#alexene farol follmuth

[torpublishinggroup]

This advertisement is for The Atlas Complex—the heart-shattering finale to the dark academia series that began with Olivie Blake’s NYT bestselling The Atlas Six. 

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.

Knowledge Is Carnage

Old alliances fracture as those who remain within the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities. Elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society partner up to influence politics on a global stage while the outside world mobilizes to destroy them all. And as for the Society’s Caretaker, Atlas Blakely… He may yet succeed in his world-breaking plan. 

Destiny Is a Choice

It all comes down to this: The Society recruits must decide what and who they're willing to betray and destroy for limitless power. 

Power Is Taken

[yourfavebooklrsfavebooklr]

Some books by Asian authors to read this may!

Edit: thank you @linkedsoul for letting me know that I misused the term AAPI in the original post. I’m very sorry about that, and have changed the title to accurately reflect what this list is.

[bookishfreedom]

"I don't want to be considered beautiful without being seen as capable, too."

YA romcom Shakespeare retelling? grumpy x sunshine? mistaken identity? endless nerd content? I was so excited to read this book and I was NOT disappointed.

It did take me a little bit to get into the story. On the surface, both of our main characters can come off straight-up... unlikeable. Viola is abrasive and Jack is a little too 'Mr. Popular! But that only made their growth and getting to know them that much more impactful. This book is full of characters who leap off the page with distinct voices and depth, side characters included. (Bash and Olivia, my beloveds<333) This is one of those YA books that I think will appeal to readers of all ages. The characters authentically feel like teenagers - they are flawed and messy and just trying to figure things out - but also deal with issues that are universal and relatable.

I also loved just how much was packed into this book. Twelfth Knight is so much more than just a romcom, it's also a coming-of-age, with social commentary and a love of nerd culture smoothly weaved in. This novel explores everything, from video game and fandom culture, social and parental pressures, misogyny, sexuality, family dynamics, and so much more, all without losing its humor and heart. The romance isn't the sole focus, which may not be for everyone, but l thought worked well for this story.

As for the romance itself, the slow burn was, in my humble opinion, perfection. It felt so real and unrushed and believable, which isn't always easy in a contemporary 'enemies to lovers' setting. I loved every second of Vi & Jack's interactions.

I fully expect this book to take the internet by storm because it's just so darn QUOTABLE! There were so many lines that just hit perfectly that I wrote a LOT of them down, and the banter was laugh-out-loud-worthy. I hadn't read any Olivia Blake/Alexene Farol Follmuth before, but the writing was so excellent that I will absolutely be picking up everything else she's written.

My actual rating is 4.5 stars, but rounding up because I had so much fun reading this. Literally read this book in one sitting and could not put it down.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and tor teen for the arc in exchange for an honest review. I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy for myself!

[livros-para-nick]

"Mas a verdade é que, por mais que fique mais fácil a cada dia que passa, ainda dói muito, muito mesmo"

— A mecânica do amor

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Twelfth Knight | Author: Alexene Farol Follmuth | Publisher: Tor (2024)

[bookishbethanyerin]

• twelfth knight •

If 10 Things I Hate About You and She’s the Man are your comfort films, then Twelfth Knight is about to become your new comfort read.

A clever YA take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the story follows Viola Reyes, a black cat girl who takes gaming as seriously as her student council duties, and Jack “Duke” Orsino, an enormously popular football player and the bane of Vi’s existence, who finds himself sidelined after an in-game injury and turning to Twelfth Knight, an Arthurian-inspired MMORPG, to fill his time. In the game, he meets another player whom he befriends – and believes is a guy. But of course, Duke’s new friend is actully Vi.

Though the plot beats here are very, very familiar, the way Alexene Farol Follmuth reimagined the characters and circumstances of Twelfth Night is extremely well done. I adored Vi, a fiercely indepedent feminist learning how to bend rather than break, and the banter between her and Duke is SO GOOD.

The character development is superb, there are as many tender moments as ones that make you laugh out loud, and even though nothing about this story is a surprise, it’s still outrageously satisfying.

So the next time you’re in the mood for a high school-based Shakespeare retelling, give Twelfth Knight a go. Then grab your popcorn and marathon your fave films.

5🌟

[mercerislandbooks]

Book Notes: Twelfth Knight

Football and tabletop games. Shakespeare and MMORPG’s. Fandom, feminism and the perils of falling in love. Alexene Farol Fallmuth's new YA, Twelfth Knight, has all this and more in its pages.

