I had SUPER high hopes for this book.

And I was NOT disappointed.

The way Hollis found her people through Secrets and Sorcery felt so familiar - because while I'm not a teenager, I had a similar experience with finding the DnD group I've been playing with for the last year and a half. I've been in awe of how finding the courage to respond to someone's post searching for people to play at their (virtual) table has changed me and Hollis' story rang true to that in a way I really didn't expect.

Seeing Hollis grow as a person throughout the story was wonderful - the author did a great job of showing how Hollis' friendships with the other girls deepened and helped her ease into her own skin. The Secrets and Sorcery mechanics didn't feel intrusive and were well explained (although I have context others may not), and I loved the way the campaign was sprinkled throughout the book.

I may have more to say about this one later, but I'm a bit emotional about it right now.

Thanks to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Atheneum Books for Young Readers for the digital ARC I received! I didn't end up getting to it before I got my copy of the book and read that, but I appreciate it nonetheless!


5/5

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC

This book is the cutest!! I love reading fun upbeat ya romances so much, it definitely did not disappoint.

It follows Hollis, who just wants to play S&S (their version of D&D) with her boyfriend, but they won't let her play with his group. She tries to prove him and his friends wrong by becoming a great S&S player, that way they have to let her into the group! She joins a new group and slowly becomes friends with all of them and gains her confidence. But in doing so, she falls in love with her new S&S friend...

Normally I get confused when characters have two identities (in this case, their real name and their S&S name), but I didn't mix anyone up. Each character has such a distinct personality that I felt like differentiated them well.

This was 100% a self discovery coming of age ya book, but it didn't read that way. Yes, Hollis learned about herself and her surroundings, but the book itself read just like a romance. In some ways, it felt a little young for ya, though I didn't really mind that.

I can't even describe how much I adore this cover. So often with fat characters on book covers they are the "right kind of fat" meaning they have curves in the right places and no double chins etc. This cover is so real and I'm in love with it.

Thankfully I'm just as in love with the actual book. We have Hollis, who is fat, full of anxiety, and struggling HARD with comphet and her shitty ass boyfriend.

This all starts when Hollis wants to join her boyfriend's S & S game (think dungeons and dragons) But the friend group that plays the game has a no girlfriend rule meaning Hollis is on her own. She tries to join a group at a local gaming store but they are misogynistic and fatphobic and homophobic and it was just really bad. Then she sees a flyer for a all-girls S & S game and she takes the jump and decides to go for it. She wants to fit in and relate more to her boyfriend and so she wants to learn how to play S & S.

Except Hollis wasn't expecting to find a ride or die group of girls who are badass and show her what friendship truly means. She wasn't expecting to find girls who support her and everything and don't want her to hide any part of herself. And she sure as hell wasn't expecting to find a romance with one of those girls.

The single flaw of this book is that it takes Hollis way to damn long to break up with her boyfriend. He occupies way too much space in this book and I would have loved to see them break up much earlier and Hollis kind of get to go on this journey of self-love and understanding her queerness without his shitty take in the back her mind.

I loved that Hollis doesn't settle on a label and is allowed to just exist. Her fatness and anxiety are treated with care and understanding and I just loved it so much.

"The no-girlfriend rule' is a book full of so much heart, joy, humor and hope. As someone who adored ttrpg's and the found family formed there, getting a sapphic romance formed at the campaign table with a fat anxious mc made me feel so so much joy.

This story is sweet, full of all the nerd joy you need. From discord conversations to character creation and joining the campaign, becoming as invested as all the main characters and experiencing all the joy right alongside them.

Was there some pointless drama with the mc's boyfriend? Sure. But did the found family and other romance and adventures more than make up for it? Absolutely. I desperately need more stories like this published. I can't wait to reread and reread again and then recommend this novel to everyone I can. This is what the sapphic romance genre needed.

That high pitched squeal you may be able to hear over the computer is me absolutely in love The No-Girlfriend Rule. Upon finishing my friend made the mistake of asking me what I thought and I literally just yelled "cute cute cuuuuuuute" at her. So, there you have it. This review is going to full of gushing and you have been warned in advance.

First off, as a person who adores all things gaming, I can 100% tell you that the gaming space in general is not always a very welcoming or inclusive space. It absolutely can be, and I feel like things are slowly getting better. But I felt Hollis' disappointment in my soul when she went to her first S&S game and was completely turned off by the way people acted. In fact, that's what drew me to this book in the first place. Hollis' boyfriend Chris and his "boy's only" club of gamers is something I am intimately familiar with. As is wanting to somehow find a way to "fit in" to gain entry.

