This book is for the literature and gamer nerds. The plot was really good and the writing was thoroughly enjoyable. The banter and dialogues were top-tier. I also loved that this book was more character driven than plot but it doesn’t lessen the fun in any way. Romance as a subplot is something I have been enjoying lately. The retold Shakespearean plot line was also done really well. This book felt very modern and relevant for the current era.

Thank you to NetGalley and tor publishing group for generously giving me arc of this book in exchange for honest review.

p.s what a lovely book cover!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me.

I found the plot confusing and did not feel like it had much sustenance.

Even more so, I really did not like the characters. My favorite character was the side character of Olivia. Other than that, Vi and Jack (the main characters) I found insufferable.

I get partially Vi is made to seem a bit difficult. Still, as a reader, I had absolutely no sympathy for her. As the characters around her stated, she almost purposefully pushed others around her away. I want to feel at least some sympathy for characters, and I really felt none or any connection to her at all.

Again, this may be for another reader, but it was just not something I enjoyed at all.

I have read multiple books by Alexene or Olivie (her pseudo-name for her na/adult books) to know that she is an incredibly talented author, her writing style is beautiful and captivating, and she is very capable of grabbing your attention and keeping it throughout the book, however, for this one, it was quite a bit of struggle to read it throughout without losing your interest, at least for me, I put down the book multiple times before finishing.
It's a good book, but it didn't resonate with me like her other works.

I’m not usually a YA contemporary romance reader, but I’m a big Shakespeare nerd and got sucked in by the title. I’m so glad I did, because I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I loved the character growth and relationships that developed the more I read. More than anything, I related to the main girl, Vi, with her righteous anger at the systemic oppressions that still exist in our society. She was incredibly relatable, and I love where she ended up in the end. I would definitely recommend this book to people I know.

Halfway through I wasn't really sure how I'm gonna rate this book.
Generally, I love Alexene and her writing, My Mechanical Romance was one of my fav YA romcoms I read in 2022, but this kinda missed the mark for me.
And then I read the acknowledgements —

Huge amounts of gratitude to my agent, Amelia Appel, who was such a champion for this story [. . .] and to my editorial team at Tor Teen and Macmillan Children's, [. . .], who cared so unfailingly about the impetus of a story that often defied marketable narrative structures. When I told them (lightly paraphrased),"Okay, so I know that romance novels are supposed to have defined action beats and I'm taking too long with each character, it's just that this story is really about anger and who is allowed to feel it, so ultimately the romance is the cherry on top of two characters' coming of age rather than being, you know, The Whole Point-hahaha that's fine, right?"


This actually summarizes Twelfth Knight perfectly and if I'd known this going into the book I'd had had different expectations. The story focuses more on who the characters are and what they are going through than any humour and romance.

At first it really reminded me of She's the Man, which was to be expected since they are both based on the same play and supposedly rom-coms. It didn't take long to start noticing the differences though.

Vi, our FMC, was a complex character, someone I could really relate to especially when I was her age. Her anger was a living, breathing thing and a lot of people won't like or understand her at first the same way she isn't widely liked or understood throughout the book, but her prickliness is armor she wears to protect herself from "inevitably getting hurt".

I just wanted to hug her most of the time and promise her it'll get better. She might have been harsh and blunt and grumpy most of the time, but she's also loyal to a fault, dependable, a go-getter, and also someone who actually feels everything very deeply but didn't know how or liked to show it.

Jack, our MMC, was the sunshine to Vi's grumpy. He's the type of person everyone loves and looks up to, but he's also thoughtful and kind and loving, and he had layers even if Vi didn't want to acknowledge it at first.
Jack definitely needed someone like Vi in his life — so completely different from who he was in the beginning.

I loved their dynamic and banter though I wasn't floored by their chemistry every time they were in a room together, especially in the beginning.

I loved a lot of the side characters like Olivia and Bash, others like Antonia - not so much.
I thought Vi and Olivia had great chemistry, really loved their friendship. Loved the way Olivia opened up to Vi and trusted her with her secret.

