Cupidity

A Novel

By: Patricia Wood

Narrated by: Michelle Babb

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the best-selling author of Lottery comes a new novel about greed, survival, and what's really important in life.

At the bottom of the heap, there's nowhere to go but up.

Waitress Tammy Tyree knows this intimately. Her life is a continual struggle of managing an eccentric uncle, looking after a younger brother who's not quite right, and doing everything she can to keep her family together in the small town of Spring, Washington. But Tammy has a couple of things going for her no matter how dire things get. She's tenacious and has her own take on karma. She believes the more unfortunate things that happen to a person, the more that person is due for a windfall. Each and every misfortune is a further guarantee that a golden opportunity is just around the corner.

When Tammy receives a confidential e-mail about an inheritance that's hers to claim, she's certain her ship has come in. Just a few details need to be ironed out, like a small matter of some fees to pay, bank forms to fill out, and taxes to remit, but she knows each complication brings her closer to that golden goose of egg-laying renown.

What starts as a personal quest ends up embroiling Tammy and everyone she holds dear in a scheme that could be the financial downfall of them all or the rescue of a small town that's slowly but surely falling through the cracks.

©2014 Patricia Wood (P)2015 Patricia Wood

An Offbeat Fable Filled with Offbeat People

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The book was just too over-the-top for my own taste. I had a difficult time getting past so many characters who were eccentric, mean or stupid--and I'm not talking about Jar. A few people who were a bit more likable, believable or even skeptical would have improved the book for me. The fact that so many people just patently believed in Tammy's inheritance was just too unrealistic for my taste. I also had issues with the "how bad can things get?" before the book's resolution. If the book had come to a resolution a little sooner, I may have enjoyed it more.

Has Cupidity turned you off from other books in this genre?

Probably. I think that it's probably me--I am too practical and serious--and this book turned out to be not in my own personal wheelhouse.

What about Michelle Babb’s performance did you like?

Michelle did a great job. There were a great number of characters (and I do mean characters!) and she was able to give each of them a different voice and personality. It took awhile for me to get into his rhythm, but I especially appreciated her voice characterization of Jar.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes. The book did have an underlying message that it doesn't take money to be happy--that love is what really makes people rich. Tammy and Jar had love and that's what they really needed. And there was a lovely scene between Madeline and Tammy that I enjoyed very much. It also spoke of love and gave a glimpse into the life and hopes of a young Uncle E.

Any additional comments?

Tammy Tyree had had an extremely difficult life and was, in the end, all about taking care of her family, especially her younger brother., which is admirable. I think the hardest thing for me was that I found Tammy's extreme gullibility and naivety almost impossible to get past. Combine that with the greedy and eccentric people who peppered the book, and it was a dfficult listen for me.

I was given a copy of this book by the narrator in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review.

Payola or Scam?

Could a whole town be as backward? If you are able to suspend reality and go with the cute humor of this funny story about a town of feeble minded folk, then you may enjoy this escape from reality. An e-mail traps a young girl and eventually others into an inheritance scam that snowballs out of control.

I was not sure if I could swallow the dim witted behavior of the main character at first, but the further I got into the story the more believable and endearing she and her autistic brother became. The rest of the well developed, odd, original characters kept me interested and amused. A fun romp into Hicksville with just a bit of "Carl Hiaasen's like", type of strange humor.

Michelle Babb's narrative was excellent. She captured the essence of each character and added to each of their personalities.

A TERRIFIC Funny Story with Terrific Narration

Narration - Michelle Babb - Kick A$$
If you've read many of my reviews, I don't really give a lot of audiobooks the "Kick A$$" narration rating, but I've had a couple back to back listens that were really stellar, with this being one of them. Michelle does such a great job of embodying the character of Tammy Tyree! I don't own a kindle copy of the book, so I couldn't tell you if her narration of what 'bug' says is accurate, but it was terrific and natural and flowed as if you were listening to the actual conversations between Tammy and her very special little brother Jar (aka bug). She really captured the personalities of these folks from this small town. Fabulous job!!!

