This fun and fresh contemporary romance dives into the world of gaming, friendship, and the complexities of young love.

This was a lot of fun to read! I loved the writing and I actually ended up listening to this on audiobook. It pulled me into the story and I loved the way the aspect of video games were weaved through the whole book.

This is the kind of YA fluff I don't like, because it makes no impact. I want to remember something when I leave a book but I remember nothing about this. The characters were cute, but I want the book to do more than just have cute characters in order for me to feel like it's worth recommending to someone. This is just fine? But if you don't read it you haven't missed anything.

Emilia is a sports star by day and an eSports star by night. Her days are filled with field hockey, getting good grades for her mother, and the perfect popular boyfriend. Her nights she is virtually kicking butt in the male dominated gaming world. She’s determined to prove herself in the gaming community even when she must deal with the negativity from other gamers. There is such a great swoon worthy male lead that will make all your nerdy hearts burst. Such a great read.

I have yet to see anyone even discussed this book which is a shame because it's actually really interesting and quite well written, but it's another one of those books that just slipped through the pandemic crack. I hope that at some point this gets the recognition it deserves

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

3/5
“Don't Hate the Player” follows star high schooler Emilia Romero, an excellent student, a star field hockey player, and all around perfect preppy girl. Or so she wants everyone to think. In the dark of night, she's an excellent gamer, so good that she is on track to be pro.
Along with Emilia, we meet Jake, another player and boy who's flitted around Emilia's circle since they were kids. He comes from a broken family and when they meet again, it on opposing sides of a gaming tournament.
I really loved Jake. I think he was so sweet and how Emilia helped him with his trauma was so sweet. I liked Emilia enough. At the very start she seems to look down on the other nerds, despite being one herself. I didn't like that but her attitude definitely changed so I think she learned from it.
The plot was pretty good, all things considered. I liked the twists and how it all resolved. I found the 'enemies' pretty despicable and it absolutely infuriated me that this is all real stuff that happens to women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ members on the daily in gaming communities. It makes me so Mad. Especially since I am a gamer and have met my fair share of awful players who judge you based on factors that have nothing to do with my playing.
Overall, a great read for teen gamers. Romance is super cute and the game descriptions are really neat.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

This one is unfortunately a dnf for me. Overall I just couldn't get into the story and didn't feel a connection to the characters. I wanted to love this one and was excited to read a book with a female gamer but just found myself struggling to read and pick up the book. I didn't like that the main female character was pushing herself to be so many things that she wasn't because she wanted to please everyone. I may try to pick this book up again later but after a few failed attempts to pick it up I figured it was time to set it aside for now.

I am obsessed with the voice in this book. Fresh, funny, compelling. I'm not even a little bit a gaming person, so I wasn't expecting to love this one, but the writing is superb and the characters are lovable and messy in the best way. Highly recommend for teen readers, whether they love gaming or not.

I absolutely loved this book! I was so engrossed by the characters right off the bat. Alexis Nedd's writing is out of this world, if you've been in a reading slump this is a great place to start, it absolutely blew me away!

4.5 stars

As someone who knows nothing about gaming but whose partner is one, this book was an incredibly fun read!
Right off the bat, I have to praise Alexis Nedd for giving the most REAL CHARACTERS I have ever read; Emilia and Jake were almost in the room, and I swear I felt like I had met them before. Emilia's drive and passion and the pressure she felt were dealt with in a different way than I've seen others do, and it was refreshing and satisfying. Jake had a found family when his biological one didn't give him the best support. It showed that even in the happy ever after, things don't magically get better for everything - his parent/child relationship.

The seriousness and importance of explaining Doxing in this book I also want to shout out. While it takes longer and the fear is much longer and scarier. It showed how fast and vicious people are when they have the power to hurt and scare you because they know your face and address. I have seen it happen to some people, and the fear they go through and the threats they receive are .... it is beyond scary.

The only part I didn't love was the boyfriend Connor part, as it did feel a little like Emilia was using him. So glad that was called out and was changed fast.

Genuinely, this was a fantastic book because I shared it with my partner, getting him to explain combo moves and why a player would do something (as even with the book help, I'm clueless, haha) was fun together to do together.

3.5/5 Stars

Emilia is a field hockey player starting her senior year of high school with a popular boyfriend. She is also the only female player on a highly competitive eSports team. She has kept her two worlds separate, but when the team enters a tournament, her two worlds collide when a member from a rival team and a boy from her past, Jake recognizes her.

This was a cute story about two teenagers who were childhood friends but lost touch as they grew older. It was cute to see Emilia and Jake interact when they were younger over their mutual love for arcade games. I really liked both of these main characters. At the beginning, I was not a fan of Emilia, but she definitely grew on me as the story progressed. I enjoyed seeing her grow and begin to stand up for herself and what she wanted. Jake was a sweet little cinnamon roll and I wanted to hug him. The side characters are also all unique, with their own personalities and I loved the banter the teams had with one another. I also thought the inclusion of the chat forum between Team Unity was a lot of fun.

