Judith Ellis shuns reality. She'd rather be playing online multiplayer fantasy games than interact with the real world, where she is friendless and misunderstood. After all, why would want to communicate in a society where she lies to her father over the phone once a week and where her best friend dumped her? Fantasy is obviously better.

That is, until an annoying character named Irgan starts to harass her character. A quick investigation leads her to discover that Irgan is actually Jonathan, the trouble druggie boy in the next apartment who her mother hates. Jonathan and Judith decide to form their own game.. face-to-face.

Meanwhile, Judith's math teacher has asked her to tutor Katie, a self-proclaimed richdumbfat girl. Gradually the two become friends as Judith realizes Katie is actually pretty funny. At the same time, things with Jonathan get more intense. Does he like her or simply think of her as a character in their "game"? When does the game end and reality begin?

With her signature insight and writing skill, Mariah Fredericks has written another novel with a protagonist you wish was real. This book is a good follow-up to her debut novel, the excellent The True Meaning of Cleavage. ( )

Great insight into how people get deeply into playing online role-playing games and how they can prefer that to the real world ( )