The Friend Scheme

by Cale Dietrich

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 mobster with high hopes that his son will follow in his footsteps. Matt's older brother Lukas 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 Jason, the son of the city's police commisioner, 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.

Genres: LGBT, Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Queer, Gay, Thriller

352 pages, Hardcover

First published July 28, 2020

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

On top of that I'm too soft, too careless, too lacking in family devotion...I'm a good actor. I can sell it.

Matt's Dad - ruthless, rich and ready to run this town. He's a mobster and he's gunning for control.

Jason's Dad - strong, upstanding and ready to do what's right, no matter what. He's the police commissioner and he's going to take back his town.

Matt and Jason together - sparks are flying and they are irresistibly drawn together.

But what Jason doesn't know, can't hurt him...right?

He has no idea who I really am.

Ahhh...this didn't go at all how I hoped. Sigh.

I don't know if I've finally aged out of YA or what but this book just didn't do it for me. (And I was SO looking forward to it too).

I think the biggest thing that kept pushing me out of the book was the style of writing. I don't use this often, but the writing felt immature.

The close first-person felt like "thought-thought-thought" and while it kept the action high in the book, it prevented me from sinking into the book.

There didn't seem to be much substance behind their thoughts and feelings.

The characters felt like teenagers but the kind of teenagers that I want to shake and tell them to make better decisions.

I couldn't get a clear picture on the characters' personalities other than videogames and liking boys....which, isn't a terrible thing per say but it prevented me from connecting to them.

All in all, maybe my interpretation could be because I'm not the target audience? But I'm usually such a fan of YA...

Thank you to Feiwel & Friends, and Netgalley for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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[Shaun Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this book. This swoony, dreamy book. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

[Lauren Lanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

To put it simply, The Friend Scheme is a Romeo and Juliet esque romance between two sons of mobsters on opposite ends of a turf war.

I finished this book in one sitting. I enjoyed following the protagonist Matt as he dealt with his family’s harsh expectations. It was interesting to hear his internal monologue of wanting to escape crime, though unsure of how to tell his father without disappointment.

Cale Dietrich’s writing didn’t have much substance to it. The text and dialogue felt awkward or ran on for too long at certain points without propelling the story much. While I was never truly bored, from an objective standpoint I can’t much praise the narrative.

The romance between Matt and Jason was the pinnacle of this novel for me. I didn’t much care for the crime aspect considering it didn’t play a really major role. (Sure enough it does affect the plot substantially at some points). Most of the focus was placed upon Matt’s relationship, which allowed for a mildly enjoyable time all the way through.

Though the characters in the end didn’t go through much development, and the writing wasn’t as refined as I would have liked, I did fly through this book really quickly. I’m interested to see how Cale Dietrich will improve as a writer in the future.

[maya ⟢ · Rating 1 out of 5]

oh this was terrible.
let's start with the good things though:

okay now that that's out of the way, i'm just disappointed. the premise made me expect a suspenseful romeo and juliet like romance, but it really, really wasn't. the concept was great, the execution... not so much. i wish the author hadn't done the telling instead of showing thing so much.

about the romance: matt and jason had nothing but awkward conversations, no chemistry at all, and all of their issues were completely ignored in order for them to have a happy ending. i didn't give a single shit about them as individual characters either, which just made it worse.

just like the romance, the plot was rushed as well. despite all its potential, it fell flat too, mostly because it lacked depth and atmosphere. overall very, very surface level.

[Kai (CuriousCompass) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really wanted to like this book more than I did. I rated Cale Dietrich's first book, The Love Interest five stars, and in my review I said that I fully understood why other people didn't like it, but I loved it. I also said I'd read a sequel. But you know what? A sequel to The Love Interest? It would be a nice gift to readers, but it's not necessary. I mean, I wouldn't complain if we got it, but The Love Interest, whether you love it or hate it, works as a standalone.

The Friend Scheme? Not so much.

I had a big, huge, epic (I'm being dramatic) realization near the end of this book.

You ready for it? ....THIS BOOK IS THE PILOT EPISODE OF A TV SHOW.

Bear with me here. I promise you I will keep all spoilers very vague, not that there's much to spoil in this book, and what plot elements I COULD spoil, the marketing material already did. No word of a lie, they spoiled the main plot twists of the book in an early official blurb. Why would you do that? Hot mess.

SO.

You know how in every romance, there's a sequence where they break up, and the couple goes their separate ways, and we maybe see a sad montage of them avoiding each other or being apart for a while? And then something brings them together or one of them makes this big romantic gesture? And we get to see them reunite, and maybe they've both developed in new ways and we get to see them appraise each other? It's so fun, and I love those scenes!

Well, THIS romance has crime elements, and there's a breakup sequence near the end where the thing that builds to the whole reunion where our romantic leads finally meet again is criminal in nature. It's the best of both worlds: crime drama and romance! And the perfect summary of what this book could and should have been. The boys meet in a park after their whole breakup montage, and it struck me...THIS IS A TV SHOW. It is destined to be one. The entire novel works better as an intro, an opening.

I mean...one love interest making the other do a quick strip just to check he's not wearing a wire, because even though they're a thing, they're on opposite sides so he doesn't trust him? Prime TV episode material. I swear.

It dawned on me during that scene that if this was the pilot episode of a TV show, I would like it SO MUCH MORE. It would just all work better. Especially because it felt we were gearing up to a big, big climax.

In a pilot episode of a tv show, I think that park scene would have been followed by one (that's 1) scene, where the boys approach Jason's Mom for her help or resources she has access to, and that would be the dramatic ending twist: a dramatic new team-up with the main character finally shifting allegiances. Or, if I was writing it, it would go further and show them actually enacting their plan with her, and the fallout of said plan would be the end of the episode, complete with a dramatic pop song to top it off and police car lights going off in the background for that dramatic neon glow. O.O I can see it now. It would be shiny and dramatic and I want it.

Someone call the CW, because this pilot even has a "No Dad, I'm not giving up MY dream, I'm giving up YOUR dream!" plot for our leading man. I'm not kidding. I hate-love this cliche plot with a burning passion, because it stalks me everywhere I go.

