I went into this book with no expectations other than "I like YA books about video games." I was blown away by how funny and smart this novel was! I loved slowly warming up to Vi, I was totally charmed by Jack, and the side characters all had depth and complexity. I will definitely be recommending this to any of my teens looking for a rom com, a diverse cast of characters, and stories about embracing who you are and letting people in.

I also read this over about 48 hours on my tiny phone screen. I loved it!

A pitch-perfect Twelfth Night for teens. Very reminiscent of Amanda Bynes' take on the material, in the best way!

Twelfth Knight is a coming of age story about two high school students and the struggles they face. Friend groups aren’t what you thought they were, ones who were, a falling out of best friends, and the making of several new ones make up their high school experience. Well all that and an MMO, Twelfth Knight.
Viola Reyes is class vice president and a gaming enthusiast. She is also very annoyed, at just about everyone. Her table top campaign was shot down, her larping group less than nice, and her best friend is not being supportive. To top things off she has to work with Jack, the class president, and the oil to her water.
Jack Orsino is a high school football star in a family of them. When an injury derails his season, he is left not knowing who he is outside of football. He is introduced to Twelfth Knight and dives right in unknowingly befriending Viola.
There were a lot of big feelings in Twelfth Knight. It was true to so many aspects of gaming, both online and at the table. While I have found the misogamy in gaming has lessened as an adult, I still hear a lot of it from teens. It deals deftly and truly with the biases against women in gaming and larping communities. However, it also shows how warming and amazing the communities can be. Twelfth Knight doesn’t deal in absolutes and the growth and recognition in the characters is heartwarming. Any fan of MMOs or Dungeons and Dragons would love this book.
I received an ARC and am leaving a review of my own volition.

Oh man. I am a huge fan of this YA book. Like shouting on top of the roof love. There are so many great representations of poc and a great representation of different types of girls. There are prickly girls and popular girls and soft girls. Plus the young men representation was really refreshing too. All the characters were so well fleshed out and everyone had flaws and felt like real teenagers with real relatable problems. And the whole inclusion of Feminism in a variety of girls and how they view it in there lives was so touching. There were tims where Viv did feel a little preachy but her friends changed her outlook without her having to give up her backbone. That and her realizing her mom didn't change who she was so she knew she could be herself with Jack was really touching. And Jack's character development really blew me away, just shows you that Alexene really knos how to make her story character driven. I loved literally all the characters and where there stories went. Seriously will be buying a physical copy when it comes out and be shoving it in everyone's faces.

alexene farol follmuth (olivie blake) u did not disappoint!

i absolutely adored my mechanical romance, her ya novel, and i've read it for four times now, which says a lot on how much i adore that book to pieces. so hearing her next ya novel releasing on the year 2024, Twelfth Knight was one of my most anticipated reads. it includes themes of games and fandoms, which brings me back to fond memories of when i was in fandoms myself haha.

the banter in here was on top, got me smiling so much. i'll definitely revisit, reread, and re-highlight fave moments on my own copy of the book.

and despite games being a huge part of the story, at the end of the day, this book is also about love - family love, romance love, friendship love - it was everything to me. i love it. I LOVE IT! words can't express how much i adore our cast of characters, and thank u thank u thank u!! to the team for providing the arc, i am grateful to have the opportunity to meet them earlier.

kudos to you, alexene farol follmuth, you just wrote another comfort read of mine.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC opportunity!
I actually fairly enjoyed this book. I haven’t read a book by her yet and I have to say that the themes of romance definitely filigreed along with the themes of self discovery. Though I felt as if the writing felt a bit immature I’m sure that readers younger than me will enjoy this one a lot. Even though it was a three star for me, it has the potential to be so much more.

i loved this book so much! viola reyes is such a relatable character, she doesn't take disrespect from anybody and stands up for herself (which gives her a reputation of being kind of a b****), she's strong and knows what she wants. Jack is my precious sunshine boy I just adore him. Also, I can't help but adore Bash he's also my pookie.

If you're looking for a opposites attract, slow burn, rom-com then look no further!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Oh thank you so much for an early copy of this book. I absolutely adored My mechanical romance and I could not wait to read this book and Alexene Farol Follmuth did not disappoint.Signature wit, humour and clever writing! I devoured it in one sitting.Absolutely in love !

10/10 - would recommend!

I absolutely loved this book. I loved how real it felt. The characters were really raw. I truly enjoyed this 100%.

