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The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club
On Thursday nights, the players assemble in the back of Readmore Comix and Games. Celeste is the dungeon master; Valerie, who works at the store, was roped in by default; Mooneyham, the banker, likes to argue; and Ben, sensitive, unemployed, and living at home, is still recovering from an unrequited love. In the real world they go about their days falling in love, coming out at work, and dealing with their family lives all with varying degrees of success. But in the world of their fantasy game, they are heroes and wizards fighting to stop an evil cult from waking a sleeping god.
But then a sexy new guy, Albert, joins the club, Ben’s character is killed, and Mooneyham’s boyfriend is accosted on the street. The connections and parallels between the real world and the fantasy one become stronger and more important than ever as Ben struggles to bring his character back to life and win Albert’s affection, and the group unites to organize a protest at a neighborhood bar. All the while the slighted and competing vampire role playing club, working secretly in the shadows, begins to make its move.
But then a sexy new guy, Albert, joins the club, Ben’s character is killed, and Mooneyham’s boyfriend is accosted on the street. The connections and parallels between the real world and the fantasy one become stronger and more important than ever as Ben struggles to bring his character back to life and win Albert’s affection, and the group unites to organize a protest at a neighborhood bar. All the while the slighted and competing vampire role playing club, working secretly in the shadows, begins to make its move.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 2, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
May 7, 2021
1.5 stars. Oh boy. So two things about me: I'm really gay and I really love D&D. (Well, I've never played it myself but I'm obsessed with Critical Role, which counts, do not @ me.) So a book about a bunch of queer nerds in a role-playing club? I wanted to love this. And I really think I could have, because somewhere in the middle of this mess is a really cute, campy, silly, but heartfelt story. But this needed some serious doctoring.
First, this wasn't the book's fault, but the copy I received was really badly formatted in terms of the line and paragraph spacing, which made it really difficult to read. Secondly, the plotting was all over the place. There were several threads of the story that just came in at awkward times, plots that got too much or too little screen time, a few points that were just nonsensical/unneeded, even in a light-hearted romp of a story. The whole vampire thing was unnecessary, and didn't ever work into the story in a coherent way. The characters all had arcs, but some were given more precedence than others, and none of them felt particularly fulfilling. The little bits of character development weren't very satisfying, and even though some things changed for some characters, it just didn't feel that way, beyond the obvious. There are a few romances, but none of them, not even the main one, made me feel anything in particular. The story spread wide enough, I guess, but it felt really thin and shallow.
The subplot within their D&D campaign was fun? But again, disjointed and a bit all over the place. The silliness got to be a bit too much for me at times. I did like how the scenes played out, and how their real life discussions/arguments bled into the game sometimes, but reading it as a whole... it just wasn't cohesive. I didn't mind that not all the rules and terms were what I'm used to (they could have been using another edition or homebrew rules) but I just wanted there to be more structure.
There's also a super clumsy moment in the vein of, 'hmmm, how do I let readers know this character is trans EASY I'll deadname her almost immediately.'
I liked this story's potential more than I liked anything about the way in which it was executed. The bones of something good are here! I love D&D, I love silly, I love campy, I don't mind a lot of innuendo and comedy, but none of these really got pulled together in a way that made for a satisfying story, which is a pity.
☆ Review copy provided via NetGalley.
First, this wasn't the book's fault, but the copy I received was really badly formatted in terms of the line and paragraph spacing, which made it really difficult to read. Secondly, the plotting was all over the place. There were several threads of the story that just came in at awkward times, plots that got too much or too little screen time, a few points that were just nonsensical/unneeded, even in a light-hearted romp of a story. The whole vampire thing was unnecessary, and didn't ever work into the story in a coherent way. The characters all had arcs, but some were given more precedence than others, and none of them felt particularly fulfilling. The little bits of character development weren't very satisfying, and even though some things changed for some characters, it just didn't feel that way, beyond the obvious. There are a few romances, but none of them, not even the main one, made me feel anything in particular. The story spread wide enough, I guess, but it felt really thin and shallow.
The subplot within their D&D campaign was fun? But again, disjointed and a bit all over the place. The silliness got to be a bit too much for me at times. I did like how the scenes played out, and how their real life discussions/arguments bled into the game sometimes, but reading it as a whole... it just wasn't cohesive. I didn't mind that not all the rules and terms were what I'm used to (they could have been using another edition or homebrew rules) but I just wanted there to be more structure.
There's also a super clumsy moment in the vein of, 'hmmm, how do I let readers know this character is trans EASY I'll deadname her almost immediately.'
I liked this story's potential more than I liked anything about the way in which it was executed. The bones of something good are here! I love D&D, I love silly, I love campy, I don't mind a lot of innuendo and comedy, but none of these really got pulled together in a way that made for a satisfying story, which is a pity.
☆ Review copy provided via NetGalley.
December 26, 2020
This was wonderfully written and incredibly descriptive! It had a story within a story and I didn't want either of them to end. Seeing characters who were so human and so relateable going through their everyday lives was so enjoyable. Its just a lovely, lighthearted read that really made me smile.
I hope that Doug Henderson writes more of these, because I will happily sit down to read more stories about Valerie, Celeste, Mooneyham, Huey, Ben and Alfred exploring the depths of Dungeons and Dragons, and seeing how they grow and mature as people.
I hope that Doug Henderson writes more of these, because I will happily sit down to read more stories about Valerie, Celeste, Mooneyham, Huey, Ben and Alfred exploring the depths of Dungeons and Dragons, and seeing how they grow and mature as people.
December 22, 2020
As a lesbian D&D player. clearly this book was made for me in mind. However, I wasn't a fan. Every single character is either unlikable or boring. I thought Ben was whiney, Mooneyham was a dick, and Albert was just kind of there as a romantic interest. As this was written by a gay man, I understand the focus on other gay men but I feel like Valerie really fell to the wayside and the whole vampire subplot seemed pointless (I am honestly not even 100% sure I understood the explanation for it, if there even was one). This book is so sex-focused, it's a turn off. I do think we LGBTs should be able to talk about sex just like straight people, but all of the sex comments were too much. Even the D&D campaign was about an orgy ritual and sex magic. I didn't love the portions of the book that were the Dungeons and Dragons campaign narrated; I think that it worked better to have the characters describe what they were role playing rather and honestly the story of the campaign wasn't that exciting. There were also a few mistakes when discussing D&D. Bluff is not a check you make in D&D, it's deception. Points also don't go into linguistics, only ability scores, and languages are learned because of race and background. I would go so far as to say that I actively disliked this book, which I am really sad to admit because the concept seemed so perfect.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ebook in exchange for a review!
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ebook in exchange for a review!
October 27, 2021
A lighthearted romance with geeky overtones. Sometimes you can really tell the author isn't a native Clevelander, but then there are parts that are genuine enough.
Yes, we really do have a horrid paucity of late-night diners on the east side. What is up with that? Remember Chuck's Diner? The Red Chimney? Yeah.
AHEM.
The high point is a sexomancy orgy and a kiss-in, which tells you this story keeps a low-level buzz of sexuality going. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, though.
Yes, we really do have a horrid paucity of late-night diners on the east side. What is up with that? Remember Chuck's Diner? The Red Chimney? Yeah.
AHEM.
The high point is a sexomancy orgy and a kiss-in, which tells you this story keeps a low-level buzz of sexuality going. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, though.
February 18, 2021
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Strap in, gents and lass, as we delve deep into a world where your wildest dreams can take flight. A world with paladins, and wizards; orcs and goblins all waiting to see your worth. Build your stats to enrich your experience and leave all the rest to the roll of a dice. Such is the world for four twenty-somethings and their Dungeon master in an all LGBTQ game of Dungeons and Dragons. Follow our heroes in game and out as they try to navigate love, acceptance, and fitting in.