But it's a novel, not a tv show, and on top of that it's a novel that wants to be a standalone novel even though it has no damn right to be, so after the park scene, Cale Dietrich remembers that he has to wrap this shit up, and fast, so instead of the one (1) plot twist/cliffhanger scene we'd traditionally get here, we get four (4) hasty wrap-up scenes, where a ton of the main problems and conflicts of the novel are all wrapped up way too conveniently.

Worried about something? It will probably just work out. Worried about your relatives in a dangerous situation? Don't worry, only the psychopathic ones you hate will get killed. Struggling with inner turmoil? No big deal, one pep talk from your ex will give you the strength to defeat years of struggle in one afternoon!

I'm not exaggerating when I say every problem Matt has is magically solved for no reason and through next to no action of his own. He lies and worms his way into a corner by acting like an insecure, indecisive coward for the entire novel, and at the last minute he gets out of his problems because the universe and the author want him to. It genuinely felt like there should have been 50-70 extra pages in this book where this stuff was delivered in more detail. And you know what? If they didn't want the book to be that much longer, why didn't they delete some of the other fucking generic stuff?

The only convenience I can forgive is the one with his brother, Luke, because Luke is a cute, good big brother and it was still very in-character for both him and Matt. So it's fair game. The others were just too much of a good thing. I want nice things to happen to Matt, but solving every conflict so easily was just sloppy and anticlimactic.

In the acknowledgments Dietrich said he rewrote this book in some form NINE FUCKING TIMES. How do you do that and come out with something this generic and disappointing?

People didn't like The Love Interest because they expected a James Bond type spy novel, but with gay romance. And instead Dietrich delivered a novel that was a 'spy' novel in the sense Black Widow is a 'spy' movie: it compares training young child spies to human trafficking and shows these spies taking down their corrupt agencies to save the others they left behind and secure their own future freedom. The Love Interest ended up being a book about exploiting kids, being a gay teen going through puberty, and feeling cornered by the world.

With this second book I think I can pinpoint that 'feeling cornered' is a lot of what Dietrich wants to capture with his YA novels. Teens do feel trapped in a lot of ways. When you're a teen you have no control over huge aspects of your life and everything can feel like the end of the world... Dietrich amplifies the circumstances these boys are in so they really ARE cornered by the world in multiple ways. I appreciate that approach, but it was more effective and justified in his first book.

It made sense for the main characters of The Love Interest to be so anxiety-ridden and indecisive, and kind of naive. They had been sheltered from the outside world and manipulated for years and knew without a doubt that disobeying orders or failing their mission would lead to them being incinerated alive.

Matt is afraid his family, especially his dad and brother, will find out he has no stomach for being a criminal and doesn't want to live a life of crime. In a family where, wait for it, multiple family members have normal outside jobs with people who don't know they're in a crime family. And everybody is fine with it. He's also kind of afraid of coming out...in a family where his brother has gay friends or acquaintances and tells Matt not to use the term friendzoned because it's disgusting and sexist and outdated. Ah yes, the progressive older brother who will DEFINITELY reject you for being gay.

Look, I get having anxiety and being a little indecisive, but it's SO BAD with Matt. Have you ever watched the show Disenchantment on Netflix? Well, I love it, because it's a comfort watch, so I've seen it a billion times, and in season 1 there's a scene where the main character Bean literally tortures a guy with her indecision. That's what Matt did to me throughout this entire book.

Matt? Matt goes to a regular fucking high school. He lives a mostly regular life. He's not some sheltered, highly manipulated idiot. His family is kind of shitty in some ways, but amazing in others, which he is well aware of! He's not that isolated, and what isolation he is dealing with seems mostly self-imposed and it seems like his dad and brother Luke (best character in the novel, but we will get to him, he's a star) would actually REALLY LIKE if he made more friends and got out of his comfort zone. But he's too nervous to realize it. The entire stretch of the novel I wanted him to just fucking TALK to them, but it was too little too late when it actually happened, because by then Dietrich knew he had to wrap shit up.

Look, this is even more of a reason to give us a sequel: it's like how in season 1 of The Witcher, you like it, but you're fucking annoyed Geralt and Ciri keep NOT meeting. Then in season 2 you finally get them together and it's glorious, because all that dumb season 1 stuff is out of the way. That's what's happening in this book. Set-up. Dumb season 1 stuff. (And yeah, season 2 is a mess in its own right, but at least our leads are mostly together and interacting instead of having constant near-misses.)

Let's not talk about the fact that, if your main character is a twinkish Mafia Prince, I want to see him lording over his criminal kingdom, not hiding from it and whimpering because he just wants to play Pokémon. What the fuck? Can't you be a Pokémon nerd AND not be a simpering wimp? Come on now. This boy was STUPID. ANNOYING AS FUCK. And I did like him, and he did start to smarten up near the end, but it was too little too late and he didn't earn shit. Things just...magically worked out. The one thing I appreciate is that he broke up with Jason at one point. It was totally justified and there is a lot of stuff these two need to talk about. Probably with a professional present. >.>

I cannot get over the fact that they literally Truman Showed him. The entire football game scene seems so ominous and gross knowing that it's a false staged reality put on to lure him in.

I think Dietrich wants to write classic YA, in the sense that he wants his books to focus on actual dilemmas and issues gay teens will face and be a supportive resource, as opposed to being more immersive or stylized high concept stuff, but the problem with this is twofold - one being that he still uses that high concept stylized genre angle as window dressing and his publishers do nothing to manage expectations with their marketing and blurbs, so people are always set up to want something super stylish or epic or action-packed instead of what Dietrich actually plans to deliver, meaning readers are set up for disappointment, and two being that he waters down and softens the edges of the emotional topics he's discussing and it ends up feeling like he's treating the readership with kid gloves. It feels condescending, and I'm sure teens can spot that, like he thinks he has to spell everything out for them at all turns.

To be fair The Love Interest was a little more subtle and tactful with some of its themes and comparisons, but The Friend Scheme genuinely feels like somewhere in those nine rewrites Dietrich wallpapered over everything that may have made this book feel personal or raw or unique, what we're left with feels oddly detached, generic, and impersonal given the story and subject matter.

