Review: The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich
SYNOPSIS:
Part thriller, part romance, The Friend Scheme is another twisty #ownvoices YA novel from Cale Dietrich, author of The Love Interest.
High schooler Matt’s father is rich, powerful, and seemingly untouchable—a criminal with high hopes that his son will follow in his footsteps. Matt’s older brother Luke seems poised to do just that, with a bevy of hot girls in tow. But Matt has other ambitions—and attractions.
And attraction sometimes doesn’t allow for good judgement. Matt wouldn’t have guessed that when he makes a new friend, one who is also carrying a secret. The boys’ connection turns romantic, a first for both. Now Matt must decide if he can ever do the impossible and come clean about who he really is, and who he is meant to love.
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
As soon as I read the synopsis for this story, I knew I had to read it. The cover and story line had me so intrigued, I love a good read when sworn enemies fall in love and where lies, deceit, and betrayal are around every corner. That’s exactly what this book delivered; however, I have some issues with the execution.
I think my biggest issue with the story is the timeline. On the east coast, baseball is a spring sport. If this story line is set in the spring, then how was Matt able to apply to and get into college in the same year? There was never any transparency on when the story was taking place but college isn’t something you can just magically put together, there are letters of recommendation, personal statements, etc. that need to be compiled.
My next issue is that throughout the story, there were what seemed like “hints” about Jason’s identity, but they never amounted to anything. For example, Matt saw a leather bound book at Jason’s house. It was exactly like his dads…but then this is never brought up again. Did Jason steal it from Matt’s house, was the leather bound book in fact Matt’s dads?! This happens several times over the course of the story and leaves me wanting closure on these details. Because when I know a book is going to be a thriller, the joy of reading is in those details.
Finally, I don’t understand the continuous betrayal that occurs. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. It seems that Matt never learns from his mistakes. Some of Jason’s plot twists left me with my jaw on the floor and in that regard, it’s definitely a page turner. And while I did like how everything ended…I didn’t like how we got there. There were too many linger questions, most importantly, how the heck did Jason find him?!
I did enjoy the book, but there were too many loose ends and little details that seemed to get lost. Matt and Jason have some top notch banter and chemistry but there were some unnecessary side stories and details lost that muddled up the plot line. I wish Cale would have focused on Matt and Jason and the family drama exclusively. It almost seemed like he was trying to make too much happen at once and then these little things got pushed to the way side.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