Overall, a cute contemporary read featuring the gaming community.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me have an eARC. Don't Hate the Player is a well written book. This book will be for fans who love the gaming world. Emilia leads two very different lives. By day she is the A+ student who has high goals to get into a good college. By night she is the only female on an elite eSports team. Her team goes to a big tournament to play. There she meets an old gamming buddy Jake, who now goes to her high school, can her two lives stay separate or will it all come crashing down before her? read to find out what happens. I really liked the dynamic between Jake and Emilia. I'm giving it a 3 out of 5 stars. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Emilia Romero is a high achieving student athlete, but this serves as a cover for her true passion - Emilia is an elite videogamer who plays for a championship e-sports team. Jake Hooper, the only person who knows both sides of Emilia’s life, promises to keep her secret, but that becomes tricky when her team earns a place in a public, high stakes e-sports competition, and Jake becomes both her confidant and competitor - and maybe more. The narrative successfully balances Emilia and Jake’s complicated teen lives and emerging romance with a detailed look at the world of online videogaming. Jake is white, Emilia is Puerto Rican, and their teammates and friends are a mix of BIPOC, queer and trans folx; the narrative directly addresses the harassment players with the latter identities face in the real world of online gaming. The outstanding descriptions of the in-game action are detailed, cinematic and engaging. Overall, a stellar read.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Emilia was a strong heroine. Intelligent and geeky, with the perfect amount of snark and boldness. I loved her inner monologue. Em’s character felt high school appropriate, but not in the over dramatic way that can be too much. She’s a high schooler figuing it out. The pressure of parents wanting the best for her, wanting to choose something that’s only hers and finding her niche in the world. I love that Emilia was able to acknolwedge her mistakes and understand how she could improve. It was even better when she had that last tough conversation with her Mom and her parents understood her even better too. I love a good family chat.

I haven't read a gamer romance before and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I thought the outlook was a lot of fun and I think it's great for a lot of girls to read this who love games to know that it's cool to be into them

Don't Hate the Player was impossible to put down! It is the best of the best in terms of a nerdy romance and I'm was here for it!

Emilia has been hiding her gaming from her family and friends for her whole life. It's her favorite thing to do, but since it "doesn't look good" on college applications she does it in secret. Her mom is over the top with that kind of stuff so I totally get it. She joins a team and ends up competing in an eSports competition where she becomes reacquainted with the adorable Jake.

Jake is super awkward and adorable for it. It felt very real (even with some second hand embarrassment lol).

The gaming aspect was a little intense for me, but don't let that sway you from reading the book, because it's fantastic! It was intense as they go through the competition and the troubles Emilia goes through as being a female in the gaming world.

Don't Hate the Player was a compulsive read and I highly recommend it!

I have been following Alexis Nedd for a while so when I found out she was publishing a YA book, I was thrilled. She has such a fresh voice in her writing so I couldn’t wait to see how that translated into a novel.

Don’t Hate the Player is contemporary YA novel about two teens who were loose childhood friends who find each other again through the world of eSports… and also through real life again. Emilia is very aware of what it means to be a girl in a space that is predominantly filled with men (and usually ones with toxic and gross views of girls in gaming communities) and Jake is just trying his best while nursing his years-long crush on Emilia.

The structure of this story was refreshing. It bounces around between first person, third person, and texts/messages. This keeps things moving and allows for there to be time jumps and the development of plot quickly. If anything, I wish we had gotten more of Jake’s POV. I felt like by the end of this book, I knew the inside of Emilia’s head incredibly well. I would have liked there to be some more Jake to really fill everything out.

As someone who has had to assert themselves in rooms and spaces like Emilia has, I understood her drive to prove herself. She’s a teen who is stretched too thin and trying to acquiesce to her parents’ and friends’ expectations of her and what she should be doing. The idea that what SHE wants for herself is frowned upon because it won’t look good on college applications is something that most teens reading this will be able to relate to.

This was a strong debut and I can’t wait to see what Nedd writes next.

This book was amazing. The plot was intriguing, and I absolutely fell in love with all the characters. The romance and banter is to die for, and this is definitely one of my all time favourites now!

Don't Hate the Player by Alexis Nedd
Publication Date: June 15, 2021
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Description from NetGalley…
“Emilia Romero is living a double life. By day, she's a field hockey star with a flawless report card. But by night, she's kicking virtual ass as the only female member of a highly competitive eSports team. Emilia has mastered the art of keeping her two worlds thriving, which hinges on them staying completely separate. That's in part to keep her real-life persona, but also for her own safety, since girl gamers are often threatened and harassed.

When a major eSports tournament comes to her city, Emilia is determined to prove herself to her team and the male-dominated gaming community. But her perfectly balanced life is thrown for a loop when a member of a rival team recognizes her . . .

Jake Hooper has had a crush on Emilia since he was ten years old. When his underdog eSports team makes it into the tournament, he's floored to discover she's been leading a double life. The fates bring Jake and Emilia together as they work to keep her secret, even as the pressures of the tournament and their non-gaming world threaten to pull everything apart.”
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Thank you to @netgalley @bloomsburypublishing @bloomsburychildrens for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
Surprisingly enjoyable. Calling all gamers, this is a #yafiction for you. I’m not a gamer, so I was surprised that I enjoyed this book. Emilia’s secret double life reminded me of Lane Kim from Gilmore Girls. I really liked the way Nedd wrote this story. I found myself enjoying, and actually understanding, the world of competitive gaming. Nedd did a great job when it came to representation, and also the way the issue of “doxxing” was handled. The plot was fast-paced,even though it was character-driven and, the “chats” had laugh out loud moments. This was a well written combination of virtual adventure, friendship and romance. And that ending!