If it sounds like I hated this book, I really didn't. But I was promised teen star-crossed lovers with a crime family empire as the dramatic background, a gay Romeo and Juliet with a cops and robbers theme, I'd you will, and I did not get that whatsoever. This book failed to deliver what it promised.

Never have I been this disappointed by a book but also SO DETERMINED TO WILL A SEQUEL INTO EXISTANCE. Because the potential IS still there and I don't think we should abandon ship just yet, there's still time to right the course! Let me go on... Boy, do I have more shit to talk. (But also some praise to heap. I promise. Cale Dietrich is not a bad fucking writer, and if he was I wouldn't be this mean to him, I'd probably be nice out of pity.)

GRIPES:

1) BARELY ANYTHING THAT WAS SET UP CAME TO FRUITITION!!! Every threat introduced petered out or had minimal consequences to the main character. He was an outside witness in his own novel! This can really work sometimes and create a masterpiece of fiction (see Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson) but it wasn't my fave here.

2) GENERIC DIALOGUE. Here's an actual note from my phone I took while reading: PG.65 and I could be reading about literally anybody. Why should I care about these kids? It felt like I barely knew who the boys were (they became a little more developed as it went on) and I really wish some of this had been more polished. Their small talk was cute, but a lot of it felt aimless and empty, and I couldn't see how they bonded so quickly and deeply over what amount to a couple pop culture references, especially when allusions to deeper more interesting bonding happened offscreen and were skipped over in one paragraph. The fuck?

3) WEIRD SIDE CHARACTERS. Luke is the exception. He's amazing and probably my fave in the novel. But the others? Matt and Luke's Dad is a maniac in some scenes and a reasonable, chill guy with a morally grey streak in some others. He's Lex Luthor one minute and Atticus Finch the next. Pick one, or if you want to have that amazing combination of both, REFINE IT. Hammer it home. It didn't feel like it was on purpose. Vince, Cassie, the cousins, etc all felt similarly flip-floppy or underdeveloped.

LIKES:

1) THE BROTHERS: Matt and Luke had a cute, supportive relationship and I appreciated it. Luke was a scene-stealer every time he was on screen. I always enjoy a good supportive brother relationship, and theirs was a highlight of the novel. I probably wouldn't have finished it without the through-line of their relationship, no lie.

2) CUTE MOMENTS: I don't think I'm sold on Matt and Jason as a couple. They're cute but I don't think they're soulmates or anything. Honestly they did have some sweet moments but a lot of it felt soured by several plot elements. I don't know that the star-crossed sons of rival empires/worlds thing came across, it felt like a very generic series of teen hangout sessions, but they were mostly cute and fun. I enjoyed the night swimming scenes (the nickname Sharkbait absolutely should've carried throughout the novel) and I thought some of their dates were cute.

3) NICE ACTION SCENES: even though using that final action/ambush scene to resolve a certain character's plot felt like a convenient copout, I will say it was riveting. The initial ambush and the way it played out. Great scene.

4) OPENING CHAPTER: I do think the opening chapter is strong. It sets everything up perfectly and introduces Matt, his conflict, the romance angle, all swiftly and competently. It's like the nice cherry on top of the sundae.

Overall I just can't help but feel that this book is an amazing concept watered down to a totally generic, stale version of itself with any interesting edges mostly rounded off. I'd devour a sequel but I'm sort of sour at how this book turned out. I'm still going to read more of Cale Dietrich's work, but this was a wonky pilot episode that should be followed by a stronger second episode with a focus on course correction. Work out the kinks. I could see this being a strong 3-4 book series now that the boring, kind of annoying groundwork is laid and all of these characters have real history and room to grow.

The pieces are there. Just continue it.

[Erica ♋️✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS BOOK COMES OUT NEXT WEEK AND I AM SO READY FOR IT ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤍🤎🖤

I really enjoyed this book, i loved the cute romance scenes and the plot was really fun. However, i didn’t give this book 5 stars because i found the main character annoying and the decisions he made really annoyed me but other then that i would totally recommend this book.

[Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romeo and Juliet with gangster families,
but make it gay. 🌈 🌈 🌈♥️

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soooo..

I highly enjoyed this. Actually, I'm surprised too so don't ask me why. After reading this all I could say is that this book is not for everyone. It contains book tropes - predictability, gullible protagonist etc etc. - and other things that will surely make a person eye roll. I came here for the fluff and romance and I got those. Don't bother picking this one up if you're just going to complain all the way because I'm telling you now there's a lot to complain or nitpick about. Another, the cover looks gorgeous though. It gave me Victor and Eli vibes from Vicious.

Maybe the only thing that bothers me here is the build up in this. *snap* just like that all the tension and build up since day one has been thrown out of the window.

[Tricia Levenseller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Dietrich has written a sweet romance with all the tensions and pressures that come from ridiculous societal norms. I laughed out loud. I growled in frustration. I rooted for Matt and Jason from the beginning. I especially love the deeper look this book takes at gender roles and masculinity. Keep breaking those walls, Cale! We’re fighting with you!

[Rebs ✿ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeahhhh... no.

I wanted to like this book sooo bad, so so bad! The idea was so original and refreshing but the execution just missed the mark for me. BIG TIME!

Matt Miller was a little obnoxious and whiny, especially when he was with Jason. I mean not EVERYTHING Jason does has to be “cute”, Matt, relax. That got a few eye rolls from me, a lot of them actually.

“Jason stretches his arms over his head”
“Jason wearing a suit”
“Jason looks at Matt and smiles”
“Jason breathes”

Cute. Cute. Cute. yawn

After 60% I just started skim through the pages..

I don’t think the story had the fluidity that I hoped for.

Yet another 2020 disappointment.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this book and I'm so sorry this novel didn't work for me. It's about Matt, who's part of one of the biggest mobster families of the city, and Jason, the son of a police commissioner.

