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A review by cloreadsbooks1364
The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall
5.0
"Looking for a roleplay-heavy, story- driven game of Secrets & Sorcery?
I'm looking for you. I'm starting a new girl-friendly, LGBTQIA+-friendly campaign and need a few more daring adventurers to join the party. Want to roam the Realms with us?"
The No-girlfriend Rule
By Christen Randall
5/5⭐️
This book stars the lovable Hollis, who struggles in a sexist male friend group. They don't let her play Secrets & Sorcery, a tabletop role playing game, with them due to her dating Chris and the "no-girlfriend rule". Hollis finds a group of welcoming girls to play with, and quickly finds her place there.
Hollis starts playing S&S to try become enough for Chris, but realises she is enough, and he is not that great. Instead, she finds so much more from the weekly games. The girls became a place of support for Hollis, a place to be herself and not suppress her personality, a place to have fun. I really enjoyed her as a protagonist, we definitely need more books with fat protagonists, and more anxiety representation. I think the reason I loved her so much was that by the end I really felt like I knew her and understood her, and because she was just so realistic.
Throughout the book, Hollis has a slow-burn romance with the charismatic Aini. I loved how their relationship grew, from Aini making a playlist for their characters to Hollis's drawings. Aini was dependable, once she showed how much she cared for Hollis, she never stopped. I immensely enjoyed her character and his jokes!
Iffy was definitely the most hardworking character, but she still found time to be extremely welcoming to Hollis, offering rides to the weekly games and even tutoring her in school.
Gloria, the host of the games of S&S, was certainly a leader. She was also so creative as she invented the detailed story the game followed. She made it clear that she was also there if any of the girls needed help.
Maggie needed a place where she could be herself, not just a famous influencer, and I was delighted that the S&S game could be a place where she unravelled and relaxed.
Hollis hit the nail on the head when she described Fran as a "personified caps-lock key smash." Gloria's younger sister was accepted into the group of older girls, and was loved by everyone for her boisterous and cheerful nature.
I strongly disliked the boys. Landon in particular was so sexist, it was disgusting. Even when Hollis played with the girls, he was remarking that it wasn't a proper game and that they must all be lesbians (homophobe!!!). He later comments that "It's so selfish when hot girls aren't straight". I wanted to punch him.
Marius just sat back and watched Hollis be constantly tormented and bullied by Landon.
And Chris, Hollis's boyfriend, really got on my nerves. Hollis, who had been his friend for years, wasn't allowed to join their S&S game, but then he complained when she spoke about the girls and even when she seemed happier and started to be herself more. Hollis never deserved a guy like him.
Secrets & Sorcery is a tabletop roleplaying game, with many different creatures available to play as. It includes spells, battles, journeys; and, most of all, teamwork.
I found myself looking forward to the weekly games of S&S. Gloria as the Secret Keeper made up the story, and did a fantastic job, while Honoria (Hollis's paladin) went on a journey with a group, including Aini's cheerful bard Umber, who is soon shipped with Honoria (ship name: Steadfast), which incites the girls' playful flirtation to maybe become something outside of the game.
A main theme of this book is found family, with the girls forming amazing bonds through their games. I adored how they grew to love each other, exchanging presents at Critmas (a Christmas party), dancing, having sleepovers, and really just supporting each other.
Change is the other prominent theme. How people and things change over time, how something that may have made sense before may not now, how it's okay to change if it means being true to yourself.
Overall, this is the ideal blend of lighthearted and serious topics, full of lovable characters. I highly recommend it to everyone!
Lastly, I must bring your attention to the cover of the book, which I believe was illustrated by Simini Blocker. This is such an amazing cover, the characters look EXACTLY as described in the book and it just fully shows the whole atmosphere of the book.
On-page LGBTQIA+ representation:
Questioning protagonist (sexuality)
Lesbian sc (Aini)
Trans sc (Iffy)
TWs: misogyny, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, panic attacks, fatphobia, toxic relationship
I'm looking for you. I'm starting a new girl-friendly, LGBTQIA+-friendly campaign and need a few more daring adventurers to join the party. Want to roam the Realms with us?"
The No-girlfriend Rule
By Christen Randall
5/5⭐️
This book stars the lovable Hollis, who struggles in a sexist male friend group. They don't let her play Secrets & Sorcery, a tabletop role playing game, with them due to her dating Chris and the "no-girlfriend rule". Hollis finds a group of welcoming girls to play with, and quickly finds her place there.
Hollis starts playing S&S to try become enough for Chris, but realises she is enough, and he is not that great. Instead, she finds so much more from the weekly games. The girls became a place of support for Hollis, a place to be herself and not suppress her personality, a place to have fun. I really enjoyed her as a protagonist, we definitely need more books with fat protagonists, and more anxiety representation. I think the reason I loved her so much was that by the end I really felt like I knew her and understood her, and because she was just so realistic.
Throughout the book, Hollis has a slow-burn romance with the charismatic Aini. I loved how their relationship grew, from Aini making a playlist for their characters to Hollis's drawings. Aini was dependable, once she showed how much she cared for Hollis, she never stopped. I immensely enjoyed her character and his jokes!
Iffy was definitely the most hardworking character, but she still found time to be extremely welcoming to Hollis, offering rides to the weekly games and even tutoring her in school.
Gloria, the host of the games of S&S, was certainly a leader. She was also so creative as she invented the detailed story the game followed. She made it clear that she was also there if any of the girls needed help.
Maggie needed a place where she could be herself, not just a famous influencer, and I was delighted that the S&S game could be a place where she unravelled and relaxed.
Hollis hit the nail on the head when she described Fran as a "personified caps-lock key smash." Gloria's younger sister was accepted into the group of older girls, and was loved by everyone for her boisterous and cheerful nature.
I strongly disliked the boys. Landon in particular was so sexist, it was disgusting. Even when Hollis played with the girls, he was remarking that it wasn't a proper game and that they must all be lesbians (homophobe!!!). He later comments that "It's so selfish when hot girls aren't straight". I wanted to punch him.
Marius just sat back and watched Hollis be constantly tormented and bullied by Landon.
And Chris, Hollis's boyfriend, really got on my nerves. Hollis, who had been his friend for years, wasn't allowed to join their S&S game, but then he complained when she spoke about the girls and even when she seemed happier and started to be herself more. Hollis never deserved a guy like him.
Secrets & Sorcery is a tabletop roleplaying game, with many different creatures available to play as. It includes spells, battles, journeys; and, most of all, teamwork.
I found myself looking forward to the weekly games of S&S. Gloria as the Secret Keeper made up the story, and did a fantastic job, while Honoria (Hollis's paladin) went on a journey with a group, including Aini's cheerful bard Umber, who is soon shipped with Honoria (ship name: Steadfast), which incites the girls' playful flirtation to maybe become something outside of the game.
A main theme of this book is found family, with the girls forming amazing bonds through their games. I adored how they grew to love each other, exchanging presents at Critmas (a Christmas party), dancing, having sleepovers, and really just supporting each other.
Change is the other prominent theme. How people and things change over time, how something that may have made sense before may not now, how it's okay to change if it means being true to yourself.
Overall, this is the ideal blend of lighthearted and serious topics, full of lovable characters. I highly recommend it to everyone!
Lastly, I must bring your attention to the cover of the book, which I believe was illustrated by Simini Blocker. This is such an amazing cover, the characters look EXACTLY as described in the book and it just fully shows the whole atmosphere of the book.
On-page LGBTQIA+ representation:
Questioning protagonist (sexuality)
Lesbian sc (Aini)
Trans sc (Iffy)
TWs: misogyny, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, panic attacks, fatphobia, toxic relationship