D&D Dungeon Club Series by Molly Knox Ostertag & Xanthe Bouma

  

Last week, I read the D&D Dungeon Club series by Molly Knox Ostertag & Xanthe Bouma. This graphic novel series that combines realistic fiction and adventure is about Jess Descheene and Olivia Aguilar, best friends who have loved making up stories since they were little kids and now enjoy playing the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons, as eighth grade students. In the first book, Roll Call, when Olivia wants to create a club and add new players to their group, Jess struggles with the idea of sharing her best friend and their game with Tyler Rubio, the boy who decides to join the club. In the second book, Time to Party, although she loves being the Dungeon Master, Olivia begins to stress out about their game after they add two more players, Sam Geller and Sammi Mitchell, and the plotlines gets more complicated. It doesn't help matters when her sister, Lu, suggests that D&D isn't important when she's home from college, making Olivia doubt her hard work. In the third and final book, Final Face-off, Tyler still has an imaginary friend, Sunny, who is also his character when he plays D&D. After Sunny pushes Tyler into confessing his feelings to Sam, his crush since they had a moment at the Halloween Dance, through a letter that goes missing from his backpack, Tyler demands that Sunny leave him alone. Without Sunny, Tyler must stand up to his bully, Kelly Bruler, and learn to trust that his friends will have his back.

This series was a quick read and I had a lot of fun reading it, even if there was a moment in Final Face-off that nearly made me cry. Although I've never played D&D myself, I definitely found the characters' everyday problems relatable because I've been through the hardships of middle school. I loved how Jess, Olivia, and Tyler grew through the challenges that they faced: friendship conflict, identity questioning, managing priorities, bullying, and more. I also liked the different dynamics between the characters, including Olivia and Jess's friendship of five years, Sam and Sammi's friendship, and Tyler's developing connection with Sam. My favorite part, though, was actually being able to see the story they created with their D&D campaign. It was interesting how Sir Corius was almost a perfect reflection of Jess, while Sunny was the complete opposite of Tyler and someone he strove to be more like even when it got him into trouble. Additionally, I enjoyed Sammi's character, Snowball, and Sam's character, Leumas, because they were absolutely hilarious and delightful. The D&D story itself was amazing, too, with Sir Corius looking for his sister, Corinth, and realizing that she had betrayed him, only for Corinth to need rescuing after after she opened the portal to the abyss and Prince Graz'zt imprisoned her. Sir Corius going from being a lone wolf to having a group of a friends on which he could rely was another great development. As for the Dungeon Master, I thought it was cool how sometimes Olivia was inspired by their real lives, like when the club's characters went to a ball after they went to the Halloween Dance in their real lives. The D&D Dungeon Club series is both versatile and heartwarming with vibrant illustrations, and I recommend it to those who love fantasy adventures, especially D&D fans, and friendship stories.