In Twelfth Knight Viola Reyes is a high school student, who loves multiplayer role-playing games, in particular "Twelfth Knight." When her tabletop game team rejects an original game she created, her best friend suggests she try being nicer, and the Student body President and star quarterback Jack "Duke" Orsino leaves all the school event planning to her, Viola retreats into online game play. Then Jack has a season ending injury and decides to begin playing Twelfth Knight. Viola has disguised herself as a male player, Cesario, to avoid the misogynist attitudes of guys who play the game. Cesario and Duke begin teaming up and are surprisingly successful together. As Jack begins falling for her in real life, Viola worries about what will happen when he discovers the truth about her Cesario identity. A quick way to introduce students to the classic is to read the picture book Twelfth Night: For Kids by Lois Burdett aloud, so that kids will recognize all the references to the classic in this clever retelling.

thank you to netgalley and tor for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. all opinions are my own.

despite officially giving up on the author’s adult books after flop upon flop, i was still very excited for this book. my mechanical romance proved that she can write a romance that’s fun and light but still moving. twelfth knight has convinced me to give up on the author entirely.

as a lighter critique, there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of teenagers at times that’s almost funny—the idea that most teenage boys don’t play video games (and no teenage girls play), that teenage boys wouldn’t like this world’s version of game of thrones unless it’s as a guilty pleasure. obviously there’s more but these two things were so glaring—game of thrones JUST ended and teenage boys obsessively playing video games is literally one of the most common stereotypes??

i really, really struggle to find much good to say about this book. that being said, trying to write out beat for beat everything that bothered me about twelfth knight will only frustrate me, which doesn’t feel worth the effort. in summary, i spent most of the book annoyed and struggling to power through. viola was an infuriating main character and the author’s personal opinions that showed through were …. interesting.

this wasn’t all bad, though (and the sad part is this is still a top three olivie blake/alexene farul follmuth book for me, out of the 8 i’ve read). i really liked jack—he was absolutely the highlight of the book, and i don’t know that i would’ve made it through without his POV. overall, i felt his personal character arc was great, even if i didn’t love the romance or the moral that being passionate about something you’re good at and built your life around is stupid if it’s a sport (??? why). the side characters were pretty good too; olivia was lovely, bash and vi’s mom were usually fun, and antonia deserved much better.

4/5 ⭐️
I will forever and always be a sucker for a cute, YA romcom, but I walked into this story with high expectations because I already love this author’s adult books and her fanfics. And I wasn’t disappointed. Though, j will say, from what I’ve gathered from other reviewers, you either are or you’re not a fan of her writing style. I personally fall solidly in the former. But I recognize it’s a little distinct and not for everyone.
I loved that in this book, the author continues her usual MO of creating unlikable characters that I adore. And that is a large aspect to Viola’s story. Because she’s tough and unwilling to make herself smaller, especially in male dominated worlds, she’s often labeled a bitch. “Why should I have to shrink myself down so they can feel big?” And I loved that in this story, the love interest doesn’t try to change her, or she doesn’t soften around him, he loves her for exactly the way she is, thorns and all. Meanwhile, Jack’s journey was one that I think is near universal. The what am I going to do with my life. I remembered experiencing it when I was a senior. Then again when I graduated college. My friends experienced. The high schoolers I used to coach experienced it. So it’s always nice to see this experience used in YA books, helping to show you’re not alone, and you don’t need to have everything figured out right now.
I love that this is very much inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. It was reminding so much of other Shakespeare retellings that were popular in the early 2000s like 10 Things I Hate About You and She’s the Man.
Honestly there’s so many other things I loved about this story that I could on and on about. However, I won’t bore you with, and instead share why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars. My only complaints was that I thought Viola’s narrative was stronger than Jacks. Jack’s was still stronger than many other stories I’ve read, but hers just felt a little more real and complex. I also didn’t love the info dumping we got in the beginning. But it pretty much stopped by chapter 3.
I can not recommend this book enough. It was so cute. I was literally kicking my feet and giggling, especially when they bantered. But I was also highlighting just amazing lines. Please check this book out.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

“I think it might be more than that. I think I like the game because it's.. an escape. Because it’s somewhere that isn’t my life or my problems.”

“I were hurting, and you couldn't have told me. I would have been there for you. “I tried to be there for you, Viola, so many times.”“I think it might be more than that. I think I like the game because it's.. an escape. Because it’s somewhere that isn’t my life or my problems.”

