I’m not sure if this series will be a little too niche as I only have a few books to talk about right now. However, books about music are really fun, they’re just a little difficult to find. Searching ‘books about music’ hasn’t been very helpful so far, so if you have any recommendations please throw them my way.
Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
This book has performances on two levels and both speak to my heart: musical theatre and Dungeons and Dragons. I’m more of a D&D person these days, but musical theatre will always have a place in my heart. Although there isn’t actually a ton of D&D in this, and some of it isn’t entirely accurate. One of the characters gets hit by a natural 20 and leaves the game without finding out how much damage they’ve taken. Annoying, but I do still love this book.
There’s a lot of ‘performing’ in this book. Riley’s heart is with musical theatre so you spend a lot of time in rehearsals and talking about theatre in general. Which I love. There’s also a very cute romance plot (the whole point of the book), which I also loved. This book is just so fun from start to finish. I’m planning to read the second one soon. It looks like it has Critical Role vibes.
Synopsis: When it comes to romance, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to play games. A fun YA romcom full of fake dating hijinks!
Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.
Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.
But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game…or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought…
Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli
This was my first book from Becky Albertalli and while it isn’t my favourite, I loved the theatre scenes. I was a theatre kid at school so this whole book felt very nostalgic for me. Not the part about having the same crush as my gay best friend though, I feel like that’s a pretty unique experience.
Sadly, in my review I didn’t talk about the theatre aspects of this book very much and I read this so long ago that I can’t even tell you which musical they did. I want to say My Fair Lady but I may be confusing this with Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Either way, this is such a fun read. You’d think a book about musical theatre teens who have a crush on the same guy would be filled with irritating characters and over the top drama, but it’s actually the opposite (based on my review from 2021).
Synopsis: Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker are not codependent. Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.
But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script. Matt Olsson is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson.
Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Book Confessions: Books I Did Not Finish #8
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: The Best Of: Books About Music and Performing Arts […]