As for the book! OMG! This was a terrifically absurd story (Truly, I believe, enhanced by the narration). Tammy Tyree receives one of those emails claiming that she's due a substantial inheritance from a long lost missionary relative, complete with the broken but wordy explanations of the importance of the sender, his title, his role in assisting her in retrieving her inheritance and all the steps she must go through (which of course become innumerable) in order to rightfully claim the money she's due.

The book pokes fun at the naivety of Tammy, her family and some other gullible town folk who wish to invest in helping her claim her inheritance as well as the email scam community itself. I'm not going to say that I was laughing out loud while listening to this book, but I was, I don't know, Joyful? Most certainly smiling the whole time I was listening. (Except during the big Jar incident near the end) And I found myself telling anyone who would listen about the terrific book I was listening to. And I didn't do it justice, because alas, I'm not a writer. Patricia Wood, however, is! A very terrific writer and she had me loving this little gem from start to finish. Such a great listen! Highly Recommend!

I received this audiobook free of charge from Audiobookblast, in exchange for an unbiased review

It was too unbelievable for my liking.

Where to start? I had a lot of issues with the idea of this story as well as the writing style. At first I found it interesting that someone would use their imagination to create a story based on those African-I-have-millions-waiting-for-you emails. Do people still get those? How people ever fell for them, fall for them, I have no clue. Let me be blunt: I didn’t like Tammy, at all! So was so gullible, stupid, annoying, stupid, living in denial, stupid… I mean how did she make it to however old she is? The author wasn’t expecting readers/listeners to like Tammy, did she? How? She and the town were way too unbelievable! I can’t put all the stupidity on her though because the townsfolk were almost as stupid. The fact she ends up getting the money just makes this story over the top, in my opinion. It’s just too unbelievable.

1. She believes she’s getting millions from some unknown African person in Africa.
2. She tries to hide this fact from those around her.
3. They find out and essentially beg to get a portion of it in exchange for some handouts in the meantime.
4. WITHOUT asking for proof!
5. Why didn’t those who wanted a part of the millions not have enough common sense to wait for the millions to come, instead giving Tammy hundreds here, thousands there?
6. “Once a Tyree always a Tyree.” So why were people offering her money if she was a Tyree? Hello!? How many times was the fact she was a Tyree brought up in a negative connotation? Many times!

It just baffled my mind.

BUT THEN!!!
1. Her cousin Lonny pops up. The criminal with a past.
2. Starts spreading lies about her and how she treats Jar and her scam about the millions.
3. WITHOUT any proof! It was Lonny against Tammy. Even the grocery store lady had no proof that Tammy did anything.
4. Everyone (minus Leo and the library lady) believes HIM! Not her who has never had issues with the law.
5. The social worker believes HIM! Even though Lonny has no proof that Tammy was abusing (really abusing) Jar.
6. The sheriff or whatever he was believes HIM! Again, a criminal who’s always getting into trouble over an innocent, in all sense of the word, person.

Again… Mind blown!

BUT THEN!!!
1. The cop shows up and Tammy thinks he’s going to help her.
2. Nope, he thinks Tammy (a young, very naïve woman) is a ringleader of… something?!
3. Even after hearing Lonny’s confession, he’s all eager to arrest her. What?
4. In the end, Tammy magically gets the money (where did the African guy get it? Why did he choose her?) and stays in the same town where everyone was against her except Leo and the library lady. No sense there!

While the narrator had a great accent for country-bumpkin Tammy, I can see her being limited in what she can narrate. Now, I don’t know if she can talk without the accent or not but… Overall, I wasn’t a fan because there was too much pausing between words and/or talking slowly, leaving me with the impression of someone just learning to read.

