Review: The Love Interest

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the months since this book hit shelves (months in which my library took its sweet time getting ahold of copies and distributing them), my hype for this book took a few hits when I saw a surprisingly high number of bad reviews and a relatively low GR average. A lot of these reviews complained about the book having a paper-thin backstory - which, admittedly, it kinda does, but then again it's also one of those "please park your brain at the door, don't worry, we'll validate it for you" kind of stories. Other reviews said the book had bimisia and/or erasure - to which I say, as a bi human being, I see none in this book.

Really, The Love Interest is, as I said, a "park your brain at the door" book, but that's just part of the fun. It's a damn good satire of YA books and their associated tropes, taken to some logical genre-fusing extremes with its suggestion that there exists a facility that raises teenage spies - and not the dark, gritty CHERUB kind, either, but deliberately manufactured product (now here is a story where I could probably debate for hours whether or not Caden and Dylan and the other Love Interests are humans or cyborgs or what) designed to act out a YA love triangle, and with the spies being pretty much all self-aware of their meta-fictional nature all the time.

It's a satire, like The Rest of Us Just Live Here, but I enjoyed this book so much more because it boasts some very sincerely strong and engaging characters. As a "Nice," Caden is seriously conflicted by the fact that his very job is to be a convincing liar. Dylan, the "Bad," projects an aura of dark self-confidence but, when he can be himself (meaning, when he's around Caden), he cries because he's scared of the lethal stakes of his assignment. And there's Juliet, who doesn't seem to have impressed most of my fellow readers - to which I say, why not? She's a STEM girl, super-smart, and taking inspiration from Black Widow for her dream project. (Another point in this book's favor for me - numerous pop-culture references, especially to Marvel. Also note that Caden at one point dresses as Spider-Man for a costume party, and Juliet is said to have plenty of "Spidey-butt" in her search history.) The first two thirds or so of this book use these characterizations as part of the initial setup of a YA contemporary with a sci-fi twist, and then comes the final third when all the secrets come out and we get into some pretty ass-kicking action, worthy of the Marvel heroes to whom Caden and Juliet, especially, look up.

My two biggest reasons for loving this book, though, are some very relatable themes. One, of course, being Caden struggling to understand his sexuality. Been there, especially when I was his age. Though I'm a lot more certain of mine by now, I don't think I'm done questioning by a long shot. Not to mention the sub-theme to that overarching theme, that coming out is different levels of difficult for everyone - I think, for me, it's about as difficult as it is for Dylan, especially since I'm pretty much only out online. The other major theme that resonated with me was the emphasis on the artificiality of perfect "Love Interest" bodies. The fact that all Love Interests, when activated, have to undergo certain surgeries and watch their diets carefully to get to the degree of physicality their superiors want them to have for maximum attractiveness, really stands out. Also, Caden noticing (especially in early scenes, before his activation) that he's naturally pale and surprisingly hairy - that was probably the first time I saw a YA protagonist super-reflecting me physically. (Though I only wish I was well-built enough to rock a Spider-Man suit, but I'm getting there, a little closer every day to being more easily mistaken for Andrew Garfield's secret twin, I hope.) I feel really bad for him having to constantly get rid of his body hair, too - not because he wants to, but because for some reason, Nices are supposed to have no hair anywhere that isn't their heads. Not even their armpits, which, to me, smacked of the LIC superiors just wanting to troll their charges with excessive control. Which also made me think a lot about male body-shaming, how so many guys feel the pressure to look as muscular as, say, Stephen Amell (and then there's me, whose bod goals are more in line with Grant Gustin.) Hell, just recently I went onto Facebook, a place I haven't really been in years, and saw a picture of one of my old high school friends showing off how super friggin' ripped he was now. But that picture's meant for encouragement, to show that even if you're dissatisfied with your body, it's up to you to shape it into whatever you want it to be. A sort of self-control, agency, and autonomy that Caden and Dylan both have to fight for before this novel is through.

tl;dr: sexual self-discovery and satire of beauty standards.

Bottom line, for a story that too many of my friends in the community find thinly plotted, I found Cale Dietrich's debut both thought-provoking and funny - and, above all, downright fun to read. Good thing I savored it for a while - if I tried to rush through it, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much, nor would I have had nearly as much to say on it.

Now I seriously can't wait for Dietrich's next book, The Tower. Fingers crossed it'll be just as good as this one, if not better!

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