My Roommate from Hell

Despite reading almost no YA books in the past few years, I was unable to resist My Roommate from Hell by Cale Dietrich. This paranormal romance follows Owen during his first semester of college. His dorm roommate turns out to be a literal demon, Prince Zarmenus, come straight from hell. Zar seems friendly, but he’s not a very clean or courteous roommate, and Owen has had it. Just before deciding to switch roommates, he gets roped into a fake relationship with Zar instead. This relationship will give Owen a coveted internship opportunity, and it will please Zar’s parents. But what if the fake feelings are starting to feel real? And what will they do when they have to fake break up at the end of the semester?

What I Liked:

• Making the hellish roommate story literal! We’ve all heard stories (or had firsthand experience) of roommates that you’re just not compatible with. For Owen, his demon roommate Zar is a nice guy… but so messy, and he keeps bringing guys to hook up with while Owen is supposedly asleep in the same room. He’s a total party animal and so noisy! On top of that, Zar seems to bring all manner of supernatural horrors to their room: ghouls, creepy dolls, accidental fires, and more.
• Owen is such a conflict-avoidant people pleaser! He’s the king of looking on the bright side and seeing the best in people… until he just can’t take it anymore. Even standing up to Zar doesn’t go over so well. How can Owen resolve this issue with his roommate if he can’t speak his mind?
• Smoothing over human-demon relations. The entire point of Zar being at a university full of humans, and of rooming with a human, is to show that demons aren’t so bad and can get along with people. It’s good for demons overall, it will make Zar’s parents happy, and it will open up doors for Owen’s career. Too bad there’s an anti-demon group threatening violence against Zar.
• Fake dating! Just when the one-sided tension between Owen and Zar has reached its peak, they suddenly find themselves in a fake relationship. I loved seeing them navigate how to spin this change in their relationship and how Owen’s feelings gradually started to feel kind of real.
• Bell the demon cat! I loved Zar and Owen so much, but Zar’s demon cat was my favorite.

Audiobook:

Zach Barela narrates Owen’s perspective throughout My Roommate from Hell, and he does an excellent job of capturing his age and personality. Owen’s earnestness comes across clearly, but we also get a great portrayal of Zar, too, from his casual attitude to his occasional demonic form.

Final Thoughts

My Roommate from Hell is a delightful paranormal romance. I loved both Owen and Zar, seeing them resolve their living compatibility issues, and seeing them fake date so well that the feelings turned real. This is one of the first YA books I’ve read in a while, and I think I’m ready to read more, because this was a joy.

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy My Roommate from Hell here – it’s available as a hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

My Roommate from Hell by Cale Dietrich
Audiobook Narrator	Zach Barela
Audience	Young Adult
Genre	Paranormal Romance
Number of Pages	352
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARCs)
Original Publication Date	November 11, 2025
Publisher	Wednesday Books

Official Summary

“A hilarious and charming descent into love, fake dating, and actual Hell. I couldn’t stop grinning.” – Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys

A swoon-worthy YA rom com about an ambitious college student whose plans get derailed when he discovers his roommate is the prince of hell.

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.

Charming and fun, My Roommate from Hell is a rom com with a magical twist. Think just one bed, but that bed is in hell, surrounded by fire and brimstone.