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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
A secret organization grooms boys and girls to become the "love interest" of people estimated to become important as adults. Juliet is one such person. Caden and Dylan are competing for her affection and the one who loses ... will die.
Okay, so I finally got my hands on this! And you know what? It was amazing, fight me if you wish.
I was kind of worried after the first reviews came in after the release. Such a disappointment, bla bla bla, so I was ready for this to go to hell but still had hope god dammit.
And yes!! YESSSSSS this worked for me. Let me quote Emi Miranda's review for a bit here:
This was never going to be a serious book! Why are y'all geting your panties in the twist over the not realistic things and messy plot? Seriously, the whole point of this book was to parody the genre, it's so meta I can't even.
And you expected dark backstory and even darker current events? Oh yes, nothing more sets up a joke about YA tropes than basically brainwashed and enslaved characters. That would be sooo fun.
I think you can tell, I'm enjoying my salty gay tea here. So get over it. Either you are ready to embrace silliness on all acounts from this book or just don't read it at all. I'm quite sad that this is geting so many bad ratings, because it's good on it's own way!
So let's get to the point: IT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED.
* I don't think Caden was boring
* I totally went down with that ship and his chemistry with Dyl was amazing
* Juliet was amazing!! She has a mad scientist lab! AND IS WORKING ON A BLACK WIDOW SUIT??! I'm sorry, I need a second to breathe.
*Couldn't stop reading, finished the book in 7 hours
* Don't even start me on part II ending, that sucker punch right in the guts got me doubling over with feels. I think I walked it off for at least 10 minutes
*The perfect writing on Caden realising he has more than platonic feelings and suddenly understanding some encounters from the past. Hell to the yeah, #ownvoices!
Yes, yes, this didn't get 5 stars, because there were some messy things.
*some dialogues were very awkward [but after a while I just written that off to meta. That indeed sounded like pretentious paranormal YA novel from the year 2010.]
*partIII sudenly kicked in all the action and "bigger things" so it felt like I was reading an ending for a different book.
*for a while I was annoyed by the unlogical procedure to kill the unsuccessful Love Interests, but they kind of referred to it in the end.
So yeah, it was a wild ride, and maybe not in the way I was expecting but I certainly enjoyed it and regret nothing.
I was kind of worried after the first reviews came in after the release. Such a disappointment, bla bla bla, so I was ready for this to go to hell but still had hope god dammit.
And yes!! YESSSSSS this worked for me. Let me quote Emi Miranda's review for a bit here:
This book was the YA equivalent to a low budget movie. Within the first few pages, I realized this and changed all my expectations. This wasn't going to be a James Bond film. Instead, it was gonna be that one spy movie starring Hailee Steinfeld and the girl from Game of Thrones .
This was never going to be a serious book! Why are y'all geting your panties in the twist over the not realistic things and messy plot? Seriously, the whole point of this book was to parody the genre, it's so meta I can't even.
And you expected dark backstory and even darker current events? Oh yes, nothing more sets up a joke about YA tropes than basically brainwashed and enslaved characters. That would be sooo fun.
I think you can tell, I'm enjoying my salty gay tea here. So get over it. Either you are ready to embrace silliness on all acounts from this book or just don't read it at all. I'm quite sad that this is geting so many bad ratings, because it's good on it's own way!
So let's get to the point: IT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED.
* I don't think Caden was boring
* I totally went down with that ship and his chemistry with Dyl was amazing
* Juliet was amazing!! She has a mad scientist lab! AND IS WORKING ON A BLACK WIDOW SUIT??! I'm sorry, I need a second to breathe.
*Couldn't stop reading, finished the book in 7 hours
* Don't even start me on part II ending, that sucker punch right in the guts got me doubling over with feels. I think I walked it off for at least 10 minutes
*The perfect writing on Caden realising he has more than platonic feelings and suddenly understanding some encounters from the past. Hell to the yeah, #ownvoices!
