#Review: GEEKERELLA by Ashley Poston

GEEKERELLA

Author: Ashley Poston

Series: Once Upon a Con #1
Source: Downloaded from Audible Plus
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:

Summary:

Cinderella goes to the con in this fandom-fueled twist on the classic fairy tale.

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. Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi 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’s ever wanted, but the 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.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

This book was cute and fun - and I sped through it pretty quickly. I just felt like it was too fanfic-y for me, especially since the romance felt almost insta-love. I know, I know, they talked for a while. But only via text and never once called each other. And the explanation for not doing that wasn't compelling enough in my opinion.

Toted to me as a love letter to fandom, I did appreciate the way that everyone interacted with the show, the cult following, and more. However, I thought that having a con dedicated to one show/series and then having panels about other things didn't quite make sense. They didn't explain why this con about this cult following show had other things or how it expanded after Elle's dad died.

I liked Darien enough and was glad to see how his character developed. He was geeky and good looking, so every girl's dream guy. But I wanted way more about his time on set, with Jessica, and his handler and bodyguard. It felt like we only saw him in conjunction with Elle too often and it made him fall a little flat some times.

Elle was a great main character and I really liked her. I definitely related to her blogging and wanting to get the most out of the people she interacted with. I wasn't a huge fan of her being like a mini celebrity at the Con because her dad founded it. That was a bit too much for me, but I liked the scene where everyone gave her pieces of their costume so it's all good.

TLDR: I thought this was really cute and I liked a lot of the retelling portions of this. It hit all the right beats and had a pretty compelling storyline. But I thought some of it was just too convenient and could have been better fleshed out. I enjoyed it so I'll probably continue on with this series.