Randall handles all of that beautifully. What follows is a story about Hollis not only finding a new group of amazing friends to play with, but also a story about her finding herself in the process. She realizes that she's been shrinking herself down, into smaller and smaller spaces, in order to fit in. Hollis is able to see what being with right group of people who support you, cheer you on, and of course make you feel good can really do for a person. Watching her grow, watching her emerge from the shell that had been holding her back, man it felt good. I may have even shed a few tears.

I also just really felt like the story did such justice to discussions of mental health, the stigma around taking medication regularly, the perils of being "odd" in high school, and so so so much more. Everything about this story felt inclusive, and not in a fake or trying too hard way. Hollis' band of friends were just a happy little found family navigating their different but still similar lives, partially in a fantasy world. And see, as a gamer that's what I love about role playing games. They can be made as a safe space to explore the parts of you that you aren't sure about tackling in the real world. They're a place to grow also, especially when you've got the right group surrounding you.

Argh, okay enough gushing because otherwise I'll go on for ages. I adored this book. I took but a single star off, only because I expected this to be a bit more romance than it was. If I did half stars though this would get a solid 4.5 from me. It's cute, it's funny, and it's filled with the types of healthy friendships that I really wish I had when I was Hollis' age. You might want to kick her obnoxious boyfriend and co. at the beginning, but trust me it gets better. Happy reading!

I did not expect this plot based on the title. Great representation, and very funny that it was one of two DND YA romances this season.

a really sweet, empowering tale of finding yourself through rpgs! i liked the romance element a lot and wish there were more books like this when i was growing up. i wish that the secondary characters were a bit more developed, but i think that hollis is a really great main character that young plus-size girls will be able to see themselves in. also love that this book doesn't force labels onto characters and just lets them exist.

I honestly didn't know what to expect when I started The No-Girlfriend Rule. I thought it would be a cute little story about RPGs, but it was honestly so much more. I absolutely adored this book and Hollis. I saw so much of myself in her and connected with her own so many levels.

The cast of characters was fantastic and they each were well developed. The story moved at a great pace, giving me just what I wanted from each moment. Honestly, a wonderful book with beautiful queer and nuerodivergent representation.

I can't even describe how much I adore this cover. So often with fat characters on book covers they are the "right kind of fat" meaning they have curves in the right places and no double chins etc. This cover is so real and I'm in love with it.

Thankfully I'm just as in love with the actual book. We have Hollis, who is fat, full of anxiety, and struggling HARD with comphet and her shitty ass boyfriend.

This all starts when Hollis wants to join her boyfriend's S&S game (think dungeons and dragons) But the friend group that plays the game has a no girlfriend rule meaning house is on her own. She tries to join a group at a local gaming store but they are misogynistic and fatphobic and homophobic and it was just really bad. Then she sees a flyer for a all-girls S&S game and she takes the jump and decides to go for it. She wants to fit in and relate more to her boyfriend and so she wants to learn how to play S&S.

Except Hollis wasn't expecting to find a ride or die group of girls who are badass and show her what friendship truly means. She wasn't expecting to find girls who support her and everything and don't want her to hide any part of herself. And she sure as hell wasn't expecting to find a romance with one of those girls.

The single flaw of this book is that it takes Hollis way to damn long to break up with her boyfriend. He occupies way too much space in this book and I would have loved to see them break up much earlier and Hollis kind of get to go on this journey of self-love and understanding her queerness without his shitty take in the back her mind.

I loved that Hollis doesn't settle on a label and is allowed to just exist. Her fatness and anxiety are treated with care and understanding and I just loved it so much.

Hollis desperately wants to learn how to play Secrets & Sorcery to bond with her boyfriend, Chris. The catch is there are no girlfriends allowed in his group, so she needs to find another to play with. After a failed attempted at fitting in and finding her spot at the table, she stumbles upon a flyer for a queer group, who become a cast of character readers will grow to adore. I loved watching Hollis fall in love with the game and find herself after struggling by being an outsider to her friend group. Gloria and the gang are such fun characters who truly make Hollis' experience enjoyable, as well as creating a positive image for all readers. Definitely a strong recommend for something lovely, light, and empowering.

