Audiobook Review - I really enjoyed this contemporary YA romcom. The characters are funny and likeable. The inclusion of gaming to help bring our characters together is unique and teens will find this relatable. Recommended for all YA collections.

What a splendid Shakespeare retelling! I was absolutely delighted by the twists on the original presented within these pages. Viola is an overbearing overachiever bent on fairness and equality being granted to all women. Her twin brother Sebastian is also an overbooked overachiever with band and theater taking up all his time. Duke is the famed football king from a long legacy of football royalty. Olivia is the perfect cheerleader girlfriend... until she isn't any more. The story unfolds with a winning game that cost Duke his football season. Olivia mysteriously breaks up with him shortly after his injury. Duke is obsessed with finding out what went wrong, so he makes a deal with Viola: she will get intel for him while he takes over homecoming planning. What could go wrong with this plan?

What I loved most: even though I knew what would happen because of Shakespeare, it was a fun ride, I liked the conquest game concept (reminded me of d&d, I liked the video game competition and the social commentary on women in gaming, I liked the infusion of Shakespeare and the legend of King Arthur

Word on narration: both narrators for this audiobook were fantastic and added depth to the story; I especially liked when each one did the voice for the other character

PS The Barnes and Noble print edition is beautiful too! I love the end pages

Such a cute book , I will definitely recommend this book for preteens and teenagers to read ❤️❤️❤️ I will definitely be purchasing for my preteen niece . She will love this book!

**Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 (4.5-5)**
This was my first YA book by Olivie Blake as Alexene Farol Follmuth, and it was definitely a worthwhile read! A fun and modern retelling of *Twelfth Night* set in a high school—complete with football and gamer culture, plus some student government drama—*Twelfth Knight* provides an exciting enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance that both Young Adult and Adult audiences will enjoy.

>> **What I loved**: Two main characters you wanted to root for, realistic-feeling plot and character development for the YA genre, and the fun, clever writing style we know and love from Blake/Follmuth. There was also a great cast of side-characters, and it felt like a nice balance of romance with character growth. I tandem read the book and audiobook, and thought the narration in the audiobook was excellent as well!
>> **What I didn’t love:** Very little not to love here for me, but there’s some great commentary about societal expectations of women’s behavior that our FMC Violet ends up fighting with her good friend about, and I think there was an opportunity to do a little more with that conversation.

**Acknowledgments & Disclaimers**
✨ Thank you to NetGalley, Alexene Farol Follmuth, and Tor Publishing, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book.
✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for this simply wonderful ALC.

Likes: the nerdiness, all the references I managed to catch (and there were many!), and the character growth. Alexandra Palting & Kevin R. Free were fabulous narrators. I adored them both.

Disliked: how embarrassingly long it took me to recognize names. The Shakespeare was obvious, even though I have not read his version, but it took far too long for me to remember recognizing Duke Orsino from “She’s the Man”. I laughed and kicked myself.

This book was really fun and cute! It is perfect for any girl who is tired of having to prove her power and skill and for anyone in general who wants to try something new! I also loved learning more about D&D (it’s not called that but it’s that) and gamer culture. I grew up playing The Sims, so I can relate to people discrediting videos games as “girlie” or “for girls” despite them having the same basic rules as other video games.

I really liked Viola! I was a lot like her when I was in high school: a little too headstrong for my own good but also not willing to bend just because someone else thinks I should! I really loved how she got the last laugh on those boys from the beginning. It was a very nice full circle moment. I also liked watching Jack learn about other interests beyond football, which I think is an important lesson for any high schooler or young adult to learn!

The narrators did a great job! I really liked their voices. I also think they did a good job when voicing the other main character.

The only thing I was slightly disappointed by was the romance. While I like Viola and Jack together once it got to that point, they didn’t even really interact until after the 50% point.
Overall, this was a really fun book with a great message!

I really enjoyed this. After the first few chapters I was like, oh no. What did I get myself into? Why is this all about football??? Luckily it stopped being all about football and the characters grew on me.