With this premise, I was expecting some kind of LGBT Romeo and Juliet with a lot of drama, action and also a little bit of romance. I know I was asking for a lot, but I didn't expect to receive such a boring storyline. Even in the moments that were supposed to be full of tension, to me everything fell flat and sounded quite predictable. Plus, it was all resolved rather quickly and so easily. The main couple was cute, but they were always going back and forth on the same stuff, so it wasn't very interesting. Also, I would have liked to see more of Jason's background since there are clearly things which don't make sense at all.

This was my first Cale Dietrich's book and the writing style didn't convince me too much. The pacing was just off.

In general, this read disappointed me quite a bit.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

I was nervous going into this since Dietrich's debut was a bit of a disappointment for me, but I ended up really enjoying it!

It was fast paced and I never wanted to stop reading, and I was surprised at how well I connected with the characters, considering that was one of my biggest problems with The Love Interest.

Another problem I had with his debut was the writing. While it definitely feels stilted at times and definitely still seems a bit amateurish, it has absolutely improved!

It's not getting a full five stars for me though because of the again, stilted writing, and I thought the whole "my family is part of the mob" thing was kind of pushed under the rug??? But if I'm being honest here, I was just reading for the swoons. 🤷‍♂️.

*Thanks so much to the publisher for providing me a copy of this to review!*

[Sol ~ TheBookishKing · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know that feeling you get when you start a book and you know in your gut it's going to be amazing and wonderful and you're going to give it five stars?

This ... is the complete opposite feeling of hope and the exact feeling of despair. As soon as I got 10% in, I knew I was going to hate this YET I KEPT GOING. I don't know why, but I did and this is easily one of the worst books I've read in such a long time. I'm mad that I wasted 4 hours of my life on this, dear Lord.

The covers nice though, so there's that at least.

[Anniek · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best I can say about this is that it was a really quick read. And it had its cute moments too, but overall it was just a waste of potential. The whole Romeo and Juliet, falling in love with your mob family's enemy kind of thing could have been SO good, yet this book was completely and utterly... bland. There could have been DRAMA. There could have been YEARNING. Yet we got the most wooden dialogues, the most choppy writing, these kids calling each other "dude" and "man" so often I wanted to slam my head into a wall. Yeah, I'm disappointed.

[Tessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

*My thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

It really kills me to say this, but I have to: ⭐ star

The Friend Scheme is a YA about how two boys from rival gangs with a bloody history meet and fall in love. Now they have to choose between their loyalty to their families and their feelings for each other.

This had all the makings of a great book. Romeo-and-Juliet forbidden love, rival gangs, the potential for a great, twisty betrayal and reconciliation...This should have been chock full of great tension and conflict and drama and romance, and unfortunately, it had none of those things.

I rarely one star a book because there has to be just absolutely nothing in it for me at that point. I was really excited about this one and sorely disappointed at the result. The writing was very bland, the dialogue would go on for pages and pages and move the plot absolutely nowhere. Not to mention it came off as extremely childish. For two boys who grew up "adjacent to death", the thought process of the main character was far younger than his seventeen years. There was essentially zero conflict, nothing that lasted, nothing that pushed the characters or made them grow. They were the exact same at the end as they were at the beginning as far as I was concerned.

It was just simply not for me. There was not enough to hold interest. I could barely tell the two leads apart. This one needed some more work.

[The Cat of Elfhame · Rating 2 out of 5]

But I’m Matt Miller. All anyone really cares about is my family.

I didn't like this book. Not at all. When I read a book, I expect everything to have a proper conclusion. Not that I mind open endings because that's something completely different but anyways. The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich offers none of that. It has a Romeo and Juliette type plot, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a retelling or not though. It comprises of two rival families and their kids, Matt Miller and Jason Donovan, falling in love. Matt is the son of a powerful crime lord and Jason's identity isn't revealed until towards the end.

They meet at a club meant for their mob, where Jason asks him to go to a diner. Matt follows him not knowing who he could be because he has a 'natural' sense of trust towards him. Of course, there’s no bodyguards, because why would a person whose father is rich, powerful and has thousands of enemies, hire a bodyguard for his sixteen-year-old son. He's stupid but well call it whatever you like to. Anyways that's where the story begins. There are spoilers towards the end so read at your own discretion!

The issue is with a plot like rival families that I expected some angst and passion. There was none of that. I mean a mob heir and the son of the police commissioner?! That has so much potential to be amazing. But the characters were so plain. I can't mention much about the main character Matt except that he is gay as in love with Jason. About Jason, he's the son of the police commissioner and he's been playing Matt for months now, but supposedly it has been real for him all along. It's because as I said, no issues are actually resolved. There are no emotions involved with the rival family thing and it could've been so much.

I could blame the lack of passion, on it being YA. I could but I won't. A lot of YA books, know how to show passion, this just didn't make me feel anything. It was a half thought out storyline, and in that too, rival families are not anything new. I like the pop culture references, like Klaus from Umbrella Academy and Harry Potter, though some of them would not be understandable in the years to come. But I still loved the Benjamin Alire Sáenz reference.

But here’s the thing, just because Jason liking books like The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Adam Silvera, David Levithan, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, is an example of his good taste, liking Jason as himself as who he is, would be bad taste. As he doesn’t have much of a personality. It sounds like the author wanted to summon the fans of the particular fandom. But liking what Jason likes, is not liking Jason.

So what if I don’t know his last name? It’s just a word, right?

I mean it could've possibly been a word that shot his father and killed his grandfather. But well, who's judging here? Matt Miller is one of the most boring characters I've read in a long time. Even characters that are annoying are more interesting to read about because just what do you read about a boy who is willing to fraternity with the rivals of his family (who he meant last week, mind you), who attacked his father. It's kind of funny how it's supposed to be a Romeo-Juliet retelling and that whole fiasco lasted for four days, and Matt falls in love with Jason in just a little more than four days too.

One more part that bothered me a lot was how emotions were spoken and not expressed. Matt keeps going on and on about how he feels this, he feels that, but doesn't really show anything. The writing didn't feel like it was worthy of being published. It felt incomplete. There should've been at least a proper conclusion, that solved all the issues with giving time to every aspect. I think at least that was deserved. I’m not even asking for an HEA, I’m just asking for everything to be properly closed.

