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Sign up todayThe No-Girlfriend Rule
Narrator
Natalie Naudus
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Length
9 hours 50 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“For fans of Felix Ever After and Gwen and Art Are Not in Love. This coming-of-age YA romance is all about being true to yourself and enjoying what you love. Hollis is a fat, broke girl who struggles with anxiety and just wants to find community. Through playing S&S (a Dungeons and Dragons type role playing game), she gains the confidence to make new friends and accept herself. Funny, queer, and adorable, this read was everything I wanted it to be! ”
— Julie • All Good Books
Bookseller recommendation
“This book is for nerds and non-nerds alike! Whether you have no idea what a ttrpg is, or have piles of dice on your shelves, you'll love this story. It's delightfully queer and diverse, and I wish I could've handed it my 11th-12th grade self, so I'm glad that it exists now. As someone who is a huge nerd, I admire Randall's ability to put everything I love about tabletop role-playing games into writing in a way that anyone is able to read and feel, regardless of their familiarity. I could go on and on about what I loved about this novel, so I encourage you to roll some initiative (wink wink, get the pun?) and find out for yourself.”
— Kiera • Fulmer House Books & Collectibles
Bookseller recommendation
“OMG I LOVED IT! I loved Hollis' journey from learning to play "S&S", not caring what other people think, finding a group of friends who truly love and support her, and letting go of people who don't. Everything about it was relatable and touching and absolutely delightful!”
— Kimi • The Silver Unicorn Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“This is not just a love story; it’s also a self-love story. This book is beautiful and is such a (gentle) emotional adventure, navigating new friendships, changing through life, and coming out of one’s shell. As someone who struggles with anxiety and found a safe space within TTRPGs, I found myself connecting with the protagonist more than I expected! I recommend this for any lover of TTRPGs and a good sapphic romance! ”
— Ling-Tam • Katy Budget Books
Bookseller recommendation
“This is the book I wish I had in high school! Seeped in self-discovery, found friendship, and Dungeons & Dragons, Hollis's story is for anyone who is afraid to be their nerdy, wonderful self.”
— Ri • House of Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Absolutely adorable and a soothing balm for anxious hearts. Classic bits of sapphic culture had me screaming at my phone (playlists? bangs??) and I could not wait for Hollis to leave her toxic boy group behind and flourish among her new girlfriends. Randall does a great job at showing how toxic male gaming culture extends to TTRPGs, and how queer and femme spaces within gaming culture can become such safe spaces, even if you don't have the vocabulary to talk about it. Great romance, great meta fantasy, great queer, anxiety, and fat rep. Definitely a great pick for a cozy read. ”
— Lauren • Chapterhouse Books
An instant USA TODAY bestseller
Four starred reviews!
Julie Murphy meets Heartstopper with a D&D twist in this “magical, heartwarming” (Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of She Gets the Girl) queer romance about a teen girl whose foray into fantasy tabletop roleplaying brings her new confidence, true friends, and a shot at real, swoon-worthy love.
Hollis Beckwith isn’t trying to get a girl—she’s just trying to get by. For a fat, broke girl with anxiety, the start of senior year brings enough to worry about. And besides, she already has a boyfriend: Chris. Their relationship isn’t particularly exciting, but it’s comfortable and familiar, and Hollis wants it to survive beyond senior year. To prove she’s a girlfriend worth keeping, Hollis decides to learn Chris’s favorite tabletop roleplaying game, Secrets & Sorcery—but his unfortunate “No Girlfriends at the Table” rule means she’ll need to find her own group if she wants in.
Enter: Gloria Castañeda and her all-girls game of S&S! Crowded at the table in Gloria’s cozy Ohio apartment, the six girls battle twisted magic in-game and become fast friends outside it. With her character as armor, Hollis starts to believe that maybe she can be more than just fat, anxious, and a little lost.
But then an in-game crush develops between Hollis’s character and the bard played by charismatic Aini Amin-Shaw, whose wide, cocky grin makes Hollis’s stomach flutter. As their gentle flirting sparks into something deeper, Hollis is no longer sure what she wants…or if she’s content to just play pretend.
Christen Randall (they/she) is a queer, fat, neurodivergent author of queer, fat, neurodiverse books, including Junior Library Guild selection and instant USA TODAY bestseller The No-Girlfriend Rule. When they’re not writing joyful stories for the next generation of geeky gay kids, you can find them making zines about neighborhood cats, nerding out doing readers’ advisory as a library associate at their local library branch, or at home planning all the D&D campaigns they’ll run one day, they swear. Christen lives in Covington, Kentucky. Visit them online at ByChristenRandall.com and on social media @ByCRandall.
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Audiobook details
Author:
Christen Randall
Narrator:
Natalie Naudus
ISBN:
9781797172385
Length:
9 hours 50 minutes
Language:
English
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication date:
March 5, 2024
Edition:
Unabridged
Libro.fm rank:
#10,275 Overall
Genre rank:
#463 in LGBTQIA+ Fiction
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