The Love Interest

by Cale Dietrich

[Leah]

The Love Interest is one of the most compelling books that I’ve read so far in 2017, I had no idea what it was about going in (I had read the blurb, obviously when I requested it from Netgalley), but by the time I came to read it, I had mostly forgot. So it made the beginning a little more interesting, because I was trying to figure out just what the hell was going on, but after a super quick GoodReads refresh, I was on my way and let me tell you, this book is so incredible. The plot, the writing, the swoon-factor, just everything about it added up to make a book that’s hard to forget, leaving me in a bit of a daze as to what to read next, since this was so good.

The entire concept of the book is both incredible and frightening. It makes you paranoid – are Love Interests real things? *Quietly looks at the WH* DO PEOPLE SELL OTHER PEOPLE THEIR SECRETS? Are you secretly falling in love with someone who was, to all intents and purposes, manufactured to your exact specifications? What a world we live in. It would have been great, if the Love Interests weren’t made for nefarious purposes and weren’t made to compete, with the threat of the losing Love Interest being destroyed. It’s like, woah. The added complication was Caden. He was such a sympathetic, likeable narrator, despite the many, many times he tells us he isn’t a Nice, that he was incorrectly classified, not that he’s going to tell anyone (except for the reader) about that, obviously. Then it gets so muddy when Dyl is introduced (*swoon*) and Juliet, who I felt so sorry for, for being deceived.

Everything about the book was spot-on, but it was that unexpected romance that made my heart sing. I saw it coming waaaaaaaaayyyy before Caden ever did (bless him). Then it all went to pot for a hot minute there, where I started to question everything I knew, but it was so worth it, because I was so invested, like I’ve never been invested in a love story before. I mean, I generally get pretty involved in my ships, but this one was the best. I wanted to both savour it and devour it, all at the same time.

My love for this book is immense, and not only because Cale Dietrich quoted one of my favourite sitcoms How I Met Your Mother (and I will fight you about that finale episode which was PERFECT. FIGHT ME, I swear I’m ready to go – I will go down with that episode ship, and I thought it came full circle) and Ted’s blue french horn. YES. I live for that kind of stuff in books. This was the perfect storm of a book – everything about it was fantastic, it was pitch perfect in every single way and Caden was such a good narrator. So damn good. Cale Dietrich has written one of the most captivating debut novels of the year. I loved every single page, I’ll be buying a hard copy for sure, and I look forward to seeing what Cale Dietrich writes next. My heart wants a sequel, but my head was just fine with how it ended. I just want to swoon some more.