This was a nice quick read with a solid story and characters. I wouldn't call this a romance book, as happy endings aren't guaranteed, but each of our main characters deals with romance in one way or another. I would classify this novel under New Adult as these characters at time make sexual comments, but nothing off-putting or pit of place. The pacing could feel a bit off at times and some story plot lines didn't really fit, but I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. There were some Dungeons and Dragons pieces that didn't really fall in with the rules, but that can be part of the fun of a homebrew based on your DM, so it's not really my place to judge.
I recommended this for anyone 20+ looking for a quick read and who loves Dungeons and Dragons. I wouldn't recommend it for young LGBTQ youth as some of the ways the characters become more comfortable in who they are could lead young impressionable minds to feel like they have something to hide or be ashamed of. Three stars for this one for me, I had a high persuasion DC and the novel just happened to role low.
Strap in, gents and lass, as we delve deep into a world where your wildest dreams can take flight. A world with paladins, and wizards; orcs and goblins all waiting to see your worth. Build your stats to enrich your experience and leave all the rest to the roll of a dice. Such is the world for four twenty-somethings and their Dungeon master in an all LGBTQ game of Dungeons and Dragons. Follow our heroes in game and out as they try to navigate love, acceptance, and fitting in.
This was a nice quick read with a solid story and characters. I wouldn't call this a romance book, as happy endings aren't guaranteed, but each of our main characters deals with romance in one way or another. I would classify this novel under New Adult as these characters at time make sexual comments, but nothing off-putting or pit of place. The pacing could feel a bit off at times and some story plot lines didn't really fit, but I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. There were some Dungeons and Dragons pieces that didn't really fall in with the rules, but that can be part of the fun of a homebrew based on your DM, so it's not really my place to judge.
I recommended this for anyone 20+ looking for a quick read and who loves Dungeons and Dragons. I wouldn't recommend it for young LGBTQ youth as some of the ways the characters become more comfortable in who they are could lead young impressionable minds to feel like they have something to hide or be ashamed of. Three stars for this one for me, I had a high persuasion DC and the novel just happened to role low.
July 19, 2023
This was a pretty fun and light read for most of it, but it was not without its problems. But I will say, I loved how the D&D campaign was weaved into the story, changing the characters’ names to their names within the game for the dialogue was really intelligently done.
However, all of the characters fell super flat to me. None of the female MCs were developed at all, and the main ones were one dimensional or just there as a love interest. Also, the whole storyline with the vampires really didn’t do anything within the story at all. The whole thing was unfortunately pretty unevenly paced, which made for a rushed and not great ending.
I loved the focus on RPGs and nerd culture in general, but unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of this one.
However, all of the characters fell super flat to me. None of the female MCs were developed at all, and the main ones were one dimensional or just there as a love interest. Also, the whole storyline with the vampires really didn’t do anything within the story at all. The whole thing was unfortunately pretty unevenly paced, which made for a rushed and not great ending.
I loved the focus on RPGs and nerd culture in general, but unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of this one.
February 6, 2021
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review **
I’ve been thinking a bit about how to approach reviewing this novel. Let me be very clear, I absolutely loved it, and I really enjoyed the very raw and emotional struggles and triumphs Mr. Henderson very smoothly navigates in it.
My quandary comes from approaching this book without discounting the very heartfelt issues presented within. Yes, this is a LGBTQ+ focused story, but, while the viewpoint is presented from and about largely homosexual characters, the core story presents situations and feelings that are far more inclusive.
Plus, its about the amazing glue that a game of Dungeons & Dragons sticks people together with.
Ben is a young man of twenty-five who lives in his parents basement with his cat — Onigiri — and spends his time thrifting and selling old toys and collectables online. Ben is openly gay, but has never really had a real relationship. Ben is also a member of a gay gaming group at a Cleveland-area local comic book and gaming shop along with the other primary characters of this story.
This is the annoying part of any of my reviews where I tell you that I’m not going to tell you anything more about the story, but, in this case, I think that it is particularly important not to. The primary charm for me, aside from the amazing role play that happens during the gaming sessions, is how each character, and their story, unfolds in the context of where everything opens.
The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club (a title that I absolutely love and is an utter mouthful) is about how each of these individuals set up their personal orbits: how each of the characters sees themselves, and the whos and whats they surround themselves with.
Everything in this book seems so incredibly personal to me, and, while I started out trying to identify with it as a gamer, I realized very quickly that the identification really came from being a normal human with human doubts, fears and desires. This story loops way out into the day-to-day hopes and angst of just being a member of society in a harsh reality, and then circles right back in to the semi-controlled comfort of the Thursday night gaming session. There is even a little jab at discrimination that doesn’t exactly land where the reader thinks it might land.
This was a hidden gem for me. I really thought there might be more “in-world” parts of the book, but I found myself turning more from that aspect being the core of the story to seeing as the neutral ground each of the characters could work out their inter-personal issues with. Kudos to Mr. Henderson for presenting probably the most realistic — to my experience — gaming session presentation I have ever read about in a work of fiction.
This one is a real winner.
I’ve been thinking a bit about how to approach reviewing this novel. Let me be very clear, I absolutely loved it, and I really enjoyed the very raw and emotional struggles and triumphs Mr. Henderson very smoothly navigates in it.
My quandary comes from approaching this book without discounting the very heartfelt issues presented within. Yes, this is a LGBTQ+ focused story, but, while the viewpoint is presented from and about largely homosexual characters, the core story presents situations and feelings that are far more inclusive.
Plus, its about the amazing glue that a game of Dungeons & Dragons sticks people together with.
Ben is a young man of twenty-five who lives in his parents basement with his cat — Onigiri — and spends his time thrifting and selling old toys and collectables online. Ben is openly gay, but has never really had a real relationship. Ben is also a member of a gay gaming group at a Cleveland-area local comic book and gaming shop along with the other primary characters of this story.
This is the annoying part of any of my reviews where I tell you that I’m not going to tell you anything more about the story, but, in this case, I think that it is particularly important not to. The primary charm for me, aside from the amazing role play that happens during the gaming sessions, is how each character, and their story, unfolds in the context of where everything opens.
The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club (a title that I absolutely love and is an utter mouthful) is about how each of these individuals set up their personal orbits: how each of the characters sees themselves, and the whos and whats they surround themselves with.
Everything in this book seems so incredibly personal to me, and, while I started out trying to identify with it as a gamer, I realized very quickly that the identification really came from being a normal human with human doubts, fears and desires. This story loops way out into the day-to-day hopes and angst of just being a member of society in a harsh reality, and then circles right back in to the semi-controlled comfort of the Thursday night gaming session. There is even a little jab at discrimination that doesn’t exactly land where the reader thinks it might land.
This was a hidden gem for me. I really thought there might be more “in-world” parts of the book, but I found myself turning more from that aspect being the core of the story to seeing as the neutral ground each of the characters could work out their inter-personal issues with. Kudos to Mr. Henderson for presenting probably the most realistic — to my experience — gaming session presentation I have ever read about in a work of fiction.
This one is a real winner.
June 14, 2021
recommend to people to enjoy ttrpgs
(disclaimer I got this free to review)
Every Thursday Ben, Celeste, Valerie, and Mooneyham meet up at Readmore to play D&D. A new player Albert joins the group. Ben is living in a basement and reselling collector's items online. He's sweet and dorky but not my fave. Valerie works at the store the game is hosted at, she plays a bard and starts a rivalry with the vampire roleplaying group. She's my favourite, I liked her personality and wished we had a little more of her.
