This was a cute YA romance, based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and brought into a California high school setting. Viola Reyes and Jack "Duke" Orsino may be very different people at first glance but they find connection as the story progresses.

Jack suffers from a season ending football injury, one that makes him doubt his future and his prospects and that leads him to fear disappointing his football focused family and coach dad.

Viola is a complex character who is frustrated and angered by the frank sexism of the gaming and fandom world she loves. She is lonely, although she's not ready to admit that, and channels her frustration mostly into activities and a bit of a thorny personality that is hard to engage with.

Fate brings them together and they find similarities that they never would have expected. The way the story transposes Shakespeare's characters and situations into the high school milieu is very clever and worked quite well, better than I expected in fact.

The characters grow along the course of the story and find themselves becoming more of a support system for each other. They slowly come out of their shells, the personas they don as armor to protect themselves from the world around them, and learn to like each other and rely on each other. And somehow enjoy each others company.

The secondary characters are good and fit the story well. This book had a very 10 Things I Hate About You vibe. which is high praise from me.

It works quite well as a teen romance and the story and characters are engaging and entertaining.

Usually, young adult romance isn’t my cup of tea, but I had to pick up Alexene Farol Follmuth's new release, because I have heard amazing things about her books penned under her other name Olivie Blake.

“Twelfth Knight” genuinely surprised me! Mixing Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” with the world of gaming was a clever and unique spin that kept things interesting and modern.

One aspect that stood out to me was the main female character, Vi. I’ve seen a lot of people critique her for being "bitchy," but I actually appreciated her intelligence and independence. It’s not often you come across such a strong, unapologetic female lead in young adult novels, and Vi’s character brought a depth to the story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

"Twelfth Knight" seamlessly merges classic literature with contemporary issues, and the vibrant culture of gaming into an engaging and unique read. For someone who usually avoids young adult romance, it was quite enjoyable.

I would definitely recommend this to young readers, as well as adults who like YA stories or have an interest in the MMORPG world.

Thank you Netgalley, Tor Publishing Group | Tor Teen, and Alexene Farol Follmuth for the eARC.

Twelfth Knight is out now!

This is a delightful YA romance with complex characters who struggle to make connections. I thought I'd struggle to connect to this book because of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Viola is an interesting character. She’s angry and frustrated with the sexism she experiences in life, and she’s even more frustrated by the people in her life who refuse to acknowledge it. For the first part of the book, she’s not very likable — and she openly admits that she isn’t. She’s not trying to be likable. Because of her somewhat abrasive personality, I wasn’t sure I was going to like the book. However, as the book went on and I got to know her better, it becomes more clear why she is the way she is. She accepts her flaws but also is able to embrace the good side of those flaws. I loved how she — and I as the reader — became more accepting of who she is and shows that women don’t need to bend their personalities and preferences to make everyone else more comfortable. While she has room to grow and can change to be better, she doesn’t have to be anything she isn’t. As a teenager who wasn’t always very likable, I grew to absolutely adore Vi.

Similarly, Jack is a character I didn’t think I’d like. I’ve never had any interest in the football star jock types. But Jack’s way of slowly starting to look at things from a different perspective as well as try new activities while dealing with possibly his entire life plans falling to pieces around him endeared me to him.

The way these characters come together and get a stronger support system not only in each other but in the people around them is very sweet, and it made the overall book feel sweet and hopeful in the way a teen romance book like this should. The banter between the characters was great, and the evolution of their relationship, both online and in-person, develops naturally and satisfactorily. The rest of the cast of characters add a lot of spark to the story. Although I was frustrated with several of those characters, I liked how they reflect life. Sometimes, not everybody apologizes or learns but you learn to move on with relationships anyway.

Fans of teen rom-coms in the 2000s will likely appreciate the energy of this book. It felt at home next to stories like 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s All That, and, of course in this case, She’s the Man, but updated for a 2020s audience. Overall, this is a great addition to the teen romance genre. The standout characters and how they handle their relationships and life challenges make the book vibrant and satisfying.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own and were not influenced by receiving a copy.

