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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
*3.5 stars*
Hmm. What do I say about this book?
Let's start with the concept, which was just wonderful, and for that matter the entire premise of the book was wonderful. Shady secret agency manufactures perfect love interests, pairing them up with potential future destined-for-greatness people, thus placing their women (and men!)
on the inside. As per YA romance conventions, the Target Girl gets two love interests, one's super nice and one is brooding and bad. The winner gets the girl, the loser gets the chop.
See? It's like a concept that cannot fail. Cliche inversions and playing with the tropes. Highlighting how people do not in fact fit into neat little boxes like many Love Interests actually do- and to be fair, the book tackles those personality-typing problems pretty well.
Where it fails, however, is at the storytelling. The world is not built beyond the skeletons of the basic premise, and that means it stops making sense when you start to think about it. There was a lot of handwavium going around, which would have been FINE if it was all a romance, but once you start dismantling power structures those power structures need to be built up properly.
More significantly, most of the characterization was pretty weak. Caden's character is probably the strongest of the lot (with the possible exception of Juilet), and neither of them are particularly well-developed. At least Trevor has the excuse of being the supporting plotmoppet. The characterization of Dylan in particular was incomprehensible and chaotic, and I did not get anywhere near sufficient clarity to get a proper hold on his character. At the end of the day, he's a pretty classic Love Interest, and that's ultimately a missed opportunity.
The final third of the book was pretty underwhelming emotionally as well, as there was nowhere near enough time or significance given to the major events, like Trevor's death. Again, a missed opportunity. This book would really have benefited from better world-building and smarter antagonists or, failing that, a stronger focus on the romance itself.
I have to note, however, that the subversions were beautiful when they were there. I'm still tickled by the image of Dylan happily winning a stuffed pink dinosaur (YOU GO SUBVERT THOSE EXPECTATIONS KID), and each and every one of the boys' midnight conversations were beautiful. A lot of Caden's internal monologue subverts the cliches in the genre. And regardless of how it was executed, the final team up had me smiling because awww. Look at these kids teaming up ans dismantling power structures.
Anyway, if you're an idea-exploation person, this is probably a decent book to read. If you are a storytelling/characterization person... meh.
Hmm. What do I say about this book?
Let's start with the concept, which was just wonderful, and for that matter the entire premise of the book was wonderful. Shady secret agency manufactures perfect love interests, pairing them up with potential future destined-for-greatness people, thus placing their women (and men!)
on the inside. As per YA romance conventions, the Target Girl gets two love interests, one's super nice and one is brooding and bad. The winner gets the girl, the loser gets the chop.
Spoiler
Gradually the two love interests fall for each other, and everyone teams up and says fuck it let's go destroy the shady government agency.See? It's like a concept that cannot fail. Cliche inversions and playing with the tropes. Highlighting how people do not in fact fit into neat little boxes like many Love Interests actually do- and to be fair, the book tackles those personality-typing problems pretty well.
Where it fails, however, is at the storytelling. The world is not built beyond the skeletons of the basic premise, and that means it stops making sense when you start to think about it. There was a lot of handwavium going around, which would have been FINE if it was all a romance, but once you start dismantling power structures those power structures need to be built up properly.
Spoiler
The shady all-powerful centuries-old organization got taken down a little too fast and a little too easy. Hooray for Applied Phlebotnium, I guess?More significantly, most of the characterization was pretty weak. Caden's character is probably the strongest of the lot (with the possible exception of Juilet), and neither of them are particularly well-developed. At least Trevor has the excuse of being the supporting plotmoppet. The characterization of Dylan in particular was incomprehensible and chaotic, and I did not get anywhere near sufficient clarity to get a proper hold on his character. At the end of the day, he's a pretty classic Love Interest, and that's ultimately a missed opportunity.
The final third of the book was pretty underwhelming emotionally as well, as there was nowhere near enough time or significance given to the major events, like Trevor's death. Again, a missed opportunity. This book would really have benefited from better world-building and smarter antagonists or, failing that, a stronger focus on the romance itself.
I have to note, however, that the subversions were beautiful when they were there. I'm still tickled by the image of Dylan happily winning a stuffed pink dinosaur (YOU GO SUBVERT THOSE EXPECTATIONS KID), and each and every one of the boys' midnight conversations were beautiful. A lot of Caden's internal monologue subverts the cliches in the genre. And regardless of how it was executed, the final team up had me smiling because awww. Look at these kids teaming up ans dismantling power structures.