I didn't think I would like Mooneyham at first, he seemed like the kind of asshole rules lawyer I hate in my own game but I grew to like him. All these characters are distinct and well written.
Celeste didn't make too much of an impression because she doesn't really have a conflict like the others, but I liked her and related to her as a DM :) Though honestly the way all the characters acted reminded me of my own games, superstitions about lucky dice, the unique frustration of trying to teach a new player who isn't all that interested and just wants to hang out with their bf, forgetting what's in your inventory and not realising you have really useful stuff on you, etc~ not exactly writing or plot-related stuff just small details and references made me happy.
This book reminds me of things like LARPs the series or The Guild (which is what I was hoping for when I saw the title and read the description), where you'd think the story is about the game but its actually about the players and their relationships and the game affecting and paralleling things that happen in real life. I love how the awkward out-of-character dialogue comes through in the in-game scenes it's one of my favourite things with these kind of books/shows.
I read it in a day which is unusual for me with anything other than an audiobook so I can say with confidence the book is well-paced and doesn't drag on at all.
I don't know how much someone who doesn't play any ttrpgs would enjoy this but the book is written in a way where you don't really have to understand the game as it's not the main focus. There are personal conflicts for the characters that all coincide into one story thanks to the game. I am a prude so some parts were...not for me-so that's the only negative I have and I know that's just a me-thing so take that with a grain of salt.
The ending made me unreasonably happy, I was so worried about how things were going to end when the ebook said 99% but it all came together nicely.
(disclaimer I got this free to review)
Every Thursday Ben, Celeste, Valerie, and Mooneyham meet up at Readmore to play D&D. A new player Albert joins the group. Ben is living in a basement and reselling collector's items online. He's sweet and dorky but not my fave. Valerie works at the store the game is hosted at, she plays a bard and starts a rivalry with the vampire roleplaying group. She's my favourite, I liked her personality and wished we had a little more of her.
I didn't think I would like Mooneyham at first, he seemed like the kind of asshole rules lawyer I hate in my own game but I grew to like him. All these characters are distinct and well written.
Celeste didn't make too much of an impression because she doesn't really have a conflict like the others, but I liked her and related to her as a DM :) Though honestly the way all the characters acted reminded me of my own games, superstitions about lucky dice, the unique frustration of trying to teach a new player who isn't all that interested and just wants to hang out with their bf, forgetting what's in your inventory and not realising you have really useful stuff on you, etc~ not exactly writing or plot-related stuff just small details and references made me happy.
This book reminds me of things like LARPs the series or The Guild (which is what I was hoping for when I saw the title and read the description), where you'd think the story is about the game but its actually about the players and their relationships and the game affecting and paralleling things that happen in real life. I love how the awkward out-of-character dialogue comes through in the in-game scenes it's one of my favourite things with these kind of books/shows.
I read it in a day which is unusual for me with anything other than an audiobook so I can say with confidence the book is well-paced and doesn't drag on at all.
I don't know how much someone who doesn't play any ttrpgs would enjoy this but the book is written in a way where you don't really have to understand the game as it's not the main focus. There are personal conflicts for the characters that all coincide into one story thanks to the game. I am a prude so some parts were...not for me-so that's the only negative I have and I know that's just a me-thing so take that with a grain of salt.
The ending made me unreasonably happy, I was so worried about how things were going to end when the ebook said 99% but it all came together nicely.
April 28, 2021
This book had a great set up. Unfortunately, it only really had a great set up.
I was waiting for something hilarious to happen. It really felt like a comedy set up so maybe I was just waiting for the wrong thing. It read sort of like bite me by Christopher Moore, but that build up never actually paid off.
There were some side plots that maybe you could invest in and get to a better place than I did. But they were fundamentally strange in a lot of ways. Like why did Ben keep agreeing to hang out with someone he hated? Even if the guy usually didn’t show up? What’s up with Moneyham? Like at all. It’s possible that things were lost because we had too many characters. We had 7 or so main characters. Most had D&D alter egos. Then there were at least 4 relatively important side characters. That’s at least 15 characters to keep track of and develop which is a lot for ~200 pages. Maybe I would have been more invested if we just picked one.
I liked parts of how the D&D sessions were written. I like the story in a story. I like that the characters sometimes say ridiculous things because the players are saying them like “I didn’t roll high enough”. I like that the DM periodically does a deus ex machina to end a session. That all feels real. The stories I like less. The monsters don’t seem challenging or impressive to overcome like they do in other D&D content I’ve listened to of people playing in real life, and the solutions aren’t interesting. It kind of feels like reading a not great D&D session.
I recommend Polly. The book could have used way more Polly making her own custom dildos for Etsy.
I was waiting for something hilarious to happen. It really felt like a comedy set up so maybe I was just waiting for the wrong thing. It read sort of like bite me by Christopher Moore, but that build up never actually paid off.
There were some side plots that maybe you could invest in and get to a better place than I did. But they were fundamentally strange in a lot of ways. Like why did Ben keep agreeing to hang out with someone he hated? Even if the guy usually didn’t show up? What’s up with Moneyham? Like at all. It’s possible that things were lost because we had too many characters. We had 7 or so main characters. Most had D&D alter egos. Then there were at least 4 relatively important side characters. That’s at least 15 characters to keep track of and develop which is a lot for ~200 pages. Maybe I would have been more invested if we just picked one.
I liked parts of how the D&D sessions were written. I like the story in a story. I like that the characters sometimes say ridiculous things because the players are saying them like “I didn’t roll high enough”. I like that the DM periodically does a deus ex machina to end a session. That all feels real. The stories I like less. The monsters don’t seem challenging or impressive to overcome like they do in other D&D content I’ve listened to of people playing in real life, and the solutions aren’t interesting. It kind of feels like reading a not great D&D session.
I recommend Polly. The book could have used way more Polly making her own custom dildos for Etsy.
February 6, 2022
ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review
This was a book I was really, really excited about when I saw it. Unfortunately, the further into it I got, the less excited I was. I should have known it wasn't going to be a great ride when the author deadnamed a trans character for seemingly no reason. This may be a queer-centric book, but it did not feel like a queer-friendly book. This was written for a very specific (read: white male) queer audience.
The concept is so incredible, but the book itself failed to deliver much of anything. The main character is hardly a relatable "gateway" character to get you into the world, it felt like the author had a checklist of 'Things Millenials Relate To' and shoved them all into this one flat character. None of the other characters really stuck out to me, I can't even remember any of their names, and again it felt like the author was going down a checklist of identities and quirks and specific things to include then throwing them into random vessels and calling them a character. A lot of parts felt over-sexualized, and not in an embracing sexuality/sex-positive way, but more like the stereotypical sexualization of queer characters. On top of that, the pacing was slow and the stories were hard to follow, it was honestly just hard to get through.
I'm sad this book didn't come close to meeting my expectations.
This was a book I was really, really excited about when I saw it. Unfortunately, the further into it I got, the less excited I was. I should have known it wasn't going to be a great ride when the author deadnamed a trans character for seemingly no reason. This may be a queer-centric book, but it did not feel like a queer-friendly book. This was written for a very specific (read: white male) queer audience.
The concept is so incredible, but the book itself failed to deliver much of anything. The main character is hardly a relatable "gateway" character to get you into the world, it felt like the author had a checklist of 'Things Millenials Relate To' and shoved them all into this one flat character. None of the other characters really stuck out to me, I can't even remember any of their names, and again it felt like the author was going down a checklist of identities and quirks and specific things to include then throwing them into random vessels and calling them a character. A lot of parts felt over-sexualized, and not in an embracing sexuality/sex-positive way, but more like the stereotypical sexualization of queer characters. On top of that, the pacing was slow and the stories were hard to follow, it was honestly just hard to get through.
