A review by judeinthestars
The Perfect Match by Milena McKay

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I’ve been hoping for years for this audiobook to be released and the second I heard Abby Craden say the first sentence, I started smiling and didn’t stop for 2 hours and 53 minutes.

Milena McKay is famous for her ice queens and angst filled books, and yet one of my favourite things about this novella is how funny it is. When The Perfect Match first came out in 2021, I didn’t know Mila the way I do now, and I hadn’t yet experienced her sense of humour in person. At the time, I only knew her as the author of a brilliant debut novel, The Delicate Things We Make, beautiful and intense and intricate and so many other qualities that make me love books so much but definitely not hilarious. Here’s what I wrote at the time: “McKay’s debut is a love story with a fundamental #MeToo component. It’s earnest and smart, much as its main character, Jamie. The Perfect Match, on the other hand, is light and fun and had me laughing right from the start. Before the start, actually. I laughed reading the chapter titles in the table of contents.”

This wit, this sometimes goofy facetiousness exist in all McKay’s books but not to that extent, because, you know, angst and pain, atonement and redemption. The Perfect Match is a lot more playful, but just as brilliantly written as all her other works. It’s also hot and smart and did I mention funny? ‘Cause it is. I have so much love for these Cupids, I don’t remember how many times I’ve said that or written it on social media when answering requests for recommendations.

In the same way that you’d be forgiven for not expecting the author of A Whisper of Solace to be also able to write comedy/romcoms, Abby Craden isn’t the first name that pops up in my mind for funny stories and comedic timing. I know, she’s a queen and for any other McKay book, I would have had absolutely no doubt it was going to be perfection. For this one? Turns out she more than pulls it off, nailing the pace and, as usual, the voices—sweet and light for Abby the newbie, all smooth and melting ice for the experienced and no-nonsense cupid that is Sabine Goddard—making her once again the perfect match (please forgive me) for Milena McKay’s words.

Video review: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_k7t2...

Read all my reviews on my website (and please get your books from the affiliation links!): Jude in the Stars