Eddie is going wild, like he wants to lick Jason to death. I mean, I get that.

Boy wants to be a dog now. Anyways all I kept thinking about was how if Matt marries Jason, and takes his name then his name would be Matt Donovan. You know which is this guy right here from tvd.



There’s not much to read about when the protagonist just keeps ranting about how lovely the person is. I understand saying how a person is nice a few times in the book, but after a while it gets repetitive. I just can’t get over how Matt leaves his family for a guy with whom he has no chemistry at all. There’s not much (or any) character development, I was not able to connect to ANY of the characters. This Romeo-Juliet retelling simply does not deliver.

Matt goes on a trip to LA, without telling his father, when he’s sixteen and he knows everything around is dangerous for the mob. He goes on a trip with the son of the police chief, but he doesn’t know who Jason is. Jason has lied throughout their entire relationship, has been with him only to find out information and only after sleeping with Matt, does he reveal his true identity. And Matt says he feels bad about it. But that’s what. He says and says and says, but he doesn’t feel. Jason turns it on him, saying Matt’s in the wrong too, as he’s the son of a mob lord. And then he starts to cry. It’s quite funny how it’s written. Starting to blame and then starting to cry. Where’s the connection, where does it flow?

I try to muster up the courage to go to Luke’s room. I’m shaking, it’s that bad. I tell myself that Luke already knows.

Luke has no reaction. None. He actually knows, he literally guesses what Matt is about to say. He doesn't care. I felt like Luke, throughout the book, because I found myself not caring about the relationship too. Anyways for the major portion of the whole book Matt keeps rambling about how his dad would never let him leave and that he wants him to be a part of the family 'business', if that's what they call it these days. His dad is proud of him when he makes a point in front of all the people. But his dad is controlling. At least that's what we've been told, and he supposedly wouldn't be okay with Matt being gay. But towards the end Matt comes out and tells his father that he wants to leave the family business as it isn't making him happy. Which you know, whatever he wants, good for him.

I never wanted to be a criminal. And now I'm not.

And his father is shocked, but then agrees in a while. So, what the hell was all that build-up for in the first place?! I expected some drama, a few people screaming, someone bursting into sobs, but no. The description mentions the book as part thriller, part romance, but no no no. No. Emotion, as there’s just the relationship and no twists. I also expected enemies to lovers, but unfortunately it was friends to lovers, which I really don’t like.

I accidentally found out before reading the book who Jason actually was, so I wasn’t really shocked, Though I think even if I knew who it was, it wouldn’t make a difference because as I said, this book really doesn’t deliver. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters and I doubt they could connect to each other as well, which I think might be more important to them. Literally what do they like about each other, except that they are both guys.

I’m just an ordinary guy. There’s nothing special about me anymore. But I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. By far.

One more thing that bothered me was how it's so unrealistic. So, Matt has been rich his whole life. I assume when a person has been rich their whole lives, they find it difficult to adjust with less money, even if it's not that little by normal people's standards. But anyways. Matt is different. But not to worry here. Matt is like the main heroine of a Wattpad novel, because Matt is nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLs. These meagre things don't bother him. What matters is that he's left his family for a guy. Now he works at a movie theatre where he deals with arrogant customers, sells tickets and cleans the theatre. I mean...he left all that money and for what?

But no worries, Matt says he's the happiest he's ever been. I'm not sure if I believe him. Matt worries because he thinks all people care about is his family. Oh, my darling with a personality of a table lamp. I wonder why. He has a very America Singer vibe, from The Selection, as she likes to wash her ex-boyfriend's clothes rather than being a queen. Weird priorities but well, whatever works for them.

It seems the book has been written but just for the sake of writing a book, not because of a good plot because that's not there. The romance was bleak, the plot was not enough and the characters not interesting enough. It's YA on the younger side, and YA contemporaries don't really interest me anymore, but that's far from being the reason I didn't like the plot. I’m just confused as to why the book was published. And what’s with them calling each other, dude and man? What’s next pal or mate? Chum?! Anyways, after all the build-up the ending seemed a bit anticlimactic. It just didn't make me feel anything. Just a little anger. And I liked his brother Luke a little. But that's all.

-------------------------------------------------
so painful...ly boring

[Brigi · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you look up "disappointing" in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of this book.

Where do I even start... I was promised a gay and modern Romeo and Juliet with mafia families, and it was totally not that. I actually got this book because it was featured in a Buzzfeed article that claimed Matt and Jason, two teenagers who are supposed to be enemies because of who their families are. I won't repeat what this inimical relationship is, because the Buzzfeed article got it wrong, and actually kind of "ruined" the "big twist".

Matt is the younger son of the Miller mafia boss. He hates the crime life (tbh I found it weird that the boss and his sons did the dirty work? Tf? if you're the boss, you have people to do the beating and burning houses down). One evening a handsome guy, Jason, shows up at the bar the mobsters gather at (how tf did he get in if it's exclusive, though), and sweeps Matt away to a diner (apparently these mafioso don't have bodyguards...lol).

They promise each other not to mention their last names... and Matt goes through RIDICULOUS lengths actively NOT looking for it. I mean, wouldn't you be curious? Wouldn't you think something is extremely fishy?! Anyway, in the end the Millers find out their rivals, the Donovans came up with the Friend Scheme, wherein they try to infiltrate the Miller ranks and take them down from within. You'd assume everyone would be at least somewhat paranoid, but no, Matt decides to confront Jason, who admits immediately (lol okay), and then they kiss.

But get this, next time they meet again, it's like it never happened?! This goes on for many chapters where it's just going back and forth on the relationship, like I thought you were together?! Made about zero sense! And things like this just keep happening out of the blue, like Matt's dad being shot, and Jason buying a weekend getaway to LA (which goddamn teenager has the money for that and who would actually let them travel alone?!).

Anyway, long story short, Matt gets out of the crime life without his super strict dad saying anything, and Jason shows up magically after a year and they're all happy. Conflicts are solved in one page, dialogue is stilted af, nothing makes sense, writing style is immature, zero character development.