I'm sad this book didn't come close to meeting my expectations.
October 16, 2023
I recently finished Doug Henderson’s The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ SCI-FI + Fantasy Role Playing Club.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐/5
This book tells the story of a group of friends that gather every Thursday night at Readmore Comix and Games on Coventry Road, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio to play a game of DnD.
Ben, Celeste, Valerie, and Mooneyham all enjoy DnD and are able to be their best selves (with some elevated stats) inside the game. In real life, they are very real people struggling with the rocky road that is relationships, loving yourself, the challenges of coming out, and understanding what you need to thrive. When a new player joins, new opportunities appear, old assumptions are challenged, and everything changes.
Henderson brings not only these vibrant characters to life, but Coventry Road as well. It’s a neighborhood I have missed in particular since I moved out of state last year and away from Cleveland. Through these pages, I felt like I was right back there, enjoying the eclectic, artsy, punk mash up that it is.
Also, even better, Henderson came up with the best unit of measurement for time in my favorite line…
“The moment only lasted for a cat-stretch and then the dull white light rose up between the houses and the trees, and the alarm clocks rang." p. 36
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐/5
This book tells the story of a group of friends that gather every Thursday night at Readmore Comix and Games on Coventry Road, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio to play a game of DnD.
Ben, Celeste, Valerie, and Mooneyham all enjoy DnD and are able to be their best selves (with some elevated stats) inside the game. In real life, they are very real people struggling with the rocky road that is relationships, loving yourself, the challenges of coming out, and understanding what you need to thrive. When a new player joins, new opportunities appear, old assumptions are challenged, and everything changes.
Henderson brings not only these vibrant characters to life, but Coventry Road as well. It’s a neighborhood I have missed in particular since I moved out of state last year and away from Cleveland. Through these pages, I felt like I was right back there, enjoying the eclectic, artsy, punk mash up that it is.
Also, even better, Henderson came up with the best unit of measurement for time in my favorite line…
“The moment only lasted for a cat-stretch and then the dull white light rose up between the houses and the trees, and the alarm clocks rang." p. 36
December 31, 2020
I wanted very much to like this book, it hit all my geeky checkboxes, but sadly, it was a miss for me.
The premise is solid, and the characters are full of possibility, but the plot and character development just didn't seem to get anywhere. I can see where it was trying to go, but the whiny protagonist, constant sex-references (it was basically an early 2000’s ebaums world video in here) and the subplots that don't go anywhere made it hard for this story to shine. I am usually a fan of “books about nothing” that prove to be a little bit about everything, but this one just didn't meet the mark. Granted I have written exactly zero books, so maybe I am missing something, but nonetheless I am putting this one in my “don't recommend” pile.
The premise is solid, and the characters are full of possibility, but the plot and character development just didn't seem to get anywhere. I can see where it was trying to go, but the whiny protagonist, constant sex-references (it was basically an early 2000’s ebaums world video in here) and the subplots that don't go anywhere made it hard for this story to shine. I am usually a fan of “books about nothing” that prove to be a little bit about everything, but this one just didn't meet the mark. Granted I have written exactly zero books, so maybe I am missing something, but nonetheless I am putting this one in my “don't recommend” pile.
March 8, 2021
I requested this book on Netgalley and I’m glad that I did!
I had picked up this book, expecting to be taken on a very cool D-n-D kinda adventure. I didn’t get to go on one, though. I’m listing some of my biggest turn-offs here. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for why things happened in the story. Add to that the fact that I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. The protagonist was whiny, spineless. Another of the main characters only thought about sex. Yes, teenagers do that but reading about was boring as heck! Also, these people were supposed to be tweens. With such a rainbow cast, I was expecting fireworks and not a meandering plot that made me ask why did I continue reading.
A really disappointing read!
January 7, 2021
I was so interest in everything that was given to me in the blurb. Nerdy role play. Potential romance. Sign me up!
Flat. So flat. I felt as if the author is actually a 15 year old imagining what his romantic life will be at 25. The main character, Ben is 25, unemployed with a college degree, selling stuff on the internet and living in his parents basement. Not a person I have much interest in as an escape in the pages of a book. He spends the entire book mooning over Albert, a charismatic guy in their new Dungeons and Dragons group who is employed at a local record shop, which also seems to be the place his previous crush also works. Oh and Albert is sleeping with that same crush. It's angtsy and in a way that doesn't draw me in enough to care.
We get a full rainbow flag of characters, trans, a closeted banker, 2 lesbians, and a flamboyant waiter who don't even really up the excitement enough to make you care. You almost don't understand why they even spend hours together one night a week.
There are strange transitions in how the dialog is written. We go back and forth between the humans actually in the room and the game play conversations happening in the D&D game. It feels weak. Again, like maybe a high schooler imagining what D&D action will feel and sound like when he's older.
Overall, I'd suggest most people pass on this one and hope for someone else to take a run with this idea. It's a good concept poorly executed.
Flat. So flat. I felt as if the author is actually a 15 year old imagining what his romantic life will be at 25. The main character, Ben is 25, unemployed with a college degree, selling stuff on the internet and living in his parents basement. Not a person I have much interest in as an escape in the pages of a book. He spends the entire book mooning over Albert, a charismatic guy in their new Dungeons and Dragons group who is employed at a local record shop, which also seems to be the place his previous crush also works. Oh and Albert is sleeping with that same crush. It's angtsy and in a way that doesn't draw me in enough to care.
We get a full rainbow flag of characters, trans, a closeted banker, 2 lesbians, and a flamboyant waiter who don't even really up the excitement enough to make you care. You almost don't understand why they even spend hours together one night a week.
There are strange transitions in how the dialog is written. We go back and forth between the humans actually in the room and the game play conversations happening in the D&D game. It feels weak. Again, like maybe a high schooler imagining what D&D action will feel and sound like when he's older.
Overall, I'd suggest most people pass on this one and hope for someone else to take a run with this idea. It's a good concept poorly executed.
January 30, 2021
The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
1/5 stars.
This book was supposed to be right up my alley. I love D&D, my friends and I who I often play with in D&D campaigns are LGBTQ+ (myself included). I had expectations for this book and I thought this could be great, also a nice book to give to friends to introduce them to D&D. It was an incredible concept.
Personally, the book just missed it completely. The characters, who were supposed to be 25ish (similar to me and my friends), all felt more like teenagers finishing high school. Some of the story arcs were interesting, I have to give Henderson that, yet just when they were about to grab my interest more... they turned weird. The jokes were very sexualized, uncomfortable even at times and I quote ''Such was the life of a barbarian; always some slave girl or a princess clutching onto them. (I don't know if this sentence will make the final book, of course).
As someone who should've been the target audience of this book, and I even discussed the things happening in this book with my LGBTQ+ D&D friends, I feel like this unfortunately for me fell flat.
TW: Homophobia
1/5 stars.
This book was supposed to be right up my alley. I love D&D, my friends and I who I often play with in D&D campaigns are LGBTQ+ (myself included). I had expectations for this book and I thought this could be great, also a nice book to give to friends to introduce them to D&D. It was an incredible concept.
Personally, the book just missed it completely. The characters, who were supposed to be 25ish (similar to me and my friends), all felt more like teenagers finishing high school. Some of the story arcs were interesting, I have to give Henderson that, yet just when they were about to grab my interest more... they turned weird. The jokes were very sexualized, uncomfortable even at times and I quote ''Such was the life of a barbarian; always some slave girl or a princess clutching onto them. (I don't know if this sentence will make the final book, of course).
As someone who should've been the target audience of this book, and I even discussed the things happening in this book with my LGBTQ+ D&D friends, I feel like this unfortunately for me fell flat.