I didn’t get to finish this book, I got a new Amazon prime account and my kindle deleted everything associated with my previous account including all of my downloads and I only just figured out why it wasn’t appearing whenI tried re-sending to my kindle multiple times. Now I’ve finally found the source of my problem and changed/updated the kindle email and can now download books again. It really messed up my reviews for all of the books I’d requested over the past few months, I apologize. I liked what I was able to read so that’s what I’m rating.

This was a fun, easy read! Had a great time getting to know these characters and experiencing this coming of age tale. Would recommend this to anyone looking for a light hearted YA romance!

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night retelling taking place in the pits of hell, aka high school.

Reasons I loved this book:
- Viola is unapologetically "mean" (as in she refuses to dim her light for subpar boys and isnt afraid to say what she means at all times). So obviously I adore her.
- Olivie Blake wrote about high school football and I was sat.
- Really well fleshed out characters, main and side.
- Love story that was earnest and true to 17 year olds

Thanks to netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

🗡️ Book Review 🗡️
|| Twelfth Knight ||
|| Author: Alexene Farol Follmuth ||
Format: ebook
Read from: October 16, 2024 to October 18, 2024
2024 RG: 122/100

MCs: Jack and Viola

🖤 YA
🖤 Dual pov
🖤 Slow burn
🖤 Secret identity
🖤 Reverse grumpy x sunshine
🖤 Enemies to lovers
🖤 Video gaming

Viola Reyes has always been a loner. She doesn’t let people get too close to her very often- they always end up hurting her in the end anyway. She isn’t well liked in her school. And she has faced several sexist encounters within her “nerdy fandom.” But online, she plays as a male avatar. And she can just be. Until one day, she plays with someone with a very familiar username.

Jack Orsino is a legacy football star. Everything is looking up for him: perfect girlfriend, perfect football games, perfect college plan. But when he gets a serious knee injury during a game, he has to reevaluate everything that he once thought was perfect. He finds his escape by secretly playing an online game that he had deemed as “nerdy.” And while he’s falling for Vi irl, he thinks he is playing Twelfth Knight with her brother.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5/5

“In everything you love, he’s there too, and real or not, you can exist in every universe with ease because of him. Because for every version of him, there is a corresponding one of you.”

PATRICK IS BACK & BETTER THAN E V E R!

Thank you ‎G.P. Putnam's Sons and Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted copies of "The Guncle Abroad." Steven Rowley's latest is out now!

Did we need a sequel to "The Guncle?" Absolutely not but I am not going to refuse when Steven Rowley says "Hey everyone! Have a whole new book where your favorite characters go on another adventure that will fill your heart with joy." Yes, you saw that right. Everyone is back and we're all going to explore Europe together.

This was truly a delight. I don't know how you could not love Patrick, Grant and Maisy just living life together again. My favorite part about this book is the big lessons we learn are all surrounding love. We obviously continue to get nods of "The Guncle Rules" which we know Patrick loves to throw into the world but this time the kiddos learn all about "Guncle Love Languages." Dare I say they might be better than Patrick's rules? All the love languages are filled with Patrickisms and will make you swoon or giggle.

Your heart strings will be pulled. You will cry happy tears (I did. The letter (IFYKYK)). You will snort with laughter. It is the emotional ride that I love taking. So if you loved "The Guncle" why not take a staycation with you're favorite gang of three and go to Europe?

To sum up all my thoughts on this book... why is Grant such a mood? The best literary goofball ever. His comedic timing and his innocence just makes me the happiest ever.

🎧 This is a PSA that Steven Rowley needs to do more audiobook narration. He is perfect at it. So obviously, I have no complaints about this audio rendition of "The Guncle Abroad" because Steven Rowley himself narrates. He NAILS performing this book and it made my whole life that Grant's lisp continues to appear even in his preteen years.

🥐 Everyone from "The Guncle" Returns
🥐 Europe
🥐 Weddings
🥐 Hilarious
🥐 Emotional
🥐 Navigating Getting Older
🥐 Highly Recommend the Audiobook

Twelfth Knight is the perfect blend of contemporary romance and Shakespearean flair. I loved how the author mimicked Shakespeare through her prose and how she infused it with her own writing style. The plot feels both timeless and fresh, drawing readers into a world where love and deception intertwine.

