Dungeons and Drama By Kristy Boyce

Nilufer Ozmekik

I questioned whether I was the right fit for this book. Even though my inner child is still singing loud and proud, my teenage years are ancient history, and I don't really know much about the Dungeon & Dragons universe (I even watched the movie adaptation, but it wasn't my cup of tea).

However, the cover was so vividly enchanting, perfect for someone like me who loves anything colorful! It practically called out to me, urging me to dive in and read. So, I did. Surprisingly, I loved it even more than I expected. I've come to realize that it's not always about the plot or genre that draws me in; what truly matters is the emotions and feelings a book stirs within you. This book rekindled a sense of joy deep within me. The estranged relationship between Riley and her father, her passion for musical theater, her determination to make her dreams a reality by pitching a low-budget musical idea to the school committee – all of these elements, along with the complex dynamics with Nathan, captured me and made for an engaging and emotional story.

The story revolves around Riley, still grappling with her parents' divorce and harboring resentment toward her father for prioritizing his career over his family. As a punishment for borrowing her mom's car without permission and embarking on a road trip to New York to catch a musical with her best friend (despite lacking a driver's license), she's forced to work at her father's game store for eight weeks. There, she finds herself surrounded by game enthusiasts and her father's favored employee, Nathan, who happens to be a school friend with whom she has a rather rocky relationship.

Riley's introduction to Nathan's D&D friends group reveals that the game parallels her improv "choose your-own-adventure" theater exercises. She discovers a way to breathe life into her character, utilizing her vocal abilities to add depth. As she enjoys herself, her ex-boyfriend shows up with his new girlfriend, who nabbed the role Riley had longed for. In addition, Nathan harbors feelings for Sophie, a reluctant participant in their D&D sessions. This prompts Riley to propose a mutually beneficial arrangement: a fake dating scheme to incite jealousy in their respective crushes.

Interestingly, the fake dating plan unfolds as intended, igniting Riley's enthusiasm to save the school musical. However, her complex feelings for Nathan begin to complicate matters. Could their act lead to something genuine? Will Riley be okay watching Nathan's affections drift to Sophie, who's always seeking what she can't have? Perhaps Riley should focus on convincing the school committee to green-light the musical and appoint her as the student director. But as they say, the heart wants what it wants.

Overall, this book brought me so much joy and even sparked my interest in the D&D game universe. The characters are well-crafted, genuine, and compelling, making it impossible for me to put down.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for sharing this fantastic book's digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts

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Cait Jacobs (Caitsbooks)

as a theater kid and dnd player, this book was made for me specifically

Hannah B.

This book makes me want to fall to my knees in the street and scream “it’s perfect” at the sky. The fake dating was absolutely perfect. The jealousy! The “fake” endearments! The kissing! I eat the trope up every single time GOBBLE GOBBLE BARK BARK.

Eva Kaminsky is one of my favorite narrators and we are LUCKY to have her narrate this book. As lucky as we are to have this book in general!!

Thanks so much to PRHaudio for an ALC and the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

♥Milica♥

One day Kristy Boyce woke up and decided she wanted to write a book FOR ME!! This not only met my expectations but exceeded them, I love this book so much. It's a very nerdy romance, something along the lines of the Once Upon a Con series by Ashley Poston, so if you loved that you'll love this too.

It was so sweet and felt like a proper teen read (as in the characters acted like teens and it's a ya book that actually feels ya instead of older). The romance was adorable and made me feel nice and warm inside, that's how it should be. They did have issues with communicating near the end, but it made sense with the story and their ages so I didn't mind.

I'm also not a huge fan of the fake dating trope outside of fanfics, but it was perfectly done here so I have to mention it. Authors take notes!!

The characters were all so lovable, I want to give them a big hug. Truly amazing writing there.

I also appreciate how the D&D campaigns were described, so even if someone's unfamiliar with D&D they can still follow along with no issue.

Lastly, I 100% recommend the audiobook, the narrator did such a good job, I didn't feel lost for a moment.

Kat | katreadsit

This was SO light, fluffy and fun to read. The characters were well rounded and entertaining. The store felt like a safe place (which I loved reading about) and the fake dating plot had me giggling 🤭.

