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A review by bookishbethie
Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth
5.0
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.
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.