Questions/Comments:

I had a hard time with Jar’s “speech,” his sound effects he’d do instead of actually talk. I was believing that Tammy could understand or pick up on what he was saying based on what was going on in the scene, the fact they’d been together for years. I have a daughter with autism and whenever she speaks to someone (the majority of the time), they’ll look to me questioning what she was saying. Well that stopped when I realized that whenever he said “Okay dokey” and what he meant, per Tammy’s translation, it was completely different almost each time. Sorry but no. On another note, I’d be curious to know how the author wrote his dialogue given some of the “words” sounded more like sounds or noises.

There were issues with the dialogue tags. I’m all about dialogue tags if anyone who reads my reviews (does anyone read these or am I just talking/typing to myself?) should pick up on. For example, there was a time when Tammy “whined.” Then she spoke. Then Tammy “whined” again. Or when Tammy describes the jail guard as someone who “looks kindly.” The guard then talks, and it ends with “She says kindly.” See what I mean. I can’t stand stuff like this. There were other instances; these were just two I took note of. What about simple dialogue tags? I said. He said. She said. When there was only Tammy in the scene and “I said” was used… so… many… times! Those were so overdone throughout this story. The author seemed to choose unnecessary simple dialogue tags as opposed to using them with an action (which would have been better) or just not using them in general. It was crazy!

After experiencing the fun that is social services, after telling the caseworker she was innocent and getting Jar taken away, how in the hell did she believe that if she told the police officers when she was arrested for stealing and fraud that she was innocent that they’d let her go? That made no sense! Wouldn’t that be a contradiction to her stupidity?

I found it hilarious (in a negative way) that the author would have thrown in the word “cogitate” as in “[Tammy] I cogitate for hours.” Maybe I’m the stupid one because that seems like a “big” word in my opinion, one too big when used in reference to Tammy or this story for that matter.

The pre-arresting email she sent to the African doctor was ridiculous! I mean how stupid can she be when she hasn’t heard from him in how long? I have no clue. Yet, she still believes he’s sending her millions. This unknown person in a faraway country. Yeah… makes sense.

I was under the impression that Spring was a small country-type town. So when I heard that there were prostitutes who had pimps in this town… Yeah, it didn’t add up to me.

I received a free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who didn't like this story....

Delightfully entertaining! Great narrator.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I think everyone who has ever signed up for an email account has received one of those messages from someone in a far off land seeking the heir to a fortune or just needing a little help processing a complicated banking situation. If you haven't received one, just check your spam folder...believe me, it's there. With these scams being such a common occurrence I'm surprised this is the first time I've seen it used in a book plot. It worked perfectly in this storyline and turned out to be a great platform to show how people can be your best friend when it benefits them but they can also be the first ones to kick you when you're down. In Cupidity, author: Patricia Wood did a great job building up the dynamics of a small, dysfunctional town and showcasing a likable (but gullible) heroine. I enjoyed her character and also really liked her brother and her late Uncle E who had a surprisingly strong voice in this story as his memorable quotes were peppered throughout.

I have to admit, the cover art on this novel had me skeptical. But the phrase “Don't judge a book by its cover” couldn't be more true. Cupidity is light and delightfully funny, but it also brings some other emotions along with it including loyalty, protectiveness, betrayal, suspense, and anger. Despite the title, this story is not a romance, but I ended up really enjoying it anyway and found it engaging and pleasantly entertaining. If you enjoy the chick-lit genre and are ready for a fresh plot, then consider reading Cupidity.

My favorite quote:
“Blood is thicker than water. You start being ashamed of your family, next thing you know you're ashamed of everything in your life. And shame grows on you. It does. Pretty soon it's the only thing you feel.”

What other book might you compare Cupidity to and why?

None, I've never read a book with a similar plot. The narrator: Michelle Babb reminded me so much of Anna Fields, the fabulous narrator for all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips's audiobooks.

What about Michelle Babb’s performance did you like?

