Book Review: "Twelfth Knight" by Alexene Farol Follmuth

Here’s an existential question: is it a retelling if you’ve never read the original? I know the answer is yes, but the question came to mind when I was reading this enjoyable YA romance. It’s a retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, which I never read, so I just enjoyed the story for what it is.

High school makes Viola cranky. She’s not afraid to express her opinions, which gives her a reputation of being prickly and doesn’t gain her many fans. She also is student government VP under Jack, the charismatic quarterback who would rather charm people than do his job, which leaves Vi to be the bad guy. And it seems as if her best friend would rather apologize for her behavior than support her.

“No matter how smart I am or how hard I work, my acceptance is always conditional. And it’s not just me—I don’t know how any girl can exist in the world without being perpetually furious.”

The only place she really feels comfortable is in the world of Twelfth Knight, the MMORPG she loves. But even here she capitulates a bit—she plays as Cesario, a male knight, because she knows that her fellow players would condescend to a girl playing.

And when Jack’s football career gets sidelined by injury, a friend introduces him to Twelfth Knight. While at first he can’t believe he’s playing an online game, he gets hooked pretty quickly. Vi recognizes his character but doesn’t reveal her online identity to Jack. Little by little, they strike up a friendship in the game, and their conversations expand beyond vanquishing their enemies to life and love.

Follmuth is the pen name of sci-fi/fantasy writer Olivie Blake. She has created a really enjoyable story with characters who seem much more realistic than in many YA stories. If you’re familiar with Twelfth Night, you might enjoy this even more!

Book Review: "Mabry's Minor Mistake" by Sam E. Kraemer

If you're looking for a sweet, steamy, enemies-to-lovers/second-chance holiday romance, look no further!

Mabry was a star basketball player going into his senior year of college when he met Jimmy, a young and naive incoming freshman and IT whiz. Over the course of an evening, Mabry and Jimmy visited a bunch of frat parties together and Mabry made sure Jimmy didn’t get taken advantage of.

They felt a connection, but Jimmy was drunk and Mabry didn’t want to take advantage of him. But Jimmy felt rejected, so he enacted his revenge—an action that nearly wrecked the end of Mabry’s college career.

Ten years later, Mabry has retired after a number of years as a successful professional basketball player, and now owns a car dealership in a Chicago suburb. The last person he’s expecting to walk into his dealership is Jimmy.

Jimmy (now JJ) is a tremendously successful businessman who owns a video game company. He wants to make a basketball video with Mabry, but his offers have been rejected in the past. He’s willing to do—and give—anything to work with Mabry on this game, and of course, he also hopes he might have a second chance at a relationship with the former athlete.

Jimmy has never been far from Mabry’s mind—mostly for negative reasons—but it is good to see his nemesis after so long. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t still feel some kind of connection with Jimmy. But can he trust someone who made his life a living hell?

This was a sexy, sweet, emotional romance about two people finding their way back to each other, and a fun holiday read!

Book Review: "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin

One of the most beloved books of the year is this sweeping story of friendship, love, grief, recovery, and video games.

Sadie and Sam meet in the hospital when they are 11 years old in the late 1980s. Sadie is visiting her older sister and Sam is recovering from one of several surgeries to repair his foot, which was crushed in a car accident. She finds Sam in the hospital’s game room and she is impressed with his skill at Super Mario Bros.

Even though Sam hasn’t spoken to anyone since he came to the hospital, he and Sadie strike up a friendship, mostly bonding over video games. She even comes to the hospital to visit him after her sister is released, and they spend a great deal of time together until an argument ends their friendship.

Years later, Sam spots Sadie on a crowded subway platform in Boston. He knows she’s a student at MIT, while he attends Harvard, but they’ve not seen each other since they were 13. But quickly it’s as if no time has passed, and that encounter is the spark that leads to their partnering on developing a video game.

