3 ⭐️

Having been a girl gamer myself (WoW) and heavily involved in various fandoms, I’ve seen a lot of the things this book brings to light about being a female in the gaming and fandom world. That being said it also implied that every male in these types of environments will take on one, if not more, of these characteristics. That is simply not the case and is even more prejudice than the author is trying to prove males are in these environments.

This book came off far too preachy and I felt like I was being lectured to by a teenager.

I would not recommend this book.


**Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.**

D&D is so popular with the teens in my library right now! I love making displays to go along with their interests and this was super cute. A defininte purchase.

The book was a good, solid four stars. The characters meeting in an anonymous way is always a fun trope and seeing their relationship blossom. I thought the FMC growing, but not in a way where she had to lessen herself to fit into the world, was handled well.

The biggest pet peeve for me was the way football was talked about. There were a few points in the book where the sports writing didn't make sense, which is to be expected in a YA book/show/movie, but the one I couldn't get over was the idea that he was going to come back from an ACL reconstruction in the same season. I can appreciate that maybe the point was the character was being delusional, but the timeline of the injury recovery was so wild, it took me out of the story. He easily could've sprained his knee/broken a bone/etc. and that aspect of the story would have made sense.

DNF’ing at about 5%. I’ve come to the conclusion YAs are just not for me anymore. Every YA book I’ve read this year has been disappointing and juvenile. This one lost me when I read 3 chapters back to back about the FMC playing D&D or whatever they were playing. I understand this plays a big part in the development of the story but I can’t sit through this. No more YAs for me… for a very long while.

I received this eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

There are stretches of telling and not doing, mostly going into detail around the play mechanics of the video game, the one knock on this book.

Using an MMO as the mechanism for assumed identities as a way to bring Twelfth Night into the 21st century was realistic. This book struck me as much more earnest than comedic, although I did find the main characters to be charming and it largely avoided some of the tropes around geeky kids.

Wow is all I can say. I was really annoyed by Viola's character at the beginning of the book. I thought she was being too gung ho about her feminism ideas and being extremely straight forward and to the point and brash is no the only way to get your point across and is often not the most effective way to do so. Until I took a step back and realized that I was exactly like viola when I was in high school. Too convinced that everyone would leave or hurt you so it was better to keep everyone at arms length instead to keep them from doing so. Deciding that the love wasn't worth the pain that would eventually come. I was reminded recently that sometimes the things that annoy us the most only do so because it reminds us too much of something we want to forget about or want to have back but can't. And I definitely think that philosophy is applicable in this situation. At the end I found myself more interested in Viola's character growth and journey than in the romance. which my outlook is more often the other way around. I went into this book thinking it was just another silly little rom com like my all time favorite movie "She's The Man" but it surprised me by being much more than that. I could expect this reaction from an expertly written non fiction self help book but, like Viola's approach to the world, sometimes that's not the best way to go about it.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for granting me early access to this book! It's such a treat to read. The trend of Shakespeare retellings as YA novels is my new favorite, and this one is one of the best. I love these characters and their dynamic so very much.

Such a cute, fun modern retelling of "Twelfth Night"! I'm not a huge Shakespeare fan but I do love a retelling that brings new nuance, depth, and diversity to the story, which this one definitely does. It follows Jack, a star football player who gets injured and is forced to take time off from the sport, and his nemesis, Viola, a proud nerd who can't stand Jack's laid-back attitude. When the two unknowingly begin playing an MMORPG together, they find themselves becoming closer and closer.

I love how the author infused this with fandom and nerd culture! I especially love the thoughtful conversations around being a girl in fandom and gaming communities and navigating the misogyny within those social circles. Viola is a feminist and I loved that she wasn't willing to back down when boys tried to intimidate her.

This book pairs really well with the author's previous book, "My Mechanical Romance" since that one also features an enemies-to-lovers romance that deals with feminism and being a girl in a traditionally male-dominated space. I think I prefered that one since this one did feel a little too long, but overall I still really liked this one! Both books star Filipino-American girls, which I always love to see.

Check this one out if you liked "Didn't See That Coming" by Jesse Q. Sutanto or the "Geekerella" series by Ashley Poston!

A spin on the Twelfth Night involving a football star, a grumpy nerd, and a video game that unites them. Vi Reyes finds herself unexpectedly working with Jack Orsino in a video game. However, he does not know it is her (and thinks it is her brother). In real life, they start to get closer as well as they both work toward becoming true to themselves.

Teenage rom-coms can be hit or miss for me. This one started out slow, but then I really started to like it. I think it was because this focuses a lot on being authentic to yourself. yes, there is some romance, but all the storylines, even the side ones, are really about accepting who you are. Even at the end, when they are together, Vi even says something along the lines of it won't necessarily lead to marriage or kids, etc., which I appreciated. I also appreciated the way the author portrayed what a healthy relationship is - as in you can fight and be mad, but it doesn't mean everything is over or ended. If you find it a little slow, just stick with it until about ⅓ way and then it really picks up.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book was a DNF. I had high hopes since I loved 'My Mechanical Romance' but this book just wasn't for me.