We follow Viola & Jack. Who are both different but find each other in the same interest and one doesn’t know the other is doing so.. I love how it played out. I’m normally not a huge romance person but this was perfect for me.

Sweet, funny, and leaves you itching for a good fantasy read all a good recipe for a great time.

An absolute stellar read. This was equal parts coming of age and romance story mixed in perfectly with teen angst and the impending doom of a future you can't quite picture but know is coming, all bookended with the joys (and perils) of fandom life.

Sometimes when I read YA books in my 20's I can't help but be sad for the teen version of me who never got to hold this book in her hands. I'm so glad it's here for the current teens.

Vi Reyes is a ray of sunshine (not). She doesn’t back down to get what she wants and does NOT take any disrespect from ANYONE. Which is why people typically think she is unlikeable and kinda a b****. She is student body vice president, and loathes Jack Orsino, who somehow became actual president out of pure popularity. He is the typical football jock and is her nemesis.

As a girl who loves fantasy and combat video games, Vi is used to guys assuming she doesn’t know what she is doing, giving her unsolicited advice, and most of the time targeting her to kill first once they realize that a girl is playing a “boyish” game. To prevent this problem, Vi decides to play Twelfth Knight, her new favorite MMORPG as a boy (named Cesario) so that nobody knows who she truly is. She becomes one of the best players in the game.

One day, Vi is playing Twelfth Knight when she notices a pretty familiar username: dukeorsino12. Duke Orsino is one of Jack’s nicknames, and he recently began playing the game to distract him from the pain and loneliness that came with his major knee injury. The two of them quickly become best friends through this game, EXCEPT there is one big problem….. Jack doesn’t know he is actually playing with Vi; he thinks he is playing with a guy. What will he do when he finds out he’s been becoming close and sharing secrets with THE Vi Reyes this whole time??

I absolutely LOVED this book! It was so much fun to read this YA enemies-to-lovers story. I’ve never read a book about video games before so this was exciting!
4 stars from me!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing me with my first ever ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts on the book! ♥

Absolutely amazing! Such a wonderful, witty, entertaining read. I'm a huge fan of Olivie Blake, and her first venture into YA was really well done. The characters are very distinct and well-rounded, and I adored them both so much! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This is a super solid YA contemporary romance!

Viola Reyes, a strong willed, intelligent, and quick witted 17 year old finds herself displeased with the sexism she faces in her everyday life and in her gaming community. To combat this, she plays video-games online under a male persona where she interacts with Jack, a football player and fellow high school student dealing with an injury. From here, a fun Shakespeare retelling filled with teenage angst, personal growth, and fun banter commences.

I love Olivie Blake’s (this authors pseudonym for her adult releases) fantasy novels and was super excited to read her YA contemporary work! She did an amazing job making gaming approachable (coming from someone with little to no experience) and created real, complex characters that developed throughout the story. My one complaint is that the first few chapters are somewhat hard to get through. Too many characters that were ultimately not important to the story were introduced - which felt somewhat useless. Besides that, this story was quite enjoyable and something I would absolutely recommend!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the E-Arc in exchange for an honest review :)

I admit, I read this out of curiosity to see how the author of the very high-concept The Atlas Six would do at writing for a YA audience. And the answer is... surprisingly well. It's a very different style, but some of her trademark philosophy and complex psychology come through--it's just sneakier than in her adult books.

I actually found this hard to put down. The Shakespeare parallel works very well without being too heavy-handed, the characters are well-rounded and the themes relevant. It's not particularly funny, as rom-coms go, but I didn't find that a lack.

This was the exact book I expected as advertised and more. This was the perfect YA romcom and it had everything I ever want in a romcom. While this was YA, it did deal with topics that so many readers no matter the age will resonate with. It deals with the uncertainty in the future, especially for teens who are expected to make the decision on what they want to do with the rest of their lives. It also went into pushing people away to protect themselves, not allowing anyone to see your true self for fear of being rejected. But it also talks about being unapologetically yourself and that whoever you are and whatever you like should be embraced. The discussion of feminism and how looked down upon women are certain spaces really rang so true as a women in engineering.

There was not a single character I disliked in this. I adored Vi and Jack and all of the side characters added so much to the plot instead of just a tool to further the plot. Vi was definitely a character who comes off strong and a bit annoying in the beginning, but I think that was the point since her issue deals with not letting people see the real her. I loved her relationship with her family and her brother Bash and the friendship she developed with Olivia. Jack had so much growth going from the perfect star athlete to realizing there’s so much more to life besides football.