TW: Homophobia
January 23, 2021
I’ll confess — I thought this book was fantasy when I saw the description; my brain obviously tricked me into thinking it was some kind of queer “the sleeping dragon”. What it is instead is a cute story about a group of LGBTQ friends whose real lives are reflected in their role-playing adventures. The real world climax harkened back to the queer activism of the late 90s and early 2000s, when kiss-ins and guerilla gay bars cast defiance at homophobia. While this book was not what I’d expected, it was what I needed - a reminder that every day is an adventure, that every one can be a hero, and that love is the real magic.
Read
August 18, 2021Thank you to @netgalley and Iowa University Press for the early copy of The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club in exchange for an honest review!
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The absolute best part of this book was how wonderfully nerd centric it was! Role playing, D&D, cosplay, comic books, action figures, video games, Ninja Turtles. It was all oh so wonderful.
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And I really loved the way the book would move between reality and the game. We would be in the game play watching the characters go through it. Which was a really fun way to incorporate the fantasy element!
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I enjoyed the beginning and most of the middle of the reality part of it. The characters were cute and I enjoyed getting to know them. But somewhere just past the halfway point we started getting chapters about more and more of the characters in the club and while I wanted to learn about them it felt a little like taking snippets of lots of things instead of big chunks of a few.
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Basically we only got to scrape the surface of everyone instead of really learning about them. I felt like some of the characters were cheated out of a real story. And then the ending kind of wrapped up too perfectly and too quickly and by focusing on only a couple of the characters.
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I enjoyed the read but it felt like the author was trying too hard in places. But it also had some really fun moments!
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TW/CW: deadnaming, some anti-gay behavior, talk of sexual activities, objectification of women, fantasy fighting,
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The absolute best part of this book was how wonderfully nerd centric it was! Role playing, D&D, cosplay, comic books, action figures, video games, Ninja Turtles. It was all oh so wonderful.
⠀
And I really loved the way the book would move between reality and the game. We would be in the game play watching the characters go through it. Which was a really fun way to incorporate the fantasy element!
⠀
I enjoyed the beginning and most of the middle of the reality part of it. The characters were cute and I enjoyed getting to know them. But somewhere just past the halfway point we started getting chapters about more and more of the characters in the club and while I wanted to learn about them it felt a little like taking snippets of lots of things instead of big chunks of a few.
⠀
Basically we only got to scrape the surface of everyone instead of really learning about them. I felt like some of the characters were cheated out of a real story. And then the ending kind of wrapped up too perfectly and too quickly and by focusing on only a couple of the characters.
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I enjoyed the read but it felt like the author was trying too hard in places. But it also had some really fun moments!
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TW/CW: deadnaming, some anti-gay behavior, talk of sexual activities, objectification of women, fantasy fighting,
dnf
March 2, 2021DNF at 15%
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the gifted review copy of this book.
I really wanted to love this book--Queer D&D sounded right up my alley! But I was immediately brought down by the blatant transphobia about 5 pages in, when the author decided to deadname a trans character for no apparent reason except to explain that they are trans? No. Uh uh. You do not do that. There was no purpose to this deadnaming at all except transphobia, whether intentional or not. I truly hope that line is removed from this book before the finished copy comes out.
The characters were also flat and uninteresting to me in the parts I read, and the weird emphasis on sex in all of the scenes and with the characters for no real reason felt... a little stereo-typy to me. I frankly find it unrealistic that this people who aren't even friends would be so blatantly talking about sex with each other, especially around someone brand new. It kinda felt like the hyper-sexual-queer stereotype in action.
I hope these issues with the representation are fixed before the final copy.
CW: Homophobia, Deadnaming, Sexual Content
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the gifted review copy of this book.
I really wanted to love this book--Queer D&D sounded right up my alley! But I was immediately brought down by the blatant transphobia about 5 pages in, when the author decided to deadname a trans character for no apparent reason except to explain that they are trans? No. Uh uh. You do not do that. There was no purpose to this deadnaming at all except transphobia, whether intentional or not. I truly hope that line is removed from this book before the finished copy comes out.
The characters were also flat and uninteresting to me in the parts I read, and the weird emphasis on sex in all of the scenes and with the characters for no real reason felt... a little stereo-typy to me. I frankly find it unrealistic that this people who aren't even friends would be so blatantly talking about sex with each other, especially around someone brand new. It kinda felt like the hyper-sexual-queer stereotype in action.
I hope these issues with the representation are fixed before the final copy.
CW: Homophobia, Deadnaming, Sexual Content
April 12, 2021
Love the concept of The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club by Doug Henderson, but not the execution, or lack there of when it came to the character development. Being a geek who reads comics and plays Magic the Gathering, I really enjoyed reading about the group’s time spent playing D&D and their run in with the vampire LARP group, since I could actually see things like that happening. I think if Henderson were to write a D&D novel he would do a great job.
But the characters were all stereotypes of geeks and nerds… which is fine since some stereotypes really do fit geeks, but I wanted more character development. Valerie was there to make a couple of scenes weird and Celeste, well I really don’t know. Mooneyham and Huey were there to add in a homophobic layer, and Albert/Jeff were there as love interests to Ben, who I guess had the most development. If you think a 25 year old who goes to thrift stores to sell items on eBay and still lives in his parent’s basement is a well rounded character and not just a stereotype.
While I think this book was supposed to take place in present day, it felt more like the 1980’s when groups of kids would get picked on for playing D&D… especially since in present day, D&D and MTG are played by some pretty cool people like MMA fighters, football players and actors.
I think if you’re a geeky, young adult questioning your sexuality or already know that you’re LGBTQ, then you may enjoy this book, but even to you it may come off as a bit shallow.
But the characters were all stereotypes of geeks and nerds… which is fine since some stereotypes really do fit geeks, but I wanted more character development. Valerie was there to make a couple of scenes weird and Celeste, well I really don’t know. Mooneyham and Huey were there to add in a homophobic layer, and Albert/Jeff were there as love interests to Ben, who I guess had the most development. If you think a 25 year old who goes to thrift stores to sell items on eBay and still lives in his parent’s basement is a well rounded character and not just a stereotype.
While I think this book was supposed to take place in present day, it felt more like the 1980’s when groups of kids would get picked on for playing D&D… especially since in present day, D&D and MTG are played by some pretty cool people like MMA fighters, football players and actors.
I think if you’re a geeky, young adult questioning your sexuality or already know that you’re LGBTQ, then you may enjoy this book, but even to you it may come off as a bit shallow.
January 31, 2021
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I'll admit it, I have never played D&D in my life, nor I know how it works, but I was intrigued about the story of a queer group of friends who gather together on Thursday night to play in the back of comic store. I loved how the character's stories perfectly merged with the game and I loved the witty and iconic one-liners.
The characters were loveable and well-rounded and I was rooting for Ben and Albert all the time!
While the atmosphere was mostly fun and relaxed, the book treated some important themes like homophobia and hate crimes and I appreciated how the author incorporated them in a light but not ridicule way.
Henderson's writing was fluid and entertaining but it didn't completely catch my attention. I often felt the need for a thicker plot, even though the book was more character-oriented.
I recommend this to D&D players and people looking for a fun queer story!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.
I'll admit it, I have never played D&D in my life, nor I know how it works, but I was intrigued about the story of a queer group of friends who gather together on Thursday night to play in the back of comic store. I loved how the character's stories perfectly merged with the game and I loved the witty and iconic one-liners.
The characters were loveable and well-rounded and I was rooting for Ben and Albert all the time!
While the atmosphere was mostly fun and relaxed, the book treated some important themes like homophobia and hate crimes and I appreciated how the author incorporated them in a light but not ridicule way.
