9/10
thanks to netgalley and harper collins for the arc!

this middle grade graphic novel follows Jess and Olivia, best friends for years who play D&D together. when Olivia wants to start a D&D club at school, Jess gets nervous about expanding their party.
i thought this book was a really fun read! i liked how the characters were portrayed and thought that it was very realistic for middle schoolers. i also loved the artwork, both for the middle schoolers and their D&D characters. i thought the sections where it gave character stats for other students was really interesting, and my favorite parts of this book were when it was in their fantasy world. i really like D&D and ttrpgs in general, so this was a very fun read for me!

It's precious, and I quite enjoyed it. Maybe a little preachy? But I'm not actually a middle schooler, so I'm viewing this all through the lens of a couple of extra decades. The art is cute, I particularly like the 'in game' sections, it gives good gaming vibes. You don't quite get the feel of sitting around the table rolling the dice yourself, but it's close. I can totally see this encouraging more young people to play D&D, which is an excellent result as far as I'm concerned!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital review copy.