February 4, 2025 by Delacorte Press
E ARC Provided by the Publisher
Quinn's family relocates two hours away to a small Ohio town to be near her grandmother, Barbara, who has been having some issues at 75. When Barbara insists on driving Quinn and her brother Andrew to their first day at their new high school in February, she's a little embarrassing, asking a group of teens to take their picture. It's not all bad; Quinn meets Kashvi, who is wearing earrings made out of gaming dice, and the very cute Logan. After talking to Kashvi, she's invited to join her Dungeons & Dragon group, an invitation that is somewhat of a relief, but also a little stressful, since the group to which Quinn belonged to at her old school imploded in a particularly dramatic way that caused her to lose both her boyfriend and best friend. Kashvi's group involves her twin, Sangiv, Logan, Mark, and the dungeon master, Sloane, who is nonbinary. The group live streams its campaigns, like Critical Role, and have strict rules about no phones and not dating group members. While Quinn feels okay about her D & D performance, she's a bit confused about why Logan is now very negative and seems to want to fight with her. When her grandmother picks her up after school and notices her bad mood, the two go to get ice cream, and Logan is working at the shop. Soon, Barbara is asking Logan for help cleaning out her attic so that Quinn's parents don't force her to move to a retirement community. Quinn and Logan enjoy hanging out, and decide to stay friends. There is a D & D event in Zanesville, and Quinn runs into her old group there, which doesn't end well, but her new group is supportive. Barbara also challenges Quinn and Logan to a pickleball game, along with her new friend, Jim. Quinn and Logan really want to date each other, and the tension is intense, but they decide to talk to the group first. Before they can do that, Quinn's former friends troll her in the comments on the livestream. To complicate matters, Quinn's grandmother falls a third time, and is set to move out of her house. Upset, Barbara and Quinn take a car ride out into the countryside to get away, but end up having a car accident. Logan picks Quinn up so that she doesn't have to wait with her grandmother and father, and the two have a heart to heart. They finally tells the group, but no one is terribly surprised, so everything ends happily.
Strengths: The big difference between young adult and middle grade romances is the level of angst. If this were a middle grade novel, Quinn and Logan would have just yelled at each other and worked their problems out, but young adult audiences seem to prefer the slow burn of avoiding issues and putting off romance in favor of fighting and trying to deny attraction. Logan and Quinn try to balance all of this; hanging out, playing pickleball, and deciding to "just be friends" when in fact they are falling in love with each other. There's also plenty of friend drama, with Kashvi secretly dating Quinn's brother Andrew, and Quinn's old life seeping into her new one. The real draw here is the level of Dungeons and Dragons details about the characters, campaign, and general gaming atmosphere. The live streaming bumps this up a notch, as done some jewelry making with gaming dice that Kashvi and Quinn start working on. The family drama centered on the grandmother is realistic; high school is often a time when grandparents start to decline. This is a nice blend of lots of elements, and the cover is great.
Weaknesses: Barbara is only 75, which seems a little young to be forced to move, although her car keys should probably be taken away! I didn't quite buy that Quinn's former friends still followed her activities, but with social media, I guess that could happen more than it would have back in my day. While I enjoyed all of the details about fashion (Quinn favors crop tops and long, flowy skirts), this might date the book more quickly.
What I really think: This had a lot more D & D details than Dungeons and Drama, so might not appeal to readers who aren't familiar with the game, but will be hugely popular with readers who are. Boyce is becoming my go-to author for high school romances that I can hand to my middle school students. With the fiftieth anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons occurring this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot more gaming themed novels! If this book sounds appealing to you, you should also hunt down a copy of Sattin and Steenz' Side Quest.
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