The story follows them over the next 15 or so years, as they become famous video game developers, and deal with personal and professional ups and downs. Their friendship is tested time and again, with jealousy, misunderstandings, ambition, and tragedy affecting them. It’s a powerful and emotional story, which meandered a bit too much for me, but it definitely kept me invested in the characters’ stories.

While you don’t have to know much about video games to read this, it would help. But I enjoyed the portrayal of their creativity and genius, as well as the commentary about video games’ effect on society.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!

Book Review: "Loathe at First Sight" by Suzanne Park

When your workplace is in chaos, the last thing you can handle is a workplace romance. At least that's the case in Suzanne Park's fun rom-com, Loathe at First Sight.

Melody Joo thinks she’s landed the perfect job as a producer at a video game company, but she learns quickly how wrong she is. The CEO is a petulant jerk, her male coworkers are sexist (and a bit racist), and there’s even a handsome yet insufferable intern, who happens to be the boss’ nephew and seems to get all of the perks she isn't. She wants to quit ASAP.

When a joke about a video game featuring male strippers fighting to save the world (as opposed to the ubiquitous hyper-sexual female characters which appear in video games) gets taken seriously, she’s put in charge of developing it. Nolan the intern gets assigned to help her, and while she’s ready for him to be useless, Melody is surprised by how smart—and sexy—he is. But the last thing she needs is to hook up with the boss’ nephew and an intern to boot, given that half of the guys she works with already think she's slept her way into the opportunity to develop the game.

Suddenly she faces intense pressure to deliver the game amidst unrealistic and unfair demands from the CEO, hostile coworkers, and a trolling scandal which actually frightens her. Couple that with constant nagging from her Korean parents to get married and some meddling from her best friends, and she’s ready to crack. All she wants is to turn to Nolan, but is that the worst choice she can make? (I think you know the answer to that question.)

This was a cute enemies-to-lovers (sort-of) rom-com. I liked Melody and Nolan and definitely rooted for them. I thought she really took a lot more verbal abuse from her coworkers, the public, her family, even her friends, than was enjoyable. There’s only so many insults—even when done in love—that are fun to read.

Still, I thought the book had some good messages about sexism in the workplace, particularly in the gaming industry. And so much of what Park describes about gaming fans is true. It's a fun romp.

Avon Books provided me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "Warcross" by Marie Lu

Heck yeah, this was awesome!

My taste in video games has always hewed more toward the classic arcade games—Pac-Man, Asteroids, Space Invaders—and I'll admit, I haven't actually played a video game since my roommates and I had an old Nintendo system freshman year of college. But even though I can't compare the goings-on in Marie Lu's latest book, Warcross, with any first-hand knowledge, that didn't make me like it any less.

"Some people still say that Warcross is just a stupid game. Others say it's a revolution. But for me and millions of others, it's the only foolproof way to forget our troubles."

Warcross is more than a game—it's a worldwide phenomenon. This virtual-reality game has held the world in its thrall for the last 10 years, and it has spawned an empire. While the "official" version of the game is played by teams of highly trained players from around the world who have become celebrities, people play it constantly, rehash old matches, and spend millions on products and other virtual accoutrements related to the game.

Like any game, Warcross has also led to a rise in those seeking to make illegal profits from it, betting on the game illegally. Emika Chen, a teenage hacking wizard, works as a bounty hunter, tracking down those running afoul of the law. But the bounty hunting racket is tremendously competitive, and Emika can barely keep her head above water financially, since she's stuck paying down her late father's gambling debts as well. She's less than 72 hours from being evicted from her apartment and being left with nothing, and nowhere to turn.

With no other alternatives, Emika decides to hack into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships. She expects to sneak in undetected, steal a few things, and sneak back out, with no one the wiser. Instead, she accidentally glitches herself right into the middle of the action for a split second—and then all hell breaks loose. She figures it's just a matter of time before she is arrested, but instead, she gets an invitation from Hideo Tanaka, the handsome, mysterious young billionaire who created Warcross.

