sohma4uesugi's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Painful to read, honestly. It took weeks to get through what should have been an amazing story. The plot twist was not a twist, and the ending so flat and lifeless. The best part about this book is now I’m done reading it.
kappareads's review against another edition
1.0
I received an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Matt is the son of one of the major crime families in his Florida city with his father who really wants him to get more invested in the family business, but Matt has other ambitions. When he meets Jason, a mysterious boy with a secret, he knows falling in love is a bad move, but the heart wants what it wants.
First of all, there is an old summary on GoodReads/Amazon/NetGalley/etc that spoils a huge twist in the book that is only revealed 80% through the book. I made sure the version isn't spoilery, but please be aware of that before you dig too deep into this one.
This book had all kinds of potential for a Romeo and Juliet type love story, but it didn’t reach that potential. A lot of the book read like a normal romance between two boys where they have a minor secret, as if being a part of one of two major crime families in a city isn’t a big deal.
Speaking of, the ball was really dropped on the mob family part of the book. There are about three total scenes where typical mob stuff goes down (beyond just meetings) with the majority of the book being the romance. I feel like there could’ve been a lot of that “juggling illegal activity with being a normal kid stuff,” but for a book marketed as “part romance, part thriller,” I was barely thrilled.
Most of the characters were pretty flat, which led to rough, stilted dialogue. Matt was the most fleshed out character of all of them. That being said, I feel like the chance of character development was dropped. At some point, he starts acting like he wants to be a part of the crime family, but then just as quickly stops doing that, and I think it could’ve been explored better.
Matt and Jason like a lot of the same stuff, like the same exact video games or movies, which kept being pointed out to the point of being slightly irritating.
One thing I will say was positive was Matt’s inner thoughts. I’m sure they will hit some gay teenagers out in the world as he discusses coming out but not being out to everyone and unrealistic body standards.
The book started alright for me, but the last 20% of the book really ruined it for me. Because Matt went from a character I could relate to and even sympathize with to losing all sympathy, I can’t give this more than one star.
I’m not going to fault the author for this, but I have issue with the cover. For the life of me, I never saw any mention that either Matt or Jason were people of color. I highlighted two instances where they were described as “pale.” It was, however, my assumption based on the cover, that one boy would be white, and one would be a person of color.
One more thing, Jason explicitly emotionally manipulates Matt into sharing family secrets because he’s the son of a cop. They never really address that part, even though Jason says he is sorry, and it’s just a time skip away that they get back together.
It hurts me to do this, but one star. The ending really ruined Matt and Jason’s character for me.
Matt is the son of one of the major crime families in his Florida city with his father who really wants him to get more invested in the family business, but Matt has other ambitions. When he meets Jason, a mysterious boy with a secret, he knows falling in love is a bad move, but the heart wants what it wants.
First of all, there is an old summary on GoodReads/Amazon/NetGalley/etc that spoils a huge twist in the book that is only revealed 80% through the book. I made sure the version isn't spoilery, but please be aware of that before you dig too deep into this one.
This book had all kinds of potential for a Romeo and Juliet type love story, but it didn’t reach that potential. A lot of the book read like a normal romance between two boys where they have a minor secret, as if being a part of one of two major crime families in a city isn’t a big deal.
Speaking of, the ball was really dropped on the mob family part of the book. There are about three total scenes where typical mob stuff goes down (beyond just meetings) with the majority of the book being the romance. I feel like there could’ve been a lot of that “juggling illegal activity with being a normal kid stuff,” but for a book marketed as “part romance, part thriller,” I was barely thrilled.
Most of the characters were pretty flat, which led to rough, stilted dialogue. Matt was the most fleshed out character of all of them. That being said, I feel like the chance of character development was dropped. At some point, he starts acting like he wants to be a part of the crime family, but then just as quickly stops doing that, and I think it could’ve been explored better.
Matt and Jason like a lot of the same stuff, like the same exact video games or movies, which kept being pointed out to the point of being slightly irritating.
One thing I will say was positive was Matt’s inner thoughts. I’m sure they will hit some gay teenagers out in the world as he discusses coming out but not being out to everyone and unrealistic body standards.
The book started alright for me, but the last 20% of the book really ruined it for me. Because Matt went from a character I could relate to and even sympathize with to losing all sympathy, I can’t give this more than one star.
I’m not going to fault the author for this, but I have issue with the cover. For the life of me, I never saw any mention that either Matt or Jason were people of color. I highlighted two instances where they were described as “pale.” It was, however, my assumption based on the cover, that one boy would be white, and one would be a person of color.