“I were hurting, and you couldn't have told me. I would have been there for you. “I tried to be there for you, Viola, so many times.”

Vi is a girl who believes that everyone has a problem with her and her classmates defend her as problematic, she likes to cosplay and is very sentimental. Jacks is like the popular boy that everyone loves and who has a lot of problems but hides them and plays football. Jacks asks Vi for help to talk to his girlfriend since he is having dating problems. Vi offers to help him if he does his volunteer hours at the school. Albos play a game, Jack thinks he is playing with Vi's brother but he is not.

It's very long to have 17 chapters, my kindle said 10 hours. It's difficult to stay hooked at the
beginning, I would say that at 3 it starts to go well.

My favorite characters were Bash and Olivia. I already saw what was happening to Olivia coming and why she didn't want to be with Jack but I still liked it when she told Vi it was so cute. The best thing is the development of the characters and how they knew each other. I loved Olivia and Vi's friendship, not to mention Bash, I loved every moment of that character.

A long read but highly recommended.
4\5

So I ended up having to DNF this about 50% of the way in because I hated everything about this.... Vi and Jack are two of the most unlikable characters I've ever read. I also had a major problem with the way DnD was portrayed in this because I've been a player for YEARS and this shows the role playing community in such a bad light. It's going to be rare that you find a super sexist player because they don't care what gender you are, they're more likely to get mad at your for failing a stealth check or for not bringing your dice. Most nerds who play DnD could care less about anything when it comes to the actual game. As long as you remember your spells and don't purposefully mess over you're group, generally you'll be okay. I've never been treated badly in the DnD space because of being a girl so it was frustrating to not only have one sexist player, but an entire group of them. It's just super unrealistic and is detrimental to a community that is already seen in a bad light.

That aside, I just didn't like any of the characters and the writing felt incredibly cheesy. It just wasn't it sadly. I had such high hopes for this since I generally love YA romance and Shakespeare so this seemed like the perfect combination.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I devoured this book in a single day. The concept sounded fun and interesting to me from the start, but I was absolutely sucked in by the writing style and the full and rich characters throughout the story. I fully expected the story to be entirely fluff, but I was pleasantly surprised by the reality of the difficult emotions and struggles with self worth and value. I highly recommend this book to essentially anyone.

I'll be completely honest. I was a little scared reading the first page of this book. Imagine that person cheering "Sports!" at a game - that's me. So opening it up and reading several pages about a football game from the viewpoint of a player who clearly understands it? Well, I was lost.

I am so, so glad I kept going. It was wonderful. I laughed out loud multiple times while reading it, and I think it's such a heartwarming story about finding out who you are. Looking at how you handle relationships, learning to grow, and embracing things that are new. I enjoyed both journeys for our main characters, and learned a bit about football in the process.

Oh - I have to mention that the "War on Thrones" show the characters watch had me laughing multiple times. It was hilarious, and I enjoyed trying to figure out who was who. I also loved all the DnD references, cosplay, the ren faire, and the Con. It brought in different cultural knowledge, had LGBTQ+ characters figuring out who they were, and so much more.

This is a truly lovely novel, and I hope all those who need to read it, who need to see this message, find it. Be you. There is so much joy in it.

DNF at 33%. I really tried to get into it, but I just couldn't. The chapters are too long, there's about 20 chapters and each one takes me about 30-40 minutes and they feel endless. Main characters are annoying, but that's how they're supposed to be, I guess, since they're teenagers.

Our FMC and MMC are written so similarly, that I found myself forgetting which POV I was reading. I really tried to give it a chance, but I just couldn't do it.

This is a Shakespeare retelling with grumpy x sunshine, slow burn, and enemies to lovers. It has many important lessons with the characters figuring out where they belong, surviving the day, caring, and love. It has a cute romcom vibes with realistic problems and it was perfect for the YA readers. It took me a little bit to get into but overall was a cute, quick read. If you get the chance to read it and in the mood for a romcom, pick this one up. You might find your next favorite.

omg I loved this!! The characters were developed extremely well they felt like real people to me. Also this felt like the perfect teen romcom! It was so fun to read!

