Geekerella

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Synopsis (from Goodreads)
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.

Review
This was a cute and fun take on the Cinderella story. Plus there were lots of nerdy references that made me smile, plus some laugh out loud moments. It's not a book that takes itself too seriously, so if you're looking for deep character development or introspective exposition or whatever, it's not in this book.

I liked the setting of a nerdy sci-fi convention (con), and the way that Poston fits the aspects of the traditional story into a modern setting. The magic pumpkin becomes a food truck. Elle's coworker is good at sewing and fulfills the part of the magic fairy godmother. The glass slippers are part of a stellar cosplay. And the prince is just a super hot teenage celebrity. The narration alternates between their perspectives.

Elle was a fun character, very sassy and determined despite horrible personal tragedy. I did feel like her sudden low-self confidence toward the end of the book almost felt out of character from what we had seen before. It threw me off a little. And Darien was cute. I kept forgetting he was supposed to be this super buff heartthrob because he had such a geeky personality. I liked seeing the struggles he faced in his sudden rise to stardom, and how both he and Elle overcome various prejudices toward each other (her more so). And of course the romance was super cute. The stepmother and stepsisters were awful and I wanted to punch them in the face.

Yup, as I said, a fun cute nerdy retelling of Cinderella! It left me with a happy feeling after reading it, and the ending is really good!

Rating

Rounding up to 4 stars!

Details

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance.

Language: Mild to none.

Sex: None.

Violence: None.