*MINOR SPOILERS*
There was a lack of communication but if you hold on you see why. It’s intentional and I appreciated reading that perspective.

This is a totally PG read so it’s perfect for young adults and teens!

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for my ARC, I truly appreciate it!

4.25/5⭐️

mich

Can't stop, won't stop gushing about this <3

𝘈 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺... 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵.

𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢 features Riley serving out the consequences of her reckless behaviour in her dad's Videogame shop and faking a relationship with fellow coworker Nathan in a mutually beneficial agreement to make his crush jealous and fend off her jerk of an ex.

- ~ -

Riley was a little crazy when it came to musicals and all things theatres. Dramatic would be apt. But she fell just as crazily for the infuriating and enegmatic Nathan.

Nathan had no business being this swoony in a YA romance. He always pushed her buttons for the better and embraced her extra. Even played the jealous boyfriend role too convincingly some might say.

The way the story played out with the perfect balance of passion for their respective hobbies and figuring out new stuff together and apart was incredible.

3.97 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

sumi ୨୧

2.5☆
no spice ౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹

hm i’ve been debating on whether or not i should rate this book 2.5 or 3 stars. i decided i’m going to go with 2.5 bc overall there were more things i disliked than liked.

to begin, i was so excited to read dungeons and drama because the description seemed so interesting and (let’s be honest) the cover is adorable! unfortunately, the first half of this book was incredibly boring and uninteresting. i was considering dnfing, but decided to just finish it because it’s only 290 pages. while the second half of the book was a little more enjoyable, it still wasn’t giving me what i was looking for.

riley was genuinely one of the most boring and uninteresting characters i have ever read about. other than her getting on my nerves, i have absolutely nothing else to say about her.

nathan. he was just fine. i didn’t hate him, but like riley, there was nothing special or interesting about his character. he wears spider-man shirts so i guess he gets a bonus point for that.

the one redeeming aspect of this book was the found-friendship. i loved how they would take turns picking out movies to watch and playing d&d together. it was really sweet! oh and i guess i did like the fake-dating trope!! even though i wasn’t a big fan of the romance.

to conclude, for the most part, this book was bland and uninteresting!! i did just read this time it’s real so that may be why i didn’t enjoy this book as much. (everyone knows ann liang is the queen of ya romances.) anyways, i would not recommend dungeons and drama, as i think there are much better books out there!

Liv ❁

I am a simple girl - I see Dungeons and Dragons as a major part of a book & I want to read it immediately.

This is a cute little book where theatre kid Riley, our protagonist, is forced to work at her dad's game shop for two months after she steals her mom's car so she and her best friend can go see a musical a few hours away (Waitress, great choice). There she has to work with nerdy guy Nathan, who she does end up in a mutually beneficial fake dating/flirting sort of relationship with. She's also invited into Nathan's Dungeons and Dragons campaign, which she agrees to to get out of working. Obviously, none of this works out according to plan.

This book is a quintessential high school nerd romance. The fake dating and insane amount of miscommunication that comes from it is perfect for a high school situation where you don't really understand your own feelings and are a bit self-conscious and super unsure of everything, especially people's opinions of you.

When Riley is begrudgingly introduced to Dungeons and Dragons, her tune soon changes when she realizes "it's like improve meets choose your own adventure." She creates her human bard that is very obviously a self-insert (we've all been there) and starts on her tragic backstory like any respectable first time D&D player. The boys help her along the way and are super enthusiastic to have another player. There is a moment when the literal Dungeon Master (DM) mentions that he can't do all his accents BECAUSE he's the DM as if the best thing about being a DM isn't all of the incredibly silly accents you get to do. But that's fine and it's definitely not the biggest thing I've been thinking about after finishing this book last night...

I thought the Dungeons and Dragons and musical parts were done really well. This is only a 300 page book and fitting both of those interests, growing friendships, family issues AND fake dating drama was a lot so it did all feel a little rushed and underdeveloped at times (especially the family aspects). The side characters were all really wonderfully done, but I do wish we got to see a bit more of them. The big thing I feel like we missed out on was her bonding with her dad since 90% of it was done off page.

