I found this book very hard to get into, and because I didn't read past 15% I decided not to review at this time. Perhaps I'll give it a try at a later Point. For now this is a DNF.

I was hesitant to pick up this book as I was not clear if the author was writing about personal experience with gender identity. Nonetheless, the topic was handled tactfully and I was entertained by the gamer aspect of it.

I'll admit I went in with very low expectations since I've had a lot of trouble finding well-written romance from indie publishers (and trouble finding queer romance from mainstream publishers, so it's just one side of a bigger problem) but this was an absolutely spot-on New Adult confection. Daphne/Daphnis is an endearing narrator whose occasional lapses into self-pity and -blame don't overwhelm the generally upbeat feeling of the story; their support group of friends is exactly what any struggling queer artist in NYC would want; the romance, while less prominent than I expected from the description, was very sweet. If a genderqueer gamer finding themself and triumphing over the trolls sounds like your idea of a good time, I highly recommend this book.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2026023636?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

To be completely honest, starting the book I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. The protagonist is in their late-twenties, so I didn’t think I’d connect much with them. But oh boy, was I wrong. Plus, the gaming parts are on point. It made me wanna go back to the days when the only thing I did was play video games and get finger cramps. The characters are so funny and relatable, and everything’s so cute, but it still somehow manages to keep stuff real.

Gamer or not, you should definitely give this a shot.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
This story dragged me into the alternate universe of MMO gaming. Even though my own gaming experiences are limited to Tetris and Freecell, I found Daphnis’ world fascinating and I really enjoyed their journey in this story.

Much of this book is an exploration of gender and sexuality – especially within the very visible world of acting and the more private world of online gaming. The characters in this story are wonderfully diverse but at times, some of the characters feel more like vehicles for the author’s message than actual people. This is a message heavy book and there are moments and characters that need a few more shades of grey and a little less idealism.

I am definitely much older than the target reader for this story. Daphnis and their slacker friends (who either live off of rich parents or somehow manage to exist in NYC as barely jobbing actors) are living the Millennial hipster dream. Gen X readers like myself probably need to refer back to their Douglas Coupland and Kevin Smith years if they are going to have any empathy for characters whose biggest concern is hate mail from players in an online game.

I struggled some with the structure and format of this book. The author assumes a basic knowledge of MMORPGs and often uses vocabulary that may be familiar to gamers but left me a little bewildered. Many of Daphnis’ conversations are written – often taking place within a game as electronic conversations. I found the constant shift to script-like conversations distracting and difficult to navigate. But again – I’m pretty sure I’m not the target audience!

Beyond my generation gap issues is a wonderful story of a journey towards honest self-identity. I loved the fluid nature of gender and sexuality in this book and I’m really happy to see more diverse characters in print. I really enjoyed this delightfully unconventional book.

I was invited to take part in the blog tour for Don't Feed the Trolls and I was very much excited. First off, how fun/awesome is that cover? Right? Right! Now, to the story! To be honest, I've never been a gamer. Despite this, I definitely heard a lot about #gamergate and how people were basically harassing female players...for being female. It was crazy and seriously messed up and I like the author's take on something similar happening to her MC. What adds a bit of a twist is that Daphne - or as she eventually goes by Daphnis - isn't even sure if she completely identifies as a woman. There is some mention of other people being transgender, but Daphnis isn't given a label for how she feels and eventually expresses herself. I liked this though! Not everyone wants or even feels comfortable with labels.

As for the gaming aspect of the book, there were definitely some parts that I wasn't 100% sure on - usually when characters are discussing games/gaming- but besides that, it really wasn't that confusing. Maybe that doesn't make a lot of sense, but basically, even with the things I didn't really know, the author kept me from getting lost, and that's obviously something I appreciated a lot.

This book is great for people that are gamers, but it's also nice for anyone that feels "different" or loves geeky culture. After all, a big part of the book takes place at a convention! There are characters of all sorts of backgrounds in this book, so it's full of diversity! Whether it's gender, sexuality, or race - a lot of people will find themselves represented in this book.

A lot of people reading this review probably engage in some sort of online culture, whether that's gaming or not, so I think this book is important for all of you. Trolls exist everywhere online and when it comes down to it...don't feed them. They aren't worth it. This book is worth it though!

Don't Feed the Trolls
by Erica Kudisch
Pages: 205
Date: April 3 2017
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Series: None

Review
Rating: 3.88
Read: February 22 2017

<i> *I received this book from NetGalley and Riptide Publishing in return for a fair review.*</i>

<b>Mini-review</b>: Curious how the book has been marketed so far, I looked it up on NetGalley (<a href= https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/107831>Netgalley link</a> and the publishers website (<a href= http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/dont-feed-the-trolls>Riptide Link</a>). The book has been put into two sections on NetGalley – General Fiction (Adult) and LGBTQIA – and Riptide has other works up that they’ve put in the Romance section so that was done on purpose. And the publisher has the genre listed as ‘drama, new adult’.

So there you go – this is a LGBTQIA new adult general fiction book filled with drama. But do not specifically look for romance.

