July 11, 2017

Review: Geekerella

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Geekerella by Ashley PostonGenre: Young Adult Contemporary
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Geekerella

  Anything can happen once upon a con…

When geek girl Elle Wittimer sees a cosplay contest sponsored by the producers of Starfield, she has to enter. First prize is an invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. Elle’s been scraping together tips from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck behind her stepmother’s back, and winning this contest could be her ticket out once and for all—not to mention a fangirl’s dream come true.

Teen actor Darien Freeman is less than thrilled about this year’s ExcelsiCon. He used to live for conventions, but now they’re nothing but jaw-aching photo sessions and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Federation Prince Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the diehard Starfield fandom has already dismissed him as just another heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, closet nerd Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.


Review:

“Look to the stars. Aim. Ignite.” - Starfield

A Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. Sometimes when I'm down I pop it in and it puts a smile on my face. After all it's got cheesy writing for a retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales and Hilary Duff. (Yes, I am from that generation.) If A Cinderella Story is a guilty pleasure for you I think Geekerella is definitely up your alley, especially if you just so happen to be a fangirl! Nerd! Geek! Whatever you embrace to call your sci-fi-fantasy-fan of franchises type self. Whether your a Lord of the Rings fan, anime, or so on there's a bit of everything here.

Geekerella might be yet another modern Cinderella retelling, but in reality is a nod to fans. You don't even have to be a geek/nerd to get it. If you've got some kind of obsession you'll get it. Though some of the geeky inside jokes may go over your head. Geekerella evolves around the fandom of Starfield a fictional (well yeah) space TV show that is getting rebooted. It's amazing how Ashley Poston perfectly sums up being a fan of these shows/franchises. Fans know it's all fake, but there's deeper meanings behind why we love what we love and how fans connect with them. Also taking a look at both the awesome and creepy parts of fans.

Girl power and the horrible “you're a female you can't be a fan” are both examined. Not to mention how maybe you're not lonely because of the horrible people around you, but because you're putting yourself in the corner. (Sorry I rewatched the ORIGINAL Dirty Dancing.) You have to want to reach out to others to be able to interact. Attitude. I've always been a cynic about falling in love with someone over texting. I think maybe some texting happens off page that I missed, because I think A Cinderella Story made it more believable for me. However, I did eventually fall into Darien and Elle making it work.

The real power of Geekerella is it's characters. Especially how it highlights the different stages of grief and loss, loneliness, friendship, and looking past masks/stereotypes. It truly surprised me how much I enjoyed Geekerella. Sage is one of the best side characters ever. I adored her! Not to mention that Poston didn't make her feel like the token lesbian character, she just was herself and it felt organic. As I read Geekerella I highlighted the crap out of it! So many quotes that I loved. Just look at my updates. This is not award winning writing and the snob in me hates when character's appearances are a mash up of movie/famous people. However, it works for this story. It's the style. At times silly and others powerful. I'm a fangirl of Starfield now. I want a T-shirt with “Look to the stars. Aim. Ignite.” on it! I look forward to future works from Poston.

Sexual Content: Lesbians, nothing over the top. (It's really sweet.) Some kissing and gushing, but really a pretty clean read. Mild sexual humor jokes and making out by random cosplay characters.

  
4/5 - A true obsession!


Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW: Amazon: Goodreads:
Geekerella        

Geekerella Geekerella

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