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3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
First I want to thank NetGalley, Doug Henderson and University of Iowa Press for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions of the book are my own and are in no way influenced by the gifting of this book.
My knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons is basically nothing. I only real knowledge of the game is what I have seen on The Big Bang Theory. So like I said, nothing. However, the concept of the game has always been interesting to me.
The story follows the five players of the LGBTQ Sci-fi & fantasy role playing club. Celeste; The dungeon master, Valarie; who works are Readmore Comix and Games, Mooneyham; a banker who like to argue and Ben, sensitive, unemployed and living at home and still recovering from unrequited love. In the real world they go by their daily lives with varying success but in the fantasy world created in their game, they are heroes and wizards fighting to stop an evil cult from waking a sleeping god.
I loved the Dungeons and Dragons parts of this story. Whenever, we were playing the game and the story was told from the perspective of the D&G characters, it was completely immersive and so much fun to read. Almost makes me want to play. I have no idea as to accuracy of how the author writes the game play so I am taking it all at face value. Either way, I enjoyed the fantasy world writing and adventures. The majority of the characters were very basic because they just didn’t have enough of a character arc. There was a lot of wasted potential with all of them.
Saying that, I think that this book contains way too many subplots instead of one focused story. I honestly feel like I forgot most of Mooneyham & Huey’s main storyline was and I have basically forgotten what Celeste’s storyline was. I found that I was mostly interested in romantic plot between Ben and Albert. I believe that this could have been a much more intriguing book if it was just focused on the romance between the two because there just wasn’t enough detail and story building for me to really enjoy this book.
I hate to say it but the plot was very messy. There was just a lot going on and none of it was exploited to its full potential. Parts of the storyline really didn’t need to be in there, like the Kiss-in??? I am still beyond confused with that section of the story and why that was the best way to get the characters to where they needed to be. The whole idea of it was bizarre.
In terms of the authors writing style, it was very clean and concise, and easy to follow where the story was going. I feel like I could read more books by this author as they have a very comfortable way of telling the story.
The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-fi + Fantasy Role Playing Club is an interesting book. It has a large amount of potential but ultimately there were too many sub plots and not enough focus on the characters. However, the D&D parts were full of fantasy and adventure and are the most entertaining parts of the book.
My knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons is basically nothing. I only real knowledge of the game is what I have seen on The Big Bang Theory. So like I said, nothing. However, the concept of the game has always been interesting to me.
The story follows the five players of the LGBTQ Sci-fi & fantasy role playing club. Celeste; The dungeon master, Valarie; who works are Readmore Comix and Games, Mooneyham; a banker who like to argue and Ben, sensitive, unemployed and living at home and still recovering from unrequited love. In the real world they go by their daily lives with varying success but in the fantasy world created in their game, they are heroes and wizards fighting to stop an evil cult from waking a sleeping god.
I loved the Dungeons and Dragons parts of this story. Whenever, we were playing the game and the story was told from the perspective of the D&G characters, it was completely immersive and so much fun to read. Almost makes me want to play. I have no idea as to accuracy of how the author writes the game play so I am taking it all at face value. Either way, I enjoyed the fantasy world writing and adventures. The majority of the characters were very basic because they just didn’t have enough of a character arc. There was a lot of wasted potential with all of them.
Saying that, I think that this book contains way too many subplots instead of one focused story. I honestly feel like I forgot most of Mooneyham & Huey’s main storyline was and I have basically forgotten what Celeste’s storyline was. I found that I was mostly interested in romantic plot between Ben and Albert. I believe that this could have been a much more intriguing book if it was just focused on the romance between the two because there just wasn’t enough detail and story building for me to really enjoy this book.
I hate to say it but the plot was very messy. There was just a lot going on and none of it was exploited to its full potential. Parts of the storyline really didn’t need to be in there, like the Kiss-in??? I am still beyond confused with that section of the story and why that was the best way to get the characters to where they needed to be. The whole idea of it was bizarre.
In terms of the authors writing style, it was very clean and concise, and easy to follow where the story was going. I feel like I could read more books by this author as they have a very comfortable way of telling the story.
The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-fi + Fantasy Role Playing Club is an interesting book. It has a large amount of potential but ultimately there were too many sub plots and not enough focus on the characters. However, the D&D parts were full of fantasy and adventure and are the most entertaining parts of the book.
