Erin Johnson (EJ) has ambitions and the drive to succeed. She’s going to get into a dual degree program for High School, become a medical scientist, find a cure for cancer, and win a Nobel prize. But first, she’s going to win the election for president of her school’s Multicultural Leadership Club and finally beat her official Nemesis, Trevor Jin. Finding out that her long absent father is the god Cupid and developing magical powers is only a minor setback. In fact, she can turn it to her advantage. If Trevor falls in love with her, there’s no way that he’ll win the election, no matter how good his speech is or how long his eyelashes are. Nothing can go wrong with this plan. Her future is riding on it. 

EJ narrates her own story in a clear-cut, sardonic tone, with added footnotes. She’s very emotionally intelligent for a hard-core STEM kid and is spot on with her assessment of other people’s crushes. Thank goodness, too, because it keeps the story lighthearted when she decides to explore her powers through some practical experimentation. Her only fault as a budding scientist is that she completely fails to notice the chemistry between herself and her long-time rival Trevor, who is obviously dying to start on their enemies-to-lovers journey. Trevor, who is Vietnamese American, is a little too perfect to be true, but he brings snacks, so I’ll allow it. 

The rest of the cast is highly diverse. EJ’s best friend Bruno and his Evil Twin Ben are Latino, and their mom is married to another woman. EJ’s Black single mother forms a dangerous mom-cabal with them, solely for the purpose of embarrassing their offspring at every opportunity. EJ’s single-minded ambition might be a little off-putting to some, but it’s balanced by the fact that she genuinely does have a lot to deal with at home. 

Cupid himself never makes an appearance, but EJ spends quite a bit of time thinking about what magic, mythology, and love can and should mean in our lives today. She expects the arrow-shooting baby, but gets the beautiful, unseen young man of Roman mythology. His divinity makes it impossible for the two to connect, even though EJ’s power is all about forming connections. As a result, she must figure things out for herself, much as Psyche does in her own story. Like Psyche, EJ has help, but ultimately it’s up to her to grow into a stronger, more mature young woman, able to enter into a relationship as an equal.  – Krishni Burn