I can't believe trees died for this.

Rep: gay main character, gay love interest

[_The_Literary_Witch_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let’s start with the positives...
The characters are cute! The MC is super sweet.

Unfortunately that’s about it. The writing is just.. immature? Like reading a Wattpad story? Honestly, I’m not really sure how to explain it. I STRUGGLED to read this book. I didn’t want to DNF because I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing lately but it was definitely a struggle-read. There’s no depth. The whole ‘mob/gang’ schtick very poorly done. But I could see this book and it’s writing style appealing to a younger demographic, maybe 12-16.

I give The Friend Scheme 2 stars.

[elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Friend Scheme is a Romeo and Juliet type story following Matt and Jason, two teenage boys who start to fall for each other despite being from rival families. As their relationship advances, they must keep secrets from their families and each other as they figure out where their loyalties lie.

I thought this was a super fun, fast-paced story about forbidden love and identity. The romance was great and I liked the characters. There were quite a few twists that kept me engaged. I also appreciated the conversations about being queer. I honestly had a hard time putting this one down!

However, I think The Friend Scheme should have been marketed differently. This was really just a romance. I would have loved to see more of the thriller aspect in this story because I felt like it was really only briefly touched upon. I loved the romance, but if the goal of this book was to be more than a contemporary romance, then I think there should have been a bit more action, emotion, and twists outside of Matt and Jason’s relationship. The Friend Scheme had the potential to be so much bigger.

I also have a feeling that this book is going to be pretty hit or miss based on age group. I personally enjoyed the rather simplistic, short writing and the plethora of pop-culture references, but if a reader doesn’t mostly read YA or doesn’t know most of the shows/movies/bands/songs/video games/etc. mentioned then I could see these aspects becoming a bit annoying. But again, for me personally, I thought this writing style was enjoying.

Overall, The Friend Scheme is a quick story about love and secrets. I’d definitely recommend this to someone looking for something simple, cute, and entertaining with relatable gay representation.

[ari ari ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would die for Luke

[travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointment tbh. I really wanted to like this; the concept of it is so good and so cool, yet it failed to deliver in any real way. I expected a dramatic crime thriller with gay romance, but instead got... boys talking about video games?

Matt had such promise as a character. I really like the concept of this son of a mob boss being totally out of place in the world of crime. All he wants to do is play his games and watch movies and be gay, and I love that. But it's something that quickly falls to the wayside. Hell, for most of the book you could easily forget that he's even connected to the mob. Most of the book is him hanging out with Jason and talking about stuff they like, to which the other always replies how much they like it too and it just feels like... not to be harsh but it's really like reading something cheesy from wattpad.

There's very little tension in the story. There's no tension in their relationship. Matt and Jason like each other instantly and agree with everything they say, and even when they start having some minor quabbles later in the story, they're not even that serious, and it's weird considering who they are. So much of the book is just them having conversations with no real depth or meaning to them. I know the characters are teenagers, but sheesh. And it provided some weird whiplash at moments, because we would have chapters where they talked about games immediately followed by evil mafia uncle torturing and killing a guy lol

The main conflict really comes from Jason trying to get Matt to talk about his family, and it just gets really frustrating and repetitive, because Jason keeps asking and Matt keeps saying no, and the whole time I just wanted to Matt to turn the question back around to Jason. If Jason wanted Matt to trust him, surely the way to get that was by offering up his own details about his family, no? But I guess that would poke holes in the plot and end the mandated misunderstandings too quickly. That said, I didn't understand why Matt thought Jason wanted him to talk about the deep mafia strategies or whatever. He could have just talked about feeling like an outsider in his own family without giving anything away, right? I don't know. This little "conflict" that ended up driving most of the plot was just frustrating and annoying.

And then there's the reveal. For me, it at first made me realize "oh, that's why Jason was so agreeable with Matt all the time, he was trying to get Matt to like him and spill the beans!" but then Jason's like "for me it was all real from the start," and it's just like... oh you're just that boring and agreeable on your own? lol. Plus the whole idea of his cop mom's scheme is just... a bit too farfetched for me. She really wanted to go through all this effort with some awkward kid in an attempt to bring down a criminal empire? And I can't stop thinking about how using your own child, who's not even a member of the police, to go undercover and do this is... very ethically and legally questionable. Is that allowed? Why would you do that to your own kid? How did her husband agree to this? Surely there's someone Jason could have reported this to. Plus the reveal that they didn't even use Jason's actual school and they hired actors to be his "friends"? That's just a bridge too far for me to believe. It all just seems like an awful lot of money and effort on a real longshot of a plan. The idea of using your gay son to seduce/befriend a mafia son to take it down makes sense I suppose, but how it ends up working out in the story is just too weird.

And the ending... Everything wrapped up too neatly. Matt's father and brother end up perfectly fine, despite staying in the life of crime. The only one who dies is the evil uncle no one liked. Matt's father pulls the "you remind me too much of your dead mother so I was hard on you" thing and happily lets Matt go do his own thing. Of course Jason also manages to break free from his family and magically meet up with Matt again and get their happy ending. Of course. Of course. I never took their breakup that seriously because I just had the feeling they'd get together again in the end anyway. It all felt too perfect and too neat, after too little tension.

All in all, it's not a terrible book. It's cute and fluffy, and I did enjoy some of the moments between Matt and Jason here and there. The problem is, cute and fluffy weren't exactly what I was expecting or wanting from a book with this concept. It felt a lot more on the young side of young adult, and that's not a bad thing, but it's not for my tastes. I was hoping for way more drama and intrigue and thrills instead of cute conversations about Skyrim and The Killers. Such a great concept, but it never really lived up to its potential for me.

[MK · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's rare that I dish out a 1-star review, but this one really worked for it. The premise was really strong, homophobia didn't win in the end, and Luke was a semi-interesting side character. That's about all the silver lining I could find here. I read a lot of YA and there's something to be said for a more simplistic writing style--this was just so stripped down to the bone that it lost all of its heart and soul. With the host of editors listed at the back, I'm a little bit flummoxed how that occurred.