Audiobook review:
Narrator: Michelle Babb reminded me so much of Anna Fields, the fabulous narrator for all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips's audiobooks. So similar! Like vocal doppelgangers if there is such a thing! Narrators can make or break a book and Ms. Babb did a great job. Her narration really helped to bring out the unique personalities of each character. I'll be keeping my eye out for her other work!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to it over the course of two days. If I had the opportunity, I probably would have listened to it in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Note: I received a gifted copy of this audiobook from the narrator: Michelle Babb in exchange for an honest review.

Cupidity makes for a fun, unpredictable read!

This is one of those books that will make you laugh and cry. I had moments where the sheer stupidity of someone's actions that I forgot I was reading a book and felt bad for them.

This is a clean read- no cursing, no sex. It was refreshing and I loved how weird some of the people are...kind of reminds me of people you meet in real life!

Seeing the relationship between brother and sister was nice and I liked how mental illness was handled.

You could also say it's a Christian book. Not a 'shove it down your throat' religious book, but one where our main character respects her religion even if she doesn't go to church once a week. I'm not religious, but it was still a sweet, funny, inspirational read. This is something that can be enjoyed by anyone who's been in a tight spot before and appreciate it.

The narrator did a wonderful job giving different voices to the characters. Some of those voices are extremely unique- I'd definitely listen to something narrated by her again.

I received a free copy of this book from the author, narrator or publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Charming!

Loved this audible and the narrator was spot on. The simplicity of this community and this particular family made me smile almost the whole way thru! I am reviewing this for free preview but I totally enjoyed this one!

A fantastic novel! With FUN!

Cupidity: A Novel is my first Patricia Wood book! Cupidity is a sequel, and although I didn’t read the first novel ahead of time, it stood well on its own. It is not feeling like a sequel at all, so i guess that is a plus! And how fun is it? A lot fun! That is how fun! The author has a delightful sense of humor that is shown all true this fantastic book! The characters are so well created that you want to meet them and drink some tea! Patricia Wood is maybe new for me, but i am happy to say i would love to hear more from her!

My first meeting with Michelle Babb too. I will say that maybe some of the humor in the book is lost with her. She reads this a bit to straight for my taste, i wish she almost was a bit more funny in her voice! When that is said: I still give her a 4,4 out of 5, so we are close to perfect!
9 hrs and 20 mins never bores me, and i think Michelle Babb is a part of that happening! So i am looking forward to hear her again! I think that is a testimony about how good it is!

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com

Loved the performance

Would you listen to Cupidity again? Why?

I think I might pick up little things I missed the first time because I was trying to figure out the ending - which was great

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the build up. Couldn't figure out how it would end except very badly - great surprise ending

Which character – as performed by Michelle Babb – was your favorite?

Jar (sp) I really liked how she expressed his expletives. They made me smile and really made him a very likable character.

Who was the most memorable character of Cupidity and why?

I did like Jar but Tammy was very memorable. I have started using "beeswax" a lot since listening to this. I liked how she kept talking about everyone knowing her beeswax among other things.

Any additional comments?

I really liked how Michelle had different inflections and voices for different characters. It really made the book easier to listen to since I didn't have to back it up and figure out who was talking. Overall this was a very pleasant/edge of my seat book to listen to. The build up was excellent and I really enjoyed the ending. Makes me want to listen again to experience the story all over again.

A different kind of hero

Normally the heroes of novels are super at something—good looks, smarts, sexiness, etc. You wouldn’t think a foolish young woman and her simple brother would qualify to be anyone’s heroes. But in Cupidity they are. The one super trait Tammy Tyree has is a positive outlook on life. She’s a genuine optimist (or as her Uncle E says an ‘optometrist’) whose determination through trials and tribulations amused me. Malapropisms and naive misunderstandings make Cupidity a humorously outlandish tale to be sure, but the author’s details of Tammy’s penny-pinching poverty are so real they touched my heart. I rooted for her and her brother to the very end.