I was surprised how much the book focused on Twelfth Knight which is the MMORPG the characters are playing constantly throughout. There were times I felt like the story was more about the game than about any kind of romance which left me a little confused (again, if I'd only known this wasn't gonna focus on the romance).
Don't get me wrong, the MMORPG's storyline was pretty interesting but I felt like Jack and Vi talked more about what they'll be doing in the game than did any actual bonding.
I didn't really feel it between them until the second half of the book and the last like 35%.
I got really invested 60% into the book, that's when Olivia's secret was revealed and things got more interesting.

The character development was great, loved where Jack and Vi ended up.

This wasn't my fav book by AFF but it's still worth the read especially if you are into what I mentioned in my review.
I'm looking forward to Alexene's next book.

eternal gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

Twelfth Night has always been my favorite Shakespearean play so this book was right up my alley. I liked the way it modernized the story and had fun picking up on the little nods throughout.

I'm not much of a gamer, but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book. The main relationship was really cute and the characters were flawed in an endearing, likable way. The deception played out cleverly and realistically. This was definitely a fun take on a timeless tale.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

A Shakespeare retelling will do it for me everytime, especially Twelfth Night! A couple of the football references might have been lost on me and the gameplay ones too but one things for sure She's The Man being one of my favorite and most rewatched movies ever came in handy.

Don't know how this will come across but I've never been more tethered to a character than Vi Reyes. And i love that so much. Every thought and reaction she had definitely mirrored my own, at a point I was like "omg am i the bitch?" Haha. I kept thinking "she's definitely right tho" or "I said the same thing". She's me and I'm her and I loved that she was unapologetically herself. Even when being like that made her feel sad or lonely sometimes because me too. I wasn't kidding when I say we're locked in, even her relationship with her mom mirrors mine and we've definitely had the same "no man is an island" type Convo. Insane.

I've been on a romcom kick lately and this is definitely my favorite of the month. This isn't usually my genre so I'm really exploring new authors and Alexene Fullmuth has got herself a new fan. Not to be hoity-toity but I can be pretty picky with what I want especially when it comes to writing styles and I fell in love with this one immediately. I don't know how to explain it but the narration was charming. Not necessarily the characters (they were but) the WAY they were presented to me... I had a fun time reading and immediately scrolled back to my favorite annotations.

But Anotonia tho? A new mortal enemy.

I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. At first, I wasn’t sure if I would like Vi’s character but she grew on me after a while. I thought this story was really sweet and the author touched on sexuality well. It was well written, funny, and emotional. I’m so glad I gave it a chance and read it. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

I was so excited to get approved for Twelfth Knight for two reasons: I’m a huge fan of Alexene Farol Follmuth’s YA romcoms and I’m also a Shakespeare nerd, so a retelling based around fanfiction, gamers, and nerds was right up my alley. I havent read Twelfth Night since college, but I recently re-watched She’s the Man, so I had a little reminder of the plot line before diving in! Not that a reminder was absolutely necessary because the hidden identity, twin-swap, and gender impersonation tropes are pretty lighthearted in this story! On the other hand, Alexene addresses feminism, racism, and imperialism in all-too-real seriousness, which I enjoy about modern romcoms/comedies. I think it’s important to address the dark stuff, and it helps when it’s paired with light.

As per usual, Alexene is a master at dialogue and she brought to life, and reminded me, what teenage banter, flirtation, and uncertainty is like. Alexene also ended with a poignant forgiveness scene that is packed full of irony and introspection and addresses sexism. This book is definitely five stars for me and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys teen romcoms, female gamers, or nerd stuff like RPGs and Shakespeare!

4.5/5

Okay yes!!!!! Just yes! That’s the whole review!

But if you need more….

This is probably the best retelling I’ve read of any kind, but to be fair, Twelfth Night is my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays. This was just so cute and fun and well-done!

I loved so many of the characters in this book - like literally all of them except the ones I was supposed to hate! The personalities and the way they all interacted with each other was just perfect.

In addition to good characters, this book had sports, computer games, cosplay, tabletop games, theater….. truly what more could somebody want?!?

I would consider this a highly feminist book but it was not written in a “men are the worst” way. In fact, this book had a male MC who I loved, which is very rare for me.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

"you," i inform him, "are the bane of my existence, jark orsino."
"as you are mine," he assures me.

MY BABIES. my actual babies. love them so much. they deserve the whole universe. first arc ever and i love it sm. definitely could have been more romance, especially when they got together in the end but yk what it's fine because they're so cute anyway.

'someone who keeps colliding with you, over and over. 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.'