Yes, yes, this didn't get 5 stars, because there were some messy things.
*some dialogues were very awkward [but after a while I just written that off to meta. That indeed sounded like pretentious paranormal YA novel from the year 2010.]
*partIII sudenly kicked in all the action and "bigger things" so it felt like I was reading an ending for a different book.
*for a while I was annoyed by the unlogical procedure to kill the unsuccessful Love Interests, but they kind of referred to it in the end.
So yeah, it was a wild ride, and maybe not in the way I was expecting but I certainly enjoyed it and regret nothing.
4.5/5
The Love Interest was not a book I thought I would be attracted to. I read the review and thought it would be a boring YA love story with no backbone. Unfortunately that is the norm these days.
But I was pleasantly surprised! It does have a love story, but with a twist. Imagine if there was a company that could "engineer" your perfect love if you were "special" enough. Now imagine those people in plain sight. That is at the core of this story. I won't say much more so I don't give anything away.
The only real negative I can say is that the ending is a bit lacking. I wanted more from it. I suggest this book if you're looking for something new in the YA section.
The Love Interest was not a book I thought I would be attracted to. I read the review and thought it would be a boring YA love story with no backbone. Unfortunately that is the norm these days.
But I was pleasantly surprised! It does have a love story, but with a twist. Imagine if there was a company that could "engineer" your perfect love if you were "special" enough. Now imagine those people in plain sight. That is at the core of this story. I won't say much more so I don't give anything away.
The only real negative I can say is that the ending is a bit lacking. I wanted more from it. I suggest this book if you're looking for something new in the YA section.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was everything I wanted in plot, but was barely delivered. Its like a 12 year old wrote this on Wattpad. Also, pretty sure the cover silhouettes are Sam and Dean from Supernatural.
oh man what a relief
i was so excited for this and then the reviews started rolling in and i was prepared for half lost levels of disappointment and shattered hope
i am happy to report that this book is simply mediocre
not amazing! but not terrible either. i enjoyed reading it and i will probably have completely forgotten about it by the end of the year
i feel the best way to describe it is this. you know how frozen came out and lots of news outlets were like 'omg how feminist! a disney movie that values family over romance and critiques the love at first sight paradigm!' and you were like '...but disney's made tons of movies that didn't center on romantic love and this is shooting at the lowest possible hanging fruit and if disney really wanted to do something new and progressive it could have gone so much further? let it go is hella catchy but if we're awarding progressive role models for girls points i'd take mulan or tiana any day? it's good but it's not that good?'
the love interest is the frozen of ya romance
2.5 stars
i was so excited for this and then the reviews started rolling in and i was prepared for half lost levels of disappointment and shattered hope
i am happy to report that this book is simply mediocre
not amazing! but not terrible either. i enjoyed reading it and i will probably have completely forgotten about it by the end of the year
i feel the best way to describe it is this. you know how frozen came out and lots of news outlets were like 'omg how feminist! a disney movie that values family over romance and critiques the love at first sight paradigm!' and you were like '...but disney's made tons of movies that didn't center on romantic love and this is shooting at the lowest possible hanging fruit and if disney really wanted to do something new and progressive it could have gone so much further? let it go is hella catchy but if we're awarding progressive role models for girls points i'd take mulan or tiana any day? it's good but it's not that good?'
the love interest is the frozen of ya romance
2.5 stars
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not as mad as I was 60 pages ago but far from happy.
There is so much to discuss. However, I would like to start this review with some appreciation for the author’s acknowledgements, they were really a mood booster and very lovely.
This is far from a straight three stars rating, more of a 2.75-2.80, but I just can't bring myself to choose the 2 stars rating, as I had a good time while reading it. I was interested in reading this since it was published and my only regret is that it could have been so much better and maybe longer. I will divide this, as i do with most books in Pros and Cons.