Henderson's writing was fluid and entertaining but it didn't completely catch my attention. I often felt the need for a thicker plot, even though the book was more character-oriented.
I recommend this to D&D players and people looking for a fun queer story!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.
January 29, 2021
This title left me feeling.... shorted. I have several complaints:
The first mainly being the amount of sexual innuendo in the story. Yes, The Gays (TM) love a good sex joke, but this felt excessive to the point of stereotype. With how much queer folx have had to work to get out of the over-sexualized image we've had for decades, it's disheartening to see it reflected in a story that's meant to be for and about us.
Second, some of the story arcs felt very loose and out of place. The vampire subplot in particular I just did not understand and felt deserved it's own book alone. I don't know enough about the author, but this feels like a first-novel type of problem, where the author wants to include All The Ideas instead of focusing on a singular plot hook.
Some of the supporting characters felt flat. Particularly the feminine ones -- but I suppose I can let that slide a little since this is a book about gay male romance. But still, would've been nice to see some of those characters fleshed out a little more.
And worst of all -- I didn't want the two main boys to end up together. I don't know if this is a failing on the author to create characters I could empathize with and like (and thus hope they ended up together) or if it was a lack of writing good chemistry between the two. Either way, I thought Ben was kind of a whiny incel-type, and Albert was too far up his own ass. Again, there's a stereotype that people who play D&D all live in their parents' basements with zero friends -- and Ben kind of fits the bill for that, which might be why I disliked him. Albert is wishy-washy about what he wants and hurts Ben in the process, which makes me unsympathetic to Albert, so why would I want the two of them to end up together?
I really, really love the idea of a book centering around a queer-focused D&D group. Though it's a little bit niche, I feel like there's a lot of potential for compelling characters and exploration of a number of contemporary topics.... but I just feel like this one missed the mark and left me unsatisfied.
The first mainly being the amount of sexual innuendo in the story. Yes, The Gays (TM) love a good sex joke, but this felt excessive to the point of stereotype. With how much queer folx have had to work to get out of the over-sexualized image we've had for decades, it's disheartening to see it reflected in a story that's meant to be for and about us.
Second, some of the story arcs felt very loose and out of place. The vampire subplot in particular I just did not understand and felt deserved it's own book alone. I don't know enough about the author, but this feels like a first-novel type of problem, where the author wants to include All The Ideas instead of focusing on a singular plot hook.
Some of the supporting characters felt flat. Particularly the feminine ones -- but I suppose I can let that slide a little since this is a book about gay male romance. But still, would've been nice to see some of those characters fleshed out a little more.
And worst of all -- I didn't want the two main boys to end up together. I don't know if this is a failing on the author to create characters I could empathize with and like (and thus hope they ended up together) or if it was a lack of writing good chemistry between the two. Either way, I thought Ben was kind of a whiny incel-type, and Albert was too far up his own ass. Again, there's a stereotype that people who play D&D all live in their parents' basements with zero friends -- and Ben kind of fits the bill for that, which might be why I disliked him. Albert is wishy-washy about what he wants and hurts Ben in the process, which makes me unsympathetic to Albert, so why would I want the two of them to end up together?
I really, really love the idea of a book centering around a queer-focused D&D group. Though it's a little bit niche, I feel like there's a lot of potential for compelling characters and exploration of a number of contemporary topics.... but I just feel like this one missed the mark and left me unsatisfied.
February 1, 2021
How could you not want to read a book called The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club? Doug Henderson’s new book had me from the title and fun cover. Luckily, I got an ARC from Netgalley and University of Iowa Press to allow me to write an honest review.
This book about a group of friends who play Dungeons and Dragons every week was a nice light book that was just what I needed during a dreary winter. Was it perfect? No, but I was willing to let the flaws slide. I wish Ben wasn’t written as the stereotypical nerd, but there is enough diversity within the cast of characters that he made up for it. There were actually too many characters in my opinion. and the storyline got muddled with things that weren’t important or necessary (ie. the vampire story). I think Henderson wanted to tackle a lot of issues from love to sex to discrimination to anxiety and more, which is great, but leads to us just getting a taste of each instead of a full meal. I don’t feel like I fully understand most of the characters.
This book about a group of friends who play Dungeons and Dragons every week was a nice light book that was just what I needed during a dreary winter. Was it perfect? No, but I was willing to let the flaws slide. I wish Ben wasn’t written as the stereotypical nerd, but there is enough diversity within the cast of characters that he made up for it. There were actually too many characters in my opinion. and the storyline got muddled with things that weren’t important or necessary (ie. the vampire story). I think Henderson wanted to tackle a lot of issues from love to sex to discrimination to anxiety and more, which is great, but leads to us just getting a taste of each instead of a full meal. I don’t feel like I fully understand most of the characters.
Read
April 14, 2021TW/ deadname.
Around page 15 a deadname for a trans character is included... I hope this is removed in the final version.
Unfortunately this one was not for me.
I was intrigued by the premise, as someone who has never played D&D but has seen a few play-throughs and found those fun, and as someone who is queer.
I really enjoyed the descriptive writing style and also the way the story inside of a story was told.
I found the tone clashed in the 1st half (sometimes YA sometimes New Adult); the book gets more solid in the 2nd half and i became more invested in the "real-life" plot then.
Other CW: homophobia, religious trauma, mental illness depiction, sexual & violent content.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Iowa University Press for an eARC
Around page 15 a deadname for a trans character is included... I hope this is removed in the final version.
Unfortunately this one was not for me.
I was intrigued by the premise, as someone who has never played D&D but has seen a few play-throughs and found those fun, and as someone who is queer.
I really enjoyed the descriptive writing style and also the way the story inside of a story was told.
I found the tone clashed in the 1st half (sometimes YA sometimes New Adult); the book gets more solid in the 2nd half and i became more invested in the "real-life" plot then.
Other CW: homophobia, religious trauma, mental illness depiction, sexual & violent content.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Iowa University Press for an eARC
July 12, 2022
I bought this at City Lights while on holiday and read it on the flight in one session. So, it was kind of the equivalent experience of watching a movie on a plane. And, you know how there are some movies that are just perfect for watching on a plane? Well, this is the book version of that. It was pretty light and not really like anything I’ve read in a while. Also: Not too dark, not too complicated, and a bit like reading Chuck Klosterman because of the attention to detail as far as material culture of a certain era was concerned.
It was a kind of coming of age story, and I think the author got the messiness of one’s early 20s about right. The D and D campaign descriptions were amusing too.
It was a kind of coming of age story, and I think the author got the messiness of one’s early 20s about right. The D and D campaign descriptions were amusing too.
June 30, 2025
It was fine. A lot of character development kind of just... doesn't happen, or doesn't meaningfully change anything, which is a shame, particularly when there are clear setups that suggest character development will happen or is in the process of happening. Some characters sure are there, and the other characters aren't particularly interesting. The writing is fine. I really enjoyed the D&D sections, because, yeah, I've been in sessions or short campaigns which flow in that chaotic kind of way, with characters saying things that don't make sense in-universe, references to stats and rolls, etc.
April 21, 2021
I was really interested in reading this book. I’m not into role playing games but many friends are. And I know many of my friends who would love to be on queer only teams. So I had high expectations going in. However...it was just okay. I didn’t completely dislike all the characters, which is probably why I never felt truly invested in any of them.
I didn’t care if Mooneyham and Huey actually tied the knot (they’re both pretty shallow), I didn’t care about Valerie and Polly (Polly was frankly really annoying) and the one character I really enjoyed, Celeste, went nowhere. The big triangle of Ben/Jeff/Albert was predictable, but predictability is good in a way. It made the read easier. Overall I wasn’t thinking about the characters much inbetween reads which is always an indicator to me that they just didn’t make an impact on me.
