Review: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Geekerella
(Once Upon a Con #1)
by Ashley Poston
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publication date: April 4, 2017
Genre: Yound Adult Romance
Rating:

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.

Geekerella is a cute mash up of young adult, Cinderella retelling, celebrity romance, and it all revolves around the wrong number. You see Darien has been cast in the role to play the infamous Carmindor (think Capt Picard from Star Trek). This is probably the biggest role of his life, and it is a fandom that has been around for ages. Which should be great, however, Darien isn’t great with all the attention and really doesn’t want to do the post filming promo stuff, like go to a convention (think Comic-con). So, he does the only thing he can think of an tries to call and text the number of the founder of the convention (a number he found online). However, that phone is now owned by Elle. Elle has no clue that she’s talking to Darien, the actor she’s been kind of bashing on her fandom blog, and Darien has no clue who Elle is either. However, as the months tick by, they become close friends via text.

Obviously there is more to the story than that, but I don’t want to ruin anything for you. This was just so light, fun, and cute that I had a hard time putting it down. In all honesty, I finished it in one sitting. I don’t think I’ve done that in a very long time. If not months, then certainly years. So, the fact that it pulled me in that much is really a feat in itself. I just loved that we got both Elle’s and Darien‘s point of view. Not to mention, we got a behind-the-scenes look at Darien‘s filming and what it’s like for him to be a celebrity. Plus, with getting the dual POV, we got a better understanding of each of the characters and what they were feeling at the time.

Geekerella was really well written. I found myself smiling at the pages over the funny stuff and tearing up when it got me in the feels. I felt like I knew the characters, and when they hurt, I hurt. It’s not often that you feel such a connection with the characters in a book, but man, I wish I was friend’s with Elle and Sage. I honestly thought this was a great story. If you’re in the mood for a super adorable young adult story that mixes fandom cosplay, celebrities, and has a You’ve Got Mail vibe to it, then look no further!