Anyway, if you're an idea-exploation person, this is probably a decent book to read. If you are a storytelling/characterization person... meh.
More like 3.5 stars. Conceptually really cool, but the end seemed a little rushed and convenient.
BOTM club, you've let me down again. This was not very good. But it was so great to see the LGBTQ community represented in YA!
The plot seems very contemporary, but unfortunately it was more angst and drama than romance. I am struggling trying to find the right words to describe this, but it was just so poorly done. There was no action or thrill, even when we got to the climax of the story it was boring. I was captivated by the idea that teenagers were being trained as spies and having people fall in love with them to learn their secrets - for me it totally went against the cliche romance story - but it was not realistic.
The characters were so dramatic, so cliche, and so unrelatable. One of my biggest draws into picking up this novel was the idea that the two boys end up falling for each other, and I am still so angry at the hot mess that scenario became. I was so aggravated by that “twist” that I put the book down for a solid 24 hours and even then struggled to pick it back up and finish. I don’t want to give away what this moment was, but I felt as though it downplayed the importance of an LGBTQIA character, while also making it seem like a joke.
Overall, this is a novel that had potential to be great, but was just poorly executed. I hate that this review sounds so negative, but I was so sure this would be on my favourites list for the year. I give a little credit to the fact that it is a debut author, and I like the uniqueness of the spy-lovers plot line, but there was a lot of room for improvement.
Check out my entire review on my blog!
http://theprincessgummybearreviews.blogspot.ca/2017/11/the-love-interest-book-review.html
The characters were so dramatic, so cliche, and so unrelatable. One of my biggest draws into picking up this novel was the idea that the two boys end up falling for each other, and I am still so angry at the hot mess that scenario became. I was so aggravated by that “twist” that I put the book down for a solid 24 hours and even then struggled to pick it back up and finish. I don’t want to give away what this moment was, but I felt as though it downplayed the importance of an LGBTQIA character, while also making it seem like a joke.
Overall, this is a novel that had potential to be great, but was just poorly executed. I hate that this review sounds so negative, but I was so sure this would be on my favourites list for the year. I give a little credit to the fact that it is a debut author, and I like the uniqueness of the spy-lovers plot line, but there was a lot of room for improvement.
Check out my entire review on my blog!
http://theprincessgummybearreviews.blogspot.ca/2017/11/the-love-interest-book-review.html
I freaking loved this book. It was amazing and the beginning is hilarious.
"You know, Nice guy, I wouldn't object to a sympathy strip show. Just saying."
- and it was in that moment that Regina started questioning all of her life decisions.
*I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR THE RANDOMNESS IN THIS REVIEW, I WROTE IT AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING*
Ok. Ok.
So I think I can explain why I rated this book 4 stars.
*slaps self* you shouldn't explain anything Regina, you're entitled to have an opinion.
*stares into horizon, while grabbing her cheek* You're right Regina.
With that being said, let's talk about this book.
So yeah, I'd totally be lying if I said I gave this book 4 stars because it is a masterpiece. As a matter of fact the writing needs a lot of improvement.
*says the girl whose first language isn't English* *shut up brain*
The plot was very flat and the situations were simply ridiculous, and the dialogues, well you have a quote up there, I'll leave that to your own judgement.
So you're probably wondering, why the 4 stars then? Well my very dear people, those four stars were because of how freaking entertaining this book was.
For me there are 4 ways I can tell I've become addicted to a book:
1. I consider taking the book with me to school (I never do that though, because I don't trust people ok?)
2. I take the fastest showers in the world (even if I don't even clean myself properly), so I can continue reading when I'm done.
3. I read before I finish my homework (I know, I'm totally aware that I'm a huge nerd, thanks)
4. I decide that sleep is for the weak.
And of course the 4 scenarios above happened while I was reading this book, and let me tell you this does not happen very often, we're talking some real shit here.
But Regina, were the contents of this book really that addictive???? Yes my dear child, they were. We've got:
-Hot dudes (in the exaggerated way)
-Hot gay dudes (I mean, weren’t we all here because of this?)
-Weird love triangle, that is not an actual love triangle
-Exaggerated drama
-Cool group of friends
-Teen angst
-Oh yeah and a weird spy agency with an asshole leader.
This book is trashy YA at its finest, it's definitely not for everyone, but it's perfect for weirdos like me. I liked this book for the exact same reasons I love so much The Selection series.
I think that's enough mumbling. Now let's talk about the actual plot of the book.
So in case you didn't know this book is about a spy agency that pairs up important people with "love interests", so they can gather information. And that sounded cool on its own. The thing is, they usually send two love interests from two different sectors, (and brace yourselves because the names are cringy af) the Nice guys and the Bad guys.
So like whatever, the plot goes like this: they send two guys to fight for a girl and whoever loses dies. Sounds like your typical ya love triangle, but the twist here is the guys end up falling for each other. (When I first heard this by the way, I was like so ready for this book)
And well, I'm pretty sure the author tried to have a unique never seen story, but it ended up being cliche anyways. But that's not a bad thing. Well not in this case (at least for me it wasn't)
Now let's talk about the characters:
So I liked Caden, he's like my son or something. His mind was weird sometimes and he didn't take the best decisions all the time, but he was a good MC. Also I kinda died when he screamed "I'm the fucking protagonist" or something along those lines.
Talk about breaking the fourth wall or something.
Dylan was also ok. I really wish he would've had a pov in the book, because I feel like I didn't know him enough to care that much for him. Still, if he were real I'd totally fall for him, so yeah...
I can't say Caden and Dylan are my new otp, but damn were those two ship worthy.
I also liked Juliet, even when she exasperated me. *secretly wishes I was her* *but also no because she didn't get a guy at the end*
Natalie was cool too, and I also called it! I was so sure she'd have to be a love interest!
Trev was awesome and his death was definitely not cool, both in the sense that it was completely unnecessary and it added nothing to the plot, and in the sense that he didn't deserve to die because I actually liked him. *sigh*
Overall I think the best way to read this book is to read it without taking it seriously. (Btw that's an advise I took from Clau Reads Books, my fave booktuber)
Who knows? Maybe I'll drop my rating to 3.5 stars if Goodreads ever grants me my deepest wish of having half star ratings.
But yeah, the lesson here is: Don't be afraid to like a book just because the overanalyzed Goodreads reviews tell you not to. (I mean that in a joking manner please don't come for my skin)
Also I'm so sorry for this messy review.
- and it was in that moment that Regina started questioning all of her life decisions.
*I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR THE RANDOMNESS IN THIS REVIEW, I WROTE IT AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING*
Ok. Ok.
So I think I can explain why I rated this book 4 stars.
*slaps self* you shouldn't explain anything Regina, you're entitled to have an opinion.
*stares into horizon, while grabbing her cheek* You're right Regina.
With that being said, let's talk about this book.
So yeah, I'd totally be lying if I said I gave this book 4 stars because it is a masterpiece. As a matter of fact the writing needs a lot of improvement.
*says the girl whose first language isn't English* *shut up brain*
The plot was very flat and the situations were simply ridiculous, and the dialogues, well you have a quote up there, I'll leave that to your own judgement.
So you're probably wondering, why the 4 stars then? Well my very dear people, those four stars were because of how freaking entertaining this book was.
For me there are 4 ways I can tell I've become addicted to a book:
1. I consider taking the book with me to school (I never do that though, because I don't trust people ok?)
2. I take the fastest showers in the world (even if I don't even clean myself properly), so I can continue reading when I'm done.
3. I read before I finish my homework (I know, I'm totally aware that I'm a huge nerd, thanks)
4. I decide that sleep is for the weak.
And of course the 4 scenarios above happened while I was reading this book, and let me tell you this does not happen very often, we're talking some real shit here.
But Regina, were the contents of this book really that addictive???? Yes my dear child, they were. We've got:
-Hot dudes (in the exaggerated way)
-Hot gay dudes (I mean, weren’t we all here because of this?)
-Weird love triangle, that is not an actual love triangle
-Exaggerated drama
-Cool group of friends
-Teen angst
-Oh yeah and a weird spy agency with an asshole leader.
This book is trashy YA at its finest, it's definitely not for everyone, but it's perfect for weirdos like me. I liked this book for the exact same reasons I love so much The Selection series.
I think that's enough mumbling. Now let's talk about the actual plot of the book.
So in case you didn't know this book is about a spy agency that pairs up important people with "love interests", so they can gather information. And that sounded cool on its own. The thing is, they usually send two love interests from two different sectors, (and brace yourselves because the names are cringy af) the Nice guys and the Bad guys.
So like whatever, the plot goes like this: they send two guys to fight for a girl and whoever loses dies. Sounds like your typical ya love triangle, but the twist here is the guys end up falling for each other. (When I first heard this by the way, I was like so ready for this book)
And well, I'm pretty sure the author tried to have a unique never seen story, but it ended up being cliche anyways. But that's not a bad thing. Well not in this case (at least for me it wasn't)
Now let's talk about the characters:
So I liked Caden, he's like my son or something. His mind was weird sometimes and he didn't take the best decisions all the time, but he was a good MC. Also I kinda died when he screamed "I'm the fucking protagonist" or something along those lines.
Talk about breaking the fourth wall or something.
Dylan was also ok. I really wish he would've had a pov in the book, because I feel like I didn't know him enough to care that much for him. Still, if he were real I'd totally fall for him, so yeah...
I can't say Caden and Dylan are my new otp, but damn were those two ship worthy.
I also liked Juliet, even when she exasperated me. *secretly wishes I was her* *but also no because she didn't get a guy at the end*
Natalie was cool too, and I also called it! I was so sure she'd have to be a love interest!
Trev was awesome and his death was definitely not cool, both in the sense that it was completely unnecessary and it added nothing to the plot, and in the sense that he didn't deserve to die because I actually liked him. *sigh*
Overall I think the best way to read this book is to read it without taking it seriously. (Btw that's an advise I took from Clau Reads Books, my fave booktuber)
Who knows? Maybe I'll drop my rating to 3.5 stars if Goodreads ever grants me my deepest wish of having half star ratings.
But yeah, the lesson here is: Don't be afraid to like a book just because the overanalyzed Goodreads reviews tell you not to. (I mean that in a joking manner please don't come for my skin)
Also I'm so sorry for this messy review.
I think I loved the premise more than the execution, but this was still a very fun read!
The next opinion would be un-popular ones, 'cause I really enjoyed and had fun while i read this book. Fue una excelente decisión comenzar el año con esta lectura.
**RESEÑA**
Todo comienza con Caden, el protagonista y quien nos cuenta la historia desde su perspectiva, en su habitación a la espera de la orden de poder salir de ella y dirigirse a la sala del test donde sabrá si será el próximo Love Interest de una hermosa chica. Y es que Caden hace parte de una organización de espías que prepara a chicos que han sido abandonados por sus padres o que son huérfanos para que enamoren a un interés amoroso los cuales son personas importantes en el mundo y, así, en un futuro poder robar sus secretos y venderlos al mejor postor.
¿Cuál es el problema? Pues que para acechar a esta persona importante, que en este momento es Juliet, mandan a dos Love Interest: el Nice boy y el Bad boy, que han sido entrenados para representar un papel, al final Juliet debe escoger uno de los chicos, el otro va al sótano de esta agencia donde será incinerado. Pero esta competencia para conseguir el corazón de Juliet no será una normal y estará rodeada de muchas dudas y peligros.
**OPINION**
Como dije al inicio de todo, esta es una opinión bastante impopular ya que de verdad disfruté demasiado de esta lectura, los personajes me encantaron. TODOS ellos, incluso los secundarios.
Hablemos un poco sobre ellos: empecemos por Caden: al comienzo me desesperaba un poco, pero se lo atribuyo a que creció encerrado y no sabía como afrontar nada en su vida: ni sus sentimientos daba para esclarecer. Por otra parte tenemos a Dylan, que me cayó bien desde el inicio aunque me defraudó un poco se reivindicó bastante bien, pienso que su personaje esta mejor desarrollado que el de Caden en cuanto a que sabe enfrentar mejor las cosa. Luego tenemos a Juliet, nuestro interés amoroso, la amo, sus intervenciones e interacciones con los chicos y, además, con sus amigos me parecían demasiado entrañables. Y por ultimo encontramos a Natalie y Trevor, que fueron los secundarios de la historia, cada vez que aparecían me daban mucha risa, y NATALIE WOW.