My biggest complaints that really helped me know this novel would benefit from some outside perspectives were dead naming Celeste (c’mon it’s 2021, not cool), the use of G*psy as well as E*kimo. It just felt very dated, and I thought those were big “oofs” that won’t jive with the mindset of most readers now.
I don’t know if I would read anything else by this author. It was fine, but I wasn’t grabbed at all.
I didn’t care if Mooneyham and Huey actually tied the knot (they’re both pretty shallow), I didn’t care about Valerie and Polly (Polly was frankly really annoying) and the one character I really enjoyed, Celeste, went nowhere. The big triangle of Ben/Jeff/Albert was predictable, but predictability is good in a way. It made the read easier. Overall I wasn’t thinking about the characters much inbetween reads which is always an indicator to me that they just didn’t make an impact on me.
My biggest complaints that really helped me know this novel would benefit from some outside perspectives were dead naming Celeste (c’mon it’s 2021, not cool), the use of G*psy as well as E*kimo. It just felt very dated, and I thought those were big “oofs” that won’t jive with the mindset of most readers now.
I don’t know if I would read anything else by this author. It was fine, but I wasn’t grabbed at all.
December 31, 2020
I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down. It’s been a very long time since I met a cast of characters who I not only liked, but who are genuinely good people navigating very realistic situations. This is such an important, powerful novel, especially in how it touches upon so many themes particularly relevant to LGBTQIA+ people: families of choice, expectations surrounding physical appearance, difficulties in coming out. It also does a wonderful job of portraying the world and struggles of young adults in the modern day, and the pressures under which they often find themselves.
The plot is a juxtaposition of moments in the lives of the members of the titular role-playing game group alongside scenes from the campaign that they’re currently playing out. Some of the best humour comes from the in-game scenes, and the structure is very reminiscent of Felicia Day’s The Guild. Make no mistake, though: while this book will have you laughing out loud in several places, particularly if you’ve been immersed in geek and gaming culture at any point in your life, it can also hit you right in the feels when it needs to, and does so frequently. Outside of the game scenes, there are no heroes or villains, only people doing their best to navigate the ordinary mess of life. But they do navigate it, not perfectly, but heroically. These people are survivors, but more than that, they are family, on such a profound level that no one ever needs to state it. It permeates everything about them and their interactions.
I particularly enjoyed the romantic subplot between Ben and Albert. I read a lot of M/M romance, and triangulation setups are usually far from my favourite, but there’s something very different and special about the way that this one is executed. It is messy and of course it results in drama, but it also feels very authentically messy. This sort of scenario can and does happen, but more importantly, Ben and Albert navigate it as gracefully as they can. Neither of them is handed the “Conflict Ball” so that they’ll cause the de rigueur massive argument at the 70% mark. Like everyone else, in every other situation, they do their best, make mistakes, and try to move on and focus on what’s important.
There are so many moments of quiet, mundane beauty in this book, so many lovely metaphors that I won’t spoil. The author’s style is fast-paced, and yet I always felt as though I had enough detail to visualize everything, from the Cod and Piece to the back room of Readmore’s.
The only criticism that I have, and what stops me from giving this book the five stars my subjective enjoyment of it would demand, is that there are far too many typographical, grammatical, and formatting errors, particularly in the first half of the book. To be fair, I am reading an advance copy of the book, and those may well be corrected in the release version, but at the moment, they are frequent and severe enough to detract from an otherwise thoroughly wonderful reading experience.
That criticism aside, however, I would recommend this book to absolutely anyone. It’s rare to see such quality representation of queer people anywhere, and to have it alongside such a clear love letter to geek culture and interwoven through such wonderful, human stories is an absolute gift.
*ARC provided free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
#TheClevelandHeightsLGBTQSciFiandFantasyRolePlayingClub #NetGalley
The plot is a juxtaposition of moments in the lives of the members of the titular role-playing game group alongside scenes from the campaign that they’re currently playing out. Some of the best humour comes from the in-game scenes, and the structure is very reminiscent of Felicia Day’s The Guild. Make no mistake, though: while this book will have you laughing out loud in several places, particularly if you’ve been immersed in geek and gaming culture at any point in your life, it can also hit you right in the feels when it needs to, and does so frequently. Outside of the game scenes, there are no heroes or villains, only people doing their best to navigate the ordinary mess of life. But they do navigate it, not perfectly, but heroically. These people are survivors, but more than that, they are family, on such a profound level that no one ever needs to state it. It permeates everything about them and their interactions.
I particularly enjoyed the romantic subplot between Ben and Albert. I read a lot of M/M romance, and triangulation setups are usually far from my favourite, but there’s something very different and special about the way that this one is executed. It is messy and of course it results in drama, but it also feels very authentically messy. This sort of scenario can and does happen, but more importantly, Ben and Albert navigate it as gracefully as they can. Neither of them is handed the “Conflict Ball” so that they’ll cause the de rigueur massive argument at the 70% mark. Like everyone else, in every other situation, they do their best, make mistakes, and try to move on and focus on what’s important.
There are so many moments of quiet, mundane beauty in this book, so many lovely metaphors that I won’t spoil. The author’s style is fast-paced, and yet I always felt as though I had enough detail to visualize everything, from the Cod and Piece to the back room of Readmore’s.
The only criticism that I have, and what stops me from giving this book the five stars my subjective enjoyment of it would demand, is that there are far too many typographical, grammatical, and formatting errors, particularly in the first half of the book. To be fair, I am reading an advance copy of the book, and those may well be corrected in the release version, but at the moment, they are frequent and severe enough to detract from an otherwise thoroughly wonderful reading experience.
That criticism aside, however, I would recommend this book to absolutely anyone. It’s rare to see such quality representation of queer people anywhere, and to have it alongside such a clear love letter to geek culture and interwoven through such wonderful, human stories is an absolute gift.
*ARC provided free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
#TheClevelandHeightsLGBTQSciFiandFantasyRolePlayingClub #NetGalley
December 15, 2021
Doug Henderson has written an anthem for all the geeks and outcasts from the Rust Belt. His wonderful debut novel transported me back to the early 1990s, when me and my friends would haunt Twice-Loved Books and various used record shops in and around Youngstown.
We went to metal shows all over northeast Ohio, so obviously, I related most to Albert, the chaos agent of Cleveland Heights. He works at a record store, listens to death metal and has a wardrobe consisting of black band T-shirts and jeans.
The action begins when he joins an LGBTQ D&D group who meet every Thursday in the back of a comic shop. He is a welcome addition to all members of the party except Ben, the protagonist. Lacking in nerve and self-confidence (as well as a job or apartment), Ben is flustered by Albert’s intrusion.
He complains to Celeste, the dungeon master, “He’s too good looking to play D&D.”
Behind his objections, of course, is an irrepressible and terrifying attraction. The tension between them drives the novel, fueled by Henderson’s sharp prose and humor.
There is so much I love about this book, and I wasn’t ready for it to end. Henderson certainly laid the foundation for an epic, with a large ensemble cast, including the gamers, a rival vampire role-playing group and some banker bros (including Mooneyham, a member of the campaign who hasn’t yet come out to his coworkers).
Mooneyham is perhaps the most compelling member of the group. While the others are traditional geeks, Mooneyham is an alpha male with locker-room charisma who hides his inner nerd beneath a power suit. He is annoying, but as the novel progresses he shows depth and vulnerability. He is less open about his sexuality because, as he explains, the others were misfits whose reveal was not a huge surprise. When Mooneyham comes out, it will be a bombshell. It might also derail his career.
