Last week I posted an interview with Tobias Madden during the book tour for Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell. Since then I read this book and want to tell you about in and what I thought. Keep on reading to find out more!
There Are No Cheat Codes for Showmance
Seventeen-year-old gaymer Noah Mitchell only has one friend left: the wonderful, funny, strictly online-only MagePants69. After years playing RPGs together, they know everything about each other, except anything that would give away their real life identities. And Noah is certain that if they could just meet in person, they would be soulmates. Noah would do anything to make this happen—including finally leaving his gaming chair to join a community theater show that he’s only mostly sure MagePants69 is performing in. Noah has never done anything like theater—he can’t sing, he can’t dance, and he’s never willingly watched a musical—but he’ll have to go all in to have a chance at love.
With Noah’s mum performing in the lead role, and former friends waiting in the wings to sabotage his reputation, his plan to make MagePants69 fall in love with him might be a little more difficult than originally anticipated.
And the longer Noah waits to come clean, the more tangled his web of lies becomes. By opening night, he will have to decide if telling the truth is worth closing the curtain on his one shot at true love.
Review
Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell is a fast YA read. I will say there is a lot of drama in this book, but a lot of it felt realistic with out main characters being teenagers. Some things just feel more dramatic and like the end of the world than for adults.
Our main character is a big gamer (he says himself he doesn’t have any friends and this is where he has someone to talk to) and I loved this aspect of the book. It was talked about a lot (including strategy) and it was fun seeing Noah so enthusiastic. I loved that it shows that online friendships are real and important in many ways.
Things get messy though, because Noah’s online friend and crush ends up entering his real life. When he figures this out, he doesn’t say anything to Eli and this did bug me. Especially with them slowly building a relationship together. I get it isn’t easy and I’m sure it happens, but I’m not a big fan of lying. Things blow up and it’s understandable why. The aspect of this that I did love was that Noah realized he had more people in his corner than he expected. He had made friends while working on the community theater show.
Noah’s family also plays a part in this story and it’s not always positive. I loved the relationship he had with his sister though. The relationship with his mother isn’t that great, but I appreciated them talking near the end and really hearing each other. The only aspect of relationships that really bugged me was the bullying. Noah is bullied at school and the teachers honestly don’t really help. The way things were solved at the end felt rather quick, like nothing had really happened.
All in all, I really enjoyed this story. I love seeing gaming in stories and characters that are very passionate about it.
Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell was a story I enjoyed. Are you a gamer? What do you play? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
