Emily: Let’s start this edition of YA Book Club out with a little bit of honesty. After the last book we read, I really needed something light, refreshing, and (most importantly) actually good. Enter Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling by Elise Bryant. I have been looking forward to this one because of its cute premise. Delilah is a cool girl in a punk rock band. Reggie is a D&D nerd so deeply steeped in the culture that he writes essays about D&D for fun. They’re from different worlds, but they see something in each other that they admire, and yes, they spend a year falling for one another (just as the title suggests). I know a big pull for me was the D&D angle. And I know it was for Mary too. And D&D is such a huge pull that we even got TODD to join us for this month’s YA Book Club. 

So hi, Mary and Todd. Thanks for being here. Tell me, was there anything else that had you excited about reading this book? Cause I know we were really looking forward to it. 

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!

Mary: Hiiii! I was immediately hooked by the D&D angle—you were 100% correct there—but the cover also really stood out. It’s just so cute, and after reading the book I think it shows who Reggie and Delilah are well. The adorable illustration really pops on the pink background! 

Also, I am a SUCKER for a premise like Reggie and Delilah has. They fall in love over the course of a year, clandestinely meeting up on holidays? I’m in. It’s just cute all the way around.

Todd: The music aspect, combined with the D&D of it all, really sucked me in. Also, like Mary, this premise sounds great. I love walk-and-talks, those kinds of stories where strangers meet up and fall in love over the course of a long conversation. This wasn’t exactly like that, but it was very, very cute, so I am counting it.

Emily: Over the course of long texts maybe? I love all the awkward, flirty text conversations sprinkled throughout the book. 

Mary: Oh long texts definitely count as talking, even if there’s not walking involved! I know I gushed about how adorable this book is, but I don’t want to gloss over the fact that it’s also addressing some interesting—and deep!—topics. Both Reggie and Delilah struggle to feel like they belong in their respective hobbies. Delilah feels like a poser because she’s a Swiftie in a punk band and Reggie doesn’t see many other people like him in the D&D space, either. They both want to feel more confident than they are, but part of the struggle revolves around their being Black in white-dominated spaces. Delilah has one Black punk singer she looks up to—the very real and very cool Poly Styrene—but her band doesn’t understand why she feels on the outside. It’s clear her band is using her for clout with Black listeners, not because they value her voice. How did this other side of the plot work for y’all?

Emily: I really liked the exploration of that issue, and I’m glad it’s here. But I thought Delilah’s band mates—especially Charlie—were like, almost too awful to be real. I mean, they are teen boys so maybe not. But wow, Charlie was such a dick to Delilah and really treated her like property and a gimmick for their band rather than a human being with real ideas and thoughts and feelings. The more I type this… the more I realize that might be accurate. But while I was reading, I was like, wow, Charlie feels too evil to be real. Also I’ve never met someone named Charlie who is a dick, so I call bullshit.

Mary: Charlie is the worst and I hate him. Then again, I know it’s easy to have a crush on a mean boy. I’m glad she got over it though.

Todd: I totally agree! Charlie sucks! But for the most part, I enjoyed this section a lot. I am not now nor have I ever been a “punk,” per se, but definitely fancied myself a fledgling scene kid in my teens, and the way Bryant describes how Delilah feels on stage or when she is playing guitar felt just right. Her growing awareness of how much she really loves playing music was great to see, and it was nicely divorced (while also being kind of integrated with) her growing relationship with Reggie.

At the same time, Delilah’s other band members felt, perhaps intentionally, kind of bland and one-note. I also wish we had gotten to spend more time with Ryan Valentine, but that could just be me. Tell me: could you tell me 100% which was Beau and which was Asher?

Mary: I absolutely could not tell the difference between them, but then, that kind of feels like the vibe with a lot of stories about bands (I’m maybe particularly influenced because the podcast just covered Daisy Jones & the Six). There’s an enthusiastic lead, and then…some other guys. Ultimately, the story seemed less about them than Delilah. They weren’t actively against Delilah, but they weren’t eager to help her either.

Emily: Yeah it just felt like they didn’t think about Delilah either way at all.

Mary: Absolutely. Like you said, Emily, they all felt needlessly cruel and careless about Delilah, with Charlie being the worst. I wonder what the end goal of the band even was. To get famous? To have fun? It certainly didn’t seem like anyone was having fun except Delilah.

