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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
This book isn't perfect, it has its list of problems, but I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't enjoy my time reading this book. Because I really enjoyed this book.
I know I have to stop the mindset of "what could have been" but if the flaws were edited, this could have been an amazing book, particularly for the LGBT genre. But I'll give props that it didn't rely on tropes for the story, it kind of challenged them. This played a bit on the enemies to lovers trope, which is one of my favourite tropes, like inject that shit into my veins.
Forced dialogue, questionable characters decisions, could have used dual POV for both Caden and Dyl, a "that was too easy" ending, a "did I just get queerbaited?"
I just think this book needed more time on the editing floor.
I know I have to stop the mindset of "what could have been" but if the flaws were edited, this could have been an amazing book, particularly for the LGBT genre. But I'll give props that it didn't rely on tropes for the story, it kind of challenged them. This played a bit on the enemies to lovers trope, which is one of my favourite tropes, like inject that shit into my veins.
Forced dialogue, questionable characters decisions, could have used dual POV for both Caden and Dyl, a "that was too easy" ending, a "did I just get queerbaited?"
I just think this book needed more time on the editing floor.
The writing is a bit simple, but the plot twists will keep you intrigued until the end.
Adorkable. Had a problem with the manipulation (and trevor, who didn't suck as much as i wanted him to) but yea, great book <3
i think I'm also in love with Dyl, caden is a good narrator.
i think I'm also in love with Dyl, caden is a good narrator.
This book was a delight from start to finish. If you are looking for a fantastically fun read featuring plenty of fanfic-style drama, rad female characters, an "I need to text my friend screenshots of the ridiculousness that just happened" romance, and a strong appreciation for one of the best albums of all time (ie. Hot Fuss), then this is the book for you!
I had a wonderful time reading this, which surprised me after seeing the low Goodreads rating, but I'm guessing it has a great deal to do with expectations. If you want seriousness, extensive world-building, or heavy thoughts, please look elsewhere - but if you are looking for silliness and romance and drama you can breeze through, I highly recommend this book.
I had a wonderful time reading this, which surprised me after seeing the low Goodreads rating, but I'm guessing it has a great deal to do with expectations. If you want seriousness, extensive world-building, or heavy thoughts, please look elsewhere - but if you are looking for silliness and romance and drama you can breeze through, I highly recommend this book.
I absolutely HATE that I had to rate this book so low. I had such high hopes because the premise is just so super awesome, but there were just some major major flaws with it, in my opinion. The characters were very one dimensional, I never felt anything special for any of them; the dialogue felt disingenuous to me - almost like a teenager wrote some fanfic or something. It was clunky and awkward. I don't understand why there were so many exclamation points everywhere!!! It just felt unpolished. There were some plot holes & I felt like it took too long for anything to really happen and then when it did, it took a total 180, and was a totally different plot - which is fine sometimes, but it just didn't really work here. It made the pace of the book feel off to me.
This is a debut book, so I'm willing to give Dietrich another chance before I decide whether or not I like him as an author - like I said, the idea was great, I think it just needed to be further refined.
This is a debut book, so I'm willing to give Dietrich another chance before I decide whether or not I like him as an author - like I said, the idea was great, I think it just needed to be further refined.
I read this book a while back, but I am just now writing a review. Probably because of how disappointed I was with it. The concept was AMAZING, and I have to give kudos for that. Bad boy and boy-next-door is a classic, and sometimes that's a good thing. What really sold me is the whole rivals-to-lovers trope. I was so so excited to read an incredible book, and for a bit, I was. I was so afraid to be critical of this book because I had interacted with the author on twitter, praising him for a nice podcast easter egg.
Then I finished the book. Honestly, I wish I didn't. I would have been much more satisfied.
What the hell was that ending? It doesn't classify as queerbaiting, because we got the gay rep... It just was the whole "haha I was never gay and in love with you our relationship was fake because I want to get with this girl. Our emotional relationship was FAKE!" Somehow that's worse. I guess because it didn't just give me hope... it gave me what I wanted and then squashed it like a bug and made fun of me for believing that I would ever be that lucky. You might just be better off reading some random fanfiction.
Then I finished the book. Honestly, I wish I didn't. I would have been much more satisfied.
What the hell was that ending? It doesn't classify as queerbaiting, because we got the gay rep... It just was the whole "haha I was never gay and in love with you our relationship was fake because I want to get with this girl. Our emotional relationship was FAKE!" Somehow that's worse. I guess because it didn't just give me hope... it gave me what I wanted and then squashed it like a bug and made fun of me for believing that I would ever be that lucky. You might just be better off reading some random fanfiction.
i enjoyed it but the ending seemed slightly rushed, it was still a very good book.
This is literally one of the worst books I’ve read in a while, and I would never recommend or pass this on to anyone. I really wanted to like this book which is why it’s so disappointing. It started out really interesting as you find out about the LIC and you meet the main character, Caden. You then find out who his rival is, Dyl. And all the way until a little over halfway through the book it’s an interesting story about them competing against each other for Juliet’s affection as they want to win so they avoid being sent to the incinerator. They then end up developing feelings for each other and so on, all this is an interesting plot and actually keeps your attention the whole time.
Here’s where it gets disappointing......after Caden, the main character, realizes he won and that Dyl will be the one who gets killed, it’s like everything after that point happens super fast and is just crammed and not very well written. It’s almost as if the author got tired of writing the book and tried to make a quick ending? Because the ending basically goes something like this.......Caden tells Juliet he’s really a Love Interest sent to win her affection (which she was oddly understanding and forgiving about and didn’t question if he was crazy), he gets Dyl and they take off in a truck to avoid being killed by the Stalker, after the Stalker destroys their vehicle when they ran out of gas they bought a new vehicle (because one high school carries around enough cash for a vehicle), they end up not having enough and have to use her credit card and then flee, camp out in some tents, they find the LIC, Trevor gets shot and killed (and Natalie doesn’t seem to have that much of a reaction to his death even though she was supposedly in love with him), and then take down a centuries old organization it seems like all within an hour or 2.......with only 3 people?
Sorry, but this was super disappointing, terribly written, and should’ve been edited a lot more in my opinion. What is so disappointing is if they had really taken their time on the ending and added details and make it seem more realistic to actually fit the story line, this would have been an awesome book!
Here’s where it gets disappointing......after Caden, the main character, realizes he won and that Dyl will be the one who gets killed, it’s like everything after that point happens super fast and is just crammed and not very well written. It’s almost as if the author got tired of writing the book and tried to make a quick ending? Because the ending basically goes something like this.......Caden tells Juliet he’s really a Love Interest sent to win her affection (which she was oddly understanding and forgiving about and didn’t question if he was crazy), he gets Dyl and they take off in a truck to avoid being killed by the Stalker, after the Stalker destroys their vehicle when they ran out of gas they bought a new vehicle (because one high school carries around enough cash for a vehicle), they end up not having enough and have to use her credit card and then flee, camp out in some tents, they find the LIC, Trevor gets shot and killed (and Natalie doesn’t seem to have that much of a reaction to his death even though she was supposedly in love with him), and then take down a centuries old organization it seems like all within an hour or 2.......with only 3 people?
Sorry, but this was super disappointing, terribly written, and should’ve been edited a lot more in my opinion. What is so disappointing is if they had really taken their time on the ending and added details and make it seem more realistic to actually fit the story line, this would have been an awesome book!
The concept is awesome; the execution is pretty embarrassingly awful. There's about five pages of scene setting at the beginning where I felt optimistic about where the book was headed, and then... yeah. It was a fast read, mostly because it's impossible to care about any of the characters or what's happening to them. I rarely read something so amateurish that I wonder how it got published at all, but man, is this a mess. I ignored a friend's review where she said she disliked it so much she returned the ebook - I should have paid attention. Just returned my own copy.