Sunday, September 9, 2018

Review: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

About the Book

Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Published on April 4, 2017 by Quirk Books

Find it on Amazon!

Neither the author nor the publisher requested this honest and unbiased review.

GoodReads Description

Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic science-fiction series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck and her dad's old costume, Elle's determined to win - unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons - before he was famous. Now they're nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he has ever wanted, but Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake - until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise. But when she disappears at midnight, will he ever be able to find her again?

Part-romance, part-love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom.

My Thoughts

Me?  Read a fairy tale retelling??  DUH!!!!!  I freaking love these things.  They are sooooooo much better than bacon!  And, to make things a million times better, I'm a total nerd!  This book was so freaking enticing, even if the weirdly girly cover did put me off a bit.

I absolutely loved this book!  When I was getting close to the last page, I actually stayed up as late as my exhausted teacher body would let me before passing out.  I woke up the next morning, still clutching to the pages of this book! 

What I Liked

  • I related to Elle so flipping much!  Not because I have a horrible family life (my family is flipping amazing), but because she is wonderfully independent.  I absolutely loved seeing a Cinderella that was bound and determined to make her own happiness happen instead of waiting for someone to come and fix it for her.  She embodied a strong female spirit that is perfectly wonderful.  I am pretty much guaranteed to love any book with a strong female lead, and Geekerella did not disappoint.
  • Darien was a wonderful guy.  I don't say that in a "He's so cute I wanna die!!!" kind of way, but in a "Thank goodness that someone is showing the softer side of a guy."  Too often, I think we are encouraged to think about the hardened exterior of our gentlemen; this book illustrates that typically hidden side.  I am so happy to see that Poston made such a bold statement in a world where boys are typically told just to suck it up.  Darien learned to make his own decisions and deal with consequences while seeing that it was OK to experience emotions rather than hide them and neglect them.
  • I know that there will be others who say that this romance wasn't very believable.  And I agree.  But, I think that this really makes the book.  After all, does the original Cinderella tale really make romantic sense?  I think that by choosing a slightly unrealistic path to a very sweet romance, Poston stayed true to the original piece.
  • The world building in this piece was immaculate.  I had no trouble visualizing every scene that Poston wrote.  The world needs more books with such beautiful writing.

What I Didn't Like As Much

  • Holy typos, Batman!  I was really surprised to see so many typos in such a well-loved book.  There were actually a few places where they distracted me from the story and interrupted the flow.
  • I hated that I couldn't reach into the book and slap Chloe. Those of you who have read the book will get it. If you haven't, go read it.  Then you can get it too.

My Rating


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