The characters have vivid personalities and sometimes vastly different personal motivations. From the charming protagonist caught in a web of mistaken identity, to the witty ensemble of supporting players (my fav!), each character is has a level of depth that you don't often find.

Overall, Twelfth Knight was a fun read that fans of Shakespearean retellings like 10 Things I Hate About You and other contemporary romance will enjoy. Thank you to the author, Alexene Farol Follmuth, and Tor Publishing Group for an advanced copy of Twelfth Night!

Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth is a modern young adult fantasy romance that spins a Shakespearean twist into a contemporary high school setting. The story follows Callie, a shy but talented girl who finds herself caught between two love interests—one a popular classmate and the other a mysterious girl with ties to an ancient magical order. Inspired by Twelfth Night, the book explores themes of identity, love, and the magical forces that linger in the world.

The premise of the novel is fun, and I appreciate Follmuth’s clever nod to classic literature. The blending of romance, fantasy, and Shakespearean influence is a creative concept that adds depth to the usual high school drama. There are plenty of swoon-worthy moments, witty dialogue, and relatable teen struggles, all set against the backdrop of a magical mystery that slowly unravels.

However, despite the book’s promising setup, it didn’t completely hold my attention. While the characters are likeable, Viola's development felt a bit flat at times. Her journey lacked the spark I was hoping for.

Overall, Twelfth Knight is an enjoyable read, especially for those who love modern retellings and lighthearted fantasy romance. But for me, while it had charm, it didn’t completely draw me in or leave a lasting impression.

Alexene Farol Follmuth has create an extremely interesting re-telling with this book. Using the world of online identities to represent the miscommunication and alternate characters is extremely smart and done extremely well. I had a great time with these characters, and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

At first glance, this does not appear to be something I'd typically enjoy - and I was partially right. While I found this book to be partially mediocre, there were still some aspects of it that I enjoyed.

Our main characters are two vastly different people. There's Violet, who isn't really a people person and finds them challenging and difficult to be around (I can relate to this), and Jack, who is a proud owner of the Golden Retriever Personality and beloved by everyone (except Violet, obviously). But then everything changes when Jack suddenly breaks his leg, putting his promising athletic future in jeopardy, and he ends up playing video games with Violet every night - but he doesn't know it's her.

I'm already not a huge fan of the author's writing style, having read a couple of other books by her, and this was no exception. I'm not a huge fan of Violet's character in general, and the way she's express her frustrations through these long rants that were pages and pages long - not something I'm particularly impressed by, as I sometimes found them unimportant to the story. I did like the layers of characterization though, and the complexities of the relationship between Violet and Jack.

In the end, I found this book pretty predictable, as most YA romances tend to be, and not something I'd likely gravitate toward in the future.

Twelfth Knight was an adorable young adult story. Bt I do not believe it was for me, However I can see why someone would give it five stars.

This book is EVERYTHING GIVE ME 14 OF EM RIGHT NOW.

I love a Shakespeare retelling and Twelfth Night retellings specifically are superior. Add in RPGs and cons and you have a GOLDEN young adult contemporary romance. The forced proximity and mistaken identity in The Twelfth Night were sooooo good in this retelling. I loved how this book was so obviously a retelling but was also extremely unique.

Vi was a super fun main character to follow because she thought she was a mean person and didn't care. She thought that because she was abrasive, that meant people couldn't like her. Jack was a super fun main character to follow because he realized for the first time that fandom and fantasy were fun. He was also a fun character to follow because he accepted Vi for who she was without judgement, but he still expected good things from her.

This was written SOOO well and I can't wait until I have my own copy and can highlight it. It's my favorite book by this author so far!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly, I've been putting off reviewing this book for months, because I didn't have much to say about it. While the characters were okay, they didn't stand out at all to me and the romance didn't feel very special at all. I know Viola is supposed to be an unlikeable character, yet it became a bit much at times and made me not care very much about her or what she wants. I did like the role-playing video game addition to the story and how Viola and Jack bonded over it, but I think there could have been a bigger focus on it. One thing that is a bit irrational yet irked me nonetheless was the inside cover art. Don't get me wrong, the art is stunning, but it brings up a problem I had with the story. The super high fantasy illustration with the characters' players in the game feels so out of place and made me think that the book would lean way into the RPG game, when it really didn't go far enough.

Bottom line: This isn't a bad book, per se, but I think there's other books out there in this genre that I'd recommend to other people over this one.

Alexene Farol Follmuth is such a gifted YA author. She manages to tell cute, YA romance stories while discussing important and relevant things, and never ruins the balance of the two. This one follows Viola, a girl who loves gaming, tabletop roleplaying games, and all other aspects of nerd culture, and Jack, a popular football player who falls into gaming after an injury that threatens his sports career. Its real opposites attract story and follows the setup of the Shakespeare play with almost the same name, in a bare bones' way. There's hidden identity in an online game, and its great way to explore the sexism and harassment women in these spaces face. Viola's experiences in fandom have made her jaded and angry, giving her an arc that feels very complex and relatable, and deeper than what is often presented in YA stories. She does come off as very unlikable at times, but its always understandable. Jack also has a great arc, and the ways they help each other are very sweet and make them easy to root for as a couple. There's also a great supporting cast, who I would read full books about on their own.

Ultimately, I would not hesitate to recommend this to teen readers who have gotten excited about Dungeons and Dragons, or fandom in general. I'd also recommend it to readers who are looking for romance with a little something more, and while I'm not sure it'd fit into our small collection, I'd be excited to get it through inter-library loan often.

A Reese book club pick for YA readers. A fun love story that follows the trope of the nerd and the jock. A cute love story for those YA Gamers.

Book 24 of 2024 - ✅! Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group | Tor Teen and Alexene Farol Follmuth for an ARC of Twelfth Night by Alexene Farol Follmuth in exchange for my honest review.

10 Things I Hate About You. Clueless. She’s the Man. Iconic movies and brilliantly done adaptations of Shakespeare plays into movies. When I saw Twelfth Night by Alexene Farol Follmuth, I KNEW I was the target audience and requested it immediately on NetGalley.

In my quest to get through all of the book I’d requested and were sitting in my queue it took me longer than I would have liked to get to it.

After suffering an injury during a football game that renders him unable to play for the rest of the school year, Jack “Duke” Orsino turns to the online game Twelfth Night for comfort and community. It’s there that he meets the online persona Cesario, who, unbeknownst to Jack, is the online alter ego to Viola “Vi” Reyes. Vi, like Jack, turns to the game as an escape as well, and the 2 bond over late-night conversation while playing the game. In this gender-bending adaption of Twelfth Night, Follmuth does do a good job of brining Shakespeare to that same audience that loves the movies I mentioned at the beginning of this review, but the book felt slightly too long for me. However, Follmuth gets major points for diversity all-around.

3/5 ⭐️ overall. 🌶️ scale is not relevant here as it’s a YA book. While I don’t happen to participate in the larger book clubs, this is one of Reese’s Book Club picks. 💻 ⚔️ 🏈 #NetGalley #twelfthnight

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this title. It was an absolute blast.

I loved the characters and the struggles they had individually. I liked how they fit together to grow in the ways they needed to.

I loved how celebrated "nerd" culture was, and the patriarchal issues within the space.

This was a book I would have loved as a kid, and I am glad that teens have this now.

Twelfth Knight delivers a realistic tale of high school drama, qualms with yourself as you're growing up, and the unexpected consequences of personal injury. I was a big fan of the main character, Viola. I feel as if a lot of people will say she's too mean, or unbearable to read, but I grew up as that girl who was closed off from everyone because she was afraid that being lonely was easier than being loved and then abandoned. Both main characters have nontraditional family situations. Jack's parents are divorced but co-parent very easily and Viola lives with her single mother who has historically used romance and dating as a social experiment. Both versions of these nontraditional families feel very realistic.

The biggest let down for me was the very beginning of the story. There was a lot of exposition that needed to happen before the two main characters are even in each other's paths (besides them being in Student Government together where they don't really communicate either). There's a lot of setup for both ConQuest and Twelfth Knight, but only follow through on Twelfth Knight. I think to be able to move the story along a little be more there could've been lest focus on ConQuest.

All in all, it was an average book that delivered a very lovely ending that had me rooting for everyone!