This one was difficult for me to get through. I think it leaned a bit too heavy in both directions, a lot of football jargon and a lot of gaming jargon that made it hard to have its own identity.

I also felt some of the gender themes were a bit too in my face, and it effected my reading experience.

I do like the main characters arc from unlikable to more likeable, but ultimately this just wasn't for me.

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and TOR for this ARC. Unfortunately, I only managed to read 8 percent of the book and DNF. The writing was too descriptive for a YA book and even more so, too much unnecessary dialogue. The first chapters are spent in the football game narration and the online game Vi is playing which , I would understand as though the writer is trying to make us get a better understanding of the characters but it's unnecessary. It just makes you sleep. Maybe this is for some other readers out there but not for me.

A remix of Shakespeare set in both the world of athletics and video games is the type of novel structure that covers a lot of bases for a lot of different types of students. It also shows teens that you can have your toes dipped in a lot of different areas. You don't have to just be "the jock" or "the perfect student" or "the gamer." Finding out that you have a lot of different interests is what adolescence, and especially high school, is all about. While some of the scenes (i.e. the verbal fights) were a little over-dramatic for my taste, the specificity of Vi's character and world surrounding role play video games was well developed. I got to learn about something I'm not super familiar with, but my students are very interested in.

The perfect book for anyone looking for something fun and charming but also... socially relevant. This book delt with so many topics like sexism, sexuality, social and familial responsibility, dealing with self-worth issues, etc., but incorporated everything so realistically into a light-hearted romcom.

Viola Reyes that it's kind of comical to me. She's a self-proclaimed nerd (same) with very strong feminist views (also same)... but the difference is, she is so firm with her own self-worth that she is willing to put her friendships on the line so that she doesn't ever get stepped on as a woman, which is something I can only aspire to be. Jack was amazing as well and he was so caring and kind hearted. I also liked how this was in dual pov because that helped me understand jack even better.

Overall, this was a fantastic read. Here's to all the feminist nerds of the world who need to be seen!

I really enjoyed this book! I started it expecting it to be more romantic but overall the messaging and romance went great together.

The story takes you through a journey of learning how to be yourself while navigating relationships around you. It teaches valuable lessons about handling emotions, feeling like you are alone or the world is ending.

Jack shows that you dont have to be just one thing. I love that a “popular” guy at the school discovers, enjoyed and then shares with the school Twelfth Knight. His realization that he’s more than a football player and can have interests and hobbies outside of football is important.

I really loved Vi’s cynical attitude paired with Jack’s determination. The tension between them was so great! The side characters were lovable and diverse. I did not see the twist with Olivia coming!

Overall 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book.
Thank you NetGalley for the e-Arc in exchange for this honest review!

This is a fun and well-written YA romance that's less heavy on the romance and more about the characters figuring out who they want to be. I enjoyed the character development, how smart Viola was, and the detail that went into the gaming element of the story. I guess I'm not rating it higher because I realised half way through that I'm really tired of books set in american high schools with football players, homecoming dances and all the works... So even though this book was a different take on this, I just didn't find the setting super engaging or original.
Overall, I still think this is an appealing book - it just wasn't a stand out for me.

This was such a cute, easy romcom! The development of Jack and Vi, as well as the other side characters, was amazing. Though I had never read Shakespeare's Twelfth Night before, reading this retelling definitely sparked my interest in the original.

Thank you so much NetGalley and TorPublishing for giving me an eARC for the Twelfth Knight in exchange for an honest review!

In this modern re-telling of Twelfth Night, Viola Reyes and Jack Orsino are adversaries in real life and combat buddies in the MMORPG Twelfth Knight. Viola - who is tired of people mocking her for the things she loves - has built a wall around herself. Jack's suffering from a knee injury that might derail his entire future and doesn't feel like he can talk to his teammates. Through the game, they develop an unlikely friendship that is complicated when a tiny lie - Viola telling Jack that her name is Bash - leads to confessions, secrets and spying on classmates. Will their friendship survive the lies?

This was a wonderfully complex tale. Viola and Jack come to life on the page. I really enjoy books by Alexene Farol Follmuth.

Cute retelling/story with good writing! Typical rom com elements, but with a nice touch of coming-of-age that I always like to see in young adult stories. I really enjoyed the writing style the author used!