Sunday, February 5, 2017

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Book Summary
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 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.

Flo's Review
You guys. You guys! I ADORED this book. I woke up this morning, grabbed the book (which I'd intuitively left by my bed the night before), and started reading. And there I stayed, reading in my bed, until I was done. (Minus one restroom break.) I kept telling myself, "Okay, after this bit I'm going to get up and get something to eat!" But then somehow I kept on reading. And I kept on jumping ahead a few pages to see when Darien and Elle would text each next - I would get nervous if it didn't happen every 2 pages or so. Like, "Oh no, he said THAT and she hasn't responded yet!! What will he think?!?!" No truer words were spoken to describe me and this book than "emotionally invested."

I think it's because this book speaks to me on so many levels. I mean, this site is Book NERDS Across America. Naturally, I'm a geek. And being all into a fandom? Yup, right here. And the description of the con? Yep! And the thing is, the fact that the story is a take on Cinderella is done so well, that I honestly didn't even notice what the parallels were right away. They just seemed like elements of this own, individual story. For example, I literally remembered reading a scene about the Magic Pumpkin driving through town and thinking, "OH! I get it! It's a pumpkin!!"

The characters were so well, too. Catherine and Chloe were definitely deplorable, but not in a fake, overdone kind of way. The emotional attachment Elle had to her father put everything into perspective and helped a lot of things add up. And Darien was very real; he felt like a regular guy and not a movie star, so it made sense that he and Elle would fall for each other. Sage was also a fantastic character and I loved seeing her get her HEA.

The ball scenes at ExcelsiCon were spot on! Poston captured the magic beautifully, and it really felt like a fairy tale to read. 

Geekerella comes out April 4, 2017; do yourselves a favor and pick it up! 

Thank you to Quirk Books for sending me an advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

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