Ah, si hay que decir que hacia la mitad del libro la velocidad de la historia decae un poco, se vuelve un poco de altibajos hasta que alcanza las ultimas 100 paginas que fueron una cosa loca, I MEAN, pasa de todo, DE TODOOO, o sea, tenemos drama, romance, violencia y un excelente final.
De verdad que no entiendo que hay de malo con esta novela, pues no es la mejor del mundo pero se deja disfrutar muy bien.
Y los plot-twists que tuvo, bueno si lo pude ver venir antes de que sucediera, no sé porque ya lo venía sospechando y luego nos dejan una pista super clara justo antes de que Juliet tome la decisión que nos define el libro
EN CONCLUSIÓN, AUNQUE LA HISTORIA CERRÓ BASTANTE BIEN, ME GUSTARÍA SEGUIR LEYENDO SOBRE ESTOS CHICOS FUE ALGO MUY BONITO. CREO QUE ES UN BUEN LIBRO Y NO ME AVERGUENZA DECIR QUE DISFRUTÉ DE ÉL, QUE ES UNA LECTURA SUPER AGIL Y ENTRETENIDA. LO RECOMIENDO A OJOS CERRADOS
**RESEÑA**
Todo comienza con Caden, el protagonista y quien nos cuenta la historia desde su perspectiva, en su habitación a la espera de la orden de poder salir de ella y dirigirse a la sala del test donde sabrá si será el próximo Love Interest de una hermosa chica. Y es que Caden hace parte de una organización de espías que prepara a chicos que han sido abandonados por sus padres o que son huérfanos para que enamoren a un interés amoroso los cuales son personas importantes en el mundo y, así, en un futuro poder robar sus secretos y venderlos al mejor postor.
¿Cuál es el problema? Pues que para acechar a esta persona importante, que en este momento es Juliet, mandan a dos Love Interest: el Nice boy y el Bad boy, que han sido entrenados para representar un papel, al final Juliet debe escoger uno de los chicos, el otro va al sótano de esta agencia donde será incinerado. Pero esta competencia para conseguir el corazón de Juliet no será una normal y estará rodeada de muchas dudas y peligros.
**OPINION**
Como dije al inicio de todo, esta es una opinión bastante impopular ya que de verdad disfruté demasiado de esta lectura, los personajes me encantaron. TODOS ellos, incluso los secundarios.
Hablemos un poco sobre ellos: empecemos por Caden: al comienzo me desesperaba un poco, pero se lo atribuyo a que creció encerrado y no sabía como afrontar nada en su vida: ni sus sentimientos daba para esclarecer. Por otra parte tenemos a Dylan, que me cayó bien desde el inicio aunque me defraudó un poco se reivindicó bastante bien, pienso que su personaje esta mejor desarrollado que el de Caden en cuanto a que sabe enfrentar mejor las cosa. Luego tenemos a Juliet, nuestro interés amoroso, la amo, sus intervenciones e interacciones con los chicos y, además, con sus amigos me parecían demasiado entrañables. Y por ultimo encontramos a Natalie y Trevor, que fueron los secundarios de la historia, cada vez que aparecían me daban mucha risa, y NATALIE WOW.
Ah, si hay que decir que hacia la mitad del libro la velocidad de la historia decae un poco, se vuelve un poco de altibajos hasta que alcanza las ultimas 100 paginas que fueron una cosa loca, I MEAN, pasa de todo, DE TODOOO, o sea, tenemos drama, romance, violencia y un excelente final.
De verdad que no entiendo que hay de malo con esta novela, pues no es la mejor del mundo pero se deja disfrutar muy bien.
Y los plot-twists que tuvo, bueno si lo pude ver venir antes de que sucediera, no sé porque ya lo venía sospechando y luego nos dejan una pista super clara justo antes de que Juliet tome la decisión que nos define el libro
EN CONCLUSIÓN, AUNQUE LA HISTORIA CERRÓ BASTANTE BIEN, ME GUSTARÍA SEGUIR LEYENDO SOBRE ESTOS CHICOS FUE ALGO MUY BONITO. CREO QUE ES UN BUEN LIBRO Y NO ME AVERGUENZA DECIR QUE DISFRUTÉ DE ÉL, QUE ES UNA LECTURA SUPER AGIL Y ENTRETENIDA. LO RECOMIENDO A OJOS CERRADOS