A major advantage of first person is that you get a front-row seat to the narrator's thoughts and feelings, yet shockingly little emotion was ever conveyed. Show don't tell, I muttered at nearly every page. In the rare instance we got any insight on Matt's feelings, it was reported to us as dryly as the news--very little description or metaphor or even varied feelings words. I'm a counselor by day, and I wanted to pull out an emotions wheel for this kid. Please!! Express yourself!!! (Are we REALLY never going to deal with the dead mom??? Especially when coming so near to losing dad?? I understand Matt didn't want any part of this life, but the fact it's also never dealt with that he basically just shuts down and represses fucking everything makes me alkdjflkjsdlfjsldfj). The external dialogue was no better, even more flat and lifeless, which left the primary pairing completely without chemistry. Not everyone is going to be trading witty banter and clever quips, but my God, it was like a desert with no water out here, just a barren wasteland of pure vanilla, dry-as-dust chatter. Jason showed signs of life in the last fifteen pages of the book with his "you need to meet more people" retort to Matt's claims that he was the smartest person he'd ever met. I honestly can't recall another time.

Somehow Luke was the strongest character on the page. He had actual dimensions (caring brother, devoted son, hardened criminal, fun-loving college student) and conflict, and expressed more emotions in his handful of appearances than his MC brother did in all of his first-person narration. I would struggle to tell you even three personality traits of the MC and his love interest.

The premise was certainly the strongest aspect of this book--it just failed to embrace that and deliver in any capacity. There were moments it flirted with the gritty realities of mob life (Vince torturing, the shootout at the bar, etc) but we get so little processing from Matt. The narration swerved so hard from any real fallout or confrontation on the page, which completely eliminated the stakes of the plots. In some ways, it's impressive that a plot revolving around a Romeo-and-Romeo romance between mob heir and police commissioner son had absolutely zero conflict. All of the sloppy momentum that built up to that final Miller plan to stomp the Donovans once and for all was dealt with in a handful of lines in one of the most rushed endings I've ever encountered. That's saying something, as YA really loves to wrap a 400-page conflict in a few paragraphs.

This was a big miss for me. I wish you better luck with it, should you still choose to venture forth, but I really suggest you don't.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hoping to like this book because it gave off big Romeo and Juliet vibes.
However, there were a few things that I just couldn't get on board with.

The writing was very short and choppy.
Many parts of the book were written one line after the other.
Or short pieces of dialogue after the other.
In a line.
Like this.
(This did make it quick to read, but I really did not connect with it.)

There were quite a few times in the book, where the love interest wanted to talk to Matt about his feelings, being gay, his labels, his weight... And while this would not normally be a bad thing, it was written in exactly the same way every time and felt like the author was putting in these conversations because he felt that he had to, and not because it was necessary.
I prefer books that include LGBTQ as no big deal. Maybe I have moved on from the more "coming out" type stories, even though I did not feel like this was one.

Now, a semi-spoiler, but a pet peeve of mine in stories. Jason, our love interest, was lying to Matt about himself and his motives. Matt and Jason were in a relationship and decided to further their relationship, but Jason decides not to tell the truth until after Matt is basically in love with him and they had had sex. I really don't like this trope of miscommunication/lying when characters are supposed to be falling in love and then just get over the problems in the end of the story.

I can see why some people might like this story, but it was really not for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Danielle (Life of a Literary Nerd) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was a really fun book that I didn't want to stop reading. It's dramatic and over-the-top and sort of ridiculous, but that's what makes it so much fun. Matt and Jason had such wonderful chemistry and banter - I loved them together and seeing them try to develop such a strong friendship first before romance, and how that foundation meant so much to the both of them was wonderful to see. I thought Matt was a great character - seeing his struggles of family vs duty were well thought out and we never looked down on him or lost sympathy for him which is important for someone in a bad situation. I do think the last third of the book felt quite rushed and easily resolved. I think there easily could have been another 100 pages to flesh out some of the resolutions and really build some tension, but it was still a fun story overall.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I liked this even more than I first thought!

Before heading into The Friend Scheme, I read through a lot of reviews both bad and good to gain a sense of exactly what I was going to get into. A lot of people commented on the writing style, the characters and the story in its entirety. That in itself made me cautious enough to look carefully into the story, the plot and into all the criticisms that the book gotten. At the same time, I also tried to overlook my prior opinions just to make sure that my opinions on The Friend Scheme were as fair as possible.

All things considered, I tried going into this book with a clear head which I think was the best approach to reading this YA thriller.

The Friend Scheme follows Matt Miller, a closeted teenage boy who was born in the middle of a mob war between two families: The Millers and The Donovans. After a previous dispute that lead to the death of a family member, Matt's dad wants nothing more than revenge to honour the memory of his father. He would go to great lengths, even murder, to keep the family's honour, even if it means dragging Matt and his brother Luke down deeper in the family business. Unlike his brother who wants to do nothing more than follow in his dad's footsteps, Matt wants out of the mobster trade and wants to start a life as an ordinary man rather than one infiltrated by crime ordeals. It is during an avoidance of a mob meeting that Matt meets Jason, a boy he feels like he can share everything to. But as their friendship develops into something more, Matt starts to question to what extent can he trust Jason and if he would ever be able to tell him about his family's secrets.

I think it was the plot device with trust that really brought this book home for me. I believed that was done extremely well. I could see Matt's indecisiveness towards his feelings about Jason especially after more information was revealed about his family. It was the continuation of this friendship even after all these bomb-shell truth bombs that brought a Romeo and Juliet worthy forbidden romance trope to life. The truth plot device coupled with well-executed family struggles provided for a well-rounded YA novel of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I also really enjoyed the characters. I really liked Jason in particular which was very obvious from the second he stated he had the Grishaverse novels on his bookshelves along with Adam Silvera and David Levithan. And he only increased in awesomeness after mentioning his anime love with amazing shows like She-Ra and Attack on Titan. He broke my heart a few times, admittedly, but I think he redeemed himself by the end. Luke and Cassidy were also close contenders for "favourite character" by being great channels of support for Matt. I loved seeing the brotherly relationship between Luke and Matt develop over the course of the novel. What I really wanted to see more of though, was more of that relationship and more detail or backstory surrounding the two.

