The Perfect Match by E.D. Baker

Series: Fairy Tale Matchmaker #2
Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Middle Grade
Release Date: October 6th, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Source: ARC from BEA 2015

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When former tooth-fairy-in-training Cory Feathering was stripped of her fairy skills, she discovered that, as the descendent of a cupid, she was born to be a matchmaker, and now her latest job is to find the perfect match for Goldilocks--the only trouble is that he is getting married to someone else.

The last time I read a book by E.D. Baker, I was in middle school. I had loved the book and when I found out about this series, I was excited. I started this book enthusiastic but after reading a little bit of it, I realized this was a sequel and not actually the first book *shakes fist at Goodreads for not being helpful*

That may be one of the reasons why I didn’t absolutely enjoy this book but to be honest, I am not sure reading the first book would have made much of a difference. There are certain things I would have been more aware of (in terms of world building) but the author still does a good job catching readers up so that even if it’s been a while since you read book 1 (or if you somehow missed the fact that there was a book 1 and read the sequel first), you won’t feel lost.

A lot of my issues with the book stem down to the fact I didn’t really relate to the characters. That could be because I hadn’t read the first book and didn’t know them as well but that’s probably not it. I’ve accidentally read sequels before first books several times and managed to love the characters (I seem to do this more often than I should.) I think my inability to relate to the characters was because I was so thrown off by the fact that the characters’ behaviors did not match up to their ages. The characters seemed pretty old (maybe even older than 18?!) yet their voices were very middle grade. It isn’t surprising given the book is a middle grade novel but it just didn’t work for me as a reader.

I was drawn in by the premise but was sad when the main focus of this book was not in fact figuring out a way to make a guy who is going to get married end up with his one true love. That bit was wrapped up REALLY quickly. The main conflict of the novel seemed to be Cory’s fight against the various fairy counsels and the abuse she was facing at their hands.

Overall, the book wasn’t a bad one per-say but I did find myself wanting more. Still, I am intrigued by Cory and her crew and I want to see Cory kick the fairy counsel’s butt!