The relationship between Jack and Vi was so pure and their banter was TOP NOTCH. I loved seeing their relationship going from nemeses to lovers and how they only made each other better. I cannot truly put into words how much I loved this book.

Thank you to TorTeen and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

** More accurate rating would be 4.5 stars **

Out the gate, I will admit, I was not expecting to like this book. I went into the book thinking it was going to be a cringy high school romance with no development.

Boy, was I wrong. This book was the perfect read after an emotionally heavy true crime read. It had all the nerdiness and geekiness I could have asked for. The main character, Viola resonated with me, as I went through a similar phase of not letting anyone come close to me or my heart. Her character development throughout the book was fantastic, and Jack was the perfect sweet to her salty.

Is it the best romance book ever written? No, but that's an almost impossible feat. Were the tropes and little twists and turns enjoyable? 120%. It was cute and sweet without being overly cringy, and I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, cute read.

There are so many thing I want to say but I'm not sure how to make it eloquent. Let's try anyways.



❗️SPOILERS AHEAD❗️
Twelfth Knight proposes itself as a fun YA novel where the star athlete and the least liked person in school form a friendship through online gaming and the school's ASB. All true.

What is not said about Twelfth Knight is that it's gonna read many of its readers to filth with Viola's struggle to let people see her as she truly is in fear of getting hurt. A very "Get them before the get you" way of life. It's about what it's like to be a woman is any community and to be looked down on for being a woman. What is not said about Twelfth Knight is how it's going to make you rethink your whole life alongside Jack when your life gets turned completely flipped out from under you. Quite "What am I gonna do with life if i can't do [xyz]?"

Here's what you'll get take from this: the path you've laid our for yourself is not the only path you can take. It's okay to stray from the path. And it's okay to let people in. You might get hurt but a life alone is not always the best thing. Better to have tried and get hurt than to never try and never know.

I had the most fun reading this book. I laughed, cried and was read to filth on so many occasions. I have an absolute deep love for Olivia and Bash.

Alexene has never let me down and she wasn't gonna start today. I absolutely devoured Twelfth Knight and am definitely crying after reading the acknowledgements (idk why but they always get me). Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

twelfth knight is a love letter to fandom in many ways, but most especially the unexpected community it can bring to those who feel like no one really sees them. there can often be a lot of anger in people like that and it feels earned when we see characters like these go for what they want for once. on the flip side, i also liked the depiction of microaggressions female gamers often see in the space. for a place that is meant for community, egos can often make the space unsafe, so it may take active reflection to move in the right direction sometimes.

(+ i will say i enjoy farol follmuth's writing less in the ya genre as she tends to overemphasize certain themes, but this would be great for a younger reader.)

I loved this book! I can definitely see myself bringing it into my classroom. It would be excellent to pair with essays about intersectional feminism, like "Eloquent Rage" and "Uses of Anger." Would certainly prompt conversations about micro-aggressions, consent, white supremacy, and the patriarchy.

Twelfth Knight is a nerdy slow burn, opposites- attract rom-com about two teenagers named Vi and Jack.
 
Vi is prickly and responsible and takes all of her jobs quite seriously; frustrated with how women are perceived and treated in the gaming industry.

Jack is the popular and easy-going jock who is adored by everyone. When an injury comes between everything he has worked hard for, he takes a step back and focusing on other things. 

A mutual acquaintance of both Vi and Jack introduces him to the online MMORPG game called Twelfth Knight; a game that Vi also plays .... secretly as a male character.

Through circumstances on the screen and off of it Vi and Jack bond over secrets and schemes, but ultimately there is one big secret that could ruin it all. The question is.....can they survive the aftermath once all is revealed ?

Twelfth Knight is absolutely perfect for those who love all things nerdy such as Dungeons & Dragons, video gaming, incredibly sarcastic female leads, and sweet understanding jocks. It also reminded me of Ali Hazelwood writing in its own way.

The only two parts about this story is the overuse of the word "like" and that it slightly touches on the author's view of religion. I didn't think it added much to the story and could have been left out.

I loved Viola, she is probably one of the most relatable characters I've ever related to .

The characters were very likeable in their individual ways, I loved how the unlikely ones were weaved into the overall story line. The ending was cute and perfect.

I had a blast reading Twelfth Knight, it was perfect to read in between genres .