This was a wonderful anthology full of a variety of stories that showed the multitude of ways that Dungeons and Dragons provides a safe space for people. While it mainly focuses on queer people and the ways they find a queer-accepting world in the game, use the game as a way to explore themselves, and more, it also highlights how the game brings people together, helps people with their anxiety, brings them out of depressions. It's just such a wholesome view of the game and highlights why people love it so much and why it is so important to people.

There's a really interesting array of identities within the anthology. I was pleased to see a handful of ace and aro rep and really related to some of those writings as an aroace person myself. Andrew Joseph White's story of a young trans man reconnecting with his father through the game was incredibly poignant. There were no misses here.

This is How We Roll is necessary reading for any Dungeons and Dragons fan, but especially those who found a soft landing space in the Forgotten Realms.

Authors I read and loved united in this great anthology and wrote some of the most captivating tales I have ever read! Loved this to bits.

This is How We Roll features 12 short stories by your favorite queer fantasy young adult authors. All of these stories show the importance of role playing games on teens and how that impacts identity.

These stories were so cute and wholesome and sometimes sad but also so important. I am so thankful to have gotten to read this and I truly believe that this book will change teens lives and is something I wish I had growing up.

This book perfectly captures why Dungeon & Dragons (and tabletop role playing games in general) means so much to so many people. I laughed, I cried (those heartfelt happy tears), and I felt the love each author put into each story.

The queer representation and perspectives are varied and incredibly inclusive. And, as with any short story anthology, I liked some stories more than others, but that's exactly what makes a book like this so powerful: everyone can find a story that resonates with them. A story they see themselves in. A safe space, a place to belong - the same way people find that sense of belonging in a real game of D&D.

A must-read for D&D and TTRPG lovers and those looking for themselves in the pages of a story. Or both.

Dungeons and Dragons has often been a game where people who feel like they don't fit in elsewhere can find a place where they truly belong. This collection demonstrates that perfectly with characters covering the full spectrum of gender and sexuality finding themselves and a community through this roleplaying game.

There's something for every reader in this collection. For me, I was particularly fond of Andrew Joseph White's "Oathbreaker" where newly out as trans Simon uses the game that he and his father have always bonded over to help repair their relationship. Then there was DeAndra Davis's "Haunts for Heathens" where Alisha uses playing Dungeons and Dragons with her friends as an escape from what her religious family expects from her and as inspiration for the screenplay she's working on for a scholarship all while finding out that maybe she and her largest rival have more of a connection than she thought. And Margaret Owen's "Five Times the Wizard Almost Died, and One Time She Did" where Ella navigates playing in her older sister's campaign for the first time while managing being the focus of said older sister's ire when her undiagnosed mental illness causes her to lash out in game. I was also quite fond of Linsey Miller's "Silvery Barbs" if only because it was very obviously inspired by my most favorite of Shakespeare's works - Much Ado About Nothing.

For any and all fans of ttrpgs and those who can't help being dice goblins, This Is How We Roll will delight all readers looking for a fun and heartfelt collection full of magic, mayhem, discovering who you are surrounded by your party members and closest friends.

If you love Dungeon & Dragons and play it in any form, then read this book. I mean, just look at that awesome cover! The beautiful dice are also featured throughout the book itself.

Behind each chapter, a new and unique short story awaits you in this fantastic world. The characters are all very complex, whether in the game or in reality. I especially liked the diversity throughout the book. It was just so much fun to immerse myself in the world of D&D, and it makes me want to play. A really great and entertaining book! And a must-read for every D&D lover.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!