Review: Roll for Initiative!

Review: Roll for Initiative by Jaime Formato

Perfect for fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Raina Telgemeier, and Jessica Kim, a heartfelt coming-of-age middle grade novel about finding your voice and believing in your best geeky self.

Riley Henderson has never taken a bus to school in her entire life. Or made an afterschool snack, or finished her homework on her own, or—ewww—done her own laundry. That’s what her older brother Devin was for.

But now Devin’s gone. He’s off in California attending a fancy college gaming program while Riley is stuck alone in Florida with her mom. That is, until a cool nerd named Lucy gives Riley no choice but to get over her shyness and fear of rejection and become friends. The best part is . . . both girls are into Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, playing D&D was something Riley and Devin used to do together, with Devin as the dungeon master, guiding Riley through his intricately planned campaigns. So, of course, Riley is more than a little nervous when Lucy suggests that she run a campaign for them. For the chance at a friend, though, she’s willing to give it a shot. Soon, their party grows and with the help of her new D&D friends, Riley discovers that not only can she function without Devin, she kind of likes it. She figures out that bus thing, totes the clothes down to the laundry room and sets up her D&D campaigns right there on the slightly suspect folding table, makes her own snacks and dinner— the whole deal. But when Devin runs into trouble with his program and returns home, it's pretty clear, even to Riley, that since he can’t navigate his own life, he’s going to live Riley’s for her. Now she has to help Devin go back to college and prove to her mom that she can take care of herself . . . all before the upcoming Winter-Con.

It's time to Roll for Initiative.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

Plot: Reading about Riley gaining confidence in herself, making friends, and helping her brother was a great a read! I don't know much about D&D, but I enjoyed reading about Riley and her friends playing campaigns, and creating their characters. Each of the girls has their own things and issues going on, and I liked reading about their stories, and how they helped each other, 

Characters: Riley was a fantastic main character, and her friends were all great! I liked how her family played a big role in the story. And I liked all the supporting characters, too!

The Cover: I like it!

Overall: This was an unexpected new favorite for me! I thought it sounded good, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. The opening scene made me laugh because of Riley's thoughts, and she had a great voice in the book. This was a fantastic contemporary Middle Grade book, that I highly recommend reading!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.