A review by sauvageloup
The Friend Scheme, by Cale Dietrich
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
i really wanted to love it but i just... yeah, no
Pros:
- the premise is brilliant and it had such good potential, it just doesn't hit it
- i did like Luke being a supportive brother, his and Matt's relationship was cool
- i did find myself vaguely smiling at Matt and Jason's cuteness at times
- it did go by fast, but that was just the simple writing i think
cons:
- THE WRITING. it's just really flat, there's way too many sentence breaks, the dialogue is so dull. real life talking might be full of awkwardness and 'bye.' 'okay, bye' type dialogue but you can't write a book like that. it doesn't work. there's SO much telling all the time, too. everything we hear about the characters, we're told.
- Jason and Matt's early friendship was incredibly second-hand awkward, it just doesn't work like that. I get that it's hard to write that early part of a relationship, but that's a writer's job
- there's very little plot at all and it's not gripping.
- as others have said, the ending was really unsatifying. Matt's dad didn't give a shit about Matt leaving, and i didn't get that Luke already knew about Matt being gay or bi and never said anything. as another review said, it felt like they treated it like a difference in career, not choosing to reject a life of murder. Matt's dad was totally chill with it, it was really weird and made the main conflict throughout the whole book seem pointless.
- Matt also is apparently fine with just leaving. no concern for keeping his family safe, or the Donovans either. and it just so happens that his dad goes from deciding to murder them all to just.. not. I thought a way better ending would've been Matt telling Jason's mum about the meeting and getting them all arrested. way more angst and conflict.
- Matt kinda has some PTSD symptoms from what he sees, but there's no long-term repercussions of this in his new life, it's just sorted.
- others also talked about the lack of realism of it being a mafia/crime family and just, yeah.
So, i was disappointed by this one. The writing didn't live up to the premise and i just feel a bit sad that it wasn't better.
Pros:
- the premise is brilliant and it had such good potential, it just doesn't hit it
- i did like Luke being a supportive brother, his and Matt's relationship was cool
- i did find myself vaguely smiling at Matt and Jason's cuteness at times
- it did go by fast, but that was just the simple writing i think
cons:
- THE WRITING. it's just really flat, there's way too many sentence breaks, the dialogue is so dull. real life talking might be full of awkwardness and 'bye.' 'okay, bye' type dialogue but you can't write a book like that. it doesn't work. there's SO much telling all the time, too. everything we hear about the characters, we're told.
- Jason and Matt's early friendship was incredibly second-hand awkward, it just doesn't work like that. I get that it's hard to write that early part of a relationship, but that's a writer's job
- there's very little plot at all and it's not gripping.
- as others have said, the ending was really unsatifying. Matt's dad didn't give a shit about Matt leaving, and i didn't get that Luke already knew about Matt being gay or bi and never said anything. as another review said, it felt like they treated it like a difference in career, not choosing to reject a life of murder. Matt's dad was totally chill with it, it was really weird and made the main conflict throughout the whole book seem pointless.
- Matt also is apparently fine with just leaving. no concern for keeping his family safe, or the Donovans either. and it just so happens that his dad goes from deciding to murder them all to just.. not. I thought a way better ending would've been Matt telling Jason's mum about the meeting and getting them all arrested. way more angst and conflict.
- Matt kinda has some PTSD symptoms from what he sees, but there's no long-term repercussions of this in his new life, it's just sorted.
- others also talked about the lack of realism of it being a mafia/crime family and just, yeah.
So, i was disappointed by this one. The writing didn't live up to the premise and i just feel a bit sad that it wasn't better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Torture