​Blog Tour: The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich

Oh my gosh, bookworms! I am SO EXCITED to be able to participate in this blog tour!! Let’s get started with what the book is about!

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

There is a secret organization that cultivates teenage spies. The agents are called Love Interests because getting close to people destined for great power means getting valuable secrets.

Caden is a Nice: The boy next door, sculpted to physical perfection. Dylan is a Bad: The brooding, dark-souled guy, and dangerously handsome. The girl they are competing for is important to the organization, and each boy will pursue her. Will she choose a Nice or the Bad?

Both Caden and Dylan are living in the outside world for the first time. They are well-trained and at the top of their games. They have to be – whoever the girl doesn’t choose will die.

What the boys don’t expect are feelings that are outside of their training. Feelings that could kill them both.

 

Doesn’t that sound amazing? I’ll bet you want my thoughts on it, right? Here you go!

 

My Review:

It took me the longest time to be able to write more than “SCREAMING” and “JUST GO PREORDER IT AND YOU CAN THANK ME LATER” for this review. (Really though, you can thank me later.) Now that I’m somewhat able to articulate my thoughts on it, hopefully I won’t revert to screaming mid-review… I can’t promise anything though.

Most of the characters are described clearly enough that I was able to picture them, but I had a little trouble visalising the two characters of color beyond the small details given. The personalities were developed pretty well though, to the point where I felt like I understand all the characters, even if I didn’t like them. And I found myself disliking a couple of them a LOT.

The world probably could have had a bit more building to allow us to better see the LIC, or Love Interest Compound, a bit better. However, given that the entire story is told from Caden’s perspective, many things were understandably left out because he wouldn’t have known them. The bits of the world that were built up are done so in an immersive way, giving each of the senses a grasp of the setting without getting info-dumpy about it.

The story and the idea behind it are what truly shine about this novel. It takes a couple basic tropes, makes mockery of them, and then smashes them to pieces before putting the story back together as it sees fit. The LIC is basically an academy where kids are turned into teenage tropes–the guy next door, the motorcycle riding bad boy, the cute flirty cheerleader, etc.–before being sent out into the world as well-placed spies.

These spies are sent out in twos to compete for their placement via obtaining the interest of the person to be spied upon. Enter the forced love triangle! However, things go a bit awry in The Love Interest because instead of going all out in courting their target, we get what I’ve decided to call an inverted love triangle where the two pursuing parties instead decide to pursue each other.

Really though there’s more than the inverted love triangle, which I’ve decided is my new favourite trope. We also get action, suspense, awesome technology, friendship, and less than ideal parental relationships. It was so fun reading this book beginning to end and only one part that had me frustrated (as I’m sure was intended by Cale Dietrich). I can’t wait for you all to read this brilliant ownvoices novel so I can watch you scream and flail about like I have been since I finished it last week.

Overall, I rate The Love Interest 5 out of 5 bookworms.

Don’t just take my word for it. Preorder a copy of The Love Interest and enjoy it for yourself when it’s released tomorrow, 16 May 2017! A few places you can go to get your hands on a copy are:

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK Kindle (Hardcover available 27 June 2017)
• Books-A-Million (US)
• Barnes and Noble (US)
• Book Depository
• your local bookstore or local library

 

About The Author

Cale Dietrich is a YA devotee, lifelong gamer, and tragic pop punk enthusiast. He was born in Perth, grew up on the Gold Coast, and now lives in Brisbane, Australia. The Love Interest is his first novel.

 

Remember that giveaway I mentioned? Here it is! One person from the US or Canada ONLY (sorry, international bookworms!) will win a finished copy of The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich!! Enter here by 19 May 2017:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more chances to win, follow the blog tour! Here’s the other stops you should definitely check out.

10 May

• The Unofficial Book Addiction Fan Club & Pink Polka Dot Books – Welcome Post

 

11 May

• My Thoughts Literally! – Guest Post
• The Booktarian – Review & Favorite Quotes
• Novel Ink – Review
• Morrisa Reads – Review

 

12 May

• Book Munchies – Q&A
• Book Crushin – Guest Post
• Birdie Bookworm – Review & Favorite Quotes
• Boricuan Bookworms – Review

 

13 May

• Here’s to Happy Endings – Q&A
• Literary Meanderings – Promo
• A Thousand Words A Million Books – Review
• Writer for Misfits – Review

 

14 May

• Quite the Novel Idea – Review
• Broke Book Bank – Review
• Library of a Book Witch – Review
• The Book Adventures of Annalise Lestrange – Review

 

15 May

• The Bibliophile Confession – Review
• The Bookkeepers’ Secret – Review
• Wishful Endings – Review
• Vicarious Bookworm – Review

 

16 May

• Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Guest Post
• What’s She Reading? – Review
• A Dream Within a Dream – Review

 

A HUGE thank you to Cale Dietrich for writing this novel. You’re such a rockstar!

Another thank you to the Fantastic Flying Book Club for allowing me the privilege of participating in this blog tour!

And finally, thank you to MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group for the digital review copy!