I received an eARC copy from University Of Iowa Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating 2.5 ⭐
The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club is a book in which I saw great potential. I enjoyed the overall positiveness the book and its story emanate. However, I think I expected more, and this book somehow didn't take me there.
The story introduces many diverse characters, shares insight into their jobs, financial background, emotional aspect, hardships, sexual orientation, etc.). In all their differences, they found each other enjoying D&D. Through playing the game of D&D, we get an insight into everyone's current life issues, bringing together the D&D storyline and the actual real-life events. I enjoyed the story-within-the-story concept, which made me curious to know more about some characters' lives.
I felt the book is very relatable. The story is very LGBTQ+ focused, but the core story presents a full rainbow flag of situations and feelings across the board. We have Ben, a character who makes mistakes, is unemployed and still lives with his parents. Then, we have Mooneyham, who is a well-situated banker, still closeted and demonstrating his fears by being loud and aggressive to some extend. The whole array of behaviours, both in private and in public, is located between the pages of this book. I loved the dynamic of the characters and their friendship.
However, there is always a reason behind the low rating.
Some of the characters felt unnecessary in the plot. Their appearance was, in my opinion, nothing more than a mere distraction from the main characters; they did not add any value nor weight to the story itself. The development of their importance and overall point of them being present did not come through. Was that an introduction to a sequel? I don't know.
Speaking of unnecessary characters, the whole vampire substory felt absolutely out of place. What was the point of the vampires here; how are they related to the Club? I must have missed the explanation, but I am fairly sure I did not read one. Was that yet another introduction to a sequel? I again don't know.
Another thing that boggled my mind overall was just the plot itself; why was it so messy? Why were there so many subplots? There were so many things mentioned, so many ideas, just so many thoughts, all put together, and none of them (or maybe only a few) reached their full potential. I understand the "that's life, unexpected, weird, messy, complicated, take it or leave it" point of view, but this plot's development here was a bit too much to follow from time to time.
Praise for the title TITLE and the cover; I am in love with the design!
Trigger Warning: Homophobia, Violence, Sexual Content, Racial Slur
Actual rating 2.5 ⭐
The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club is a book in which I saw great potential. I enjoyed the overall positiveness the book and its story emanate. However, I think I expected more, and this book somehow didn't take me there.
The story introduces many diverse characters, shares insight into their jobs, financial background, emotional aspect, hardships, sexual orientation, etc.). In all their differences, they found each other enjoying D&D. Through playing the game of D&D, we get an insight into everyone's current life issues, bringing together the D&D storyline and the actual real-life events. I enjoyed the story-within-the-story concept, which made me curious to know more about some characters' lives.
I felt the book is very relatable. The story is very LGBTQ+ focused, but the core story presents a full rainbow flag of situations and feelings across the board. We have Ben, a character who makes mistakes, is unemployed and still lives with his parents. Then, we have Mooneyham, who is a well-situated banker, still closeted and demonstrating his fears by being loud and aggressive to some extend. The whole array of behaviours, both in private and in public, is located between the pages of this book. I loved the dynamic of the characters and their friendship.
However, there is always a reason behind the low rating.
Some of the characters felt unnecessary in the plot. Their appearance was, in my opinion, nothing more than a mere distraction from the main characters; they did not add any value nor weight to the story itself. The development of their importance and overall point of them being present did not come through. Was that an introduction to a sequel? I don't know.
Speaking of unnecessary characters, the whole vampire substory felt absolutely out of place. What was the point of the vampires here; how are they related to the Club? I must have missed the explanation, but I am fairly sure I did not read one. Was that yet another introduction to a sequel? I again don't know.
Another thing that boggled my mind overall was just the plot itself; why was it so messy? Why were there so many subplots? There were so many things mentioned, so many ideas, just so many thoughts, all put together, and none of them (or maybe only a few) reached their full potential. I understand the "that's life, unexpected, weird, messy, complicated, take it or leave it" point of view, but this plot's development here was a bit too much to follow from time to time.
Praise for the title TITLE and the cover; I am in love with the design!
Trigger Warning: Homophobia, Violence, Sexual Content, Racial Slur
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book had a great set up. Unfortunately, it only really had a great set up.
I was waiting for something hilarious to happen. It really felt like a comedy set up so maybe I was just waiting for the wrong thing. It read sort of like bite me by Christopher Moore, but that build up never actually paid off.
