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A review by caughtbetweenpages
Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth
funny
hopeful
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
4.5
Twelfth Knight is an homage to the 2000s’ Shakespeare retelling movies, keeping the rom-com camp and familiarity of story but updating the world to be more reflective of real life. Vi Reyes, Jack Orsino, and the rest of the students in Messaline High were unapologetically queer, brown, and infused with modern sensibilities and concerns, which informed and added depth to their character arcs while still being rooted in the (cishet and white, yes, but no less profoundly/relatably human) Shakespeare source material. Not that adding representation of other sexualities/races/etc has to “have a reason behind it” (is it not reason enough that our world is diverse?) but Follmuth’s cast of characters all make more sense and are enriched by their backgrounds being taken into account when looking at them. Viola’s identity as a woman of color in nerd spaces informed so much of how prickly she is outwardly and how deeply aware she is of the myriad micro-aggressions coming her way, and Jack’s “don’t get mad where people can see” lifestyle is so much more meaningful when you consider that he is a Black boy. It’s a personal boon for me, but Vi’s femme-person-in-nerd-spaces (and I’m general) woes hit very close to home. Her anger and hurt read very realistically, and anger/who is allowed to feel it was a throughline I thoroughly enjoyed exploring in this story.
The characterization of all the primary and secondary characters was pretty top notch. God, its so refreshing that Olivia is nice and smart actually. It’s such a tired and (in my experience) untrue stereotype that The Cheerleader/Pretty Girl is a bitch and dumb and etc. She’s quite sweet and despite knowing Shakespeare’s version of this story I even believed that she and Vi could end up Having A Thing (they bantered just as naturally as V and J! Especially when she and V were making her ConQuest character sheet! Alas, I am no stranger to non-canon ships). And the complexity of Antonia and Viola’s relationship hit me in the heart as well. It’s very emblematic of how teenage girl friendships can go.
Overall this was a very teenage story: the texts actually read like teenager texts, the idea that communication would be harder than keeping up a catfishing ruse feels like very pre-frontal-lobe-development thinking, and the slow build of emotions that just overflow between Vi and Jack were such a delight. The book reads fast, and hits all the important beats of two separate coming of age stories that twine together into a really sweet, healthy romance.
I think Follmuth’s use of multiple POVs was a great way to transition from play to book, using the novel form to allow for a greater internality of characters and allowing her to make them her own/put her own twist on things. It also allowed for easier differentiation between characters. If I stopped reading in the middle of a section and forgot whose POV I was in, I could figure it out within a sentence or so very early on. Both Jack and Vi are powerhouses. The love and passion that each has for their respective hobby (and later, their shared ones) is great, and described in enough detail that a reader unfamiliar with them can still follow what’s going on. I am not a Football Person, but I cared about it when in Jack’s POV because his passion carried over. This capacity for deep feeling translates to their feelings about one another, too (because jocks and nerds really are two sides of the same coin); when they hate each other, it’s vitriolic, and when those feelings begin to shift… well. It’s very sweet. I rooted for them the whole way through (even if Vilivia still holds my heart).
In terms of some stylistic choices, I thought the climax-to-resolution pipeline was a little fast. It was in keeping with 2000s Shakespeare rom coms, and I’m satisfied with the overall ending, but for me personally, that sort of speedy resolution works better in film than in print. Similarly, I wasn’t big on the parenthetical asides to the reader, though they are in keeping with fourth-wall breaking in Shakespeare plays.
The nits I’m picking really are tiny, though, because there’s very little to critique in this book. Twelfth Knight does exactly what it sets out to do, and in a satisfying way. It’s lighthearted without sacrificing emotional depth, romantic while also satisfying individual character arcs, and an absolute love letter to people who love things passionately. I’d recommend this book to anyone who’s ever felt like a geek about something (but especially Shakespeare, sports, or nerd culture) and lovers of films a la She’s All That.
The characterization of all the primary and secondary characters was pretty top notch. God, its so refreshing that Olivia is nice and smart actually. It’s such a tired and (in my experience) untrue stereotype that The Cheerleader/Pretty Girl is a bitch and dumb and etc. She’s quite sweet and despite knowing Shakespeare’s version of this story I even believed that she and Vi could end up Having A Thing (they bantered just as naturally as V and J! Especially when she and V were making her ConQuest character sheet! Alas, I am no stranger to non-canon ships). And the complexity of Antonia and Viola’s relationship hit me in the heart as well. It’s very emblematic of how teenage girl friendships can go.
Overall this was a very teenage story: the texts actually read like teenager texts, the idea that communication would be harder than keeping up a catfishing ruse feels like very pre-frontal-lobe-development thinking, and the slow build of emotions that just overflow between Vi and Jack were such a delight. The book reads fast, and hits all the important beats of two separate coming of age stories that twine together into a really sweet, healthy romance.
I think Follmuth’s use of multiple POVs was a great way to transition from play to book, using the novel form to allow for a greater internality of characters and allowing her to make them her own/put her own twist on things. It also allowed for easier differentiation between characters. If I stopped reading in the middle of a section and forgot whose POV I was in, I could figure it out within a sentence or so very early on. Both Jack and Vi are powerhouses. The love and passion that each has for their respective hobby (and later, their shared ones) is great, and described in enough detail that a reader unfamiliar with them can still follow what’s going on. I am not a Football Person, but I cared about it when in Jack’s POV because his passion carried over. This capacity for deep feeling translates to their feelings about one another, too (because jocks and nerds really are two sides of the same coin); when they hate each other, it’s vitriolic, and when those feelings begin to shift… well. It’s very sweet. I rooted for them the whole way through (even if Vilivia still holds my heart).
In terms of some stylistic choices, I thought the climax-to-resolution pipeline was a little fast. It was in keeping with 2000s Shakespeare rom coms, and I’m satisfied with the overall ending, but for me personally, that sort of speedy resolution works better in film than in print. Similarly, I wasn’t big on the parenthetical asides to the reader, though they are in keeping with fourth-wall breaking in Shakespeare plays.
The nits I’m picking really are tiny, though, because there’s very little to critique in this book. Twelfth Knight does exactly what it sets out to do, and in a satisfying way. It’s lighthearted without sacrificing emotional depth, romantic while also satisfying individual character arcs, and an absolute love letter to people who love things passionately. I’d recommend this book to anyone who’s ever felt like a geek about something (but especially Shakespeare, sports, or nerd culture) and lovers of films a la She’s All That.