PROS:
My favorite thing by far is how these characters ruin some overused tropes, like it makes fun of he love triangle, boy next door, bad boy tropes and those were only my a few. Also there is explored this scenario in which the two boys fall for each other which I haven't seen before BUT please let me know if you know anything like this. Besides I really loved how impossible their relationship was, it added so many layers. Both Dyl and Caden were amazing to follow and Caden being a Nicki Minaj fan was so relatable and fun, also the way he came out and talked freely of his sexuality. Also it normalizes boys crying and having fear.
CONS:
Unfortunately, this list is longer, because some fundamental things were missing. I'll start by saying that if I had read this book like 5 years ago, it would have been a 4 stars book. But meanwhile I developed my critical thinking and read several books and I have greater expectations. The premise of this book doesn't make sense. So this secret spy organization has this cutting edge technology and can change anything on this Love interests(kind of spies), and place some devices that basically reads their minds. So why bother send 2 people to make the Chosen fall in love for you, when they could have only placed one of this devices? The world building is also sooooo iffy. Like there is all this technology, but the rest of the world looks the same, also being gay is normalized and the struggles you may encounter are mentioned only once in like three llines and never talked again, even though in my opinion this has had a huge impact on the last part of the book. Also this devices were able to collect the Love Interests' thoughts, but somehow Caden was going around with Dyl and his supervisor was acting so oblivious and not interested, even though it could have ruined the whole point. Then we move to the last 60 pages. Here happens the rebellion and most of the action but it makes almost no sense. Like how can you solve a problem that was going on for centuries, ruin a secret organization very rich and powerful in 60 pages? And also the team that gathered to fight had no real reason to stay together. And making the choice for 40 pages that Dyl is not interested and then obviously end up together (not that I'm complaining) was just for useless drama. Like I go it he was closeted but the story line was left in the air. And the Chosen, Juliet was so little characterized.
All in all, the romance was really enjoyable and I was rooting for them both, but how can you let a love story convince you, because i want to highlight that it really did, when the premise of the book is pointless and there are also some bothering plot holes?
There is so much to discuss. However, I would like to start this review with some appreciation for the author’s acknowledgements, they were really a mood booster and very lovely.
This is far from a straight three stars rating, more of a 2.75-2.80, but I just can't bring myself to choose the 2 stars rating, as I had a good time while reading it. I was interested in reading this since it was published and my only regret is that it could have been so much better and maybe longer. I will divide this, as i do with most books in Pros and Cons.
PROS:
My favorite thing by far is how these characters ruin some overused tropes, like it makes fun of he love triangle, boy next door, bad boy tropes and those were only my a few. Also there is explored this scenario in which the two boys fall for each other which I haven't seen before BUT please let me know if you know anything like this. Besides I really loved how impossible their relationship was, it added so many layers. Both Dyl and Caden were amazing to follow and Caden being a Nicki Minaj fan was so relatable and fun, also the way he came out and talked freely of his sexuality. Also it normalizes boys crying and having fear.
CONS:
Unfortunately, this list is longer, because some fundamental things were missing. I'll start by saying that if I had read this book like 5 years ago, it would have been a 4 stars book. But meanwhile I developed my critical thinking and read several books and I have greater expectations. The premise of this book doesn't make sense. So this secret spy organization has this cutting edge technology and can change anything on this Love interests(kind of spies), and place some devices that basically reads their minds. So why bother send 2 people to make the Chosen fall in love for you, when they could have only placed one of this devices? The world building is also sooooo iffy. Like there is all this technology, but the rest of the world looks the same, also being gay is normalized and the struggles you may encounter are mentioned only once in like three llines and never talked again, even though in my opinion this has had a huge impact on the last part of the book. Also this devices were able to collect the Love Interests' thoughts, but somehow Caden was going around with Dyl and his supervisor was acting so oblivious and not interested, even though it could have ruined the whole point. Then we move to the last 60 pages. Here happens the rebellion and most of the action but it makes almost no sense. Like how can you solve a problem that was going on for centuries, ruin a secret organization very rich and powerful in 60 pages? And also the team that gathered to fight had no real reason to stay together. And making the choice for 40 pages that Dyl is not interested and then obviously end up together (not that I'm complaining) was just for useless drama. Like I go it he was closeted but the story line was left in the air. And the Chosen, Juliet was so little characterized.