Highly recommend the audiobook, Eva Kaminsky does a great job.

Kalena W

5 stars 🌟

Thank you to Random House Children's and Delacorte Press for the arc through netgalley, and Get Underlined for the finished copy in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely fell head over heels for this book, with such high hopes going in I hoped so desperately that I would love it, and luckily it lived up to all expectations! In the reading world, I feel as if I've seen a few more stories around that are being written about roleplaying games or Dungeons & Dragons and it has made my DND player heart so happy. I was even more thrilled when I read the author's page at the end of the book, because it stated she found DND in high school as well and ended up marrying her Dungeon Master (DM) and my boyfriend is our DM. I thought that was so fun, and made me even more appreciative of her writing this romance.

From reading this story, it's so very obvious that Kristy Boyce knows her stuff with DND even if I hadn't read the author's note at the back. There are a fair amount of terms in this book that are presented to the reader, and as a player, I recognized all of them, but if you were not a player it would not be overwhelming at all. Boyce doesn't go into a ton of the actual complexities of the game, this story is more about the benefit of the game in making connections and memories with friends which is such a heartwarming theme. I've made my best friends playing the game since my boyfriend introduced it to me, and I'm forever grateful to have my favorite people play with me.

Beyond that, the moment that Riley stepped into her dad's game store I wanted to be there so badly with her, it sounded so cozy and welcoming. The game store was in the front, with a gaming room towards the back where people gathered to play games and obviously Dungeons & Dragons. The community aspect and support from the people who were regulars at the store were just as heartwarming as the time Riley spent playing the game. It was basically a real-life version of found family and one of my favorite aspects of the book.

Riley was such a fun main character, there were a few times she sort of drove me bonkers or I was confused about her decisions (aka the very first decision we're introduced to from her character) and yet it was very hard NOT to root for her. Especially as she spent more time at the game store and came to understand how important it was to other people, just as theater was important to her. She is also one of the most motivated and successful main characters I've read in a young adult book in a long time. When she puts her mind to something, she actually really accomplishes it.

Nathan was the perfect romantic interest and no one can tell me otherwise, even if he wasn't exactly the person I was envisioning prior to starting this book. He really is sweet and cares a lot about his friends and the game, something that can be seen through so many of his actions. But he's also a bit of a grump at times, something Riley uses to her advantage to mess with him. Just trust me that there are so many cute scenes between them and that I was in love with him so fast.

The romance was done SO well in this book, fake-dating/forced proximity and enemies-to-lovers are my favorite tropes and to see this intermixed with DND as well was so much fun. Riley and Nathen begin fake dating so that they can make Riley's ex-boyfriend leave her alone, and a girl Nathen likes jealous. Quickly, at least to me, it becomes apparent that they share a lot of the same values and really hit it off, and they fall for each other as they play in-game as well. I wish there had been a little more flirting in character as that would've been fun to see, and something I am definitely prone to as my boyfriend is the DM, but it was still so lovely. I think they ended in a good spot as well, and the classic "third-act breakup" actually seemed realistic in this instance. It still wasn't my favorite as I kind of hate that there always is one, but it didn't bother me as much because it felt realistic.

Everything about this story was exactly what I hoped for, and it makes me really hopeful that more people write about Dungeons & Dragons, as it was so heartwarming to read about it as a player. I definitely recommend this cute little romance and I hope it gets all the love it deserves.

[TW: parental divorce mentioned/divorced parents, absent parents, cheating mentioned, health scare and hospital visit]

b ୨୧

“i’m willing to try a lot of new things because of you, riley.”

