This book is an absolute breath of fresh air! I grew up a fat queer outsider in rural Ohio a million years ago (80 +90s) and to say that everything was complex would be an understatement. I'm always grateful to read good books about plus size and LGBTQIA2S characters who get to live their lives as themselves and find something in their journey but I don't really have too many experiences where that character is both. I can't quite tell you how happy it makes me to see the kids getting to read books where being fat and queer isn't a burden to be overcome, where living beings with those traits can just be accepted, loved, and thrive BECAUSE they're themselves. Queer, fat, AND nerdy? Oh man, this was equal parts sweet, satisfying, and honest- everything younger me would've loved to find in all those books she happily ate up back then. Read it for your inner teen, give it to your favorite teen relatives, and recommend it to any tren who needs a good book about a kid figuring things out.

This is a super cute, geeky YA queer romance. This is a million percent the kind of book I wish I had access to as a goofy, nerdy, closeted sixteen year old. Perfect for queer nerds, outcasts, fan fiction enthusiasts, online role players, and former citizens of Tumblr.

4.5 Stars
I really loved a lot about this book. Geeky readers will find the MC sweet, albeit flawed, and relatable. If you are a lover of YA and want to set your fandom heart on fire, this could be a great pick for you.

Gosh, I really loved this book. It's painfully relatable, and the connection I felt with Cass was unrivalled. Cass' confidence is nothing short of exceptional, and normalising a fat lesbian feeling confident without shoving it in your face is what we desperately needed in a book like this.

Jenna Miller has done something wonderful here, and I hope everyone that picks it up finds a piece of themselves in it.

Out of Character centers around our main character Cass, Cass who would happily describe herself as fat, queer, nerdy, and absolutely obsessed with a book series called Tide Wars. She would not, however, go on to tell you that a majority of her time is spend writing Tide Wars role play with her online best friends.
That’s not a problem at all for her until she starts dating someone new and trying to balance school, her new relationship, and her role play addiction. Can she balance it all while still keeping her online life secret?

Cass is the type of narrator I love. She’s the authentic kind of messy that a real seventeen-year-old is. She makes awful decisions based in teenage emotion. She gets in dramatic fights and fall outs. She makes rash decisions and feels hard and big. It reminds me so vividly at being seventeen that it’s easy to be swept up in this YA story. Queer joy radiates from this book, and it carries a powerful message of self love and acceptance.

This book was written for you if:
1. You’ve ever read or written fan fiction
2. You look for queer YA books that are joyful and authentic
3. You love a messy, lovable main character

I loved the fat, queer representation. And as a member of the niche community of roleplay, the depictions in this book were incredibly accurate. I felt like I was reading about myself at times and that’s genuinely hard to do. This entire book was wonderful, from the plot to the characterizations.

Title: Out of Character
Author: Jenna Miller
Summary: If you asked seventeen-year-old Cass Williams to describe herself, she’d happily tell you she’s fat, a lesbian, and obsessed with the Tide Wars books. What she won’t tell you—or anyone in her life—is that she’s part of an online Tide Wars roleplay community. Sure, it’s nerdy as hell, but when she’s behind the screen writing scenes as Captain Aresha, she doesn’t have to think about her mother who walked out or how unexpectedly stressful it is dating resident cool girl Taylor Cooper.
But secretly retreating to her online life is starting to catch up with Cass. For one, no one in her real life knows her secret roleplay addiction is the reason her grades have taken a big hit. Also? Cass has started catching feelings for Rowan Davies, her internet bestie . . . and Taylor might be catching on.
As Cass’s lies continue to build, so does her anxiety. Roleplaying used to be the one place she could escape to, but this double life and offline-online love triangle have only made things worse. Cass must decide what to do—be honest and risk losing her safe space or keep it a secret and put everything else on the line.
What I loved about this book: I love a full-bodied MC, fanfiction and roleplaying getting some well-deserved attention, a variety of sexualities referenced in the plot, the straight best friend Tate was a sweet character.
Opportunity for improvement: Cass’s relationship with Taylor seemed quite predictable, the addiction aspect could have been developed more, definitely a YA storyline.
ARC provided by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. @harpercollinsch #queerbookstagram #lgbt #wlw #lgbtqia #loveislove #queerrepresentationmatters #lgbtqbooks #bookstagram #queerbooks #books #booklover #booksofinstagram #bookish #booksbooksbooks #bookworm #booknerd #lgbtqreads #pride #queerreads #YAfiction #LGBTQYAfiction

This book was cute but a struggle to get through. Cass is a super unreliable character. You could never believe a thing she was saying. I loved the representation to the bigger girls and the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as gaming, but, she was never true to herself let alone other people. The constant lies were a bit much. I ultimately just ended up being constantly mad at her and feeling terrible for everyone else.

As a queer (former) roleplayer, this book’s pitch felt a little bit like jumping in front of my car to get my attention. I felt incredibly seen but also incredibly called out by a vast majority of Cass’s online experiences, but it also had some pretty great nostalgia for me from that standpoint. Overall I enjoyed the book, and the resoluteness that Cass had in her identity, the messiness of teenage angst coming instead from other factors (primarily the different kinds of relationships). Some things definitely hit harder for me as someone who relates to a lot of her experiences, but I would still recommend it to any YA contemporary readers!

As a whole, I think that the general writing and flow of the book could have been improved upon, but there was nothing negative about it as a debut novel. Ultimately I found it pretty easy to read, although I did wish that some plotlines had moved along faster in the moment, I was pretty satisfied by the ending.

The strongest part for me was the characters themselves. Cass is messy and flawed but I still wanted the best for her regardless. The supporting cast themselves were interesting, though there was definitely more time and development given to the endgame love interest than the other characters, par for the course for a romance. I really loved Cass’s friends, and the world that Miller has crafted for Cass’s real life as well as her roleplay world.

I think that OUT OF CHARACTER has hit all the checkboxes of a classic YA contemporary romance, but given its own unique elements and twists on that. It showcases a fat, lesbian protagonist where the questions and troubles of her story aren’t about those factors, though they aren’t ignored either. And for me, it was a sweet and heartfelt story that I’m glad that I took the time to read.

This book was not for me. I generally love YA and don’t mind the dramatics and emotional turmoil that goes along with it. However, this time it was too much.

“Out of Character” is about Cass, a self-described fat lesbian nerd. And I loved this about her. Unfortunately, those were the only things I loved. Almost every single issue Cass had was brought on by herself. She lied to everyone she knew and kept making things worse for herself. She kept her role-playing life away from her “real life” friends and family. She also lied by omission to her role-playing friends by not telling them that the people in her real life didn’t know about them. This becomes a major issue so that’s why I mention it.

I just didn’t see how in 2023 it’s a big deal to have online friends and to play role-playing games. I probably can list off 5 people I know for sure that do that and no one cares. I don’t see the big deal and thought it was ridiculous why she was hiding her online activities.

Also, she’s a terrible girlfriend. Because of the lying about her role-playing, which is a big part of her life, she’s always lying to her girlfriend. She chooses her online life over Taylor time and time again and doesn’t seem to really want much to do with her. Why have a girlfriend if you won’t make time for her?

I think if you’re interested in this book then read other reviews. I’m sure others enjoyed this far more than I did.

I received an ARC from HarperCollins Children’s Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think that after reading this book I have realized I am out of my YA stage of life. I felt like the main character was very immature (well, she is a teenager, so duh) and i think that my mind is just not able to look past that with just where i am at in life. The book was likable, but i dont think i was the right audience for it.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish reading the book. (50% complete)

At first, I found Cass to be relatable as she dealt with anxiety, which instantly resonated with me since I face similar challenges. However, as I delved deeper into the story, I noticed her habits becoming increasingly self-destructive. It seemed that we weren't witnessing any significant change in her character. While there was a possibility of a transformation later in the novel, I struggled with the tension created by her willingness to sacrifice relationships and responsibilities just to stay connected with Rowan online. Perhaps this is a personal opinion, but Cass needed to rely on the support of the people in her life, trusting and opening up to them rather than retreating and pushing them away in the face of her struggles.

This was such a cute, fun read. I definitely enjoyed Cass and loved watching her grow! I spent so much of the first half wanting to shake her for her dishonesty and I’m glad that turned around in the end!

Tate, Rowan and all her other friends were amazing characters who added so much. I loved the found family they had.

The role play scenes were a bit much (for someone who isn’t into that!) but really did end up adding a lot to the story. They were just a bit hard to follow sometimes.

I’m not a huge fan of the love triangle trope and wish more time had been spent exploring Rowan’s coming to terms with her sexuality. I don’t like an “I’m not gay, just gay for you” story and didn’t really get enough info to determine where this one fell.

Overall, a cute, sapphic read!

Thanks Netgalley for an ARC of this book!

First off I have to say I really love the cover of this book. It stands out and would be easy to spot at a bookstore. I wish I had this book to read when I was in high school. Even as an adult I felt like Out of Character was so relatable, and it was very inclusive and fat positive, which my younger self would have LOVED just as much as my current self.

I feel like especially these days it can be easy to branch out . Sometimes characters in books make mistakes and I can feel annoyed with the choices they are making and almost stop caring about what happens because it seems so obvious, but the mistakes that Cass makes feel legitimate for a human trying to figure themselves and their life out. I wanted Cass to figure everything out and was hopeful throughout the book.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by Jenna Miller!

Out of Character takes a phrase which normally means that we are acting differently to how we normally are - a phrase of concern - and gives it a double meaning. Miller infuses Out of Character with role playing and fan fiction addiction to give this phrase depth. The idea that we have this 'character' who we play and live their lives and what it means to be out of this characters. The harsh pieces of reality we have to confront and the safety it provides us.

It's also about the 'characters' we have to assume around people. All the lies we tell and secrets we hide which aren't necessarily malicious, but out of fear of not being ready.

I love the representation in this book. This is exactly the kind of book I would have loved to have growing up and I am excited to put it on a shelf for my daughter to find when the time is right. It is w wonderful story about falling in love with your friend with positive fat and LGBTQ rep. I will definitely be telling my readers about this one.

As a nerd who also escapes into media and rollplaying to escape from real life, this book felt like it was written just for me! I saw a lot of myself in Cass, especially with her relatable relationship anxieties. I wish I could have had Out of Character to read while I was in high school, but reading it now still gave me all the good feelings!

Also, as a side note, I would DESPERATELY like to read The Tide Wars duology that Cass role-plays within, because I am already obsessed with the characters and world. So, if Jenna Miller ever decides to venture into the world of fantasy novel writing, you can bet I will clamboring for copies!

My Recommendation-
If you are a queer, nerdy reader, looking for a book that will connect with your very soul, you need to grab a copy of Out of Character! I would especially recommend this book to fans of Ship It by Britta Lundin!

It was a good contemporary story and I mostly enjoyed it and I'm glad I got a chance to read this. All in all, I liked it.

An engaging read about letting your online life take over your own life, secrets, friendship, and family. When her mom leaves suddenly the main character's life is turned up on end. Her online fan fiction life must remain a secret, even when it threatens to make her lose sight of personal life goals like college. With the help of her real world and online friends and her amazing dad she learns to set boundaries, be open about her passions, and find ways to forgive.

Read it in a day! A senior in high school tries to balance online role-playing and her IRL life by keeping the two separate, until mountains of secrets catch up to her. Cannot wait for more from Jenna Miller.