I’m no expert on punk music, but I can speak with some authority on Reggie’s situation. The D&D space can feel overwhelmingly white and straight sometimes, even though I think it’s changing. A lot of the racism and sexism was once baked right into the core rulebooks (that’s changed, too!) and it kind of cultivated a toxic fandom. Even though I think a lot of that mentality from the 70s and 80s isn’t the same now, it’s undeniable that some of the most visible, popular D&D actual play shows are primarily made up of white people (ahem, looking at you, Critical Role). It’s not hard to see how Reggie would feel like people weren’t ready/willing to hear what he had to say, especially since most of it seemed to focus on themes of colonialism in the game. Which, they’re there! 

Todd: Yes! It was very obvious that Elise Bryant had done her homework (or just really loved playing D&D) based on the way it was written about. This was not a faux-D&D game; it just felt straight up like playing Dungeons and Dragons whenever it was described, all the way down to Yobani’s tiefling being named Trickery. It might have been nice to have the book be a little more critical of Reggie’s favorite D&D stream essentially using him as a shield against those very same claims of racism and colonialism, but I also understand why Bryant might not have wanted to do that!

Emily: I hadn’t read it that way, Todd, but now that you mention it, it is kind of icky that they asked Reggie to be on the show, and then after he passed, they just found another POC to take his spot. And then it was sort of like, well, they don’t have any space for Reggie to be on the show anymore because they already filled that quota. It doesn’t seem like that’s something Bryant was looking to consciously confront, but it’s there nonetheless.

Mary: Oh, I didn’t get that vibe at all! I know we didn’t get much info about the podcast Reggie listens to, but it seemed like they were trying to recognize a gap in their own coverage, not use him to defend themselves. We kind of talked about this outside of the blog, but it very much felt like Critical Role in that it seemed like a group of white folks that wanted to include diverse voices but just like… didn’t have any at the beginning for whatever reason. I could be reading into it, of course, but it didn’t seem particularly malicious—after all, they were still willing to have him on to make a big romantic gesture even though he ghosted them for months.

Todd: That’s a good point! They could have very easily not let Reggie back on. 

Emily: Yeah, I see what you’re saying. It seems like this book is playing a lot with the idea of representation vs tokenism. So it makes sense that we’re having this conversation about the podcast since this is so deeply explored with the band. 

Mary: The band storyline definitely gets the spotlight with D&D playing backup, but it works out! They complement each other nicely.

Todd: For sure! I want to add that I loved how Reggie’s friends kept blowing up his spot, re: the podcast situation. And I also loved the funny bit about Yo’s outfits and style getting increasingly more ridiculous. Did we have a favorite family member or side character? I will stand up for Delilah’s somehow-starring-in-every-musical little sister. What about y’all?

Mary: I really enjoyed Greg, lol. He’s so annoying and would be a nightmare to play with, but I couldn’t help enjoying scenes where he was explaining rules or chastising the others for not being serious enough. It just felt right and true, and I always looked forward to seeing what new ways Greg would be annoying.

Also, Ryan was very cool! I would also be in awe of her.

Emily: Yeah, I think Ryan was my favorite side character. She was so cool, and she was such a great friend for Delilah to gain in the story. It was nice to see that Delilah’s journey to self-acceptance and confidence wasn’t just centered around her relationship with Reggie. She also had Ryan in her corner. 

Mary: Ryan seems so similar to Delilah but like she’s done the work already and wants to help Delilah become her ultimate punk rock self. Also, loved how Ryan said Taylor Swift was punk for her willingness to share her heartbreaks and speak candidly about things. Even though TSwift clearly wasn’t her type of music, Ryan never put down Delilah or any other girl just to make herself look cool. Being kind is definitely punk! 

I rated this book 5/5 and read it super fast. It was a great time and I’d definitely love to read more of Bryant’s work (although this one will likely always feel special to me)! 

For me, this one smoothly navigates talking about racism and social issues with the everyday struggles of being a teenager. All the storylines work together to tell one cohesive love story, and it never felt overly corny or sappy to me. 

Emily: Agree. I also gave this one 5/5. And I would really love to read Happily Ever Afters soon! 

Todd: 5 out of 5 for me too! This book was such a fun read and I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for other Elise Bryant books!

Emily: Next up on YA Book Club, we’ll be chatting about Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado. So be sure to return sometime next month for that one. We can’t wait!