— four point five stars, rounded down.

this book easily lived up to, and smashed, all of my expectations. i had read my first ever dungeons and dragons themed book last year when i had read reggie and delilah's year of falling by elise bryant (which, if you loved that book, you'll love this one and vise versa), and i adored it. so, i figured i should give this one a try... and i don't regret it.

dungeons and drama is everything you could want in a young adult romance. the fake dating trope was executed perfectly, the romance was really cute (and age appropriate considering i've noticed a trend in ya books where the authors forget that these characters are supposed to be teenagers), and it was just a really fun read all around.

something i really, really liked is the explanations of dungeons and dragons terms, and actually letting us see the games instead of just making them little fade to black scenes. i thought that was a really nice touch, and as someone who didn't know much about d&d before, i was able to connect to riley through that, and even felt like i was learning with her. it was a great touch.

speaking of...

riley was a great protagonist. the book opens with a bang, giving us a pretty good insight to her character and really makes me like her right off the bat, which is a great thing. usually, i take a good few chapters to warm up to main characters, but i connected with riley right away. everything about her, from her fashion sense to her passion for theater to her strained relationship with her father, made me love her more and more as a character. she was very complex, or as complex as you can make a character in a shorter book, and felt very fleshed out to me. i love her, and think she was an amazing main character. already added her to my favorite book characters list!

nathan… i could cry thinking about him. are you serious? he's THE guy. everyone else can go home. nathan is literally, literally the man ever. i've found in a lot of books that i've read recently that i've had a hard time rooting for the relationship because i dislike the male love interest, but i genuinely adored nathan. he's so well fleshed out, and everything he did for riley made me swoon. (he is also the living embodiment of he fell first AND he fell harder, i don't care.) i want my own nathan. i'm so serious.

as for their overall relationship, i love how he and riley went from mutually annoyed coworkers to friends to... well, you get the gist. their banter was perfect. their were very tiny moments throughout the book where you could see them falling for each other, and i loved every second of it. i would read a thousand books about these two.

i didn't give this book a full five stars because of some minor things. i really do wish it were longer, as i would love to have seen there were also a couple of minor things in the writing that bugged me (such as the author writing out 'omg' when it wasn't in dialogue towards the end of the book. that's a personal nag, but it drove me crazy).

but, overwhelmingly, i couldn't find much to not love here. a great main duo, parents who actually parent (and i really enjoyed watching riley's relationship with her dad develop), a great cast of supporting characters, and so on and so forth. this book was amazing, and i can't wait to get a physical copy for annotating and screaming in the margins.

Valeria

"The dress is perfect. "YOU LOOK PERFECT"
*Era un vestido de plumas de colores*

OBRA DE ARTE. PERFECCIÓN EN LIBRO.
ARTE. ¿YA DIJE QUE ES PERFECTO? LO REPITO, ES PERFECTO.

Dungeons and Drama, es un libro que llegó a mi vida de forma inesperada y ahora se quedará en mi corazón para siempre.

Es un libro de romance rosita que me hizo llorar de emoción, porque no leía una comedia romántica tan pura desde hace tiempo.
🌻🌼🦋💗❤️‍🩹💐💗🌼🌻

Nathan y Riley, me han encantado muchísimo desde el inicio de su relación.
Eran extraños que estudiaban juntos y no sabían del otro, bueno ella no sabía.
Luego cuando se conocen en el trabajo fuera del instituto fue muy divertido de ver y ya con lo del FAKE DATING, me mataron de amor de la mejor manera.

Amé que en este libro la amistad fuera la protagonista, no era tanto el romance, sino que la escritora reflejara una relación muy bonita entre los personajes principales y quiénes los acompañaban.

El grupo de amigos que formaron fue un abrazo al corazón y es por estas cosas que ESTE LIBRO ES DIFERENTE A OTROS.

LÉANLOOOOOOOO, no se van a arrepentir.
Es lo más bello y puro que hay.

Además, las personalidades son muy divertidas y amo los agregados como el ser fieles a nosotros mismos o la relación entre padres e hijos que mostraron.

No sé, lo he amado.

maddie (ve schwab’s version)

This was so cute🥲🥲

Lilly

I adored this YA rom-com! As soon as I read the title, I new this was one to check out. As a gamer and former theater kid, this one really struck a chord with me. This is a book that I wish I had had in my teenage years as I loved the themes around sticking true to yourself and finding others who treat you well and enjoy similar interests. This was such a feel good story and I found myself chuckling the whole way through.

This was a bit on the younger side of way for me, which has more to do with me than the book, but it's something to keep in mind for potential readers. Overall, this was super cute and I can't wait to buy a copy for my personal library.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

♡ mona ♡ (hiatus)

omg i got approved for this arc!!