It's a celebration of geek/nerd culture, from video games to roleplaying games to ren faires to fantasy TV shows to fantasy conventions and all the details were so on point. It was interesting seeing it from two perspectives: the nerdy girl who takes a lot of shit from everyone around her and the injured football star who has never noticed her or geek culture before. That they are both people of color made it all the more interesting.

The fake online identity thing allowed them to become close faster than they otherwise would have, while at the same time putting up obstacles in the second half of the book.

I thought the resolution of everything happened too quickly and too much was instantly forgiven on both sides. I think that part could have used more time to develop. I also found the first part dragged a bit and think it probably could have been shortened somewhat.

The audiobook was enjoyable and performed well. The voice actors did a great job bringing the characters to life and giving them different voices.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an early audio copy for review.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio & NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute enough retelling of Twelfth Night, which I never had to read in school, thus am unfamiliar with. I AM, however, somewhat familiar with the teen movie She's the Man, and this is basically an update of that, which is a modern take on Twelfth Night.

Anyway, it's not as clunky as I'm making it sound. First we have Vi Reyes, proud nerd, feminist, LARPer, RenFaire actor - you get the idea. She's also super smart and organized, rather prickly, and recently had to play second fiddle in student government to ...
Jack "Duke" Orsino, running back, popular guy, charm personified, bête noir of Vi. She thinks that he doesn't pull his weight as class president and she has to take up the slack and deal with all the teenage Karens pestering her about budgets for school dances.

When Jack gets taken out during a game in which he has baited an opposing teammate, getting his knee torn in the process, he's looking at a lengthy recovery, no football to take up his hours, so he ends up turning to a popular video game, Twelfth Knight. For some reason Follmuth leans heavily on the idea that a jock playing online games is social suicide, which I thought was kind f odd - isn't gaming the great equalizer? Of course, as this is an interactive game where you can play on teams with your online friends, Jack comes across another player named Cesario, named after a popular character in a TV show clearly intended to be a stand in for GoT. Jack assumes Cesario is male, based on the avatar, but of course Cesario is being controlled by none other than Vi Reyes. As Jack has chosen a handle that clearly IDs him as himself, Vi is completely aware of who he is, but when pressed, she tells him she is her theater geek twin brother, Bash. Hilarity ensues, of course, both online in the game as Jack pours his heart out to his worst enemy (if he were mean enough to have such a thing), and IRL, where Jack and Vi are cutting a deal to help him with his GF Olivia, who has asked for a break after being away most of the summer.

This story is cute enough, and there were times I felt a kinship with Vi, as I, too, was a prickly baby feminist at her age. Jack is sweeter than any real-life jock/popular dude would ever be; it just doesn't track. His weaknesses are all about his hopes and dreams for football, nothing about any even mildly nefarious doings (aside from being a jerk to that opposing player, which is brief and mild, and he almost immediately checks himself). I don't know any HS football players like that, but admittedly I had a sheltered existence than and lived in an area where sportsball was not such a big deal. Vi is portrayed much more realistically, I suspect because the author feels closer to her, perhaps was even like her once upon a time. Vi mostly suffers from not giving people the benefit of the doubt, and from her friends not putting up with her shit. At the same time, she stands up for herself and knows she deserves better. I felt really conflicted about that as I was reading, because Vi is made to feel like she is inherently broken by many people around her and asked to change for their sake, and that pissed me off. I'm probably projecting.

These two teenage characters endure tons of growth and change in a way that is not particularly believable. As a teenager, I wouldn't have been buying this ending as realistic, and as a parent of teens, I sure as shit am not. But as I said, it was cute enough, and Follmuth peppers the tale with Shakespearian names in a cute nod to the original. The voice acting was also quite good!

A very cute and sweet story,I loved Viola and Jack so much. I enjoyed it very much and the narration was perfect.

This was delightful!! A contemporary YA rom-com that is riffing on Shakespeares Twelfth Night, but making it very geeky.