Much to Emika's surprise, Hideo summons her to Tokyo, and offers her a job: he wants to put her in the game, as a real contestant, to spy on what he believes is a security breach. Someone is trying to wreak havoc, and Hideo believes Emika is the only one who can solve the problem. In almost no time, Emika goes from being nearly homeless to a true celebrity, whose every move has the tabloids abuzz.

"What must it be like to have a perfect life? To be a superstar beloved by all? To be able to pay your bills on time and buy whatever you want?"

The more Emika becomes immersed in the game, the more she craves the adrenaline rush of both the strategy and the celebrity—not to mention she finds herself becoming more and more drawn to Hideo. As she works to figure out what nefarious plans are in play deep within Warcross' code, she must decide who are her friends and who are her foes, an endeavor which will take her deep into the shadowy virtual underworld. But what she finds is even more sinister than she or Hideo even suspected, and the plot has ramifications for the entire Warcross empire and those involved.

I've read Marie Lu's Legend and Young Elites series, and I've always been impressed both with her storytelling and, essentially, her world-building, as she creates a completely different universe for each of her series of books. Both talents are dazzlingly on display in Warcross, along with some great action, suspense, emotion, and fascinating character development. Her descriptions really brought the game and the world of Warcross to life for me, and I could imagine this will make a really cool movie.

Obviously, the subject matter will rule this book out for some people, but I think it's more than a book about a video game. While I'm not sure I loved the ending (although it's tremendously thought-provoking), I found this moved about as quickly as I'd imagine a video game would, but with far more substance than you'd expect. Marie Lu continues to prove she's a force to be reckoned with, and I'll eagerly await the next book in this series!

Book Review: "The Chalk Artist" by Allegra Goodman

Whether she intended it or not, I feel like Allegra Goodman's newest novel, The Chalk Artist, is two books in one.

It's a love story of sorts between two dreamers who come from different backgrounds and share different perspectives on how to make their dreams come true. At the same time, it's also a look at the world of video gaming and virtual reality, and the way it pulls all different types of people into its wake. On the surface you wouldn't think that these two disparate halves could make a whole, but the end result is a tremendously compelling, beautifully written, slightly imperfect book.

Collin is a tremendously talented artist who never felt like he belonged in art school. His preferred medium is chalk, and he's all too happy to create beautiful pictures and images to captivate viewers, only to erase them and start again. It's a philosophy he follows in life, too—nothing is really permanent. He's really biding his time, waiting tables, acting and designing in a theater company he and his roommate founded, and trying to figure out what the future holds.

When Nina walks into his restaurant, he's immediately smitten. A Harvard graduate who is teaching as part of Teacher Corps, she wants to dazzle her students so they love literature and poetry as much as she does, but she can't seem to reach them or get them to pay attention to her. Although it takes her a while to let her guard down with Collin, she loves how his creativity and fearlessness has awakened her, and she hopes her practical nature will inspire him to do something real with his artistic talent.

Nina is the daughter of a gaming and technology mogul whose video games are tremendously popular. His soon-to-be released game is revolutionizing the world of virtual reality, so in an effort to help Collin harness his talent in a practical way, she convinces her father to give Collin a try at his company, Arkadia. It's a move which energizes him but creates barriers—both real and artificial—in their relationship.

Meanwhile, Arkadia is using some slightly questionable marketing tactics to raise the anticipation for its newest game, and a student at Nina's school, Aidan, gets caught up in both the game's incredibly dazzling magic and the painful realities that his obsession causes. It could prove dangerous not only to him, but to his twin sister, Diana, a student in Nina's class, and others.

When I started reading The Chalk Artist, I couldn't understand why Goodman would want to muddy the waters of Collin and Nina's story with a completely unrelated thread about a teenage boy obsessed with virtual reality. But the more I read, the more I realized how this virtual world really served as a counterpoint to Nina's need for permanence and real reality, and there was so much more to this plotline than I first thought.