(thank you netgalley for the e-arc)

Shadowbooker

ADORABLE!
Honestly this book delivered everything the cover promised (why yes, I read it because of the adorable cover). It was an extremely fun and quirky YA that will resonate with every nerdy theatre or D&D kid.
Riley was a typical teenager and she gets in trouble doing stupid teenager shit, but she was also so mature in the way she dealt with all her stuff that I was never annoyed at her. The friendship she has with her best friend is one to envy, and it was so refreshing to read about two female friends who love and support each other unconditionally without any jealousy or competition between them.

I honestly only have good things to say about this book. All the characters were fun, the idea was so cute, the execution was incredibly well done, and it had some of my favorite tropes (fake dating anyone?).

kiki

Oh boy. Я сожрала эту книгу за пару дней, хотя долго откладывала чтение в оригинале на английском, пусть она меня и ужасно заинтересовала. Не могу, впрочем, сказать, что она оправдала себя хотя бы наполовину, чего я ждала, и проблема тут буквально на каждом шагу. Но обо всем по порядку.

Главная персонажка Райли — theater kid, увлеченная мюзиклами, школьными постановками, хором и всяческими выступлениями, в какие она только может вписаться. Ее жизнь вертится вокруг школьных кружков, мамы и лучшей подруги, пока однажды в качестве наказания ее ни отправляют работать в магазин настольных игр, принадлежащей ее отцу. Райли любит все яркое и считает настолки скучнейшим занятием в мире, а с отцом после развода у нее натянутые отношения, и она убеждена, что ему на нее плевать.

Главный персонаж Нейтан — самый простой парень из школы, которого никто, по классике, не замечает, обожает настолки, D&D и магазин отца Райли, в котором чувствует себя комфортно и видит в его хозяине отцовскую фигуру. Нейтана можно бы было назвать типичным лузером и ботаником, но он не дотягивает. Он тихий и имеет мало друзей, но сюжет, слава богу, не ударяется в фильмы 00-х, где Нейтана бы буллили всем селом за его существование.

Одна из центральных проблем в книге, исключая романтический fake dating, — это отношения Райли и ее родителей. Оставшись жить с матерью, она целиком и полностью на ее стороне, уверенная в том, что отец бросил их ради своего настолочного магазина, поэтому с ним ей неловко и не очень приятно. И это нормально, ведь Райли даже восемнадцати нет, но ее мать как будто бы не против такой точки зрения дочери на мир, и это все лишь усложняет. Я бы могла понять это, если бы ее отец был плохим человеком и никудышным родителем, но сама книга говорит, что это не так. Джоэл — отзывчивый, увлеченный, дружелюбный, всегда готовый прийти на помощь хоть местным подросткам, хоть поколению постарше. Кстати, у меня в голове возникал образ отца Стивена Юниверса, и никакой другой.

Он с радостью рассказывает своим знакомым, какая чудесная и талантливая у него дочь. Он позволяет бесплатно и в любое время собираться компаниям самых разных людей поиграть в любые игры из своего магазина там же. Поэтому, когда мать Райли в очередной раз подчеркивает, что ее работа в магазине предполагается как место, откуда она захочет сбежать, но не может, ведь она наказана, меня начинает это все бесить. Что же такого сделал Джоэл, чтобы заслужить это отношение? Здорово было бы, если бы сюжет хоть как-то объяснил это, но нет, Райли просто прокручивает в голове, что мать ей ближе, а отец слишком погружен в свой мир, чтобы заботиться о ней. Хотя, в целом, это неправда.

В какой-то момент, когда Райли осознает, что упустила много времени в общении с отцом из-за своих предубеждений, кажется, что книга покажет, как была не права ее мать, и вся эта ситуация разрешится через разговоры. Но до самого конца Райли разрывается между тем, кому быть лучшей подружкой, маме или папе.

Сюжет же напоминает всеми любимые ромкомы со школьным балом, новыми знакомствами и успехами в том, чем Райли горит больше всего, — театре. Я выбрала эту книгу, потому что она полностью отвечает моим интересам, и ожидала, что увижу много веселого и увлекательного и из мира мюзиклов, и из вселенной настольных игр, но увы, тут все как-то поверхностно.