Viola is a prickly perfectionist who is also super into the online RPG game based on Arthurian mythology known as Twelfth Knight. People call her a bitch, but underneath she's actually pretty sensitive and her walls are to protect her from getting hurt. (Listen, I love a prickly heroine!!)

Jack Orsino is the nice golden boy, star running-back of the football team, President of the student body, always trying to be what people expect and never being weird or angry. But when a leg injury takes him out of the game for the rest of the season, he unexpectedly finds himself getting into this video game. And while his Vice President Viola (he beat her by a handful of votes!) has been his rival, they both realize there is more to the other person than they expected...

I laughed out loud at parts of this and just thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience. It's funny and messy and a great adaptation of Shakespeare with a modern twist. My one note is I had the audiobook for review from Netgalley and I HATED the way the male narrator for Jacks perspective did female voices. It was really annoying. Otherwise, this was excellent. All opinions are my own.

*4 stars*
This was a really fun young adult romcom.
It’s cute, it’s fun, it’s heartfelt. Yes the main character is unlikable at times, that’s the point. If you like the late 90’s early 2000’s Shakespeare adaptations like 10 Things I Hate About You, you will probably like this.

The audio narration was great. I think the narrators fit the young adult vibe really well and didn’t sound too old for the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC of this work. All opinions in this review are my own.

I am a sucker for a Shakespeare comedy re-telling. Add the fact that this is an Olivie Blake/Alexene Farol Follmuth book, and I was absolutely sold on the idea of Twelfth Knight. I loved how Follmuth updated the story to be about playing video games, watching Game of Thrones, and attending the Renaissance Fair. It tied in so well to the original vibes of Twelfth Knight while being very believable for modern-day teens. The characters all received much needed updates as well to make them relatable to the issues we face today.

This story works so well as a modern romcom (obviously it worked in She's the Man as well). I laughed several times throughout the story. This is a fun, light read, perfect for the summer! I listened to the audiobook version and really enjoyed the narration style. Since the book is dual POV with our FMC and MMC, we also had to narrators to distinguish their narratives. It worked very well.

I am begging Follmuth to take on Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing next. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an eARC of this book!

It makes sense to me that this is “Olivie Blake” because it has all the things I love about her books.. humor, smarts, character growth. I had my doubts in the beginning about Vi, and not to give spoilers, it could have gone several different directions, but I’m happy with how it turned out. I was beaming by the end. The narrator was excellent and I’d definitely recommend!

This was such a cute YA book about finding yourself and learning to lean on people when you need it. I enjoyed the deep dive into the world of gaming and the world of high school today. I liked Viola's character and how she was attempting to breakdown gender barriers and prove that girls can do anything! I also enjoyed the strong character development of Jack from being a "dumb jock" to realizing he could do more with this life than just play football.

I listened to the audiobook and while I enjoyed the performance by Alexandra Palting I felt that the performance Kevin R. Free especially when trying to do a female voice was lacking.

This was such a blast. One of my favorite movies growing up was "She's the Man" and this just satisfied that side of my brain lol.

The writing was fantastic! I had no idea Olivie Blake was a pen name for Alexene so that was a very pleasant surprise when I figured that out! If you love D&D or other nerdy tabletop roleplaying games or even WoW or other RPG games I think you would really enjoy this one!! Very cute, very nerdy. I need to go back and read my mechanical romance now!

Dual POV with dual narrators which I loved! both did an great job bringing the characters and the story to life!

thank you Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of the audio arc in exchange for an honest review!

Following Vi, a type-A high school gamer who disguises as a boy in her favorite video game, and Jack, a care-free injured football player rethinking his college options, KNIGHT is a romance-light YA tribute to all the girls/femme/nonbinary kids who feel excluded in gaming. I love the complexity of Vi's character—her experience of misogyny and alienation blinds her to seeing love from those closest to her. Jack's character, in comparison, feels a bit forgettable, but that's a testament to Vi's strong presence in a book about sexism in video games. I'm not the biggest fan of the non-communication tropes and the following third act. But overall, I really enjoyed this YA that talks about important issues of belonging and trust in a fun way!