All in all, the romance was really enjoyable and I was rooting for them both, but how can you let a love story convince you, because i want to highlight that it really did, when the premise of the book is pointless and there are also some bothering plot holes?
So not a terrible book. But not the best book I've read either. I went into this novel expecting a YA and that is most definitely what I received, however, some of the themes and ideas in the novel I feel would have been much more suitable for a adult novel. For example many of the character personalities were quite lack lustre as they were required to be suitable for a YA audience and I believe that the type of story (which was an exciting story) needed some darker undertones.
Overall a decent novel and I will probably read any potential sequels. Definitely a good book for any young readers, especially who are after a YA novel with LGTBQ characters.
Spoiler
primarily Natalie towards the end, I feel that this particular side of her personality deserves more fleshing out, and to do it justice would require more adult tones which are not easily achievable in a YA novelSpoiler
also a teenage girl who can invent implosion grenades, body enhancing bullet proof suits, and electric shock gloves, in her backyard shed, with every day materials, and not be taken in by the government/army/research groups willingly or not. Yeah rightOverall a decent novel and I will probably read any potential sequels. Definitely a good book for any young readers, especially who are after a YA novel with LGTBQ characters.
wow this book is really getting roasted in the reviews damn and tbh it doesn't deserve all this slander!!
i think that, from the synopsis, it's quite obvious if you want to read this book, it's probably for indulgent enjoyment rather than some profound literary insight or beautiful writing. (sort of like the twilight -- no one reads the twilight for its literary merit, they read it for the questionably addictive romance.) and honestly, the love interest delivers! i found this book to be such a fun read even if objectively it wasn't amazing in terms of prose or worldbuilding or even dimensional characters; the ya trope-y elements (and subversions) still ended up so entertaining. also, when i read this [4 years ago; i only recently started using goodreads so this review is really late lol], i was in middle school, and no joke, this was the first. book. ever. i'd read with a queer main character. the way caden learned about his own sexuality throughout the book was also nicely incorporated at least according to my hazy 4 years old memory, and definitely made a mark on me. this random book i picked up basically taught me about compulsory heterosexuality before i'd even heard of the term, and just being the first book i'd read with a gay main character, it definitely holds a special place in my heart!!
overall, i think that this book delivers on its promises; definitely don't go into this book expecting some groundbreaking prose or new character obsession or mindblowing social commentary, but if you're looking for a fun, indulgent read with the added bonus of lgbt main character, i highly recommend.
i think that, from the synopsis, it's quite obvious if you want to read this book, it's probably for indulgent enjoyment rather than some profound literary insight or beautiful writing. (sort of like the twilight -- no one reads the twilight for its literary merit, they read it for the questionably addictive romance.) and honestly, the love interest delivers! i found this book to be such a fun read even if objectively it wasn't amazing in terms of prose or worldbuilding or even dimensional characters; the ya trope-y elements (and subversions) still ended up so entertaining. also, when i read this [4 years ago; i only recently started using goodreads so this review is really late lol], i was in middle school, and no joke, this was the first. book. ever. i'd read with a queer main character. the way caden learned about his own sexuality throughout the book was also nicely incorporated at least according to my hazy 4 years old memory, and definitely made a mark on me. this random book i picked up basically taught me about compulsory heterosexuality before i'd even heard of the term, and just being the first book i'd read with a gay main character, it definitely holds a special place in my heart!!
overall, i think that this book delivers on its promises; definitely don't go into this book expecting some groundbreaking prose or new character obsession or mindblowing social commentary, but if you're looking for a fun, indulgent read with the added bonus of lgbt main character, i highly recommend.