NetGalley Review: The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall
Hey all, Sam here.
Here we are with another TTRPG related book review, and yes, I have another one for tomorrow as well. What can I say? This week was a good one for folks who want to read awesome role-playing game related books. I am definitely loving that we are getting more books in the world with characters who indulge in geeky hobbies. It’s nice as a geek girl to see characters who I understand and relate to in a way that I honestly never have with the “popular girl” or “jock boy” or anything like that.
Not to say that there’s anything wrong with those types of people or characters. I just couldn’t relate to them as much as I could the band geek or the general geek/comic book fan/fandom obsessed/wannabe creator (whether art, poetry, stories, song, etc).
Anyway, today’s review is a book that released yesterday, March 5th, and my copy is in the mail on its way to me because I definitely pre-ordered it. Let’s get started.
My Thoughts
Julie Murphy meets Casey McQuiston in this unforgettable queer romance about a teen girl whose foray into fantasy tabletop roleplaying brings her new confidence, true friends, and a shot at real, swoon-worthy love.
Hollis Beckwith isn’t trying to get a girl—she’s just trying to get by. For a fat, broke girl with anxiety, the start of senior year brings enough to worry about. And besides, she already has a Chris. Their relationship isn’t particularly exciting, but it’s comfortable and familiar, and Hollis wants it to survive beyond senior year. To prove she’s a girlfriend worth keeping, Hollis decides to learn Chris’s favorite tabletop roleplaying game, Secrets & Sorcery—but his unfortunate “No Girlfriends at the Table” rule means she’ll need to find her own group if she wants in.
Gloria Castañeda and her all-girls game of S&S! Crowded at the table in Gloria’s cozy Ohio apartment, the six girls battle twisted magic in-game and become fast friends outside it. With her character as armor, Hollis starts to believe that maybe she can be more than just fat, anxious, and a little lost.
But then an in-game crush develops between Hollis’s character and the bard played by charismatic Aini Amin-Shaw, whose wide, cocky grin makes Hollis’s stomach flutter. As their gentle flirting sparks into something deeper, Hollis is no longer sure what she wants…or if she’s content to just play pretend.
Rating: 5 stars
First off, hey, I was born and raised in Ohio, and one of my best friends lives in Cincinnati, so through our college years and all the years since, I have spent a decent amount of time in the Cincinnati/Covington area, so this was nice, because it felt like home to me…which is honestly something I’ve been missing the past couple years since we moved to Iowa.
Second, this is another book that features some not nice male geeks, the kind who basically treat TTRPGs like a dude-only space, and it’s so frustrating. I know this sort of thing happens, and I see gate keeping sentiments in social media comment threads and I’ve had it happen a couple times to me at conventions and such. Come on guys. Ladies can be geeks too.
Anyway, I could see how things were going to go with Hollis and Chris, because frankly Chris and his gaming group all sucked. And I loved everyone in Gloria’s group. They were all so welcoming and different, and I honestly want more stories with this group of friends/adventurers.
And the in-game and out-of-game relationship development between Hollis and Aini was just….fantastic. I did not want to put this book down. It was so great and I loved seeing the nurturing and welcoming space that a good gaming group can be, especially when they all really start becoming friends.
They say that the party that slays together, stays together, and a solid group is a rare and wonderful thing.
In my review on Goodreads, I called this my favorite read of the year so far, and one that would be difficult to dethrone. That was at the end of January. Tomorrow’s book review is a close contender, and then I just finished another book that is definitely towards the top of my favorite reads of the year list. I guess when I start doing my favorite reads posts, I’ll have more of an idea.
But this was a great book that gave us both the real life teen drama as well as the in-game adventure, with bonds of friendship running through both story lines.
I can definitely say that this is a book I will read again, because I very much enjoyed it, and I can absolutely recommend it.
All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
