of love, but never get personally involved or fall in love. But just when Jude thinks everything is under control and going as per the Cupid rule book, things spiral out of control again.
Huy is the first trans student to be open and proud in school, who excels in many things. Observing the “complicated” relationships that humans forge and the love-hate drama that ensues, makes Jude wonder what it means to be a human, have friends, and lead a regular life like Huy and Alice.
The author is sensitive and inclusive when talking about the challenges faced by trans characters in the book. The usage of “they” for Jude is bang-on and politically correct keeping in mind today’s LGBTQI+ terminologies. But the notion of having Cupids waltz around like humans on Earth, while trying to do their job of making people fall in love is a bit hard to digest. Jude chalks out several plans to bring Alice and Huy together – some are a hit, others a miss. But while carrying on the mission, Jude ends up spending considerable time with Huy.
The more they spend time together, the more they are attracted to each other. But will the budding romance between Huy and Jude have any future? Also, what happens to Jude’s original Alice-Huy matchmaking assign-ment? The author creates these situa-tions and makes the reader tread through them to prove that love isn’t easy. It's Complicated!
