This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Jared is an outsider at school and unhappy at home, his parents fight all the time and his sister only has time for her boyfriend. So when he gets a copy of Lavascape, a fully immersive MMORPG with helmet, gloves and other tracking devices, he jumps at the chance to play a Troll. At first he is content with hanging out in the village, playing games all the time, but when he starts to have visions of a beautiful princess in distress, he starts to change his mind and prepare for an adventure. While he is spending more and more time in Lavascape and thus neglecting both his friends and his homework, he starts to notice strange changes with himself. Some injuries he incurred while playing suddenly appear in real life, and where are all those muscles coming from?

Susan Bohnet manages to take a coming of age story with a strong focus on computer games and takes it to the next level. My Life as a Troll is a very captivating read that I could not turn down, and even though I foresaw some plot points, there were turns I didn’t see coming at all. Highly recommended for anyone who has ever played a computer game and a must read for everyone who plays MMORPGs! (  )