Review Detail

Dungeons and Drama Featured

Young Adult Fiction 821

What's YOUR Essential Fandom?

December 20, 2023 (Updated: December 20, 2023)

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

High schooler Riley loves theater, and hopes one day to be a director, so the decision to borrow her mother's car and drive to nearby Columbus from her small town with her best friend Hoshiko to see a production of Waitresses seemed like a perfectly good plan... except that she doesn't have driver's license! Her parents, who are busy and divorced but very involved in her life, ground her for two months. Not only that, but since she clearly can't be trusted on her own, she has to spend every day after school working at her father's game store, Sword and Board Games. Aside from spending the obligatory weekends with her father, Riley hasn't seen much of him, but has a very close relationship with her mother, even going to some of her interior design jobs. Riley feels that her father chose the game store over her and her mother, so isn't thrilled to be at the business. On top of that, she has an awkward interaction with employee and classmate Nathan, made worse when she talks with her ex-boyfriend, Paul, and claims to be unaffected by their breakup because she already has a new boyfriend. She doesn't, of course, but claims that she and Nathan are dating. She convinces Nathan to go along with the ruse, because he is interested in Sophia, a member of the Dungeons and Dragons group, on whom Nathan has an unrequited crush. Sophia does seem more interested in Nathan when he flirts with Riley, so the two keep flirting in front of her. Of course, at school, they have to keep up appearances in case Paul shows up. Over time, the two bond over a shared love of frosted PopTarts, and Riley starts to realize the appeal of her father's shop and the community that thrives there. She also enjoys Nathan's attempts to inculcate a love of Geek Culture in her by exposing her to Weird Al Yankovic, LARPing costumes, and Monty Python movies. Riley is also busy trying to save the spring musical at school, but she is conscientious about keeping up with her school work. As time passes and Sophia seems more interested in Nathan, Riley finds to her chagrin that she is warming to him as well. When several situations make life stressful, including her father's health crisis, to whom will Riley turn for help and comfort, especially when Paul makes it clear that he would like her back?

Good Points

I love Riley! She has a fantastic sense of style and dresses in BRIGHT clothing, although I can't think of the last time I saw an actual teenager wearing a skirt! It's heart warming to see her and her mother take equal comfort in their movie musical nights, but also realistic to see the mother very busy with her work. Swords and Boards is an appealing setting, and Boyce packs the shop with a variety of quirky but endearing characters, some of whom come to her rescue with the school musical. Hiroko is a charming foil, and her relationship with gamer Lucas is also a lot of fun. The parents, and their oversight of Riley's life, are a great addition, and the fact that Riley gets along fairly well with both of them was delightful. Of course, it also made her father's very realistic health scare more emotionally wrenching.

Riley gets a good introduction to Dungeons and Dragons; she gets her own set of dice, a character in the game, and experience with people who can quote Monty Python. Boyce clearing has a solid stake in the world of Geekdom; Weird Al and Monty Python go hand in hand with D&D, LARPing, and Board games like Settlers of Catan. I know this because (while my own personal essential fandom is LHOTP) my daughter and son-in-law could have stepped right into this book as characters. There is a rather critical lapse in not mentioning Star Wars more often, as there is definitely some crossover there as well.

The romance in this isn't really enemies-to-lovers or a love triangle; Nathan and Riley have a bit of a rocking first meeting, but warm to each other quickly, and never harbor any real animosity towards each other. Paul is never really a threat, because Riley is over him; she just doesn't want him to pity her. I wouldn't have minded having the character of Sophia explored a bit more instead of spending time on the theater, but teens interested in theater will enjoy this sub plot.

Boyce's Hot Dutch Daydream (2023) and Hot British Boyfriend (2021) are hugely popular in my library, and fill a much needed gap in Young Adult literature; swoony romances that even middle school students can enjoy, filled with characters who are essentially well adjusted, socially responsible, and happy. Wrap this up with a copy of Lord of the Rings Risk or a DVD of Monty Python's Spamalot and gift to your favorite theater geek who also has one foot in the High Geek world of gaming.