Viola (Vi) Reyes would like it if she lived in a world where no one questioned her abilities in ConQuest, a tabletop game, or in the MMORPG Twelfth Knight simply because she’s female. Since that isn’t the case, and Vi spends enough of her time fighting to be taken seriously in real life, she’s crafted a male alter-ego, Cesario, for Twelfth Knight, so she can simply play the game.

Jack (Duke) Orsino is ready to have the senior year of his dreams, leading his high school football team to state championships. But when an injury sidelines him indefinitely at the beginning of the season, Jack’s friend introduces him to the diverting world of Twelfth Knight. In the online game, Jack has a body that isn’t restricted by injury, and he quickly becomes engrossed by the challenges and quests. Before long, Jack encounters Cesario in the game, and the two team up to take on the most epic quest in Twelfth Knight-- the quest for Camelot.

Jack has no idea that Cesario is really his classmate, Vi Reyes, the thorn in his side, perfectionist Vice President to his laid-back Student Body President. Viola, on the other hand, is very aware of DukeOrsino12’s actual identity, but has no intention of outing her real gender in Twelfth Knight. As the two grow closer, both on and off-line, Vi is increasingly aware what coming clean could cost her.

Alexene Farol Fallmuth also writes under the name Olivie Blake in the adult fantasy space. She’s taken on Shakespeare before, with One for my Enemy, as well as crafting the Atlas Six trilogy and several other fantastic novels. The broad strokes of Twelfth Night (twins, false identities with gender swapping, misunderstandings galore) undergird this contemporary YA retelling, while bringing in sharp commentary on toxic masculinity and female inclusion in places like tabletop game communities, online gaming communities, and fandom.

Fallmuth is unvarnished in her portrayal of how Vi struggles to belong in places she’s passionate about but aren’t inherently welcoming to her and the anger that burdens her as she continues to fight. It was hard to read in the beginning. I wondered what shape Viola’s character arc would take because all the reasons she is so angry were justifiable. I didn’t want her to stop being angry. But I did want her to stop feeling so alone. You can see her tender heart, when people show up for her, when they see beyond the barbed exterior and trust her with vulnerable things. She might have a sharp tongue, but she is also wants to be accepted for who she is, prickliness and all, and she’s afraid that no one ever will.

Meanwhile Jack is trying to figure out who he is if he can’t play football. What will the future look like for him? He’s torn between the expectations of his father and the concerns of his mother, all while having completely new avenues open up before him when his injury forces him into trying new things. In this season of graduates heading out into their next chapters, this advice from Viola to Jack about the future from the middle of the book feels especially poignant:

"Personally, I don’t think there’s only one outcome for life,” I add, and when he says nothing, I continue, “I mean, I don’t think there’s a predestined fate or anything. You’re not born to play football. There’s a version of your life where you do other things. Infinite versions. And when you make a choice, you cast off one possible outcome, but then, I don’t know—ten more pop up in its place. And you just keep going like that, choosing a path and watching new paths branch off in front of you. Even if the old ones disappear behind you, it doesn’t have to be sad…" (pp 161-162)

Not a bad worldview for any age.

We’ve got a few special editions of Twelfth Knight on hand with gorgeous, illustrated endpapers and an enamel pin for giveaway with purchase. If you’re an audiobook reader, I highly recommend Twelfth Knight on audio. Twelfth Knight would easily fit Young Adult square for your Summer Book Bingo, but also Friendship or BIPOC Romance!

-- Lori

[gcantread]

🔭👀📚 bookstore spotting:

books Shannon and I have ARCs of

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Looking for a YA book with a little extra PIZZAZZ? Check out Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth!

[sublimegentlemanalpaca]

Where’s Feste? Rambling about Twelfth Knight

So a week or so ago I finished reading Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth. It’s a retelling of Twelfth Night by everyone’s favorite builder of bridges of ziggurats William Shakespeare. Takes Twelfth Night to a High School. Orsino is Jack Orsino, star running back and Student body President who gets a bad injury. Viola is now Viola or Vi Reyes…fan of Ttrpgs, Ren Faire and not Game of Thrones stand in War of Thornes (which disappointingly is not just a historical drama of the Lesser Henriad…dang) she plays as Cesario online to avoid misogynistic assholes. There’s a lot great about this. How both navigate fandom, and social circles besides. The fact they two know eachother, don’t get along, then later do (it’s a retelling of Twelfth Night of course it’ll be romance). The fact that Orsino is asking irl Viola to help figure out why his girlfriend is wanting a break….and like…dude isn’t a creep about it. He’s just…wanting to know? This is a very likable Orsino. There’s a lot more but there that question in the title. Where’s Feste?

