Dungeons and Drama Is a Fun Love Letter to Nerd Culture

Delacorte Press

As fun as it is to immerse myself in high-stakes fantasy books, I like to take a break once in a while and read something light. I knew what I was getting when I picked up Kristy Boyce’s new YA novel, Dungeons and Drama. While the title may sound deceiving, it’s a lighthearted romp that combines the worlds of Broadway musicals and tabletop gaming to create a wonderfully nerdy love story that anyone can enjoy. I had modest expectations going in, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had with this one.

Dungeons and Drama follows Riley, a high school junior who has big dreams of becoming a Broadway musical director someday. After “borrowing” her mother’s car and driving without a license to go see a touring musical, Riley finds herself working at her father’s game store for the next eight weeks as punishment; Riley feels out of her element due to her strained relationship with her father and clashes immediately with her coworker, Nathan. In a split-second decision to try to save face in front of her ex, Riley claims she and Nathan are dating, prompting them to make a deal; for standing in as her fake boyfriend, Riley will help Nathan win the attention of the girl he’s crushing on. Somewhere along the line, however, their fake dating starts to turn into something not so fake, making Riley question how far she’s willing to go with the ruse when her heart is on the line.

Riley, as a protagonist, is impossible not to love. Her enthusiasm for musical theater is infectious, and she’s not at all self-conscious about the way she expresses herself, often wearing mismatched clothing with clashing patterns and coming up with larger-than-life ideas for whatever she sets her mind to. My favorite scene in the book was when she joins Nathan and his friends for a round of Dungeons & Dragons, opting to make her character a bard who bursts into musical theater songs as her form of magic; it’s just as bombastic and ridiculous as it sounds, and it had me laughing so hard I had to pause my audiobook. Her love of musicals means that Riley drops a lot of references to different shows, both classic and modern, and while this may confuse some readers, I had a lot of fun recognizing shows I’m familiar with—and doing a quick Google search for the ones I’m not.

The side characters were also a big highlight for me for the most part. Riley’s ex-boyfriend, Paul, is also a musical theater kid, but his stuck-up personality and feelings of superiority make him one of my favorites; he’s so easy to hate, somehow always managing to say something equally passive-aggressive and hilarious. Riley’s mother, while understandably upset with Riley’s antics, turns out to be very supportive and willing to compromise with her daughter. Their relationship surprised me in how well they communicated with each other. While Nathan himself isn’t too interesting, he and his D&D friends play off each other well, simultaneously taking their campaign seriously while cracking jokes and arguing over what Monty Python movie is the best. However, not all of the side characters were likable. Anthony, for example, is probably the weakest of Nathan’s friends, being a weirdly outdated “Latin lover” type who’s supposed to be funny but comes off as creepy. And Sophia, the girl Nathan is crushing on, is never shown to have any depth outside of demanding attention and getting jealous when she doesn’t receive it. She’s the only girl among Nathan’s group aside from Riley, and pitting them against each other immediately does nothing but add unnecessary drama.

What kept me from truly loving this book was the way the third act brought in stakes that felt a little too serious compared to the rest of the story. Riley’s insecurity about her “fake” relationship with Nathan felt like it came out of nowhere, with her going from communicating fairly well with him to suddenly being worried that he doesn’t have real feelings for her, prompting her to shut down around him. I understand that this is a hallmark of the fake-dating trope, but it was a little forced and felt out of character for Riley. Her relationship with her father is another sore spot, with concerns about his health showing up about halfway through—while it’s set up for later conflict, there wasn’t enough time spent between Riley and her father that made me feel like any of the health drama was necessary. She rightfully calls him out on not being more interested in her life, but she barely spends time with him while they’re at work, and this subplot fades into the background easily until it’s needed again. I’m all for comedies having moments of seriousness to balance things out, but these moments need to make sense and not be there solely to check off boxes.

All my issues aside, Dungeons and Drama was a great way to kick off 2024. It was cheesy, but I knew that going in, and I love when books lean into their clichéd elements and are unashamed to revel in a bit of predictability. I wish I enjoyed it more than I did, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun—I’d like to check out Boyce’s other romance books if they’re anything like this one.

Dungeons and Drama is out now.