On a LARP (A Sid Rubin Silicon Alley Adventure)

“And you want to know something else, something truly freaky? It is absolutely amazing how much stuff can flit through your brain while you are plunging to your death.”Thus begins this rambling, geeky tale of undeveloped teenage brains. A corseted murder. Story yarns riddling from the Dark Web. And ominous but poetic clues waxing how “Death is Immurement.”I loved this story, from the very first line to the last. Sidonie Rubin—aka Sid—is the most endearing, wildly amusing cerebral female character I have read in a long, long while. Her mind is racing a hundred miles an hour as she recants for the reader how she survived a jump toward certain death (literally and figuratively), filled with hilarious nerdy tangents and self-deprecating humor. One part socially awkward, two parts genius brain, and a billion fractured parts rambling pop-culture reference queen. The result? Brilliant!"The geeks are my friends because I am one with them..." Me too, Sid. Me, too. *raises fist in solidarity*Curiously, this beginning of the end for Sid starts with the death of another. Someone Sid is convinced died while in cosplay for a LARP (live action role playing game). A local police department recruits Sid and her wonderfully eclectic group friends to lend their knowledge on LARP and to “hack” for clues, eventually leading to a questionable link on the Dark Web. A link that opens an invitation to a secret Steampunk LARP, created especially for participants who are willing to “die for their art.”But that, dear reader, is for you to discover! If you dare…Back to Sid. A story and character element that I loved about her is that she is the main point-of-view character and she is a lesbian. Usually this is reserved for side characters. Additionally, this isn’t a tale of blossoming sexual orientation. Rather, her attraction to women—one woman in particular—is perfectly natural for her character. Well done! I’m glad to see more diverse characters, especially in YA, who are “real” about who they are, in ALL areas.Time to wrap this up!“You know my friends, the floor is rapidly approaching and I have just enough time left to be guessing this is probably a consummate example of what Dad meant when he said I needed to learn to look before I leap. But now, it is so way too late for that…”You want to find out what happens, don’t you? *wink, wink*Get. This. Book. You won’t be disappointed! Your stomach muscles will thank you for the work out, both from holding your breath in anticipation and from laughing.

This is a YA book, but not. It aptly represents the angst of being a 21st-century teen, and begins with a self-narrated explanation of the science behind the development (or lack, thereof) of the young adult brain. But this story is so smart, so revelatory, and so imaginatively written, that any adult reader will be immersed in this mystery, wrapped in young adult sensibility.The main protagonist is Sid Rubin (Sid is short for Sidonie. But you take your life in your hands if you call her that). We meet Sid as a seventeen-year-old Brainiac, a girl who loves girls—a mash up of witticism, whimsy, and occasional whining. She has the vocabulary and literary nimbleness of an Ivy League, grad student, and the emotional fragility of a kindergartner. She won my heart. Sid leaves nothing left unsaid. Even if it is only said in her own head. And Ms. Deoul’s writing takes you on a merry chase of parentheses, all caps, colons, italics, acronyms, every writing tool she needs, to capture Sid’s often stream-of-consciousness narrative. But I digress…Sid says that a lot.The plot brings the reader into the world of Live Action Role Play, or LARP, when Sid, and her fascinating gaggle of diverse friends, are recruited by the police to help solve a murder requiring techy, geeky, know-how. Along the way, the descriptions of Sid’s family, the situations she must navigate, and her insights have such tremendous humor, I was laughing aloud, and, literally, highlighting the numerous brilliant passages. A few examples: “I don’t understand how a body moves forward when the only two words left that sound right are run now.” Or, “…we are all proud members of the generation who believe we exist in an instantaneous universe filled with instant answers. We wait for nothing.” Or, “I am so not going to accept for one moment that someone who could fill out a bustier like you did, cannot fill out their life.”On a LARP is a visual masterpiece. Not just the cover, which is striking, but in the deliciously imaginable scenes weaved by author, Stefani Deoul. It’s a movie inside a book. An ancillary marketing item for this book could easily be one of those 3-D, pop-up greeting cards. One depicting the neon-streaked landscape of NYC, with the locales of high-school friendships and hang outs, and the images of teen-aged geekdom.

I bought this book on a recommendation from a friend.I'm glad I did.I love technology, and that the author has made Sid and her three othercompadres more tech savvy than the older generation... since more and more that's True to life.And delving into the world of LARP and showing how much information can be gleaned online is also important.The byplay between the characters is realistic, and enjoyable, and well worth the read.This is one book that I highly enjoyed and will recommend.

I bought this book based upon the author's producing work on one of my favorite shows "Haven." I LOVED THIS BOOK! I could not put it down. Stefani writes in such a descriptive and engaging manner. I had no idea this was a YA book. I am definitely no young adult and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The protagonist is a smart, likable and relatable character! I HIGHLY recommend this book that combines suspense, humor and twists that keep you reading. I wanted more. I can't wait to buy Stefani's other work The Carousel. Bravo!!

This book is refreshingly different from other lesfic I’ve read. The main characters are brainy high school kids, some geek, some not, two police detectives and the world of the LARP (live action role play), a type of interactive role-playing game in which the participants portray characters through physical action, in costume and with props. A women is murdered and a high school girl see the picture in the paper and has an thought. The plot unfolds from there. I really enjoyed this book. It had drama, humor, romance, and even had me laughing out loud. I’m looking forward to the authors next book.

HOLY AMAZE-BALLS! This is an amazing book! I was hooked from the first line and was desperate to jump right into the story after the prologue. It was fast-paced, with a good look at teenage Sid with her friends all kinda happily supporting her along the way. I loved the sci-fi angle, the cosplay, the LARP, the whole embracing of geekdom! It's amazing written and I basically couldn't get enough of it so I had to pick up book two! This is a brilliant YA series and I can not recommend it enough! Highly, highly recommended! Pick this book up, you will not be disappointed!

Great book.