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A review by citronella_seance
The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich
3.0
I want to preface this review by saying that this book wasn’t for me, and that’s okay. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I will never find a good enough reason to think an LGBTQ+ YA book shouldn’t exist. I grew up reading authors like Meg Cabot and Ann Brashares, because they were some of the only books I felt I could relate to. If you had told 13 year old me that 15 years in the future LGBTQ+ books for people my age were a thing, and not just a thing, but prevalent, I would have looked at you so funny. I’m very happy this book exists and that some young adult might pick it up and find what they need in it. However, I had a few problems with this.
Nick Miller is just that, a Miller. A son of the one most infamous crime bosses in Florida and part of a family that has been committing crime and running the underground for decades. He’s never quite fit in, though, and he’s pretty convinced a life of crime isn’t for him. He’s not like his brother, Luke, who picked up the ropes so naturally and even seems to enjoy everything their father teaches them and encourages them to do.
Nick feels trapped, and with no real friends (because of the whole mafia thing) he’s exceedingly lonely. Until, one night, when he meets Jason, a mystery boy he’s never seen around his family’s bar before who takes an immediate interest in him. They start hanging out and getting to know each other, but they both immediately realize that what they thought was a friendship could be so much more. That is, until Nick learns of a rival family plot to infiltrate the Miller ranks as new friends or lovers to try and capture some of the family secrets or weaknesses. Nick immediately knows Jason is a Donovan (the rival family), but could the truth actually be so much more?
I, sadly, had a few issues with this book but I think the biggest one was the ending. It felt a little like Dietrich was ready to be done by the end so he just kind of wrapped it all up with a nice bow even if the package inside didn’t make total sense. There’s a major twist at the end that I won’t talk about because, spoilers, but it happens so fast towards the very end, I barely had time to ruminate in it. Not even 10-15 pages later it’s the end of the book and there’s somehow…closure, but I can’t imagine how because it feels like nothing was done to earn it. I also still have so many questions. There were huge plot points of the book left out of the ending. Like, does Nick ever come out to his dad and the Miller family? Does he ever tell Luke who Jason really is? How do Jason and Nick reconnect and how does Nick even get to being comfortable with that emotionally and mentally? It all just felt a tad rushed in the last 50 or so pages.
Having said that, though, I really enjoyed Nick and Jason’s relationship. Despite the backdrop of crime, they’re still just two boys trying to figure themselves out while not being a total dolt in front of the other. Which, I can relate to immensely as I spent a huge portion of my middle and high school years being an utterly awkward clutz.
I think if this book had been just a little bit longer and given me more time to sit in the angst or showed me Jason or Nick actually fighting or working to be around the other one again, I would have given this a higher rating. But, I just felt a little cheated by the end.
Nick Miller is just that, a Miller. A son of the one most infamous crime bosses in Florida and part of a family that has been committing crime and running the underground for decades. He’s never quite fit in, though, and he’s pretty convinced a life of crime isn’t for him. He’s not like his brother, Luke, who picked up the ropes so naturally and even seems to enjoy everything their father teaches them and encourages them to do.
Nick feels trapped, and with no real friends (because of the whole mafia thing) he’s exceedingly lonely. Until, one night, when he meets Jason, a mystery boy he’s never seen around his family’s bar before who takes an immediate interest in him. They start hanging out and getting to know each other, but they both immediately realize that what they thought was a friendship could be so much more. That is, until Nick learns of a rival family plot to infiltrate the Miller ranks as new friends or lovers to try and capture some of the family secrets or weaknesses. Nick immediately knows Jason is a Donovan (the rival family), but could the truth actually be so much more?
I, sadly, had a few issues with this book but I think the biggest one was the ending. It felt a little like Dietrich was ready to be done by the end so he just kind of wrapped it all up with a nice bow even if the package inside didn’t make total sense. There’s a major twist at the end that I won’t talk about because, spoilers, but it happens so fast towards the very end, I barely had time to ruminate in it. Not even 10-15 pages later it’s the end of the book and there’s somehow…closure, but I can’t imagine how because it feels like nothing was done to earn it. I also still have so many questions. There were huge plot points of the book left out of the ending. Like, does Nick ever come out to his dad and the Miller family? Does he ever tell Luke who Jason really is? How do Jason and Nick reconnect and how does Nick even get to being comfortable with that emotionally and mentally? It all just felt a tad rushed in the last 50 or so pages.
Having said that, though, I really enjoyed Nick and Jason’s relationship. Despite the backdrop of crime, they’re still just two boys trying to figure themselves out while not being a total dolt in front of the other. Which, I can relate to immensely as I spent a huge portion of my middle and high school years being an utterly awkward clutz.
I think if this book had been just a little bit longer and given me more time to sit in the angst or showed me Jason or Nick actually fighting or working to be around the other one again, I would have given this a higher rating. But, I just felt a little cheated by the end.