This is definitely a cute story! It was not exactly what I was expecting, I was thinking there would be more actually “fantasy” in this book. Not just about teenagers who like to play fantasy video games. The ending was very predictable, but I still enjoyed reading this book. If you have watched the show supernatural and liked the character Charlie you will definitely like Vi. I would definitely recommend this book to others to read.

""There's no such thing as a stupid question," she recites. (Her mom is a teacher.)
"Any questions you could answer within five seconds of deductive thought is a stupid question, but okay," I reply."

"As far as I can tell, most marriages are just a man purchasing his own housekeeper, cook, nanny, and life coach, all for the low, low price of two months' salary towards a diamond ring."

Viola Reyes knows who and what she is, and she isn't afraid of being herself: cosplaying, MMORPGs, table-top games, Renaissance Faires, all AP classes, and what some might consider a bad attitude. Vi is a POC and finds herself in male-dominated spaces and places where she has to defend her every action and word, and she's tired of it. (Aren't we all). Vi loses herself in Twelfth Knight, an online game where she can play as a man and not be harassed.

Jack, also known as Duke because he's practically football royalty, is having a bad time. His girlfriend is avoiding him and oh yeah: he tore his ACL during his senior season and is out of commission for the foreseeable future. The football team was likely headed to State, and he has a college scholarship for football on the line. While Jack is recovering from surgery, his friend introduces him to Twelfth Knight to help him pass the time. Unbeknownst to him, the player he teams up with in the game is actually Vi and not her twin brother Bash.

What a fun retelling of Twelfth Night! This comes close to my love of She's the Man, which is the highest of high compliments. I really enjoyed how steeped in fan culture the book was (War of Thorns was a pretty clear allusion to Game of Thrones, and BOY can I relate to the scene where they tear apart the ending).

People kept underestimating, undermining. and misinterpreting Viola. I was Viola at that age, and to some extent I'm still her: it's hard to move around the world confidently and not be labeled a bitch. The depiction of how women are treated in fan spaces is so on the nose, I honestly got upset. Antonia is NOT a girl's girl, and the fact that she kept undermining Viola was infuriating. However, Jack and Vi's romance was so sweet, and I love how Viola didn't really change who she was at the core.

This story was so fun, funny, and engaging. My library has already purchased this title, and you can be sure that I will recommend it as soon as the street date hits!

So, full disclosure, I read this book 40% of the way through and then skimmed the dialogue of the rest. This book wasn't really my cup of tea, however I still want to give it 3 stars because I think this could DEFINITELY be someone else's cup of tea. I think this book really is geared for it's YA audience which is maybe why it didn't really hit for me. There was a lot of text about the game they were playing that honestly got boring for me. The FMC was a little too.. angry? I know that was the point but it was so much that I didn't even really like her anymore. I also think there was a lot of talk about feminism and inequality that felt very in your face BUT I think that may be good for a teenager. Also, another personal preference thing, the chapters were really long which makes it harder for me to get into a book.

Overall, not my fav, but I think it might be because it was written well for it's intended YA audience.

3.5/5

modern Shakespeare re-telling? with well-rounded female characters who play tabletop RPG games and go to geeky conventions? SIGN ME UP

I loved the cozy culture of the book and seeing everyone explore their love of all things nerdy was so cute but I think I might just be too cynical for this book. Vi is a girl after my own heart in more ways than one which made it hard for me to sympathize with any other character. Every time she was called out for "being a bitch" I thought it was a completely justified reaction and everyone else was being unreasonable. I wanted to defend her so many times because of course she could be nicer about it but she sure as hell doesn't have to be! Although I admire her personal growth and her attempt to connect with her friends and family, I'm glad she got to do it on her terms and not because she was trying to placate someone else's feelings.

I always find it interesting when authors shift between age groups and how many changes they make to their voices. when I first read some of Follmuth's adult content, specifically Alone with You in the Ether, I knew they had a very specific outlook that some may not understand fully it is one of my favourite books. I saw a lot of tonal similarities between the two books, just a bit simplified for the YA audience which was cool to see.

thank you to netgalley and tor publishing group for the e-arc!

This is one of the most difficult ratings I have ever given. I struggle because I binge read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it in one day. However, there were some deep flaws I found within it that I can’t quite ignore. I believe that the purpose of this book was to show different difficulties that high schoolers will need to overcome from college decisions to discovering who you are to major life setbacks, all of which are important and interesting topics. Unfortunately, I felt as though only one of those was accurately resolved.