Wow, I'm not sure yet, but I think this one is going to be a standout. I am not a D&D fan (and actually I feel like I don't really get the appeal), so the first chunk of the book was a bit sluggish for me. When Hollis went to her first game I got it -- the weird sweaty hyper-masc vibe is part of the reason I don't like D&D. Then in the first session she played with the girls, I felt like it was too much; it seemed like word for word an entire 3+ hour session, which just felt like filler. I get that the storyline of the game needed to be established, but I definitely feel like that could've been cut down. That being said, every session after that was a good summary/overview of what happened in the plot of the game, without detracting from the irl storyline.

And I think that's my only real qualm with the book. The characters were all believable and full and complex (though at times a little too emotionally well developed and caring to be 100% believable, but maybe that's just because I never met a compassionate teen when I was in high school lol), and the romance was well paced. I really felt the throngs of Hollis's ups and downs and good and bad decisions and I was able to clearly empathize with her, although my teenaged (and adult for that matter) life is completely different from hers.

I think this book give a good and healthy depiction of a nerdy coming out and falling in/out of love story, although at first I felt like it might be too niche and only cater to teens who like D&D. After finishing it, I'm not sure that's the case. The book uses D&D as a tool to tell a larger story about Hollis's coming into herself, and finding a self that she loves and respects.

The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall is a heartwarming young adult novel about finding yourself through finding true friends, the wonderful world of D&D (via Secrets & Sorcery), and the power and comfort true connection can provide. I adored Hollis, Aini, & the whole loveable crew—it felt like I was sitting in on a session with my own friends. I hope this novel inspires more readers to find community around their hobbies and to indulge in their nerdy side, it could be life changing!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

First of all, the No-Girlfriend Rule is bullshit. If you're new to role-playing games and are told that your partner's group doesn't allow girlfriends, I don't want you to have to spend time reading this (excellent) book to learn that that "rule" is manifest garbage, and you either need to find a new partner or your partner needs to find a better group. The only valid reasons for a GM not wanting you to join a table is a) they have their upper limit of players already, or b) they don't think your personality would be a good fit. Option b does indeed suck, but it's valid. Not everyone likes everyone else, but to pretend that the reason is "ew, girlfriends" is super cowardly.

That said, you should really read this book, especially if you're interested in gaming and are part of a traditionally underrepresented group in the hobby. So, basically, not a straight-passing cis white dude, tho straight-passing cis white dudes are absolutely encouraged to read this, too! Actually, every gamer or budding gamer should read this, so they know what's acceptable behavior (Gloria's group) and what's not (Landon's group, ugggh) when it comes to RPGs.

Anyway, the story itself is about Hollis, who's wanted to be a part of her boyfriend Chris' Secrets & Sorcery group for years. His Secret Keeper (basically the Dungeon Master) Landon is all "no girlfriends allowed". Landon, unsurprisingly, is a colossal asshole. But as their senior year of high school starts, Hollis feels insecure about moving too far apart from Chris, and decides that she needs to learn more about his favorite hobby even if he won't actually include her in it.

This leads to an unfortunate experience at a local game store (and hooooo boy, did I want to punch some of the stereotypical but not at all uncommon role-players she met there in the face) before she stumbles across a recruitment call for a girl- and LGBTQ+-friendly group. Gloria is the Secret Keeper for this group, which consists of her younger sister Fran, glamorous influencer Maggie, over-achieving Iffy and effortlessly cool Aini. They welcome Hollis in, even as Hollis herself isn't sure whether she'll be able to be "good" enough for the people she now finds herself surrounded by.

As Hollis learns to make new friends and to blossom as a person via role-playing, she also discovers an attraction to out and proud lesbian Aini. But Landon's cruel words from when she first told him and Chris that she was joining an RPG group of girls still ring in her head. Besides, Chris is her boyfriend. Wasn't the whole point of joining an S&S group so that she could learn more about his interests and get closer to him?

Reader, this book is not only a romance that made me swoon, it's also a book about the powers of role-playing as therapy, unintentional or otherwise. Gloria may literally be the best game master ever depicted in fiction, and she and the other girls are a terrific support group as Hollis struggles not only with her diagnosed anxiety but with the growing pains of being a young woman finding herself after years of trying to fade into the background. Christen Randall also writes a fine fantasy RPG campaign, as the girls project themselves into Gloria's storyline. Ms Randall's depiction of their group is so, so positive, even as she tacitly admits that a lot of times groups and players can be desperately maladjusted. The point is for gamers to find tables where they feel comfortable, and hopefully where they can also grow as people. Lord knows I've spent so much of my own semi-professional career as a Game Master and writer trying to encourage exactly that.

