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Reviewed by: Colleen Woods, Middle School Librarian Title: Dungeons and Drama Author: Kristy Boyce Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 7-12 Genre/Type of Book: Realistic Fiction/Romance
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: No Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I chose this book because I was seeing it all over TikTok, it had a cute cover and good reviews :) If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: Musical-lovers and gamers alike will unite and rejoice over this romantic comedy full of show-tunes, dungeon masters and all the feels.
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Review:
Dungeons and Drama is a fun, light, romantic comedy about a theater-loving high school junior named Riley. At the beginning of the novel, Riley takes her parents car (without permission) and drives it (without a license) to see the touring production of Waitress with her best friend Hoshiko. As punishment, Riley has to work at her father's game shop for 8 weeks. Her parents divorced two years ago, and her dad's love of games/gaming, and the store, was a main catalyst for the divorce. Riley cannot relate to her dad's love of gaming and so when she meets the odd cast of Dungeons and Dragons-loving characters who work there, she feels very out of her element. Until an unexpected opportunity falls into her lap to make her ex-boyfriend jealous, and Riley finds herself fake-dating one of her dorky coworkers, Nathan. But maybe Nathan isn't quite as dorky as she originally thought, as she begins to look forward to their fake flirting. Even crazier, she starts to actually enjoy playing D&D with her new friends. As Riley struggles to save her school musical from budget cuts (her dream is to be student director), and navigate the murky waters she's gotten herself in with Nathan, she's finding her own life to be more drama-filled than her favorite musicals.
I loved this book! It was just what I needed after a few heavier reads. It was sweet and funny, but also dealt with serious topics like divorce and navigating blended families. I like it because many of my middle school girls request romance books, and this one is very PG, with little to no profanity or drugs/drinking. So it's a safe recommendation for 7th or 8th grade girls looking for a high school romance.
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