My first issue was the writing style. It felt very awkward. It seems there was an attempt to be quirky but it just took me out of the story. I also disliked the characters. I felt I could've really connected to the FMC, especially with her passion for intersectional feminism as well as her being a girl who is comfortable with herself and isn't the typical female character, with her being somewhat gruff. I really felt I could've liked her. However, I just found her annoying and she had a "not like other girls" aura to her and I really couldn't be bothered to look passed it. The MMC was even worse because at some points in the story, he is absolutely insufferable and at other points, he is overwhelmingly boring.

Unfortunately there was nothing about this story that made me want to push through.

Twelfth Knight is a modern retelling of the Shakespearean classic, Twelfth Night, with a bit of a nerdy twist. Viola is your typical nerd. She’s into RPG’s, video games, loves the Renaissance Faire, and does really well in school. But, she’s a SHE. To try to avoid the misogyny that is rampant in nerdy fandoms, she creates a male alter-ego on her favorite RPG video game, Twelfth Knight. Enter football superstar Jack Orsino. After an injury sidelines his football career, he turns to Twelfth Knight for comfort and entertainment as he heals. He ends up teaming up with Viola’s alter-ego in game and the two do surprisingly well. They create a bond and friendship online, but Viola has been keeping her secret identity from him. When their real world relationship collides with their online one, how can Viola reveal her secrets to him without hurting the one person she has started to have feelings for?

This retelling was very well done. Viola is the epitome of the grumpy in “grumpy sunshine.” Her likeability is a large part of the plot, and I thought her arc was beautiful. You could really feel the pain and insecurity hiding behind her gruff exterior. It was also lovely seeing Jack break through her shell. This book handled the mistaken identity trope in such an ingenious way by translating it to online characters vs. real life people. It was entirely believable and made so much sense in this modern age. I also appreciated the commentary on the misogyny in the fantasy/gamer realm and women not being taken seriously when they have a passion for it. The nerd-core, in general, was on point and wonderful. I would have liked to see a little more romantic tension between Viola and Jack building throughout, because the bits that we did get were fantastic and I wanted more of it. Overall, Twelfth Knight was a super fun read and I definitely recommend it.

Alexene Farol Follmuth never misses. This book was a delight. I adored the characters and their growth. Heavy topics (growing up, sexist behaviors, racism) were handled with care and a light touch. I'd recommend this book to anyone and am especially excited for my children to read it one day. I love a book that makes passion/obsessions/slightly nerdy hobbies cool and this one did that perfectly.

As a fan of Twelfth Night (and the movie She's the Man), I really enjoyed this twist on the story. I loved the alternating POVs, so you were able to get Jack and Viola's true feeling about everything going on. I gave it four stars because it was slow to start and hard to get into, but once the storyline picked up, I really enjoyed it. I also like that the author was inclusive in her characters.

A funny genre bending Shakespeare retelling with witty banter and great characters. Slow burn, enemies to lovers. Entertaining and engaging. This book was a good time

Sadly I just think that Olivie’s/Alexene’s writing is not for me. I’ve tried and tried and tried, and in this one and another one she’s written, the characters were just so unbearable, and there is so much wordiness/chattiness to get through.

Many, many sentences are the length of a bad run-on sentence, but hers are slightly better because they’re at least grammatically correct compound-complex sentences.

I also thought I’d love the gaming aspect of it because I used to play Counterstrike and other games back when I was in high school but I just couldn’t get attached to it.

Vi isn't here just to be a nice girl and looks pretty. No, she'd never hesitate to speak her mind and hold her ground. She doesn't need people to like her. And then there's Jack, a rising football athlete, who got a knee injury in one of his football match. Naturally, Vi and Jack weren't get along in real life, given their polar opposite traits. but they struck a deal to help each other.

With his now-limited mobility, Jack also decided to try an online role-playing game called Twelfth Knight in his spare time. In Twelfth Knight he met an experienced player who was actually Vi's male alter ego. Vi knew that it's Jack, but not the other way around. not long after, they started to have a bond over exchanged vulnerable stories.

this book reminded me of the song Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince by Taylor Swift, especially the Chorus and Verse 2. but other than hat, unfortunately i didn't really enjoy this book. even though I loved Alexene's first YA book. still going to check her future books, tho.

I really wanted to love this, but I think I am just not the right audience for this type of YA romance anymore. Still enjoyable, but maybe more enjoyable for someone else.

I will read anything and everything Olivie Blake writes and this was no exception. This book was adorable and so fun! The fmc isn’t your typical sunshiney fmc, she is feisty and nerdy and I loved her. I loved the banter. The writing of course was excellent. Highly recommend this one!

The worlds of Fandom, RPGs, fanfiction & D&D are brought to life in a Shakespearian retelling. Throw in cons and Renaissance Fair and I'm hooked!! I truly loved how I could embrace my inner nerd and revel in all of these topics! I love this aspect and this book so much!!

The characters were well written and I quickly got drawn into the story. I truly cared about what happened to them. Jack was a sweetheart and Vi was very relatable to me on a number of levels. The side characters were great too!

This definitely had early 2000s Rom Com vibes (mixed with Shakespeare). I thought this was very well done and clever! I appreciated how larger issues were tackled in a tasteful way.

This is one of my favorites that I've read in awhile from a new to me author. Highly enjoyable and I definitely recommend!

The Twelfth Knight is a fun young adult book. Viola Reyes is a strong, no holds barred kind of person who doesn't care what people think of her. She speaks her mind and steps up when others don't. I liked that the story showed girls can be gamers too and can cosplay just like boys. Very enjoyable and great for the middle school to high school age.