There were some side plots that maybe you could invest in and get to a better place than I did. But they were fundamentally strange in a lot of ways. Like why did Ben keep agreeing to hang out with someone he hated? Even if the guy usually didn’t show up? What’s up with Moneyham? Like at all. It’s possible that things were lost because we had too many characters. We had 7 or so main characters. Most had D&D alter egos. Then there were at least 4 relatively important side characters. That’s at least 15 characters to keep track of and develop which is a lot for ~200 pages. Maybe I would have been more invested if we just picked one.
I liked parts of how the D&D sessions were written. I like the story in a story. I like that the characters sometimes say ridiculous things because the players are saying them like “I didn’t roll high enough”. I like that the DM periodically does a deus ex machina to end a session. That all feels real. The stories I like less. The monsters don’t seem challenging or impressive to overcome like they do in other D&D content I’ve listened to of people playing in real life, and the solutions aren’t interesting. It kind of feels like reading a not great D&D session.
I recommend Polly. The book could have used way more Polly making her own custom dildos for Etsy.
I was waiting for something hilarious to happen. It really felt like a comedy set up so maybe I was just waiting for the wrong thing. It read sort of like bite me by Christopher Moore, but that build up never actually paid off.
There were some side plots that maybe you could invest in and get to a better place than I did. But they were fundamentally strange in a lot of ways. Like why did Ben keep agreeing to hang out with someone he hated? Even if the guy usually didn’t show up? What’s up with Moneyham? Like at all. It’s possible that things were lost because we had too many characters. We had 7 or so main characters. Most had D&D alter egos. Then there were at least 4 relatively important side characters. That’s at least 15 characters to keep track of and develop which is a lot for ~200 pages. Maybe I would have been more invested if we just picked one.
I liked parts of how the D&D sessions were written. I like the story in a story. I like that the characters sometimes say ridiculous things because the players are saying them like “I didn’t roll high enough”. I like that the DM periodically does a deus ex machina to end a session. That all feels real. The stories I like less. The monsters don’t seem challenging or impressive to overcome like they do in other D&D content I’ve listened to of people playing in real life, and the solutions aren’t interesting. It kind of feels like reading a not great D&D session.
I recommend Polly. The book could have used way more Polly making her own custom dildos for Etsy.
adventurous
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
Fast paced and generally well written. I think having played D&D for a while, I was fairly unimpressed with those scenes in the book, but the overall story is good. The diversity of characters is nice and having lived in Cleveland for a bit, it was cool to see some of the places I've been to being written about!
I don't know why the rival vampire gang was included in the story. There was no conclusion to their arch and nothing important transpired with that group (besides escalating the situation at the bar). Their inclusion seemed kind of unnecessary, tbh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
You can't call it an LGBTQ book in all seriousness, and then turn around and deadname your trans woman character within the first few pages of the book, and repeatedly quote poisonous TERF Rowling. You also can't expect me to finish your bigoted book, even if it was granted to me by #NetGalley and the publisher as a digital advanced copy. There's literally no one I would feel comfortable recommending this book to, and I am so disappointed, as I was pulled in by a cute cover, and was so excited to read a book that involves the confluence of queerness and geeky gaming--But this book is not it.
As a lesbian D&D player. clearly this book was made for me in mind. However, I wasn't a fan. Every single character is either unlikable or boring. I thought Ben was whiney, Mooneyham was a dick, and Albert was just kind of there as a romantic interest. As this was written by a gay man, I understand the focus on other gay men but I feel like Valerie really fell to the wayside and the whole vampire subplot seemed pointless (I am honestly not even 100% sure I understood the explanation for it, if there even was one). This book is so sex-focused, it's a turn off. I do think we LGBTs should be able to talk about sex just like straight people, but all of the sex comments were too much. Even the D&D campaign was about an orgy ritual and sex magic. I didn't love the portions of the book that were the Dungeons and Dragons campaign narrated; I think that it worked better to have the characters describe what they were role playing rather and honestly the story of the campaign wasn't that exciting. There were also a few mistakes when discussing D&D. Bluff is not a check you make in D&D, it's deception. Points also don't go into linguistics, only ability scores, and languages are learned because of race and background. I would go so far as to say that I actively disliked this book, which I am really sad to admit because the concept seemed so perfect.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ebook in exchange for a review!
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ebook in exchange for a review!