Finally, we have Alexene Farol Follmuth’s wonderful TWELFTH KNIGHT (Tor Teen, 320 pp., $19.99), where a multiplayer online game provides an opportunity for unexpected romance and self-understanding.

Viola Reyes, 17, is sick of the sexism that haunts her daily life, so in her favorite Arthurian quest game she plays as a young man named Cesario. But when the local high school football hero Jack “Duke” Orsino joins in while he heals from a brutal knee injury, she panics and tells him she’s not Viola, but her twin brother, Sebastian. Late nights and quest teamwork soon break down the walls between them, but the more time passes, the more insidious that first little untruth becomes. Or, as the real Sebastian puts it, “YOUR HOUSE OF LIES IS GOING TO CRUMBLE, VIOLA!”

Teen Shakespeare retellings are often fun, but they’re not often this Shakespearean. The feelings here are baroque in scope, and every interaction feels fraught with significance. It’s delicious: Viola is furious, stubborn and self-righteous, the antithesis of Jack’s breezy but deliberate charm. It’s to Follmuth’s credit that the book is less interested in fixing their flaws than in putting them in tune with themselves and each other. Because identity is not just about who you are, but also about the choices you make — whether you raise your sword for a just cause or choose to take refuge in the shadows.

Thank you for the opportunity to read Twelfth Knight. I really appreciated how the mc still had things to learn and grow and embraced that. It captured how tough being a teen is, especially in spaces that aren't welcoming but one is determined to stay in that space and make it safe for themselves and others to feel like they belonged somewhere. There's a lot of heart in Twelfth Knight and I'll be adding it to my library for my kid to read someday.

I loved this book it was so fantastic to read and I got sucked into it from the very start. Plus sports? Yea pleaseee

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for gifting me this advanced reader copy.

Honestly I don’t know why I requested this book. I am absolutely not the target audience, because of that I didn’t enjoy this book very much. I think there’s a lot of people who are going to eat this book up and love everything about it. The writing was nice and the storyline was really fun! I’m not exactly in the YA category of reading anymore nor do I like Shakespeare.

The FMC was really annoying at times, I had a hard time rooting for her when she acted the way she did. I think the romance was really sweet and there were some parts that made me giggle but I really had a hard time finishing this one.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This whole book can be summed up in one word: cute! The romance was cute, the characters were cute, the banter was cute. I loved the way the story showed a strong female main characters learning that being vulnerable and letting down her walls doesn't mean she has to sacrifice her strength or morals in the process. Great insight to a lot of the pressures that high schoolers feel across all different interest levels.

I love anything Olivie writes and this will be no exception even if it's a different voice than her usual Atlas Six and fantasy works. It was fun to see her branch into a new world and i think she did YA modern really well. A good retelling of shakespear - and i loved all the little references to modern worlds.

Thank you to Tor Teen for the eARC.

I really resonated with Viola.

In my real life career, I am very good at my job—and sometimes that means people perceive me as bitchy, when no one would ever say that if I was a man. So the things Viola goes through (men telling her to smile, boys expecting her to be desperate for a date) are unfortunately things that still happen in today’s society. So I was glad she stood her ground and didn’t give in, even when her so-called BFF acted like Viola was the problem.

But despite how heavy some of the themes are, Twelfth Knight still felt like a cute and lighthearted YA read. The banter between Viola and Jack, their friendship evolution online, the well-written side characters of Olivia and Sebastian; it all felt put together beautifully into a cohesive and enjoyable read.

I did want a bit more romance between the two, but hey, they are also busy high school students—they barely had time together at all. Side note: I don’t remember being this busy during high school…but we also had dial-up internet sooooooooooo take that as you will.

Overall, Twelfth Knight was a cute and fun read that I couldn’t put down.

DNF 40%

Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth is a a YA romance and coming of age story. I was not thrown off by the gamer culture, but I was sad to see the FMC being so unlikeable. Olivie Blake is a good and versatile writer, but maybe contemporary stories are not her thing. Her other fantasies are much more entertaining. I was supremely disinterested in this and just slowly stopped reading it.

Until Next Time,
MC

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to this ARC.

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.