As stated in a previous review, romance books are typically not my thing. That isn't to say that I don't enjoy books with a romantic subplot, but it's typically not the main plot driver/reason to read something. However, Twlefth Knight was a fun "read." It my have to do in part with the fact it had a "nerdy" aspect, reminded me of the show "The Guild," possibly because my immature reading level related to the Young Adult. It also reminded me of what 10 Things I Hate About You did with Taming of the Shrew. Whatever the reason may be, I did enjoy it!

To sum it up: it's a dual POV of "enemies to lovers," geek and jock fall for each other, but things are twisted in hiding truths. It truly is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." It's been forever since I have read Twelfth Night, but Alexene's version includes the main characters and their name and puts them in senior year of high school.

I have yet to read Alexene Farol Follmuth's other YA romance, but this has me itching to get my hands on it. This is definitely different from the other works by the author under their pen name, Olivie Blake (which I am 50/50 on some on them). But would I recommend this lovely gem? Yes. Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners and Alexene Farol Follmuth for allowing me to read this for a review.

I will be posting on Instagram, Goodreads, and Storygraph.

🎧Song Pairing: 4ever - The Veronicas (a classic for the iconic movie mentioned below)

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

Am I the only one whose knowledge of 12th Knight comes from She’s The Man???? I AM NOT EVEN SORRY! That movie is perfection. Love you Amanda.

I loved the modern day twist (video games) of Viola’s hidden identity. Simple yet brilliant!

Yay this turned out to be a Reese YA pick. Love that!

Shakespeare meets YA meets role-playing games (RPGs) in the latest book from Alexene Farol Follmuth.

Jack Orsino is at the top of his game. He’s killing it at football; he’s dating a cheerleader; he has a scholarship to his top choice for college; and everyone adores him—everyone except Viola Reyes, that is. Jack is on top-of-the-world.

And then he suffers a knee injury. And his girlfriend wants to take a break.

What is he supposed to do now that his life isn’t football, football, football with some time with Olivia mixed in.

It seems like Viola Reyes picks up the slack for everyone. Things need to get done; someone needs to do them; and Viola has systems and methods in place for everything. She comes off as prickly, but really, she’s “‘just a marshmallow with spikes.’”

When Jack, president of the Associate Student Body, strikes a deal with Viola to actually work on the events hosted by the student government in exchange for her helping him with Olivia, she agrees. He should be doing those things anyway, and Viola is partnering with Olivia for a class project. Jack and Viola begin to spend time together.

And when Jack starts playing an online RPG, called "Twelfth Knight," he doesn’t know that the other player he partners with on the quests, C354R10, is really Viola. He assumes he’s playing with another guy, and Viola leads him to believe his game partner is her twin, Sebastian. The two open up to each other even more from behind their screens.

I’m always impressed by how this author captures the teenage experience—the frustrations and the hurts, the friendships, being on the precipice of finishing high school and heading off to college, young love, growth, and new horizons. I enjoyed the mashup of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with the RPG that pulls the Arthurian legend into play, too.

It’s a coming-of-age love story, with an unlikely pairing of teens that help each other to grow. It shows that people don’t fit neatly into boxes or under specific labels. The jocks can also be gamers. The cheerleaders can be in AP classes. The driven, Type A student has other sides.

Read it for the diverse cast, the queer representation, and the feminist perspective.

The dual narration by Alexandra Palting and Kevin R. Free captures the youthfulness of the characters and drops you into high school with them.

4.5⭐️

I had an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

3.5 ⭐️

Overall, this was a cute twist on Twelfth Night. I thought Jack Orsino and Viola Reyes, the two main characters, were well developed and experienced major growth both together and apart throughout the book. Their challenges are relatable, even to adults outside the target audience.

However, there were some great minor characters (Sebastian, Olivia, Antonia), but they felt very underdeveloped to me. By the end of the novel, they were forgettable, which weakened the overall strength of the book in my opinion.

I liked the dual points of view and liked the two narrators. Both performances are good and stay true to the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook.