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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
It’s kind of difficult to rate The Love Interest. It was awful and made zero sense, but it did an amazing job at making fun of tired YA tropes and if that was the point, then it was kind of awesome.
Basically, The Love Interest was a dystopian novel in which a secret organization takes kids and makes them into Love Interests. Every important person will have one, but in order to ensure he or she chooses the spy, they create a Bad and a Nice in order to appeal to the person. Whoever she doesn’t pick will die. It’s outrageous and makes no sense, but I’ve read enough awful YA to be entertained by the premise. In The Love Interest, Caden started to fall for the wrong person: the Bad guy. Which was also kind of awesome because it’s about time the idiot heroine who keeps bouncing between two guys loses both, right?
Caden narrated the story and he didn’t believe he was really Nice, but played his part in order to not die. He was kind of bland and awful, as was nearly all of the dialogue, but the book makes fun of so much wrong in YA, I can’t help but wonder if it was all on purpose.
I’m not really sure if I read a brilliant parody of every YA dystopian novel ever or another awful addition to that pile, so I gave the book three stars because it’s either really good or really bad and I shot for the middle.
Basically, The Love Interest was a dystopian novel in which a secret organization takes kids and makes them into Love Interests. Every important person will have one, but in order to ensure he or she chooses the spy, they create a Bad and a Nice in order to appeal to the person. Whoever she doesn’t pick will die. It’s outrageous and makes no sense, but I’ve read enough awful YA to be entertained by the premise. In The Love Interest, Caden started to fall for the wrong person: the Bad guy. Which was also kind of awesome because it’s about time the idiot heroine who keeps bouncing between two guys loses both, right?
Caden narrated the story and he didn’t believe he was really Nice, but played his part in order to not die. He was kind of bland and awful, as was nearly all of the dialogue, but the book makes fun of so much wrong in YA, I can’t help but wonder if it was all on purpose.
I’m not really sure if I read a brilliant parody of every YA dystopian novel ever or another awful addition to that pile, so I gave the book three stars because it’s either really good or really bad and I shot for the middle.
2.65 stars
Meh. It wasn't bad, but far from good. I enjoyed some parts, but overall it's fine. It's a debut novel, so I'm being less critical with the rating. The characters were not that great, the plot was bearable, and I'm not impressed by anything about this book. But, I wasn't bored, I read it quickly, so I'm not mad about it *just mildly annoyed*. Now, I'll be starting the glorious Lord of Shadows - written by the Queen herself, Cassandra Clare.
Meh. It wasn't bad, but far from good. I enjoyed some parts, but overall it's fine. It's a debut novel, so I'm being less critical with the rating. The characters were not that great, the plot was bearable, and I'm not impressed by anything about this book. But, I wasn't bored, I read it quickly, so I'm not mad about it *just mildly annoyed*. Now, I'll be starting the glorious Lord of Shadows - written by the Queen herself, Cassandra Clare.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I could not give you one good reason to read this book. The plot is clearly half assed, you can tell the author didn’t know how to end it and slapped on an epilogue, the characters were so flat and inconsistent I couldn’t care about any of them, the romance was painfully under developed, and the writing itself just wasn’t that good. Gotta love the casual misogyny and token black character. At points I wondered if this was supposed to be satire but even if it is, it’s not good satire.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The dialogue was very cliche/NPC like at times, but that’s really the only thing I didn’t like. The plot was pretty interesting and unique.
good book over all but the writing and some plot points -the dylan one- really frustrated me
still v cute would recommend
still v cute would recommend
to be clear, this was a really good book! and thoroughly gay which i very much appreciate in a book. the only reason i rated it 4 stars was because i don’t usually read action-suspense type books because they’re not really my thing, but this would definitely be someone else’s favorite book.
Okay, there's not going to be spoilers in my review, but just in case, because I am mentioning something quite controversial as to whether it is a spoiler or not, I am going to hide it as a spoiler.
I WAS EXPECTING A BIG SCENE WHERE I GET CADEN AND DYL TO CONFESS TO ONE ANOTHER BUT DAMN BOI NO I HAD TO READ AN EPILOGUE WHERE THEY SMOOCH AND STUFF.
Don't get me wrong I loved and will always love this book, because it was a different BL novel than some others that I've read, it definitely had the more science fiction AU but still contemporary AU that I usually seek in books with, of course, the addition of the BL protagonists. BUT many people, including me, wanted to read the book because of it's interesting plot and boys romance that is going on and, to be honest, I'm quite disappointed that after everything that happened and after such climax the resolution we get is an epilogue for "A year later". Bruh, no. What I wanted was to see how Dylan finally decides to share what his true feelings are, how Caden becomes happier when Dylan admits to being in love with him. I know I sound overdramatic, but I think those 5 pages could have made the end wayyyy more interesting and satisfying for more readers. I wouldn't have minded if it were a bigger book that actually shows how they come to terms with their feelings and stuff.
Overall, however, the book was great and I would recommend it to anyone who likes these kind of books. I loved the relationship, but I don't think the development was as good as it could've been. Maybe focus a bit more on how the characters bond rather than how shitty LIC, which doesn't even exist, was. Even if the message was that such manipulation and deprivation of human rights is bad is actually something that we should focus on, I don't think that it is something that we don't logically assume as humans. So, all in all, I would've liked it if there was nothing changed about the plot and how everything was delivered, but for the boys' relationship.
xoxo
I WAS EXPECTING A BIG SCENE WHERE I GET CADEN AND DYL TO CONFESS TO ONE ANOTHER BUT DAMN BOI NO I HAD TO READ AN EPILOGUE WHERE THEY SMOOCH AND STUFF.
Don't get me wrong I loved and will always love this book, because it was a different BL novel than some others that I've read, it definitely had the more science fiction AU but still contemporary AU that I usually seek in books with, of course, the addition of the BL protagonists. BUT many people, including me, wanted to read the book because of it's interesting plot and boys romance that is going on and, to be honest, I'm quite disappointed that after everything that happened and after such climax the resolution we get is an epilogue for "A year later". Bruh, no. What I wanted was to see how Dylan finally decides to share what his true feelings are, how Caden becomes happier when Dylan admits to being in love with him. I know I sound overdramatic, but I think those 5 pages could have made the end wayyyy more interesting and satisfying for more readers. I wouldn't have minded if it were a bigger book that actually shows how they come to terms with their feelings and stuff.
Overall, however, the book was great and I would recommend it to anyone who likes these kind of books. I loved the relationship, but I don't think the development was as good as it could've been. Maybe focus a bit more on how the characters bond rather than how shitty LIC, which doesn't even exist, was. Even if the message was that such manipulation and deprivation of human rights is bad is actually something that we should focus on, I don't think that it is something that we don't logically assume as humans. So, all in all, I would've liked it if there was nothing changed about the plot and how everything was delivered, but for the boys' relationship.
xoxo
I don’t care what anyone else says; I thought this book was fabulous. Reading The Love Interest felt like being wrapped up in a warm, fuzzy blanket and then being suffocated by said blanket before getting your head bashed into a wall and thrown off a cliff only to gracefully splash into the most beautiful pool of water you have ever seen and whisked away to paradise.
Caden and Dylan are an amazing couple and the tension between these two had me squealing the entire book. Them ending up together was pretty obvious considering it was essentially the whole point of the book. However, I was thrown for a loop when Dylan admitted he wasn't romantically interested in men. Then I was thrown for another (much more pleasant) loop when I found out he really did have feelings for Caden.
I thought this book was amazing from beginning to end. Although, I will admit that the take over of the organization felt rushed. But I love Caden and Dylan so much I’m choosing to overlook it.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes