Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Title: Geekerella
Author: Ashley Poston
Publisher: Quirk Books
Release: March 7, 2017
Stars: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

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.

You Can Find it At:
Goodreads
Regulator Bookshop
Indiebound
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

First Impressions

This book was so much fun! I got the ARC from The Regulator and immediately knew that I had to read it. I dug in to it one afternoon and finished it that evening. It sounded exactly like the kind of book I love, and I was right!

Characters

I loved the main character Elle. She was a fun character to be in the head of. She could be a little dense at times, but I was able to forgive her for that. I also loved Elle's friend who also worked on The Magic Pumpkin. She was seriously awesome, and I would love to be her friend as well.

I also really liked Darien. He was less relatable than Elle, given that he's famous and all. Darien was definitely on the gullible side. He believed whatever he was told, which gets him in a bit of trouble.

Both main characters are definitely nerds, though both can be hesitant to show it. For me, being nerdy is just a part of being me, so it can be hard to relate to that, but I can understand their restraint.

World Building

The book could have taken place anywhere on the coast. I think it took place in Charleston though. That's kinda fun, since I've actually been there for YALLFest. But besides the occasional Charleston reference, the setting was pretty basic. That's kind of cool in that you can imagine it takes place near you, but it takes away a sense of place.

Author Bio:

Growing up in a small southern town, Ashley played in the high school marching band and earned a BA in English from the University of South Carolina. She has worked as a sound tech, a barista, a hotelier, an assistant to a screenwriter, and a graphic designer, but her favorite job is being professional fanfic writer – I mean author.

Sometimes, you can catch her lurking around in coffee shops where she reads copious amounts of fanfiction about Star Trek and Dragon Age (shhhh, don’t tell her agent extraordinare, Holly Root) and play a lot of video games. Somewhere between the fanfics and killing darkspawn, she writes sci-fi and fantasy.

In the spring you can catch GEEKERELLA, her ode to fandom, phasing onto shelves.

And in Winter 2018? We can all fangirl together when the book of her heart, a sci-fi YA pitched as Anastasia meets Flirefly, HEART OF IRON, pirateers into a store near you.


Until then, stay shiny.

You Can Find Her At
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