This excellent RPG-themed YA romance did not disappoint on any front, and I'm so glad I had the time to fit it into my busy reading schedule. It's incredibly worthwhile, and honestly essential reading for both novice players and experienced GMs who want to know how better to be inclusive and kind.

The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall was published March 5 2024 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781665939812">Bookshop!</a>

Wow! What an absolute gem of a novel! I'm not an RPG person, and to be honest I knew close to nothing about them. Something I loved about this novel was that it took a subject that's never interested me and had me totally enthralled! The girls always seemed like they were having so much fun. I absolutely loved the focus on genuine friendship and finding the people you can truly be yourself around. I saw myself in Hollis more times than I could count, and I am truly grateful this book exists.

This was very sweet! Feels more like a middle grade book as opposed to YA though. The gay panic, while true to life, didn't feel well-explored enough, and the trans rep was more of a 'blink and you miss it' nod than a real part of the character. The role-play got a little boring for me in parts, but I think to a kid that really loves D&D it would be perfect.

Hollis Beckwith is just trying to get through senior year. Fat, broke, and riddled with anxiety, she’s got enough on her plate. At least she has her boyfriend Chris to help her get by. Their relationship is nothing to write home about, but it’s comfortable and familiar and Hollis wants their relationship to survive even after school is over. To prove she’s worth keeping, she decides to learn his favourite tabletop roleplaying game Secrets & Sorcery. Forbidden to join her boyfriends’ game since “there are no girls allowed,” Hollis decides to find her own group to play with. Enter Gloria and her all-girls game crew! Together with five other girls, Hollis and her fictional character venture on a campaign that’s going to change lives—maybe even their real ones.

When an in-game crush develops between Hollis’ and Aini’s—the charismatic and gorgeous girl Hollis can’t really take her eyes off—characters, fake feelings spark into real ones as Hollis finds herself wondering whether she actually knows what she wants in life or has let someone else play her all along.

Oh, you just know this is going to be an absolute hit with anyone who’s ever played a roleplaying game or was told by guys that they can’t enjoy them because it’s only for boys. And to that I say, girls rule the world, get with the times, please.

Beyond intricate play-by-play game arcs, you also have wonderfully unique characters in The No-Girlfriend Rule.

Admittedly, Hollis frustrated me quite a lot in the beginning because she’s clearly in a toxic relationship where she isn’t valued or cherished at all and every time she does something good for herself and Chris reprimands her, she ends up taking his side and accepting the bounds of their relationship. It was hard to read (mostly because I think we’ve all been in one of those relationships where all our friends told us to leave and we just said ‘no this is fine’ while it decidedly was not) because it felt so relatable and you just wanted Hollis to have more in life than what she got.

That being said, though, I completely understand the choice to make her character stick to familiarity and trying not to rock the boat because she’s scared to find out who she would be outside of the relationship she has had so far. It makes for an incredible growth arc as she finds herself and comes to understand that her boyfriend is a piece of trash.

And talking about that piece of trash. Rarely have I wanted to slap a character this much. Chris got my blood boiling (and made me want to text my ex just to scream at him but that’s beside the point) with how granted he took Hollis and never stood up to her and was generally a walking red flag in every single situation. In one scene they’re driving in a car and Chris’s best friend Landon (who deserves to be strung up and tortured like back in the mediaeval times) were so incredibly rude to Hollis that I wanted to throw them out the moving vehicle and leave them in the dust.

So I’ll note this down as excellent storytelling because the portrayal of these two boys made me feel all the emotions but also be warned that this depiction might make you want to throw your book out the window and set fire to the world (in a chill way, obviously).

Moving on to happier things, the game group Hollis encounters was absolute bliss. Now, while my eyes sometimes glossed over reading the game play-by-play, I know that fans of tabletop games (or literally anyone who has a longer attention span than I do) will love how the game’s characters are interwoven seamlessly into the story and how Hollis gets to know her new friends through their characters and their quest. From Fran and Maggie who bring all the joy to Gloria who created a masterful campaign and Iffy who is the ride-or-die friend of the group you need on your side, everyone added so much to the friend group. And Aini was of course the cherry on top. Playful, charismatic, and caring, she has her heart at the right place.

Throughout their friendship and the eventual will-they-won’t-they vibes you could tell that this girl is one of a kind, not to mention the way she supported Hollis throughout her sexual identity crisis. There’s also a scene in which Hollis’ anxiety get really bad during a game session and the way everyone immediately did all they could to make her feel comfortable and not caged was incredible. And the aftermath was even more cathartic, I’m very glad Randall decided to include not just the panic attack but the way everyone dealt with it afterward, with no judgement. It’s a very healing scene.