In fact, that leads me to my main criticism. I felt a constant need for more. I don't mean the kind of "wanting more" as in wanting more from a book because it's so damn good but rather, wanting more from the book in terms of more detail, more backstory and more clarity at times. I felt like at times the book was lacking in terms of those three things. Very little has been mentioned about Luke and Matt's mum and I honestly wanted nothing more but to delve more into that, to crack open Matt's thoughts and feelings about that since she was only mentioned briefly twice in the entirety of the book. On top of that, I wanted more with Matt's relationship with his dad. I felt like at times that was rushed as well, I wanted more detail about that since he mentions some things that weren't really talked about throughout the book which I must admit, did puzzle me sometimes. I also wanted more of a transition and character progression with Luke's character too. He would've been a completely dynamic character if he had this detail added to him that I so desperately craved. Honestly, I think Luke deserved a whole book for himself.

Going onto the ending now, I did think it was a tad bit rushed. Although I was glad it did end happily and I was happy with Matt's character arc, it was really what happened with Luke and Matt's dad that I wanted to know more of. I wish we could see the shift and changes with Matt's dad but it was only brushed over and sugar coated with "telling" writing. I think this book would've been so much better and definitely more popular if that level of care was added towards the end.

That being said, plot wise and character wise, I enjoyed this book but it did often fall flat when coming to some details on character and story.

ACTUAL RATING: 4 STARS

[Shan( Shans_Shelves) 💜 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m disappointed, this was one of my anticipated releases and it just wasn’t for me.

Review to come.

[Nerily · Rating 1 out of 5]

So bland it hurts

[Gem (The Creepy Geek) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably a 3.5 read but I have no problem rounding it up to a 4!

Was this the best book I've ever read?

No.

Was it the exact book I needed right not?

Yes!

Ok so yes, it was a bit simplistic in places and yes, I would have liked a bit more depth to the mob stuff and YES, some stuff was resolved way too easily...

But boy did I have a good time reading this! It was fun, it had some angsty moments and the boys were both so sweet! I loved their dynamic!

The end was a very rushed so I would have liked a bit more there but honestly I just really enjoyed it!

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok so where do I even start. First of all, I was attracted to this book by the cover and of course the summary and cover both let me down big time. If I read a book where the main characters are plastered across the front with clear imagery on what they look like, I will assume that’s what they look like. However, I was reading looking for clues on which was the blonde and which was the poc and I NEVER figured it out. Like Jason was described as brown haired and Matt had black hair so I thought maybe the blonde is just supposed to be brown idk. But then they are both described as pale when at least one of them should clearly have dark skin???? And Jason is the taller one??? So like I just concluded that the cover art was completely inaccurate which was very disappointing cause it’s a dope cover.

And then the summary. Like the whole book is completely spoiled. I went in thinking this was gonna be a battle of morals with a criminal and a cop but then they pulled the “he’s a criminal lol jk but you knew that cause you read the summary” um no I was very confused and thought I read the wrong summary somehow.

Maybe it was my fault for not completely looking into what kind of book it is, but the dialogue made me want to shoot myself. When Matt said “they are cinnamon rolls I ship them” I was done. It was so painfully obvious that it was written by a millennial trying to simulate teenagers conversations by using slang and pop culture references. The way titles of games, shows, books, and movies were used was so fucking horrible. It was just so unnecessary it was like he was trying to convey the type of character they are by referencing these things and being like “you know these things right? You know what kind of person they are” like this is what a middle schooler would do if you asked them to describe what kind of a person they are “well I like attack on Titan, rock indie with pop” like what.

Again this is probably more biased cause I was expecting something darker and deeper (not even gonna talk about how the mafia thing just disappeared and his reaction to trying to stop a mass murder was to run away to college btw they are way to immature to be in that kind of world) anyway... I also just prefer when books are more obscure with their pop culture references and only mention titles when it directly pertains to the plot.

But yea so I was expecting Matt being a criminal and both him and Jason not knowing that they are on opposite sides of the law and Matt fighting tooth and nail to get out of that world and Jason helping, but then Matt finds out some dark secret of Jason’s (this from the summary) I was thinking it was gonna be like abuse or some shit and they both fucked up, maybe I just need to stop reading dark books but yea also I think they should have been older like no mom is gonna send her son in for undercover infiltration at 18.

In conclusion, I’m disappointed but that’s also my own fault for assuming I was reading something darker and the cover is cool ok lol bye

[coriolis · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the good news is, this was better than The Love Interest.

The bad news is, it still wasn't great.

There were some good things. I reeeeally loved Luke. Like. A+, Luke. I liked Cassidy too. The romance was definitely pretty sweet too.

But it just lacked a lot. There was TOO much focus on the romance and not enough on the background. Like, Matt is the son of a crimelord but like... we barely get any of that. They throw some Molotov cocktails and talk about killing their enemies. But like... there is no hardened crime going on. I know it's YA, but I still feel like they could have given me SOMETHING.

This book also has no climax. Or maybe it does, but the climax is garbage. I guess the climax is when the bar is set on fire? But like?? What a boring climax?? AND THE ENDING?? WHAT??? Matt is like, "Dad, I don't want to be a criminal like you." And his dad is like, "WHAT??" and then about five seconds later he's like, "Okay, son. Go to Cali. Love you xoxo"

If he could have just told his dad this at any time like... ugh. HOW WAS THERE NO CONFLICT HERE? That was just. Yeah, it's a no from me. And then Jason just showing up where he works? After a year? Did they talk in that time? Did Jason know he worked there? Like where was any of the explanation there?

Will I try more of his novels? Yeah. I'm really looking forward to the one he's cowriting with Sophie Gonzales, and I loved Only Mostly Devastated by her. So hopefully I'll like it more.

In other good news, I've officially read ALL my most anticipated released for 2020.

~~~~~~~

I was really disappointed by The Love Interest but I'm willing to give Cale a second shot soooo let's do it!