To those unaware, Feste is the Fool in Twelfth Night. Noted as Clown in stage directions, he’s in my opinion one of if not the best Fool in the Cannon. At the very least the best of the Armin performed Fools of the middle to later plays. The Kemp clowns of earlier works…that’s a matter of debate. But Feste is my favorite so….the best. This retelling streamlines stuff. Cuts out the Malvolio subplot (probably for the best in this instance), Maria is seemingly non existent. No Dead brother for Olivia…but Feste though! On the one hand…it might be that Sebastian’Bash’ Reyes stands in for Feste.? Given he’s a dramatic Thespian who ‘loves to make people laugh’ and ends up forming a supportive relationship with Olivia (not romantic mind you as opposed to the play with Sebastian) and there’s a really good scene between him and Vi in the tail end of the book….but regardless of that. There are two instances it seemed there was a Feste shaped specter….

First of all, both Jack and Vi but especially Vi thinking to herself of wishing she could just voice her opinions without people being assholes about it…calling her bitch and other such things. Would have been a neat time to think on the Fool’s License I thought. While yes that in and of itself is a can of worms…given historical views of Folly….but could somewhat avoid that given Feste as fool is an allowed an ‘artificial’ fool. Don’t know. Just think it would be neat. Second…hm…to my recollection there wasn’t a point at which Vi reflected in a ‘he’s wise enough to play the fool’ bit. But…thinking on it now this is not a retelling bound to the text, and all better for it at times. I don’t know if this is in the same ball park of Ten Things I hate about you, where the retelling I find far better than the source material. However it is alongside Ten Things as one of my favorite retellings of Shakespeare ever. Heck, I think I’ll even take another shot if that Atlas Six book I enjoyed Twelfth Knight so much. Love this book…though still miss an overt Feste. Kept thinking this Pastor character would be Feste given ‘Sir Topas the Currate’ but not quite. Extra kudos to the level of restraint in not being up the ‘Means of Greatness’ bit. Anyway…think I’ve rambled away from whatever point I had. Do highly recommend you read Twelfth Knight be you a Shakespeare nerd specifically, or some other sort. Excellent book, funny and heartfelt. Even with the lack of overt Feste.

Make of this what you will,

Al, the Chronographing Cottager and Prince of Naming

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Twelfth Knight

Author: Alexene Farol Follmuth

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2024

Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary, retelling

Blurb: Viola Reyes is annoyed. Her painstakingly-crafted tabletop game campaign was shot down, her best friend is suggesting she try being more likeable, 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 favourite 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 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 gameplay 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.

[torpublishinggroup]

This advertisement is for The Atlas Complex—the heart-shattering finale to the dark academia series that began with Olivie Blake’s NYT bestselling The Atlas Six. 

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.

Knowledge Is Carnage

Old alliances fracture as those who remain within the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities. Elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society partner up to influence politics on a global stage while the outside world mobilizes to destroy them all. And as for the Society’s Caretaker, Atlas Blakely… He may yet succeed in his world-breaking plan. 

Destiny Is a Choice

It all comes down to this: The Society recruits must decide what and who they're willing to betray and destroy for limitless power. 

Power Is Taken

[yourfavebooklrsfavebooklr]

New Releases of June!

[noveltyreads]

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really should've known better than to judge a book by its cover, but I really couldn't help that this book looked so cute. 

This book is a romance book, yes. But at its core it's more so about STEM and empowering women to go into science, tech, engineering and mathematics based fields. Bel doesn't think she has what it takes to do engineering. She enjoys it but she can't imagine doing it as a job or what she could do in the future. This book was quite empowering, showing that girls do belong in STEM. I loved the steminist message. 

But while I loved the women's empowerment in this book, a few things fell a bit flat for me. For starters, it took me a while to get into this book. I mainly blame writing style for this and I felt like I got used to the writing style too late to really absorb the story. Not to mention, the physics and engineering jargon. Because Bel and Teo talked (and flirted) in engineering and robotics terms, I struggled to understand a lot of things due to my complete and utter lack of understanding of anything physics related. 

I think it was mainly due to the physics banter that it took me a while to get into the relationship of this book which was a shame because this book got me cheesy grinning at the end. There were times when I was questioning if I was shipping them or not because there were things Bel and Teo were doing that I sort of raised an eyebrow about. I'm glad they communicated and helped fix things together. 

All in all, a cute book but the writing style got the better of me at times.

[artemisthevirginhunter]

ALONE WITH YOU IN THE ETHER; BY OLIVIE BLAKE.....

Reading is perhaps the best of meditations......

[annelisreadingroom]

Here is the book I got last month from my book subscription package. Have any of you read it?