Twelfth Knight
By: Alexene Farol Follmuth
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 320
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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 running back 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…
What I thought
I first heard about this book when it was announced with Reese’s book club picks. Ever since the movie She’s the Man I am a sucker for Twelfth Night and any re-tellings so I was immediately intrigued. However, something about this book being about video games and role playing did not appeal to me so I never added it to my list. I was still intrigued and excited when Denise picked it for book club!
Viola is a bit of her loaner. While she has her twin brother Sebastian (Bash), she prefers to view herself as hyper-independent. Jack (Duke) Orsino is the star running back of the football team and the student body president to Viola’s vice president. Viola and Duke don’t really get along, but when he is hit with a season ending injury and his girlfriend Olivia breaks up with him, he is desperate to figure out what is going on. He teams up with Viola to help him get back together with Olivia. On top of that, Viola is an aid gamer of the role playing game Twelfth Knight. With his injury, Duke’s friend introduces him to the game and he runs into Viola’s character. However, when he realizes they go to the same school, she tells him that she is her twin brother Bash rather than her true self.
This book was so much fun. Viola was a bit rough around the edges at first. Like, I understood her defensiveness in being a girl in a male dominated hobby, but sometimes she was a bit brusque. I did love Duke right from the beginning. I understand he was supposed to come off as cocky but I feel like the author did a nice job of explaining that it was an act since he knew that as a larger black man he needed to come off as non-threatening.
The author also did a nice job of describing the game without making it seem too complicated. It sounded like the kind of game I would enjoy playing, even though I’m by no means a gamer.
This story was also an interesting take on Twelfth Night as the deception was behind a screen and not Viola dressing up as her brother to deceive people. I think if you enjoy Twelfth Night or other storylines where people act as someone else to get what they need, I would recommend this book. It was a quick easy read and I found it to be fun.
What Book Club Thought
Everyone really enjoyed this book. We had some good discussion about the melodrama of being in high school and how we had to remind ourselves from time to time that it was age appropriate. We also had some good discussion about the relationship between Viola and her mom and Viola and her friend. We all really appreciate the nuances of the story, especially considering that it’s a Shakespeare retelling. We also talked about how we liked the take on how Viola posed as her brother virtually in this modern world, as opposed to her having to dress up in person. If you are a fan of Twelfth Night or She’s the Man, I would highly recommend this book and so would the rest of my book club. If you’re looking for a lighter book club choice, this is a fun pick.