No Shelf Control

By Alexene Farol Follmuth

Thanks so much to Tor Teen for giving me a complimentary ARC copy upon my request for review considerations! All opinions are my own.

Twelfth Knight is coming May 28th Pre-order now from wherever you get your books!

What’s it about?

Viola Reyes is annoyed.

Her painstakingly crafted tabletop game campaign was shot down, her best friend is suggesting she try being more “likable,” and school quarterback Jack Orsino is the most lackadaisical Student Body President she’s ever seen, which makes her job as VP that much harder. Vi’s favorite escape from the world is the MMORPG Twelfth Knight, but online spaces aren’t exactly kind to girls like her—girls who are extremely competent and have the swagger to prove it. So Vi creates a masculine alter ego, choosing to play as a knight named Cesario to create a safe haven for herself.

But when a football injury leads Jack Orsino to the world of Twelfth Knight, Vi is alarmed to discover their online alter egos—Cesario and Duke Orsino—are surprisingly well-matched.

As the long nights of game-play turn into discussions about life and love, Vi and Jack soon realise they’ve become more than just weapon-wielding characters in an online game. But Vi has been concealing her true identity from Jack, and Jack might just be falling for her offline…

Summary from The StoryGraph

Why I Started This Book

I read the description of this book and knew I wanted to read it!

My First Thoughts

I LOVE this book! I immediately fell in love with Vi! I could see some of myself in her, which was so great to read about.

My Rating

I really enjoyed reading this book! It was filled with wonderful themes, and had me laughing out loud a lot!

What I loved

The characters are so perfectly imperfect. They all have their faults, and it is a big part of the story. It really helps add a lot of depth to the book, and gives so much room to grow.

You know that feeling when you read a character that feels just like you at one point in your life? Vi did that for me. Some of her inner thoughts were very insightful, and I definitely saw some of myself in her.

The book features a lot of feminism and overall empowerment. It doesn’t skip out on some of the unkind truths about this topic, and depicts Vi’s struggles perfectly. It made this novel so powerful!

Twelfth Knight had so many good themes about how we build up all these ideas about what everyone is but they are hardly ever true. This is such a great theme, and it is portrayed perfectly throughout the novel!

What I Disliked

At times the plot seemed to move somewhat slowly. This isn’t to say there wasn’t a lot of stuff going on that was fun to read about, but the overall plotline felt like it was dragged out a little too much.

Book vs. Movie

There’s no movie for this book.

Should You Read It?

Yes! Not only is this book fun and entertaining, it has great messages and themes! The novel is great for any YA reader, and should be read by everyone.

Conclusion

Twelfth Knight is a wonderful romantic tale of two opposites that put differences aside to realize that maybe they actually aren’t so different after all. It blends powerful themes and feminism perfectly, to create a meaningful novel that is super entertaining. Towards the middle of the book it felt like the overall plot was dragging on, but it was still fun to read about. Overall, the book is great for any romance lover, or someone who is looking for a book with really great messages.