Авторка, к сожалению, выбрала самый простой путь для того, чтобы показать, что Райли сходит с ума по театру. Вместе с лучшей подругой и другими ребятами она всю книгу работает над тем, чтобы убедить школьное руководство в финансировании и проведении ежегодной театральной постановки. Я-то думала, тут будет описываться именно процесс подготовки к спектаклю или хотя бы то, как они дружно красят, шьют, репетируют, но от этого остаются только огрызки — главы с проработкой песен, где Райли выступает организаторкой.

Что до настолок, то и здесь все довольно сухо. Нейтан вместе со своей компанией и Райли играют в D&D на протяжении всей книги, но это прописано очень лениво и небрежно. Можно подумать, что авторка не разбирается вообще, но в послесловии она говорит, что сама когда-то играла. Единственное, что вызывает восхищение — сцены, где Райли, играя за барда, поет прямо в маленькой комнатушке, и все вокруг ей аплодируют, и сцены, где они с Нейтаном пользуются игровыми возможностями и флиртуют с персонажами друг друга. Это было очень мило, я прониклась.

Fake dating удался в сюжете тоже хорошо, иногда хотелось уже кричать в кружку, ну когда уже они начнут встреч��ться по-настоящему? Я люблю слоуберн, но когда он грамотно расставлен, уравновешен хорошими и плохими событиями, а не напоминает сцену из фильма по второму каналу. К сожалению, в конце книги именно так все и выглядело. Но! В общем, все было довольно интересно.

Плюс авторка явно вдохновлялась «Очень странными делами» — D&D и персонаж с именем Лукас и «Гарри Поттером» — знакомые отца Фред и Артур. Это одни из моих самых любимых вещей на свете.

А вот чего не хватает в этой истории — так это романтических сцен, которые были бы отправными точками в зарождающихся отношениях. Их тут удивительно мало, разве что ночная поездка с Нейтаном к жуткому дому и покупка печенья в супермаркете. И мне кажется, это совсем недостаточно.

Книга воспринимается как ромком с тонной клише, но в то же время на экране она бы выглядела в миллион раз лучше. Как будто за каждым пунктом авторка забыла много интересных штучек, намеков, касаний и взглядов между Райли и Нейтаном. Мне было приятно читать, и я даже не спала ночью ради этой истории, но она совсем не идеальна.

Emi

OKAY SO, my actual rating of this would be 1.5/5 stars.

Ultimately, the main emotion I felt after completing this book was disappointment. I was truly so excited to read this because it sounded so cute! Plus, I love musical theater and I'm getting into D&D so it seemed like a perfect book for me to read. However, everything about it fell so flat for me.

The writing was atrocious. I know this is a YA book but it genuinely felt like it was written as a grade school picture book with a sprinkling of middle school vocabulary words throughout. There was little to no creativity in the descriptions of the scenes, characters, and emotions. Characters were introduced as (these are exact quotes) "a pudgy white guy named Lucas" and "a skinny white kid with short brown hair". How am I supposed to paint a good picture of the characters with those descriptions? The book also lacked diversity. 90% of the characters were white, straight, and upper middle class. Because of this, even though I have similar interests as the characters and understood all the references, I couldn't connect with any of them. And unfortunately, the one Latino character was written as a gross "suave and flirty" stereotype.

Besides the writing, the plot was nothing to get excited about. Riley, the main character, gets in trouble for doing something horribly irresponsible and her punishment is working at her father's game store. Why is this a punishment, you ask? Because her parents are divorced and she has been brainwashed by her mother to hate her father. The reason they got divorced is because her mother didn't support her father wanting to start his own business (aka, something he is very passionate about...toxic wife much...). I genuinely just felt bad for her father throughout the whole book. Riley's inner thoughts are flooded with negativity surrounding her dad for genuinely no good reason. It's clear he does support her and her musical theater-related dreams, but he just supports her in his own reserved-dad-type way. Riley doesn't see this at all and thinks her father doesn't even really like her.

