Title: The Friend Scheme
Author: Cale Dietrich
Type: Fiction
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance, LGBT
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan Publishing)
Date published: July 28, 2020

A digital copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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.

⤖ My Review ⬻

The cover for The Friend Scheme has to be one of my favourites of the year! It gives off this film noir, LGBTQ+, forbidden love vibe. I pictured gang meetings in smoky bars, secret meetings between the lovers, maybe even a bit of the injured trope. I absolutely had to get my hands on it! While reading The Friend Scheme, I did get the LGBTQ+, forbidden love, and meetings in smoky bars vibes. There were also meetings between the lovers…but all of this was not delivered to me the way I expected—and hoped—that it would.

There was a lot of dialogue in this book, and I found that, as well as the characters, to be less mature than what I’d expected. There were also definitely some gang stuff in The Friend Scheme since the MC’s dad is a mobster, but not as I’d hoped there would be.

I’m glad that I forgot about the synopsis by the time I read this book, because one of the things revealed in there was a secret to me, and that’s the only part of the plot that I saw to be an interesting twist. There also wasn’t much depth to the plot or the characters (they felt flat to me and I didn’t feel myself caring for any of them), and in order to avoid spoiling anything,  I’ll try to be vague and just sat that the ending felt forced to me.

All that aside, after writing this review, I persued Goodreads and found that some readers really enjoyed this one! So please don’t let my review discourage you if you’re intrigued by this title!

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Cale Dietrich is a YA devotee, lifelong gamer, and tragic pop punk enthusiast. He was born in Perth, grew up on the Gold Coast, and now lives in Brisbane, Australia. His debut novel, The Love Interest, was named a 2018 Rainbow List Selection. He can be found on Twitter.

⤖ Purchase the Book ⬻

⤖ Let’s Chat ⬻

THANK YOU FOR READING MY REVIEW! HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS!