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A review by zoekatereads
Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth
4.0
My nerd/MMORPG heart is very full after reading this ⚔
I was beyond excited for this after adoring [b:My Mechanical Romance|58857822|My Mechanical Romance|Alexene Farol Follmuth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651585695l/58857822._SY75_.jpg|92714618]. Thank you BookBreak / NetGalley / Macmillan for the e-arc ✨
Twelfth Knight is a YA rom-com, coming of age story (and a Twelfth Night retelling) about Viola and Jack. Viola is eternally annoyed - her DnD campaign was shot down, her best friend told her to 'be more likeable', and the student body president, Jack Orsino, couldn't be more laid back if he tried (which makes Viola's life as VP frustrating to say the least).
Escaping her frustration, Viola plays the online game Twelfth Knight. Online spaces aren't much friendlier than the IRL ones to girls like Viola, so she chose a masculine Knight 'Cesario' as her character to save her from some hassle.
Jack is on track for a successful football career, but an injury could change all of that. Needing something to pass the time while he recovers (and escape his girlfriend troubles), a friend recommends he try Twelfth Knight.
Viola stumbles across 'Duke Orsino' in-game, and is alarmed to discover they are surprisingly well-matched. As the late night game sessions continue, the two begin to open up about life and love. But Viola has been hiding her true identity from Jack, and their relationship developing offline might be about to complicate things.
Quick-fire things I loved
- Grumpy x sunshine, slow burn
- 'Unlikeable' fmc (but I love her)
- Friendships are hard and teens can be awful
- DnD!!! Conventions!!
- Joys of hobbies
- Representation of toxic masculinity and misogyny in the gaming space
- Wonderful character work (great supporting characters and character arcs)
I really enjoyed Viola and Jack's character arcs. The plot bringing the two together was fun and the other relationships woven into the mix made for a really interesting read. It was nice to see some high school stereotypes being challenged and characters growing and learning to understand each other.
I could wax poetic about how this book shows the power of video games, the escapism it can provide, and the freedom is allows players, but I'm not sure anyone wants to read all that and I'm definitely biased
I was beyond excited for this after adoring [b:My Mechanical Romance|58857822|My Mechanical Romance|Alexene Farol Follmuth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651585695l/58857822._SY75_.jpg|92714618]. Thank you BookBreak / NetGalley / Macmillan for the e-arc ✨
Twelfth Knight is a YA rom-com, coming of age story (and a Twelfth Night retelling) about Viola and Jack. Viola is eternally annoyed - her DnD campaign was shot down, her best friend told her to 'be more likeable', and the student body president, Jack Orsino, couldn't be more laid back if he tried (which makes Viola's life as VP frustrating to say the least).
Escaping her frustration, Viola plays the online game Twelfth Knight. Online spaces aren't much friendlier than the IRL ones to girls like Viola, so she chose a masculine Knight 'Cesario' as her character to save her from some hassle.
Jack is on track for a successful football career, but an injury could change all of that. Needing something to pass the time while he recovers (and escape his girlfriend troubles), a friend recommends he try Twelfth Knight.
Viola stumbles across 'Duke Orsino' in-game, and is alarmed to discover they are surprisingly well-matched. As the late night game sessions continue, the two begin to open up about life and love. But Viola has been hiding her true identity from Jack, and their relationship developing offline might be about to complicate things.
Quick-fire things I loved
- Grumpy x sunshine, slow burn
- 'Unlikeable' fmc (but I love her)
- Friendships are hard and teens can be awful
- DnD!!! Conventions!!
- Joys of hobbies
- Representation of toxic masculinity and misogyny in the gaming space
- Wonderful character work (great supporting characters and character arcs)
I really enjoyed Viola and Jack's character arcs. The plot bringing the two together was fun and the other relationships woven into the mix made for a really interesting read. It was nice to see some high school stereotypes being challenged and characters growing and learning to understand each other.
I could wax poetic about how this book shows the power of video games, the escapism it can provide, and the freedom is allows players, but I'm not sure anyone wants to read all that and I'm definitely biased