Goodman's writing practically sings when she describes UnderWorld and Collin's art. Her imagery really felt as if it would be right at home in any fantasy novel, and it was unlike anything I've seen from her work to date. While Collin and Nina's story is definitely one you've seen before (and depending on your personality, you'll definitely prefer one character over the other), it still is compelling, and you hope that neither will do something stupid.

Not everything works in the book—I felt that Aidan's sister was a little superfluous, and felt like the plot shifted back and forth a little too abruptly at times. But overall, I enjoyed this a great deal. I'm a big fan of books that embrace the power of dreams of all kinds. This book really solidified Goodman as a favorite author of mine, one whose deft hand has created some truly memorable characters through the years.

NetGalley and Random House/The Dial Press provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "The Impossible Fortress" by Jason Rekulak

All I need to do is hear that a book takes place in the 1980s and a little alarm in my head goes off that says, "Read this!" Throw in video games and 80s music (even the pop stuff), and I'm totally there!

It's 1987. Billy, Alf, and Clark are all 14, and they're pretty much obsessed with one thing—Playboy has just released pictures of Vanna White. They're determined to do whatever it takes to get their hands on this magazine, which means stealing it from the local office supply/convenience store. The boys hatch a rudimentary plan to get the magazine, and while their mission fails, Billy finds one bright spot: Mary, the daughter of the store's owner.

Mary is not only attractive (albeit a little overweight), but she's funny and tough. And smart—she even knows more about computer programming than Billy, who has created several games on his home computer, and taught himself to code. Mary promises to help Billy with his entry in a computer game design competition being judged by one of the industry's brightest young stars, and she helps him through more than a few tough spots he was stuck on.

When Alf and Clark launch a more complicated yet seemingly foolproof plan to steal the magazines from the store, they need someone to get the alarm code from Mary. Being less than knowledgeable about women, Alf and Clark seem to think they can fake-romance the code out of Mary, but Billy volunteers. He doesn't let on that he and Mary have teamed up on a contest entry, but promises to make progress in order to get the code.

The plot to get the magazines and see Vanna's pictures becomes more and more complicated. While Alf and Clark work on the logistics, Billy is all too happy to spend every evening with Mary, working on their game. He knows he feels something more than teamwork and camaraderie for Mary, and he thinks she feels the same way, but he's never had a girlfriend before, so he doesn't know what to do or how to act. Once the game has been entered into the contest, and things go a little bit awry, Billy is faced with an incredible dilemma: does he tell his friends how he feels about Mary and convince them to end their scheme, or does he keep his word and get the alarm code?

The Impossible Fortress does a good job capturing the cluelessness of teenage boys, and the single-minded pursuit of money, popularity, and naked pictures of women, although not necessarily in that order. It's an entertaining story about loyalty to your friends, the flush of first love, the desire to make something of yourself, and the excitement of creation. Jason Rekulak evokes the 80s really well; it's amazing how different things were back then, when you couldn't rely on the internet for information, when only certain people had a very slow version of email communication, and when no one was in constant communication with anyone.

While Rekulak does a good job portraying his characters' immaturity, he doesn't really give them much depth or appeal. While he throws in one interesting twist, everything else in the book is fairly predictable, and the characters behave much as you'd expect them to. I wouldn't have a problem if we got to know Alf and Clark a little more, but we really just see them acting like idiots and pressuring Billy. Mary is a fascinating character I would have liked more of, and Billy is appealing, while clueless. And for the most part, the boys go from scheme to scheme, each one wackier than the next.

If you're a child of the 80s, or you like entertaining stories about teenage friendships and the challenges of growing up, check out The Invisible Fortress. And as a bonus, you can play The Impossible Fortress game on Rekulak's website, www.jasonrekulak.com, if you're a computer game fan.

NetGalley and Simon & Schuster provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!