<b>Genre</b>: Drama, New Adult, LGBTQIA, General Fiction

<b>Setting</b>: New York City, Seattle (GeeKon convention), Los Angeles, Eternal Reign game

<b>Occupations</b>: Actress, Singer, Writer, Gamer, Drag Queen

<b>Main Characters</B>: Fatiguee Altestis */Daphne Benoit **/Daphnis ***/Bannedict *** (* - Eternal Reign name used by the character; ** - birth name; *** the character, after controversy erupts, enters Eternal Reign on a new server on an alternative just-created account named Bannedict (and when asked by someone what their meat name is/was, they reply ‘Daphnis’, which is, apparently, the male form of Daphne)

<b>Major Characters</b> Alain/Ivy LeVine (drag queen roommate, Ivy being the drag queen name); Jackie/Lady Francois (rich fanfiction author (the Lady Francois part, though I’m not sure how often that name actually gets mentioned) with many devoted followers); Sachem/Orin (Sachem is Fatiguee Altestis’s second in command in the Eternal Reign game, and the meat people (or the players who control the characters), Orin and Daphne have a long history together); Uhruu*D*/Laura (current head of the server Bannedict/Daphnis plays on, potential romance interest).

<b>Side Characters</b>: Malcolm Harding (head of publicity at Summerstorm); Ivan (angry dude-bro); Martin Summers (head of Summerstorm, which puts out Eternal Reign – barely in book); Neal Merino (MMO correspondent for Jongleur/maintainer of Eternal Reign subreddit); Kilosi (character in Eternal Reign).

<b>Story</b>: The book opens with the main character receiving news that their submission in a novelization contest had won a contest (prizes include such things as a ‘badge’ for GeeKon convention). Certain amount of shocked screaming then occurs among the main character, whose name shifts depending on the situation, Alain and Jackie. Between excited squeaking and delivery of celebratory dinner, Daphne logs onto the internet – to be meet with waves and waves of vicious cyber-bullying attacks based entirely on the fact that Fatiguee’s won and assumptions that, since the game character is female, then the player is also female.

Naturally this deeply impacts Daphne who is already having a tough time of it – what with her real life attempts to make it as an actor haven’t gone that way lately. And stuff. So a certain distancing from Fatiguee occurs, but not from the game. No, the creation of a new game character, a male character, occurs – Bannedict. This almost immediately leads Daphne to tell someone through in-game chatting that their real life name is Daphnis.

The controversy swirls. Games played. White-knighting occurs by Orin. Gamergate-like backlash ensues. Gaming convention occurs. Gender questions are raised (as in, as the snippet on Netgalley puts it, ‘I might not be a woman, not really.’)

<b>Review</b>:
Thoughts: In general, this was an enjoyable book to read. In general. Certain rough patches occurred, hence the drama genre tag, certain realizations made through the fog of ‘do I just think it would be easier to be male, or do I actually think I might be?’

As far as the gaming aspects – most of the stuff that occurred flew right over my head – I mean the in-game descriptions. And I kind of had the impression that Laura and Daphnis would spend more time together in the course of the book (even if only through the game). They did, just . . . less time than expected. And good thing this isn’t really a romance because there was more ‘romance’ like stuff between Orin and Daphne than between Laura and Daphnis (thin relationship then pouncing).

I thought of certain things when I was thinking of what to put in a review. Like above how I mentioned that much of the in-game stuff flew over my head. And I was thinking how much or little of my own experience I should mention. Like, should I mention that I played MUDs, MUSH’s and the like back in the early and mid-1990s? Played multi-player games of Doom in college? Played one version of one of the Star Wars online multiple player games, played another version of Star Trek, twice attempted to play WoW and got bored quickly; and that I myself am basically a game character? No? Not mention? Mention? Normally it isn’t an important part of a review of a book, except here when I make comments like how the gaming stuff flew over my head. Probably because I’ve spent the most time involved in games that were/are different than that described in this book.

Right. Well, interesting good book.

Rating: 3.88

Read and Reviewed: February 23 2017

References made by me to other vaguely similar work/topics:
Internet/cyber bullying - <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32174118-camp-rewind>Camp Rewind</a> (woman tries to hide from internet/cyber bullying by going to an adult summer camp) & <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33812911-drawn-together>Drawn Together</a> (I didn't finish the first, and haven't tried the second; my understanding of the second is that online stuff occurs, but most of the abuse is in person relating to a relationship).

Gaming/convention - <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13179845-playing-passion-s-game>Playing Passions Game</a>, <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29083453-love-games>Love Games</a>, <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26310364-girl-on-geek>Girl on Geek</a>, <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18364648-the-student-the-rogue-the-catburglar>The Student, the Rogue, the Catburglar</a>

Genderfluid - transgender or not transgender? - <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23569447-under-my-skin>Under My Skin</a> (or, having people take you for more than one gender depending on 'things' (accounts, roles, etc.)

Don’t Feed The Trolls is an enjoyable and incredibly relevant novel about online harassment, friendship, and discovering yourself even when times are hard. The narrative centres around anonymous male trolls going after a player on an online multiplayer game and how this affects the lives of various people. Alongside this, the main character realising some stuff about their gender and presentation during the fallout from this online abuse. The highs and lows of modern technology and the problems when online free speech turns into harassment are dealt with, but the novel also focuses on the ways in which friends can help out and people can find their strength.

Kudisch’s style is easy to get into and the novel was not difficult to engage with for a non-gamer. The characters, particularly the main character Daphnis, are vividly painted and form a crucial core to the book, making it easy to be frustrated and angry at the effect that the trolls can have upon them. Many elements of fan culture run throughout the novel, including gaming, conventions, and musical references, and these give it a modern and relevant feel not only in the subject matter, but in the world it depicts.

Don’t Feed The Trolls is ultimately an uplifting novel about how the internet trolls can be beaten and how there’s always space to explore yourself and your identity in order to feel more comfortable as yourself. It is exactly the kind of novel that is perhaps needed these days, engaging with current issues but also a light and fun read.