Book Review: My Roommate From Hell by Cale Dietrich

Official Synopsis: Owen is not going to college to have fun. Nothing is going to stop him from achieving his goals: study hard, get a good job, and set himself up for the rest of his life. The last thing he needs is to have a loud, obnoxious, and infuriatingly hot roommate. Especially since said roommate just so happens to be the prince of hell.

Prince Zarmenus has come to Point University for the first-ever Earth/hell exchange program, and he's determined to make the most of it. Which may or may not include wild parties, bringing in random boys to his and Owen's room, and accidentally setting Owen's furniture on fire. Sparks fly (literally) as Owen and Zar clash, but Zar's actions threaten to not only ruin Owen's peaceful college life, but demon-human relations as well. To clean up his image, he asks Owen to be his fake boyfriend and teach him how to be a better human in exchange for an internship that will secure Owen’s future. That, and Zar will consider being a better roommate.

A deal is struck, and the two start pretending to be in a relationship where they each have agendas of their own. Only Owen has a secret―dating his mortal enemy, even if it’s fake, is the most fun he's ever had.

One of the first things I have to praise this book for is how funny it is. I found myself laughing as I was reading it with some of the silly things that happen throughout the book and how it was so easy to accept the weird parts of the book because of one of the characters being the Prince of Hell.

Owen is a human, excited to go to college only to learn his roommate is the actually Prince of Hell. This brings a lot of moments that make Owen question if he's cut out to be in this situation, but when the principal of the school says she help him get his dream internship if he sticks it out. One major issue for Owen is how attractive Zarmenus is, plus how open he is to his sexuality and trying to figure out the human world. There are also the random paranormal things that show up in their dorm room, brought there by the weakening between the worlds with Zarmenus there. First their is the weird demon cat, then a ghoul in the bathroom and of course, a random eyeball showing up on the wall for a day. The eyeball really pushed me over when it came to things I found hilarious in this story.

After realizing that having an actual prince as a roommate is troublesome, Owen is convinced that he won't make it through the semester. But Zarmenus seems to be open to Owen's feedback, he starts helping clean and makes sure to warn Owen when he brings someone over. But bad press risks the deal between the humans and the underworld. When Zarmenus convinces his parents, the rulers of Hell, that him and Owen are dating, they decide to fake it, for the press, their friends and especially Zarmenus' parents. But as they keep faking their relationship, Owen starts to wonder if this is something he would actually like. Both Owen and Zarmenus start to walk the line between fake dating and acting on the feelings they have for each other. The issue is Zarmenus is only supposed to be there for the semester, and how does one have a long distant relationship with someone who lives in Hell?

One of the things I really enjoyed about the book is that Owen and Zarmenus have really open communication throughout their fake relationship, which just feels really nice when it could have been big on miscommunication (even if there are moments of them not being fully honest about their feelings). Both of them have things they expect to happen, while also wanting that 'real' college experience. There is also the fact that Zarmenus' form is different when he isn't trying to be human and that Owen kind of loves that form of him. There is definitely a lot of pressure on them as they try to show the world that demons and humans can coexist without issues.

Another one of my favorite little quirks of the book is how Zarmenus' parents really remind me of Morticia and Gomez Adams with how they speak and act. The first time they showed up it definitely gave me a giggle. There is also a demon cat who is just the best kind of pet. We also get a fun 'drunk' demon scene, which are some of my favorites.

My only real note on this book is that I do wish it was more of a new adult or adult romance, but there is definitely some scenes that feel cross to crossing out of young adult. I feel like characters being in college is really close to stepping out of young adult.

Overall, this book was a joy to read, even if the title doesn't suggest that. It is a funny romance with some great paranormal elements. I think it almost falls into the lighthearted category at times and I just found it a fun read.

I rated it 4 / 5 stars.

My Roommate From Hell comes out November 11, 2025!

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