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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Di-Curious is a delightful bit of wish fulfillment bundled with plenty of easter eggs for those who enjoy tabletop gaming and romantasy. The cover art has warm hues and beautiful character art that match the coziness and warmth of this book.
There are two POVs. First, June is a burgeoning D&D influencer along the lines of Ginny Di or the cast of Critical Role; also an oblivious late-bloomer bisexual woman who is just getting over a toxic relationship with her ex-boyfriend. The second POV is Nova, a writer of D&D novels and adventure ghost-writer; who is confident in her sexuality and non-binary gender, but has social anxiety and ADHD which was not accepted or supported by her own recent ex-girlfriend.
They grew up together, but parted ways in recent years. They reunite as Lyssa and Aiden invite June to their regular D&D game. June needs a new group for her podcast, and Nova needs to resolve a burning secret of their own. June plays Awe, a pink sparkly tiefling lore bard with a bubbly personality, and Nova plays Hunt, a blue-themed tiefling vengeance paladin with a serious and mysterious vow that they won't admit aloud.
The exes, June's podcast company, Nova's writing career, industry homophobia, bisexual erasure, and their future opportunities cause them to grow together and face new conflicts during the course of the story. Some chapters focus on their game sessions, while others focus on their lives outside of game night. When the POV switches in the middle of the chapter, June's perspective is noted with a lute, and Nova's is noted with a sword.
References scattered throughout the book include allusions to Sarah J Maas "A court Of" Series, Tamsyn Muir's The Locked Tomb, The Witcher, Critical Role, characters from official D&D adventures like Xanathar and his goldfish; dragon dildos; and of course common D&Disms like spell names or rolling a critical hit are mentioned too.
I was a little surprised at the occurrences of PVP without turning into a horror story - I suppose it's part of the fantasy that a group could manage that with emotional maturity.
While I'll still be running Thirsty Sword Lesbians instead of supporting Wizards, I certainly support this book! It was a fun ride and felt magical.
There are two POVs. First, June is a burgeoning D&D influencer along the lines of Ginny Di or the cast of Critical Role; also an oblivious late-bloomer bisexual woman who is just getting over a toxic relationship with her ex-boyfriend. The second POV is Nova, a writer of D&D novels and adventure ghost-writer; who is confident in her sexuality and non-binary gender, but has social anxiety and ADHD which was not accepted or supported by her own recent ex-girlfriend.
They grew up together, but parted ways in recent years. They reunite as Lyssa and Aiden invite June to their regular D&D game. June needs a new group for her podcast, and Nova needs to resolve a burning secret of their own. June plays Awe, a pink sparkly tiefling lore bard with a bubbly personality, and Nova plays Hunt, a blue-themed tiefling vengeance paladin with a serious and mysterious vow that they won't admit aloud.
The exes, June's podcast company, Nova's writing career, industry homophobia, bisexual erasure, and their future opportunities cause them to grow together and face new conflicts during the course of the story. Some chapters focus on their game sessions, while others focus on their lives outside of game night. When the POV switches in the middle of the chapter, June's perspective is noted with a lute, and Nova's is noted with a sword.
References scattered throughout the book include allusions to Sarah J Maas "A court Of" Series, Tamsyn Muir's The Locked Tomb, The Witcher, Critical Role, characters from official D&D adventures like Xanathar and his goldfish; dragon dildos; and of course common D&Disms like spell names or rolling a critical hit are mentioned too.
I was a little surprised at the occurrences of PVP without turning into a horror story - I suppose it's part of the fantasy that a group could manage that with emotional maturity.
While I'll still be running Thirsty Sword Lesbians instead of supporting Wizards, I certainly support this book! It was a fun ride and felt magical.
Pros:
I really enjoyed getting to see realistic portrayal of bisexuality and exploring it as an adult. I think it was handled pretty well (but final verdict on that really comes down to the community and how it resonates for them) and the character luckily had an amazing support group. Also having nonbinary, autistic and adhd rep made this feel like it should be very accessible for a lot of people who aren’t usually represented.
Cons:
I was a little annoyed with how June was so painfully clueless. I do understand that it was realistic and honestly that probably made it more frustrating.
I feel like there is still more to this story and I hope the author revisits the world giving Cristy a story so we can visit the characters and their characters again.
I really enjoyed getting to see realistic portrayal of bisexuality and exploring it as an adult. I think it was handled pretty well (but final verdict on that really comes down to the community and how it resonates for them) and the character luckily had an amazing support group. Also having nonbinary, autistic and adhd rep made this feel like it should be very accessible for a lot of people who aren’t usually represented.
Cons:
I was a little annoyed with how June was so painfully clueless. I do understand that it was realistic and honestly that probably made it more frustrating.
I feel like there is still more to this story and I hope the author revisits the world giving Cristy a story so we can visit the characters and their characters again.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Honestly this book is not the best, the plot doesn’t have enough conflict to be interesting and the writing style itself is just not very good. BUT it was extremely fun to read this for a book club with all of my D&D friends and talk about it for hours!! I also love the sapphic representation, and the queer geek culture representation. There were some ideas here that were interesting, like the blurred lines between in character / out of character relationships and the in character POV sections. Overall though, the execution fell short. Just wasn’t exciting enough, any conflicts the characters faced was resolved within the next two chapters. Also, too much spice for my taste. I did actually enjoy the sex scenes for the most part because it all felt very silly and fun but it felt like every other chapter was just our main characters having sex again. I would have enjoyed having more actual plot instead lmao
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
June and Nova's story was captivating from the very beginning. They have such obvious chemistry even when they're not quite talking to each other. I do wish I'd seen more of their emotional reconnection, but that might just be me wanting more of a good thing. Given the intensity of their history, a little more back and forth would have drawn out the promise of the premise a little bit. But there was a lot to cover in this book and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Great representation, hilariously inappropriate use of mimics, and even the asshole character shows some growth.
Writing style wasn’t for me. I got to the chapters told from the RPG character’s perspective and just couldn’t continue.
This was a quick, cute, nerdy, low angst read! I loved getting to know more about D&D play (im an mtg girlie myself). I liked that despite a whirlwind second chance relationship, the characters ended up going their separate ways and it didn't feel devastating.
I do wish the characters had a little more meat to them, and in some areas it seemed like it was rushed (especially the epilogue), but overall, 3☆!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I do wish the characters had a little more meat to them, and in some areas it seemed like it was rushed (especially the epilogue), but overall, 3☆!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced