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.

Source of book: NetGalley (thank you)
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

Oh well done me. Diligently wrote my review of this, put it to one side as we were advised to do during the Harper Collins strike … and now can’t find the damn thing.

So let me try again.

This turn out to be the definition of a complicated one for me. There was a lot I loved about it, I lot I found genuinely rather audacious, and some things that didn’t quite land for one reason or another, many of those reasons probably personal.

Anyway to get into it: Cass, the heroine of Out of Character is a fat (using the language preferred by the book here) queer teenager who participates in an online roleplaying group based on her favourite series of books. Her homelife has recently undergone a bit of a shake-up, because her mother has moved out abruptly, leaving Cass’s previously very work-focused dad in place as primary parent. But her love life, by contrast, is looking up as she’s recently started dating Taylor Cooper, a girl she previously believed was out of her league. The more complicated Cass’s life becomes, the more she retreats into her roleplaying group, especially her complicated friendship with her, presumed straight, RP-partner, Rowan.

So, as you can probably tell from the summary, Cass has as lot going on her life. We’re getting into very subjective territory here, because everyone wants to see different aspects of identity represented in different ways, but for me personally I really appreciated that by the time we meet Cass she’s very comfortable with the aspects of herself that could well be the arc, or even the conflict, in another book. Which is to say, while Cass does reflect on how being fat and queer alter her relationship to the world, and the world’s relationship to her, they’re basically her background reality at this point. She’s more concerned with the specifics of her life right now: her mother leaving, her maybe-crush on Rowan, and the fact that what should be a supposedly perfect relationship with Taylor kind of isn’t.

I should probably also say that I went into this sort of … pre-wincing over the roleplaying theme while also wanting to read the book precisely *because* of the roleplaying theme. The thing is, I am always excited for books that centre niche nerd hobbies, but I also worry about those niche nerd hobbies are going to get depicted, especially if they wind up being a conflict point in the book. To give Out of Character credit, this is definitely an insider look at this particular niche nerd hobby. Right down to the fact there’s always someone controlling a plot-significant character who is flaky as fuck and treats the whole thing with barely concealed contempt. In general, it does a really good job of capturing how compelling it can be and feels loving—if clear-eyed—in exactly the sort of way you want someone writing about the dorky thing you do so sometimes let off steam to be both loving and clear-eyed.

Where the wheels slightly came off for me was the way Cass’s increasing involvement in and dependence on her online roleplaying exchanges got entangled up in these very dog whistly “gaming addiction” type ideas. The background here is that, when she was younger, Cass got “addicted” to The Sims and her schoolwork suffered until her parents took the game away: so this makes her feel she is also “addicted” to her roleplaying life and worries about telling her father. And we’re probably straying into personal bugbear type territory here, but I wish “gaming addiction” hadn’t been bandied about so casually and so definitively. The thing is, there’s a real and meaningful difference between addiction in the behavioural or pharmacological sense and playing videogames a bit too much. Yes, Cass isn’t always able to find the self-discipline to balance school and videogames—which, don’t get me wrong, is non-ideal—but that doesn’t mean she has an addiction disorder. Young people, and indeed not so young people, can go off the rails slightly for all kinds of reason and it’s a pretty normal human impulse to seek refuge from our stresses in a hobby taken to excess. I mean, when I was kid I didn’t have much access to computer games because we were poor and also they were pretty rudimentary, so I read a lot of books instead. As in, actively withdrew from my life and responsibilities (such as they were) to hide in the local library and read books. But nobody suggested I was addicted to reading because I’d kept skipping school to read Middlemarch.

Sorry, I’ve slightly gone off on one. I think part of the reason I got stuck on this particular aspect of the story was that it felt about plot, rather than about character. The book needed/wanted to have meaningful conflict about Cass’s online roleplaying that wasn’t “well, she needs to stop this embarrassing hobby” or “this embarrassing hobby will turn your children into gay satanists”, something that would give her real motivation to keep it secret from her parents. And the thing is, I think that motivation could still have been present, without inventing a prior case of Sims addiction, or acting like Sims addiction is a specific and recognisable condition that can only be treated by going into parentally-imposed Sims rehab. Similarly, there’s already a series of interesting conflicts around Cass’s roleplaying: her relationship with her friend group within it, the slow dissolution of a particular relationship as one of the players goes to college and essentially decides the hobby isn’t significant to her and neither are the people involved in it (this is pretty realistic and wrenching AF to be honest), Cass’s closeness with Rowan, the balance between allowing the hobby to be a meaningful part of her life without it taking over her life in times of stress or anxiety.

Anyway, this aside—and I apologise for banging on it about it so much, it just bugged me, and it may very well not bug you in the slightest—there’s a lot I really adored here. Random addiction nonsense aside, I found the fandom/roleplaying sections incredibly charming. It doesn’t take over the book but it’s nice to get little glimpses of Cass’s roleplaying life, whether that’s managing the server, talking with her friends, or writing back and forth with Rowan. The books they’re fans of is fictional—err, fictional in the sense made up for the story—series about queer pirates and comes across as exactly the sort of series that would spawn an enthusiastic fandom while also not being presented as some kind of staggering work of heart-breaking genius. Obviously there’s nothing wrong per se with presenting something you yourself have made up as a staggering work of heart-breaking genius but I personally liked the fact that the book—the real book, I mean—was so willing to champion the value of stories that are loved by their readers over abstract ideas of literary merit or universal critical acclaim.

I also really loved Cass as a character, and I thought there was a lot of nuance to her portrayal; the way the book was willing to allow her to be confident in some ways (especially about her body and her queerness) and messy AF in others. For example, she’s also anxious, introverted, inclined to hide from her problems, withholding and needy at the same time, slightly emotionally myopic and, err, treats her both Taylor and Rowan—Taylor especially—quite badly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not *blaming* or *judging* Cass as a character for the fact she makes some poor decisions and isn’t a paragon (in fact, I think it’s very important that not every character has to be): but I did find her impressively wrong-headed sometimes.

Being YA, Out of Character is mostly a maturation narrative, although it does have strong romantic elements too. And it was interesting to me, coming from the romance genre and mostly adult romance, just how … uh … misguided Cass was allowed to be. It’s very clear from early on that she’s not with the right person, but she clings to Taylor anyway, mostly out of fear and insecurity. And what makes this especially difficult is that Taylor is trying so hard—admittedly too hard—to be a good and loving girlfriend, while Cass lies to her and treats her as a chore. Again, I want to be very clear I’m not judging Cass for this; she’s flawed and human and imperfect, and that’s okay. Honestly, it was kind of refreshing to see this kind of arc from the perspective of the, uh, the mistreater not the mistreated. And I found it intriguing that the main romance arc of the book wasn’t so much the heroine falling in love as finding the confidence to recognise she wasn’t in love:

"Having a crush on someone who reminded me of a fictional character wasn’t enough. Having things in common wasn’t enough. Her being funny and cool and cute and smart and everything else didn’t matter if I didn’t actually feel something."

I realise I’ve sort of gone deep here. But while Out of Character is a book with serious themes, I felt it handled them deftly, and—in case I’ve made it sound overly intense—it’s also a genuinely charming, heart-warming read. It’s got a daft cat in it and a cast of well-developed characters, all with their own thing going on, Like Cass herself, they don’t always behave perfectly but that’s just human, you know? And it felt like real generosity, on the part of the book, that it was so consistently willing to allow people to make mistakes, and hurt each other, and yet still ultimately be understandable and well-meaning, whether this is Cass’s mother, who treats Cass rather selfishly (albeit on the context of a dissolving marriage), or the boy who used to bully Cass at school. For me, though, the real joy of Out of Character is that it genuinely captures the sense of true companionship that can develop around a shared love of the same thing. Also it treats one of my niche nerdy hobbies with very kindly indeed.

I got till about 45% into this and realized I didn't know what was happening. I debated on going back to figure it out, but I realized I didn't care. It was then that I decided this wasn't for me. I still purchased it for the library since it's a sapphic romance, but it just wasn't for me.

This book is absolutely raw with emotions, the type of book I absolutely love and this one wasn’t any sort of exception. I zoomed through the story and was invested in every plot point big and small. I found the book so realistic and necessary for teenagers to read. I feel that most every teenager who reads this book would find them self seen in someway or another.
I loved the characters and how they interacted, the plot points big and small, literally everything made my heart flutter with love for this book. I saw little parts of myself in every character in this book and having that sort of connection just made my experience that much better.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishing for an eARC copy of this book.

I am having *feelings*. Like may or may not have sobbed at the end. I wish this book and others like it were around when I was in high school and that I had formed those chronically online friendships....but, I digress. I like a fat MC because it's relatable to me. A fat, queer, nerdy MC is perfection. Also, the fact that she is masking her real self and interests for people in her real life is relatable and painful....so TW, I guess?

I loved the online community, body positivity, queer teenager. I also really liked all the quirky traditions, snarky interactions, and growth throughout the book. I didn't love all the lying and poor communication--thats a constant book pet peeves for me. I understand it as a way to drive the plot but I was FRUSTRATED with out girl throughout like 85% of the book.

Her mom is the WORST and that relationship never made sense to me, but cool dad is the BEST! The relationship between dad and daughter sounded like it would be complex and then just....wasn't? And it turned out to be sort of a theme, I think there was something there that would have make this book INCREDIBLE, but everything felt just a little flat. I also LOVEEEEE Rowen and Tate. I wish we would have seen more of the other girls in the server, but maybe we will get a series? (I would definitely read that!)

Random note: it's super weird how casual the teen drinking is with their parents. Full disclosure: i skipped most of the role play scenes. i really love the concept, but didn't love the actual role play, but that did not detract from my reading experience. Another random note: I'm immodestly going to the store to buy stuff to make totdish.

Overall, I'm glad this book exists and I enjoyed reading it. I am forever grateful to see a variety of queer fat women represented in literature, I never thought Id see that day. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you Quill Tree Books and NetGalley for granting me access to an eARC of Jenna Miller’s wonderful book, Out of Character. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Summary

Cass has a secret life: she’s a roleplayer in the Tide Wars fandom. Some of her best friends are fellow teens in her roleplaying group. And she hasn’t told anyone in real life about this. It’s her safe haven away from her parents’ arguments. Everything’s fine until her mom moves cross-country out of nowhere to go live with her online boyfriend, Cass’s crush asks her out, and her grades start slipping because her coping mechanism is staying up late to roleplay which causes her to sleep late and miss homework assignments. Meanwhile, one of her roleplaying friends starts to enter Cass’s real life and that causes her girlfriend and everyone else to have questions about how they know each other. Can Cass keep her two worlds separate or will she drown in the lies?

Thoughts

I think this was a realistic way to discuss online friendships and fandoms while also acknowledging the importance of being honest with the people in your in person life. There are a lot of moments when Cass’s lies just make everything worse. But, Cass is worried that her addictive tendencies will make her dad ban her from roleplaying, so it makes sense that she goes to such great lengths to keep it a secret. She doesn’t even tell her best friend and next door neighbor because she knows he would probably tell her dad because the two families are close. It’s hard to read about Cass hiding from the people who love her and want good things for her, but I think this is a wonderful book that can serve as a reminder to teens that reaching out to the people you love about something that’s getting a little out of control might make things better in the end. And I like that it acknowledges how hard it is to trust people–even the people you love–with something precious to you.

I like that this is one of those books where the response when things become a mess is not to vilify the characters completely, but rather discuss how they are human and humans make mistakes. This doesn’t justify their actions or discount the very real pain they cause others, but people are human and nobody is going to do well at handling everything all the time. It’s clear that a lot of Cass’s troubles are caused by Cass herself, but Miller writes it in a way that makes readers feel for Cass and still root for her to succeed even as we’re reading about her not great coping mechanisms.

Lastly, one of the elements of this book that was a lot of fun was the pieces of Cass’s roleplays. They often served as omens for what would come next in the story and give readers a preview of Cass’s mindset prior to reading the next chapter. It was fun to get to see both parts of Cass’s world: the roleplays and the texts with her roleplaying friends as well as her real life friends and family.

4 out of 5 stars

Out of Character is a Young Adult, contemporary, LQBTQIA+, romance. I enjoyed this body-positive, LGBTQIA+ love story that explores the complexities of online/offline relationships and the hesitating involved in sharing an authentic and geeky version of yourself.