Speaking of, the way anxiety was represented in this book was genius. It starts with small things like Hollis editing all her messages in the discord group chat (been there) because she’s hesitant to say the wrong thing and really shows just how diverse anxiety can be experienced.

All in all, this book proved to be a promising debut.

A sweet, soft story about finding yourself and the joy of finding friends that just get you, The No-Girlfriend Rule is for everyone who ever felt more comfortable playing a character in life than being the main one.

I’m always a bit hesitant going in to romance books, even more so when they’re YA. But I still wanted to give this a chance because it’s plus size queer rep, and I loved it! While this is a romance book, it does a great job focusing on making the effort to be a better person and examine biases you may have. Also that you shouldn’t change to make people like you, they should like you for who you are.

Hollis is very relatable to my teenage self and if I’d had her story to read in high school, maybe I would have realized I wasn’t straight sooner. I love that her fatness, even when it’s referenced antagonistically, it’s done in a way to explain that fat isn’t bad, just a part of who Hollis is. And then also the little things of living in a fat body that don’t get written about, the most notable to me is when Hollis drops her phone in the car and has to get it from the floorboard.

The relationship between Hollis and Aini is so cute and the friendship they form with their Secrets & Sorcery group is wonderful. Hollis and Iffy’s friendship is just as important as Hollis and Aini’s relationship. This book has also only strengthened my desire to learn how to play Dungeons & Dragons.

Thank to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read several books just this year that feature tabletop RPGs (role-playing games). I love that so many books feature characters who play games like this, and this one is up near the top of my favorites.

In order to write a story like this well, I feel like the author has to really balance drawing the reader into the scenes of what’s happening in-game but also make it clear that this is unfolding in the characters’ imaginations. Christen Randall does that so well here. The in-game scenes are immersive but without losing the experience of characters playing the game.

I really liked the way the game itself echoed some of the themes of the story in Hollis’s life. It’s the best example of an in-game versus in-story parallel that I think I’ve seen. As Hollis herself comes to a crossroads where she has to face some hard truths and take action, so does her character, Honoria Steadmore.

I also LOVED the development of the friendships between the girls and the way that spending time with them helped Hollis to become more comfortable and confident as a person. That happened so gradually and organically that I didn’t even notice it until her boyfriend pointed it out. I felt like I had the same reaction to him as Hollis did, which was really cool– definitely made what was happening feel like it made perfect sense.

All in all, I think readers hungry for more stories about people playing Dungeons and Dragons-like games (Hollis and her friends play Secrets and Sorcery) will find so much to love here. Readers looking to celebrate female relationships will also find lots to love. I think this is a debut? It’s fabulous– I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

First off, hey, I was born and raised in Ohio, and one of my best friends lives in Cincinnati, so through our college years and all the years since, I have spent a decent amount of time in the Cincinnati/Covington area, so this was nice, because it felt like home to me…which is honestly something I’ve been missing the past couple years since we moved to Iowa.

Second, this is another book that features some not nice male geeks, the kind who basically treat TTRPGs like a dude-only space, and it’s so frustrating. I know this sort of thing happens, and I see gate keeping sentiments in social media comment threads and I’ve had it happen a couple times to me at conventions and such. Come on guys. Ladies can be geeks too.

Anyway, I could see how things were going to go with Hollis and Chris, because frankly Chris and his gaming group all sucked. And I loved everyone in Gloria’s group. They were all so welcoming and different, and I honestly want more stories with this group of friends/adventurers.

And the in-game and out-of-game relationship development between Hollis and Aini was just….fantastic. I did not want to put this book down. It was so great and I loved seeing the nurturing and welcoming space that a good gaming group can be, especially when they all really start becoming friends.

They say that the party that slays together, stays together, and a solid group is a rare and wonderful thing.

In my review on Goodreads, I called this my favorite read of the year so far, and one that would be difficult to dethrone. That was at the end of January. Tomorrow’s book review is a close contender, and then I just finished another book that is definitely towards the top of my favorite reads of the year list. I guess when I start doing my favorite reads posts, I’ll have more of an idea.

But this was a great book that gave us both the real life teen drama as well as the in-game adventure, with bonds of friendship running through both story lines.

I can definitely say that this is a book I will read again, because I very much enjoyed it, and I can absolutely recommend it.