The characters were unlike any I’ve ever known before. The author’s descriptions were great to begin with, and the narrator really brought them to life through her talented and nuanced voices, even managing the challenge of Jar’s unusual speech deficiency.

Cupidity is a sequel, and although I didn’t read the first novel ahead of time, it stood well on its own. I was given a free copy for the purposes of review, but was not pressured in any way to do anything but give an honest opinion.

I'm gonna be rich!

Tammy Tyree lives in a trailer in the small town of Spring with her 15 years old autistic brother and the uncle who took the in when they were orphaned some years before. It's not easy to be a Tyree: the family has a reputation of being thrives and ne'er-do-wells. But Tammy works really hard to keep everything together. As well as being a waitress at the local café, she keeps hens to sell the eggs, cleans houses, moves trash - in fact anything to keep up with the incoming bills. But she's failing. Then, like a miracle, she receives an official looking email from someone in Africa telling her that she is to inherit five million dollars from a remote missionary family member. Trouble is, she first has to send him five hundred dollars ...

This delightful and silly story is simply delicious. Told in the first person from Tammy's perspective, the reader has full access to her hopes and fears, her optimistic naive belief in herself and her uncle and, above all, her love for her brother, who she alone is able to understand when he speaks and around whom her whole life is focused. The characterisations are well written and then further developed by Michelle Babb's superb narration. Her voicings of each of the townspeople as well as the main protagonists is distinct and individual but it is the ongoing conversations which Tammy has both with herself and others that really make her character come alive. A mention, too, must be made of Ms.Babb's wonderful interpretation of the speech of the autistic teenage brother.
A perfect pairing of the author's vision and the narrator's interpretation.

This is a fun book, easy to read, filled with humour but also looking at the way in which money, or the promise of it, can change people's perceptions. Like an iceberg, there is far more here than is shown. It felt as if the reader was simultaneously travelling internally with Tammy whilst looking down at the townsfolk and happenings of Spring. Sometimes laugh out loud, it is also poignant and, just occasionally, sad.

A lovely book which delivered far more than expected and which will stay with this reader well into the future.
Recommended.

Batty tale about Nigerian scam emails

What made the experience of listening to Cupidity the most enjoyable?

I enjoy audiobooks in general, I have read Lottery by the author before. The narrator managed to capture the various voices and accents quite well, especially Tammy's.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cupidity?

It was all in the build-up really, with a lot of plotlines coming together at the end. I wouldn't want to give it away!

Which character – as performed by Michelle Babb – was your favourite?

Tammy Tyree, the naive yet loveable waitress who responds to the Nigerian email promising her money...

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The relationship between Tammy and her autistic brother Jar is well written, with many scenes showing her motherly love for him, her acceptance.

Any additional comments?

This caught my eye as I was unexpectedly delighted with Lottery when I discovered that by accident a few years ago, and I was more than happy to try a new Patricia Wood. Glancing at the blurb, the theme of underdogs encountering potential good fortune was a formula I was quite glad to try on audiobook.

Narrator-wise, the audiobook was fine, a range of voices for the different characters, with the accents setting the scene well. Tammy Tyree is a young waitress, living with her ne'er-do-well, scheme-happy Uncle and autistic younger brother Jar (who speaks a language only Tammy can translate - for us as well as the neighbourhood). She's been saddled with responsibility beyond her years, but maintains an upbeat attitude most of the time about her debts, bills and future, though it does look grim.

Her silver lining one day appears - in the form of an email from a man in Africa, promising her a share of a Tyree inheritance from a dead relative, if only she can send funds to release it first... Finally, Tammy has got some good luck! And maybe the small decaying town she lives in can share in it too.

Hilarious plot, the jaw-droppingly eye-wateringly naivety, the shovelling deeper into the mire, Tammy is both our guide and a woman we want to scream at and take in hand. You KNOW it can't end well - can it?