I will start with the two main characters: Vi and Jack. Vi is a classic nerdy/geeky girl who is part of the ASB group. She spends her days studying and free time playing RPG’s, sewing con outfits and overall participating in anything classified as geeky (no shade in the use of that word, I myself love all of the same things she did!). Jack, on the other hand, is the high school football star who happens upon an injury that sets back his entire life.

From the very start of this book I struggled greatly to relate to Vi. Her character is meant to show you that it is okay to take up space as a woman and that you can speak out for yourself. I loved this concept, but the execution fell a bit flat. The first chapter I remember with Vi, she is snapping at every male who opened his mouth and internally monologuing about how every man is stupid. I think because of this, whenever she did try to take up space it felt more like a vendetta against men than it did standing up for herself. There was one excellent example of a “nice guy” where I thought Vi’s reaction made sense, but the rest of the time it felt as thought we readers were missing some of the backstory. Perhaps this will be resolved by publication, but I think there just needed to be MORE here.

Jack on the other hand I greatly enjoyed reading! He handled his situation very well and had strong emotional maturity. He was a jock, and owned it, but also opened himself up to other interests and people. He had setback after setback take place, but never gave up and kept going. Additionally, he wasn’t a bland “go getter” character and did have real emotions that he processed throughout the book. Overall, I LOVED his perspective.

I think what I struggled with most in this book was I kept wanting more. There were numerous relationships that were dissolved between Vi and <insert character> and I felt as though they weren’t really resolved. They would go from not speaking, to basic apologies, to besties again. I would have LOVED to see deeper discussions into the characters actually resolving or at least talking about the initial issues. Similarly, I wanted to see more self reflection from Vi. For me, I was very sad that she went from a somewhat cruel and loud woman to a self deprecating one by the end. This in part felt like it was because everyone around her kept telling her to give in, and she eventually just agreed that she was the bad guy.

Finally, I struggled with the fact that Vi’s twin brother Bash was the only one to call her out on lying and her actual issues. Everyone else just kept excusing her saying that she probably had good reasons-even a priest did! Part of my issue with this was toward the end when her relationship with Bash was brought up and without spoilers, it felt like this topic came out of nowhere. I wonder if future edits may resolve this or even remove this conversation as it was very odd to me.

Overall this was a genuinely enjoyable book. I just wish I had gotten a little more out of it.

“You can’t convince me that you’re heartless, Viola. I hate to tell you this, but you’re not as cleverly disguised as you think.”

Viola is constantly fighting against people's expectations of her as a girl who loves D&D, video games, and cosplaying. Jake is hailed as the top player on his football team, but suffers an injury that may make him lose everything he's been working towards. No one would expect they would become friends, but maybe everyone is wrong.

I wanted to love this book, and there were a lot of reasons to love it: Nerdy FMC, fantasy/comic con references, Shakespeare retelling. However, this book fell flat for me because of the unlikeable characters. I almost DNFed at 30% since all the characters (except Bash!) were really annoying or frustrating to me for various reasons. At the end, I did find that the characters were not as bad, but I still didn't love the character arcs enough to rate it higher. I definitely think some people would love this, but it was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book!

This was a lovely ya romance. I enjoyed the theme of the book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this arc. I will always be a fan of this author.

I really think young adult contemporary fiction is where AFF shines. I would love to see her write even more of these kinds of stories. Her fantasy can often feel convoluted and like a lot of aimless info dumping. However, these stories are so hilarious, fun, and reminiscent of Jesse Q Sutanto silly humor, which I love.

4.5 stars for this love letter to learning that you don’t have to abide by society’s conception of who you should be and allowing others in to see you for who you really are, when you may not even see yourself. This was love letter of acceptance; acceptance that life doesn’t always go the way we planned, but also accepting that it also opens other doors for paths we didn’t initially see. I loved Vi and her unapologetic views. I loved Jack for his heart and how they both learned to give, take, and let go. I loved the “geekiness” and the fandoms. I devoured this book and I enjoyed all of the perspectives. I will definitely be buying this for my shelves on release day to read again and enjoy all over. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

Another great YA book from Alexene - I loved My Mechanical Romance last year, and I loved Twelfth Knight. I don't know what magic she puts into these books, but it works. I loved Viola and Jack,, Viola and Bash's interactions, and the gaming aspect of the book. All the characters were well developed. I absolutely recommend this for any YA reader.