Spoiler
So here’s my problem with the ending. At the very end, Matt’s dad decides to go through with basically planning a massacre against the other crime family. Matt is, understandably, horrified, and has no idea what to do. He goes to Jason, who by this point, they have broken up because of the cop thing. Jason’s suggestion is to just leave the crime business, which would potentially lead to family members being killed. And Matt goes through with it. Just like that. Even though it was already established that he got angry at the death of a family member he didn’t even like. This felt so out of character for him. The only reason the massacre doesn’t go through is because off page, for no clearly plotted out reason, the dad calls off the massacre and a semblance of peace is established between the two families.One more thing, Jason explicitly emotionally manipulates Matt into sharing family secrets because he’s the son of a cop. They never really address that part, even though Jason says he is sorry, and it’s just a time skip away that they get back together.
It hurts me to do this, but one star. The ending really ruined Matt and Jason’s character for me.
dopamine_surge's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
blingping's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jiggy_'s review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ok, i'm sooo in love with this book! especially matt and jason💕 they both are so sweet and adorable 😩 this book was soo thrilling and sometimes really painful for me 'cause we have some (for me) hard plotwists, that made me really mad and really sad, but i just love it. i guess the end was a bit rushed, because suddenly everything was so easy and nice, but i really don't care. i'm just happy i don't have to take another drama TwT this is definitely one of my favourites💕
ferxing's review against another edition
1.0
1.5
extremely underwhelming... the amount of pop culture mentioned is so annoying (idk why it feels like 5 years from now it might be irrelevant)
one of my BIGGEST turn offs to this book was the first person narration, im just not a big fan of.
there is also how they magically met in the end, too rushed. no parts in this book made me feel emotionally attached to ANY character. Even more the characters physical description that were all over the place not very forward bc in the beginning I had literally NO idea who was the narrator bc the description of jason was so generic and used the word PALE when in the cover we have a POC... it was a wild mess.
There is no scene where I can handpick and say i genuinely liked.
extremely underwhelming... the amount of pop culture mentioned is so annoying (idk why it feels like 5 years from now it might be irrelevant)
one of my BIGGEST turn offs to this book was the first person narration, im just not a big fan of.
there is also how they magically met in the end, too rushed. no parts in this book made me feel emotionally attached to ANY character. Even more the characters physical description that were all over the place not very forward bc in the beginning I had literally NO idea who was the narrator bc the description of jason was so generic and used the word PALE when in the cover we have a POC... it was a wild mess.
There is no scene where I can handpick and say i genuinely liked.
thereadingwren's review against another edition
3.0
3/5
Here's the thing about Cale Dietrich books, the writing is very basic and kind of awful but the stories are always incredibly enjoyable! I can look past the flat characters, the awfully cringey and unrealistic dialogue, and the flip-flopping emotions and motivations because there was something so fun about this book.
Matt and Jason are very sweet characters and they definitely acted like teenager, which is a plus. I liked their friendship, but who constantly flirts with and kisses their friends? I do appreciate that platonic friendship meant more to Matt than a romantic relationship.
I really loved the double fake out plot twist. The twist that it actually ended up being was what I originally thought to was going to be and then was totally fine with it being what we were told, BUT THEN IT ACTUALLY ENDED UP BEING WHAT I THOUGHT! I thought that was really well done and I liked it a lot.
Everything at the end was tied up in a nice neat bow and while I love a happy ending, this felt too idealistic. This is one of those rare times where I want more angst from a book. I also really wish the issue over the loss of virginity was addressed more. If I was Matt I'd be feeling all kinds of messed up over that, but he doesn't seem to care at all.
I probably will pick up every book Cale Dietrich writes because they're a fun time and sometimes it's entertaining to read bad but enjoyable books.
Here's the thing about Cale Dietrich books, the writing is very basic and kind of awful but the stories are always incredibly enjoyable! I can look past the flat characters, the awfully cringey and unrealistic dialogue, and the flip-flopping emotions and motivations because there was something so fun about this book.
Matt and Jason are very sweet characters and they definitely acted like teenager, which is a plus. I liked their friendship, but who constantly flirts with and kisses their friends? I do appreciate that platonic friendship meant more to Matt than a romantic relationship.
I really loved the double fake out plot twist. The twist that it actually ended up being was what I originally thought to was going to be and then was totally fine with it being what we were told, BUT THEN IT ACTUALLY ENDED UP BEING WHAT I THOUGHT! I thought that was really well done and I liked it a lot.
Everything at the end was tied up in a nice neat bow and while I love a happy ending, this felt too idealistic. This is one of those rare times where I want more angst from a book. I also really wish the issue over the loss of virginity was addressed more. If I was Matt I'd be feeling all kinds of messed up over that, but he doesn't seem to care at all.
I probably will pick up every book Cale Dietrich writes because they're a fun time and sometimes it's entertaining to read bad but enjoyable books.
scrollsofdragons's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it but it did feel a little basic and the ending just flipped all of a sudden. There was just a lack of something but I did enjoy it and had a good time reading it. It just won't stand out and that's fine.