Unfortunately, this storyline fizzles into a missed opportunity. Henderson has built up many interesting characters, but the novel’s brevity doesn’t allow their arcs to fully develop.
And while a common (and often justified) critique of cis-het male authors is that they struggle to create well-rounded female characters, this is not exclusive to straight men. The group’s women, Valerie (cis) and Celeste (trans), have a ton of potential that isn’t realized. I wanted their stories to be more significant.
But ultimately, the book is about Ben and Albert, and their journey is portrayed brilliantly. It’s a strong debut, and I look forward to where Henderson takes us next. Personally, I would like a sequel. I love this group of adventurers and want to spend more time in the geek shops of northeast Ohio.
We went to metal shows all over northeast Ohio, so obviously, I related most to Albert, the chaos agent of Cleveland Heights. He works at a record store, listens to death metal and has a wardrobe consisting of black band T-shirts and jeans.
The action begins when he joins an LGBTQ D&D group who meet every Thursday in the back of a comic shop. He is a welcome addition to all members of the party except Ben, the protagonist. Lacking in nerve and self-confidence (as well as a job or apartment), Ben is flustered by Albert’s intrusion.
He complains to Celeste, the dungeon master, “He’s too good looking to play D&D.”
Behind his objections, of course, is an irrepressible and terrifying attraction. The tension between them drives the novel, fueled by Henderson’s sharp prose and humor.
There is so much I love about this book, and I wasn’t ready for it to end. Henderson certainly laid the foundation for an epic, with a large ensemble cast, including the gamers, a rival vampire role-playing group and some banker bros (including Mooneyham, a member of the campaign who hasn’t yet come out to his coworkers).
Mooneyham is perhaps the most compelling member of the group. While the others are traditional geeks, Mooneyham is an alpha male with locker-room charisma who hides his inner nerd beneath a power suit. He is annoying, but as the novel progresses he shows depth and vulnerability. He is less open about his sexuality because, as he explains, the others were misfits whose reveal was not a huge surprise. When Mooneyham comes out, it will be a bombshell. It might also derail his career.
Unfortunately, this storyline fizzles into a missed opportunity. Henderson has built up many interesting characters, but the novel’s brevity doesn’t allow their arcs to fully develop.
And while a common (and often justified) critique of cis-het male authors is that they struggle to create well-rounded female characters, this is not exclusive to straight men. The group’s women, Valerie (cis) and Celeste (trans), have a ton of potential that isn’t realized. I wanted their stories to be more significant.
But ultimately, the book is about Ben and Albert, and their journey is portrayed brilliantly. It’s a strong debut, and I look forward to where Henderson takes us next. Personally, I would like a sequel. I love this group of adventurers and want to spend more time in the geek shops of northeast Ohio.
September 8, 2021
Picked this up at a library just south of Cleveland Heights. Couldn't finish.
I wouldn't finish playing a D&D game session if the DM so totally removed player agency like Celeste did (pages 23-24), either.
Also, most of the interaction seemed to be about sex, which, to me, perpetuates a stereotype about the titular community. Of course, it's been quite some time since I was 20-something.
Disappointing.
I wouldn't finish playing a D&D game session if the DM so totally removed player agency like Celeste did (pages 23-24), either.
Also, most of the interaction seemed to be about sex, which, to me, perpetuates a stereotype about the titular community. Of course, it's been quite some time since I was 20-something.
Disappointing.
January 6, 2021
First I want to thank NetGalley, Doug Henderson and University of Iowa Press for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions of the book are my own and are in no way influenced by the gifting of this book.
My knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons is basically nothing. I only real knowledge of the game is what I have seen on The Big Bang Theory. So like I said, nothing. However, the concept of the game has always been interesting to me.
The story follows the five players of the LGBTQ Sci-fi & fantasy role playing club. Celeste; The dungeon master, Valarie; who works are Readmore Comix and Games, Mooneyham; a banker who like to argue and Ben, sensitive, unemployed and living at home and still recovering from unrequited love. In the real world they go by their daily lives with varying success but in the fantasy world created in their game, they are heroes and wizards fighting to stop an evil cult from waking a sleeping god.
I loved the Dungeons and Dragons parts of this story. Whenever, we were playing the game and the story was told from the perspective of the D&G characters, it was completely immersive and so much fun to read. Almost makes me want to play. I have no idea as to accuracy of how the author writes the game play so I am taking it all at face value. Either way, I enjoyed the fantasy world writing and adventures. The majority of the characters were very basic because they just didn’t have enough of a character arc. There was a lot of wasted potential with all of them.
Saying that, I think that this book contains way too many subplots instead of one focused story. I honestly feel like I forgot most of Mooneyham & Huey’s main storyline was and I have basically forgotten what Celeste’s storyline was. I found that I was mostly interested in romantic plot between Ben and Albert. I believe that this could have been a much more intriguing book if it was just focused on the romance between the two because there just wasn’t enough detail and story building for me to really enjoy this book.
I hate to say it but the plot was very messy. There was just a lot going on and none of it was exploited to its full potential. Parts of the storyline really didn’t need to be in there, like the Kiss-in??? I am still beyond confused with that section of the story and why that was the best way to get the characters to where they needed to be. The whole idea of it was bizarre.
In terms of the authors writing style, it was very clean and concise, and easy to follow where the story was going. I feel like I could read more books by this author as they have a very comfortable way of telling the story.
The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-fi + Fantasy Role Playing Club is an interesting book. It has a large amount of potential but ultimately there were too many sub plots and not enough focus on the characters. However, the D&D parts were full of fantasy and adventure and are the most entertaining parts of the book.
My knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons is basically nothing. I only real knowledge of the game is what I have seen on The Big Bang Theory. So like I said, nothing. However, the concept of the game has always been interesting to me.
The story follows the five players of the LGBTQ Sci-fi & fantasy role playing club. Celeste; The dungeon master, Valarie; who works are Readmore Comix and Games, Mooneyham; a banker who like to argue and Ben, sensitive, unemployed and living at home and still recovering from unrequited love. In the real world they go by their daily lives with varying success but in the fantasy world created in their game, they are heroes and wizards fighting to stop an evil cult from waking a sleeping god.
I loved the Dungeons and Dragons parts of this story. Whenever, we were playing the game and the story was told from the perspective of the D&G characters, it was completely immersive and so much fun to read. Almost makes me want to play. I have no idea as to accuracy of how the author writes the game play so I am taking it all at face value. Either way, I enjoyed the fantasy world writing and adventures. The majority of the characters were very basic because they just didn’t have enough of a character arc. There was a lot of wasted potential with all of them.
Saying that, I think that this book contains way too many subplots instead of one focused story. I honestly feel like I forgot most of Mooneyham & Huey’s main storyline was and I have basically forgotten what Celeste’s storyline was. I found that I was mostly interested in romantic plot between Ben and Albert. I believe that this could have been a much more intriguing book if it was just focused on the romance between the two because there just wasn’t enough detail and story building for me to really enjoy this book.
I hate to say it but the plot was very messy. There was just a lot going on and none of it was exploited to its full potential. Parts of the storyline really didn’t need to be in there, like the Kiss-in??? I am still beyond confused with that section of the story and why that was the best way to get the characters to where they needed to be. The whole idea of it was bizarre.
In terms of the authors writing style, it was very clean and concise, and easy to follow where the story was going. I feel like I could read more books by this author as they have a very comfortable way of telling the story.
The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-fi + Fantasy Role Playing Club is an interesting book. It has a large amount of potential but ultimately there were too many sub plots and not enough focus on the characters. However, the D&D parts were full of fantasy and adventure and are the most entertaining parts of the book.
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