Dungeons and Drama a silly and nerdy YA romance makes the perfect weekend read

I picked up Dungeons and Drama for two reasons: first, I am a crushing on a Dnd player, and second, I want to learn to play Dnd (my interest predates the crush :P). That said Dungeons and Drama is a cute high school romance with some fake dating. If you’re a fan of To All the boys I’ve loved before, Dungeons and Drama will have you kicking your feet and giggling.

Summary:

Riley Morris and her best friend take a joy ride into New York City to see a Broadway performance of Waitress. Riley’s immediately grounded upon her return and sentenced to work at her estranged father’s board game store. To make matters worse., the school musical is canceled, but Riley’s determined to find the solution despite only being able to commute to school and work.

Things heat up, when Riley meets Nathan Wheeler, fellow coworker and D and D player. Nathan and Riley do not hit off, and Riley notices another player flirting with an oblivious Nathan. Then Riley runs into her ex boyfriend, and she cannot stand his smug face, so she lies and makes Nathan her boyfriend.

But this lie can also benefit Nathan, so the pair decide to fake date each other. Their plan works too well, driving both of their intendeds mad with jealousy. However, their new relationship also pushes Nathan and Riley much closer together. So they should hold hands as much as possible even when no one is watching-just in case. After all, they wouldn’t want to be caught in a lie.

Nathan puts his finger under my chin and turns my face back to him. “Keep your eyes on me. Pretend I’m saying something romantic.”

Kristy Boyce Dungeons and Drama

Thoughts:

Dungeons and Drama is silly, heavy on misunderstandings, and teen drama. Which is easy for me to say as an adult who attempts to look at situation ships with a mature lens. Not to say that adult romances don’t contain misunderstanding because most do, but there’s a certain level of frustration I expect in my teen romances. Dungeons and Dramas main conflict is that the main leads have feelings for each other, but neither is willing to admit it first, which leads to tears. I know this could frustrate some readers, but my brain loves the misunderstanding, the drama, the heartache.

Dungeons and Drama was a slow start for me. But once I got into the story, I found myself enjoying it. And enjoying the dungeons and dragons’ scenes -I need to jump into a game soon! The characters in this novel are so nerdy despite having separate interests: they’re quite alike. Riley and her bestie, Hoshiko, are in love with the theater and musicals, while Nathan and his friends love their tabletop game- dungeons and dragons. However, these two interests should not overlap, but thanks to Riley’s punishment they happen too, and a cute friendship builds from these two world coming together.

 I  noticed that neither Nathan nor Riley ever mention popularity or their high school group of popular kids. Actually they do not mention any other group or club from their high school besides their own. I thought this was unique to this novel because it showed how these characters live in their own social bubble. They’re not concerned at all about fitting in or making impressions. I thought this was great and very true to these characters at their core.

“Did you already forget? You’re only allowed to insult me if you’re using that quiet voice you have when you’re pretending to flirt with me.”

Kristy Boyce Dungeons and Drama

This novel is told through Riley’s POV, which is quite unique as she is a drama kid and often daydreams about her favorite shows. She spends the majority of this novel trying to save the school’s musical and working with her father. I enjoyed Riley’s scenes with her father because she begins to understand him and his emotional disconnect from his divorce with Riley’s mother. Riley’s never had a close relationship with her father, so it’s nice to see her slowly form a bond with him and realize he’s not who she thought he was.

Nathan’s parents are constantly working, so he has a close bond with Riley’s father whom he sees more often. As a result, Nathan builds a family at the shop. He’s close with Riley’s father and with his Dnd group. Nathan’s character is interesting as he is a suave and handsome nerdy teen who does not know how to flirt with girls-until he meets Riley.

Nathan and Riley’s relationship is hilarious. They begin this novel not very impressed with the other until Riley decides that fake dating each other, is mutually beneficial, but that does not stop them from insulting each other and flirting when no one is around. I loved this dynamic to their relationship as it made it fun, and when their attraction to each other only grew, I found myself kicking my feet and giggling after these romantic scenes.

Something I noted that did make me pause while reading was the way Boyce described her characters. Nathan’s described as a “White kid from my high school” along with his friends Lucas and John. His friend Anthony is described as “latino” with brown skin. The reason this made me pause was because Riley’s race or ethnicity is never mentioned so I wonder why Boyce chose to include it for the other characters. It just felt random and left me expecting Riley’s ethnicity to be revealed at some point. But this incident is my only (small) complaint with this book.

Regardless, I enjoyed this novel and recommend it for teen readers looking for a quick weekend book. I also recommend it for those of us curious about Dungeons and Dragons who may or may not be crushing on someone who plays this game. Oh, and of course, the Baldur’s Gate 3 fans who have to put in the work for their romance simulator.

until next time readers I’ll be living in libros,

Gabriela

Hey! This an older review and in effort to get back in the grove of book reviewing, I am going to upload some older drafts I have saved. Hope you enjoy.

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