Tag: Gamer Girls

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#BookReview: Poll Dancer by Laura Heffernan

Novel: Awesome. Commentary: Meh. As a novel, this book was solid. Maybe a bit too weighed down in social commentary, particularly in the back third, and nowhere near as refreshing as the author’s Gamer Girls series (whose third book this one takes some elements of), but a mostly solid tale with some genuinely hilarious moments nonetheless. Meets pretty much all RWA standards I am aware of.

But as someone who has ran (unsuccessfully) for rural small town public office (City Council of a town literally 4 sq miles in area) twice, the politics… your feelings about AOC will likely tell you whether you should consider this book from that angle. She is the lead character’s idol, and somewhat blatant character model. From my own experience working within the highest echelons of a State Assembly as a blogger and political activist, the action tends to break down on these levels, but I know more than most about these things and the action does indeed fall along how most think of them. So perhaps no real foul there.

Still, overall truly a solid book, particularly if you can set aside your own political inclinations and experiences and simply enjoy the tale being presented. Very much recommended.

This review of Poll Dancer by Laura Heffernan was originally written on June 14, 2020.

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#BookReview: Make Your Move by Laura Heffernan

Adequate Wrap Up To Otherwise Awesome Series. I *love* that Heffernan has been courageous enough in this series to give us several things we don’t usually see in romance books, be it the gaming focus generally, girl gamers specifically, the various sexualities and atypical romances at play, etc etc etc. And this book continues that work of showing those various elements and giving several of them payoffs that at least work to close out a trilogy.

There are two primary issues with this book. The first is that the “bad guys” – IIRC, a first in this series – are barely cogent enough to even qualify as strawmen. And indeed one of them in particular seems to exist just so Heffernan can paint all “cishet straight white men” (as she would call us) as absolute bastards. Heffernan even makes this pretty explicit when she has our lead female outright state at one point “Who will fight for the other non-cishet white dudes? The people of color, the queers, the women?”. … Because “cishet straight white dudes” are pure evil and absolutely prejudiced against anyone not exactly like them? Is this attitude not prejudicial against those people? The second issue – and it too is fairly big, particularly for what is seemingly a series finale – is that the ending is quite abrupt and seemingly comes out of left field. (Indeed, it would have been more courageous for Heffernan to have left the epilogue out – while possibly not satisfying everyone, ending it that way would have felt more coherent with the rest of this tale.)

This was a story I was very much looking forward to, it simply isn’t quite up to par with the first two books in the series, and that is quite a shame. Still, recommended if only to see how Shannon’s story does wind up playing itself out and to get a bit of closure with Holly and Gwen.

This review of Make Your Move by Laura Heffernan was originally written on November 22, 2019.

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#BookReview: She’s Got Game by Laura Heffernan

Great Game. If Heffernan’s friend Maggie Dallen’s latest book was a Hallmark Movie of the saccharine sweet variety, this one is closer to one of the rocky road jalapeno ice cream variety. Still mostly funny, but deals with some weightier issues in a mostly sweet manner with a hint of burn-your-mouth spice. Heffernan takes several risks with her characters that are rare, and that is much appreciated by this particular reader. The narrator is a gamer – and not a video gamer, which has gained a degree of acceptance in mainstream modern society. No, this narrator is a *board* gamer. And bi. And one of her best friends is demisexual – an orientation I’ve literally only seen used in *one* other book. And the driving narrative force is a board game tournament. And there are several weighty issues that could drag the book down, but Heffernan deftly keeps the focus on her primary couple as they haltingly get together. Excellent work, I’m very much looking forward to the next one. Very much recommended.

This review of She’s Got Game by Laura Heffernan was originally written on July 31, 2019.