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A review by sbelasco40
The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
5.0
Do you ever come across a book where you think: "I didn't know this was exactly what I wanted, but it is exactly what I wanted?" That's how I feel about THE LOVE INTEREST. I've read a lot of queer coming-of-age stories, and some of them have been great, and some not-so-great, and some have a certain sameness to them. But THE LOVE INTEREST is, to me, completely unique. Let me tell you why.
I have been looking for a queer YA story where the characters are well-developed and self-actualized, where the narrative focuses on the struggle to come to terms with one's own sexuality but ups the stakes in a way that empowers, not victimizes the characters (ie Caden is learning about himself and his desires, and there are clear risks involved, but he doesn't have to get his ass kicked a million times by people calling him a faggot or get HIV or somehow otherwise be a target just because he's gay).
CADEN IS A BADASS. He is furious and fearful; he is a survivor; he is an actually kind person; he suffers no fools; he opens himself up to people even though he has endured incredible trauma and pain. All of this comes through from page one but is also developed throughout as different sides of him are revealed, and that is so so awesome.
I love what the book does with all the tropes of straight YA romance - books I tend not to read very much, randomly, though I sort of wrote one? In this narrative those tropes are used to both hilarious and poignant effect, and they show the ways in which placing boys in these paper-thin roles limits and oppresses them while simultaneously limiting and oppressing the girls who are taught this is what they should want.
Structurally the book is perfect, not a word out of place, every step of the hero's journey paced out to maximum effect. The world-building is vivid and scary, drawing on dystopian tropes and yet somehow never becoming a product of those tropes. Instead it becomes its own thing, creepy and yet empathetic towards the fact that these are KIDS. There are heroes and villains but everyone has dimensions and everyone is offered a chance at redemption.
I love Juliet - the center of the not-quite-love-triangle - a lot. Girls often get lost in stories like these, where they are the thing that holds the boys apart (in gay boy stories so often girls exist only to be enablers of the gay romance, which - though it sometimes happens IRL - is a trope that to me feels lazy and silly), but Juliet is her own person, and she's super-cool, and I would date her if she wasn't half my age. I feel for her so much in this too, and I love that CADEN feels for her - like, he doesn't want to fuck up her life. He thinks she's awesome, which she is.
There's a lot of other great stuff in here about music, and clever allegory, and at its heart I think THE LOVE INTEREST manages to be both a truly exciting and moving story while also being politically pointed. I think this book is going to make a difference to kids who don't often get to see themselves represented as heroes. And even if you've never thought: "I really want a book about a teen boy who's a spy and also figuring out himself and his sexuality at the same time as he's trying to save his own life and the lives of others?" This is still the book you're looking for.
I have been looking for a queer YA story where the characters are well-developed and self-actualized, where the narrative focuses on the struggle to come to terms with one's own sexuality but ups the stakes in a way that empowers, not victimizes the characters (ie Caden is learning about himself and his desires, and there are clear risks involved, but he doesn't have to get his ass kicked a million times by people calling him a faggot or get HIV or somehow otherwise be a target just because he's gay).
CADEN IS A BADASS. He is furious and fearful; he is a survivor; he is an actually kind person; he suffers no fools; he opens himself up to people even though he has endured incredible trauma and pain. All of this comes through from page one but is also developed throughout as different sides of him are revealed, and that is so so awesome.
I love what the book does with all the tropes of straight YA romance - books I tend not to read very much, randomly, though I sort of wrote one? In this narrative those tropes are used to both hilarious and poignant effect, and they show the ways in which placing boys in these paper-thin roles limits and oppresses them while simultaneously limiting and oppressing the girls who are taught this is what they should want.
Structurally the book is perfect, not a word out of place, every step of the hero's journey paced out to maximum effect. The world-building is vivid and scary, drawing on dystopian tropes and yet somehow never becoming a product of those tropes. Instead it becomes its own thing, creepy and yet empathetic towards the fact that these are KIDS. There are heroes and villains but everyone has dimensions and everyone is offered a chance at redemption.
I love Juliet - the center of the not-quite-love-triangle - a lot. Girls often get lost in stories like these, where they are the thing that holds the boys apart (in gay boy stories so often girls exist only to be enablers of the gay romance, which - though it sometimes happens IRL - is a trope that to me feels lazy and silly), but Juliet is her own person, and she's super-cool, and I would date her if she wasn't half my age. I feel for her so much in this too, and I love that CADEN feels for her - like, he doesn't want to fuck up her life. He thinks she's awesome, which she is.
There's a lot of other great stuff in here about music, and clever allegory, and at its heart I think THE LOVE INTEREST manages to be both a truly exciting and moving story while also being politically pointed. I think this book is going to make a difference to kids who don't often get to see themselves represented as heroes. And even if you've never thought: "I really want a book about a teen boy who's a spy and also figuring out himself and his sexuality at the same time as he's trying to save his own life and the lives of others?" This is still the book you're looking for.