Riley and Nathan's relationship didn't quite make sense to me either. I understood why they both agreed to fake date each other, but I didn't feel any real chemistry between them. It's not even clear to me why they fell for each other throughout the story. I can definitely see them being friends, don't get me wrong, but I have no clue why they're "totally crazy" (direct quote) about each other.

Riley's inner thoughts were also confusing to me. She was constantly lying to her parents throughout the book and she was terrible at communicating her feelings, especially to her dad and Nathan. I know she had to be careful around her parents since she got in trouble but why was she lying about doing a musical showcase to help revive her theater program?! That's a great thing to be involved in! Why lie about doing a good deed that might help save something harmless that you're passionate about?!

I also felt that the plot went along kind of slowly. It was hard to keep myself interested in the future of the characters. I think some parts could have been shortened because some other important plot points definitely needed more time to be explored. I also wished that we saw more of the kids actually playing D&D. I think those scenes were my favorite parts of the book, and they could've saved the story honestly. I really think we could've seen Riley and Nathan's relationship blossom more through their D&D adventures.

I'm going to stop here so this doesn't turn into its own novel, but I could go on and on about this book. I genuinely was excited to read this and I'm just so upset at what it turned out to be. Ultimately, I would not recommend this to any older teen or adult looking for a cute and wholesome story to read.

anabel ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

this spoke to my nerdy-game-loving-glasses-wearing heart

Trevor Abbott

Me when people are fake: 👊🏻🤬🙄
Me when people are fake dating: 🤭👀🫨
3.5

Danielle Kaitlin (daniallreads)

Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh this is a Dani book & I just wanna live in it F O R E V E R!

Thank you Random House Children's, Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the arc. Kristy Boyce's newest publishes on January 9th!

This is the story that I needed! I have been craving a book that just feels so delicious to read. You know the ones where you just get lost in the pages & it feels so nice to live amongst the prose? That's "Dungeons & Drama" for me. *happy sigh*

I didn't know I was a fake dating gal until this novel fell into my life. I seriously can't get over how adorable Riley & Nathan were. They are my favorite. I loved only being able to experience Riley's POV because it gave me that nostalgia of when you're young + you're crushing on a guy in high school. Those small moments of self-doubt and confusion our female main character experienced felt so authentic it just made the story extra delightful.

And who doesn't love a book where you yearn to be adopted into the friend group? I would have adored being around Nathan, Lucas, John, Anthony, Hoshiko and Riley. I really appreciated that they weren't written as they "typical" high school teenager who goes to parties and rebels against their parents. I loved that these kids were good. They had good grades, they had hobbies that they were dedicated to and they were respectful of their parents. It was a nice change of pace reading about a group of young adults that were similar to me when I was growing up.

From the pink cover, the D20 illustrations at the beginning of every chapter, the sweet young romance and the father daughter relationship, this book is just one giant hug cuddle.

Love love love love love love love.

💗 Super Light & Adorable stories
🎙️ Broadway
🎲 Dungeons & Dragons
💗 Enemies to Lovers
🎙️ Fake Dating
🎲 Hilarious Dialogue
💗 High School Nostalgia
🎙️ Young Love

Laura

Romance isn’t a genre I naturally gravitate towards but I recently got into D&D a bit more and I couldn’t miss a chance to read a sweet YA romance book talking about it.

Rating 3,5 stars

Dungeons & Drama is everything you can imagine - a perfect little palate cleanser that will make you blush and giggle non stop. Some moments threw me back to my fanfic writing days and I could totally imagine reading something like this when I was a teenager. I am not the biggest fan of the fake dating trope and yet, Riley and Nathan were the perfect combination for this book - especially Nathan that I might have liked even more than our protagonist as we often see cliche’d male leads in romances. Nathan is everything I would have fallen for when I was 16.

As a pure personal taste, I enjoyed reading about the game shop and D&D sessions more than learning about the musical bits - hence my rating. But it remained very entertaining nonetheless and I found myself more than once, thinking about the book as I was going about my daily life - and totally gush about Nathan’s moves to my friend at work (guilty!).

