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charmaineac 's review for:
The Love Interest
by Cale Dietrich
What a strange, strange novel. It was meta. It was possibly satire? It was almost a rom-com. It was partially a dystopian novel. It definitely had a lot of promise, and that promise would likely have been realized under a more masterful wordsmith. At the same time, I feel bad for Mr. Dietrich, since I'm pretty sure all the reviews out there are critiquing his skills as opposed to his story.
There were some good moments. The tropes and the commentary on formulaic YA novels was intriguing. And there's nothing quite as satisfying as someone yelling, "I'm the protagonist, f-cker!"
But there were just too many plot holes. It doesn't make sense that the LIC is that powerful. It doesn't make sense that they have the technology to do so much, yet have no other way of controlling their "chosen" few. Why does Juliet even need a love interest if her best friend is already there to fill the LIC in? Why would Caden be selected over someone with history? History is always a plus. And what makes the distinction between the "real, free world" and the slaves stuck as love interests? I don't understand why some people ended up in the position they did.
Also, the dialogue was so, so cringey and awkward. THINK ABOUT HOW REAL PEOPLE TALK. Because these characters sounded so unrealistic, it hurt. Somehow, I had a really tough time getting invested in the actual love story too. And there were a lot of things going on there that just wasn't okay. How did people move on from cheating, lying, etc. so easily?
This book definitely had a lot of unrealized potential. What a shame.
There were some good moments. The tropes and the commentary on formulaic YA novels was intriguing. And there's nothing quite as satisfying as someone yelling, "I'm the protagonist, f-cker!"
But there were just too many plot holes. It doesn't make sense that the LIC is that powerful. It doesn't make sense that they have the technology to do so much, yet have no other way of controlling their "chosen" few. Why does Juliet even need a love interest if her best friend is already there to fill the LIC in? Why would Caden be selected over someone with history? History is always a plus. And what makes the distinction between the "real, free world" and the slaves stuck as love interests? I don't understand why some people ended up in the position they did.
Also, the dialogue was so, so cringey and awkward. THINK ABOUT HOW REAL PEOPLE TALK. Because these characters sounded so unrealistic, it hurt. Somehow, I had a really tough time getting invested in the actual love story too. And there were a lot of things going on there that just wasn't okay. How did people move on from cheating, lying, etc. so easily?
This book definitely had a lot of unrealized potential. What a shame.