It all goes a bit madcap (and would all her colleagues and acquaintances REALLY believe it too?!), and insane, with other relations wanting a piece of the action as Tammy's secret potential fortune becomes common knowledge.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, despite the glaring insanity of the whole plot. Tammy and Jar make a very sweet sibling pair, his condition quite well portrayed. Tammy herself manages to be both loveable and infuriating. I would have loved more Uncle E and his made-up vocabulary.

Crazy, crazy idea - works brilliantly well as a book (and could be a very good film as well). Has a bit of everything, and you really can't quite see what is going to happen at the end. A perfect summer light read, will keep you guessing, smiling and checking your emails :)

With thanks to the narrator for providing a copy of the audiobook, for review purposes.

Good listen

loved it was a nice book with a good pace and kept me on my toes

Fun, relatable characters. Plot has lot of room for improvement.

I received this book from the narrator in exchange for a honest review.

Pros: Good voice acting that brings the characters, especially the protagonist, to life. They're written in a funny and relatable way, successfully finding the balance between tragedy and comedy that makes a book like this enjoyable.

Cons: The plot is quite poorly put together. Minor spoilers ahead: pretty much the entire town falls hook, line and sinker for the con. That email must have been the most convincing scam ever written since everyone is willing to take it at it's word and pour their money in without suspicion.

Additionally, the ending is quite abrupt and reads a bit like a Hail Mary by the author. To be fair, the characters are likeable enough that it gets by.

TL;DR - Listen for the characters, they will endear themselves to you. The plot is passable as long as you can suspend your disbelief.

Narration made this story come to life

Without the wonderful narration of Michelle Babb I may have found this story rather slow. However, the story bloomed to life as it was told so well, and held my interest to the end.

Brilliant family adventure, happy ending

What a brilliant book loved it from page one, all the time you think it's a scam but a brilliant ending, loving family brilliant narration

A Fun and all too common story

This fun book was a joy to read and i completed it inside a day. We've all had the scam Emails purporting to make our fortune but Tammy believes in the message for various reasons and once started she continues to be drawn in deeper and deeper getting into bad debt in the process. Her younger brother Jar is autistic and some of the language he comes out with is hilarious, it's a good job only Tammy understands him! Will all come good in the end? well, I'm not going to spoil the book. Once again Michelle Babb excels in her narration of the excellent book.
This audiobook was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Great Book!

What a great book drew me from the very beginning. The characters were realistic and believable. The story was well written and narrated looking forward to reading more from this author!

Innocence makes for an interesting story

This is not my normal type of story but I really enjoyed it. I found I was hooked after listening to only a few words. I think it was because I liked the characters and I wanted to find out what was going to happened to them. Especially Jar and his made up words, I loved the way Tammy just told people what they wanted him to have said and he makes a rude noise, very amusing and very realistic. That was also what I liked the people were very real and it made you feel like it could have happened to someone you know (and with all the scams going around it might just have. I just hope if it has it didn't get as far as Tammy's did)). It might not be the type of story I would choose but I will definitely eye an eye out for this author again because her writing was so engaging.
Tammy is struggling to bring up her autistic brother after the death of her parents with the help of her Uncle E. Working four jobs is hard, especially when he keeping getting into trouble for breaking things and her uncle isn't a very good baby sitter or influence on him. So she is over the moon when one day she finds an email informing her a distant relative has died and she has been left an inheritance, all she needs to do is send some money in order to collect. Keeping a secret in a small town is very hard and despite being told to keep it a secret the news travels like wild fire. When emails keep coming in needing more money sent Tammy finds the towns people lining up to give her money in order for her to help them when it arrives. Is Tammy getting herself into something she can't get out of?
The narrator was the main reason I gave this book ago and I am glad I did because it is a feel good type of story about hope and togetherness which comes across really well with Michelle reading it. Oh and I loved the voice and sounds of Jar.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

never let the b's get you down

This book is about things are always brighter and better to come a story of true grit and determination the main character is that little caterpillar that wil in time and know will be a butterfly. but is going to take a lot of work.