I have to admit that, having read the acknowledgements at the end, I felt stronger about the book and it’s as if the author allowed us into a section of her life. I definitely recommend it to anyone that wants to spend a good time with cute characters and remember the good old teenage days of having crushes and feeling passionate about after school activities.

Kate Willis

This bookstore impulse buy was the perfect little read to accompany me through the world's seventh longest Superbowl. (Don't worry, I managed to glance up almost every time someone scored.)

I bought this book based on the description, nerdy vibes, and adorbs cover, and literally nothing else. I don't think I even read a review. :O (Who am I?)

Needless to say... it was pretty cute. While also having a lot to say about family, community, and friendship. (Also, the basis in real life had me internally squealing.) And there was communication?! (Eventually) And adorable but kosher flirting?!! And all the nerdy stuff.

Btw, if you're looking for a lot of D&D, there isn't, which makes me inclined to believe any reader will enjoy this book. ;)

I loved the quote about boys leaning, lol. Iykyk

CW: lying, sneaking around. A teenager goes for a joyride and is punished. A side character is gay.

Anila Giang

I was a little hesitant to read this as I don’t know much about D&D. But I ended up really enjoying this book. I honestly flew through it. I loved the fake dating between Nathan and Riley and especially their bickering as they went from hating each other to something more. Their banter and chemistry was excellent.

This book was also really funny and I found myself laughing out loud a lot. Riley’s dad was a highlight for me as well. He was just so sweet and passionate about games. The miscommunication was a bit annoying at the end, but overall this book was so much fun.

laurita

estoy indecisa entre darle cuatro o cinco estrellas pero me ENCANTÓ!! valeria realmente tenía razón cuando mencionó que tenía las mismas vibes de “better than the movies” porque nathanriley son wesliz en un universo paralelo!!

tiene fake dating y desde un principio están obligados a convivir juntos porque trabajan en el mismo lugar!! lo súper recomiendo si necesitas leer algo súper cute/vainilla💘💘💘

Brenda Luu

I went into this with no crazy expectations but I ended up loving this way more than I thought I would. It’s so cute and sweet. Reading this felt like watching a movie. The vibes are so nostalgic. I really loved the plot (it just makes so much sense), and the third act “conflict” was actually reasonable! No spice, just nerd-core vibes.

Natalie

A new favorite this was so incredibly cute and funny. I loved the characters so much, the D&D group was absolutely precious honestly. I need a John in my life like this.

The romance was sweet yet also very swoony and I loved Riley’s heart and passion. Desperately wishing the epilogue was longer because I’m dying to see more of Riley and Nathan 🥹

I couldn’t stop smiling while reading this and can’t wait to reread it again soon. I thought it had the perfect balance of comedy and romance, and while it’s not as emotionally deep as some other YA I’ve read, I loved this for its heart and lighthearted joy. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Thank you Penguin randomhouse for the ALC! The audio narration was very done, bringing Riley’s quirky thoughts and brimming passionate personality to life and making Nathan even more swoon worthy.

Matthew Harvey

Ummmm, the book followed the all noble formulas of good Rom-Com Movies. Not quite my cup of tea as I would’ve preferred more Dungeons to Drama, but not a bad read.

Jillian Hatfield

Literally the cutest thing in the world. I wasn’t annoyed with Riley & Nathan was literally the most fantastic lead guy. So adorable & wasn’t too overly annoying with the references to Nerd Culture ( nice nod to Hadestown <3 ) but if you don’t like theater, musicals, or dnd… You may not be as interested.

Either way, one of the best short little fake dating ( with appropriate longing & tension!! ) YA books I’ve read in awhile!!

Thanks also to Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this early, even though I didn’t get around to reading it until we got it in store lol

Reilly Zimbric

A nerdy romance? Sign me up

Emily

It was cute and fun! It did give me ptsd to my dad’s heart attack though and I prefer to keep that in the past 🫶🏼

Title	:	Dungeons and Drama
Author	:	Kristy Boyce
Rating	:
ISBN	:	0593647017
ISBN-10	:	9780593647011
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Paperback
Number of Pages	:	304
Publication	:	First published January 9, 2024

Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce

Dungeons and Drama Reviews

Dungeons and Drama Reviews

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