In book two of her Once Upon a Con series, Ashley Poston puts a modern, female spin on The Prince and the Pauper featuring Imogen, a diehard comic geek and Jess, a jaded young actress who plays Princess Amara in a movie version of the time-honored Starfield series (with costar Geekerella’s Darien Freeman). In a case of mistaken identity, Imogen takes her place on a panel when Jess pulls a disappearing act and the stage is set for the switch.

Jess is desperate to make Oscar-worthy movies, fears being type-cast, and is on the run from the paparazzi. She also has a compulsive need to check social media despite being vilified and threatened by Amara fanatics who are faithful to the original TV star, Natalia Ford. It’s a cautionary tale about the evils of social media and how trolls can have a negative impact if you let them. This story is a gift to fans of ComicCons, but the overwhelming use of SciFi jargon (nerfherder, Muggle, Starflame, Noxballs, doge) necessitates a glossary for the uninitiated. It features a diverse cast of characters and several charming romantic relationships, including Imogen and Ethan’s love/hate and four LGBTQ pairings. Highly recommended for teen collections.


I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Quirk Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I LOVE this book! Ashley Poston has done it again! My nerd heart was so excited and I felt like this book was a great companion to Geekerella. There were hints here and there and a ton of fandom! I want to go and reread it right this second!

This was a wonderful addition to the Once Upon A Con series! I loved getting to see old characters from the previous book and how they interacted with the new faces in this novel. I really enjoyed the writing style throughout the book and liked reading from both perspectives.

What I love best about Ashely Poston’s books is that she makes it so easy to fangirl over the characters and plot. Reading Geekerella and The Princess and the Fangirl is like an invitation to be a part of a fandom. They’re essentially love letters to fangirls and fanboys, reminding us that it’s okay to be excited about what you love—whether that’s a video game franchise or an anime series or retro science-fiction TV show.

But The Princess and the Fangirl goes above and beyond welcoming someone to a fandom. It also points out the negative side of fandom: the harsh Internet comments, the unnecessary comparisons, the judgmental inclusiveness, the backlash when something doesn’t happen as the fans originally envisioned. Right now, the Internet is ripe with such hate and negativity, and the way Ashley Poston balances the positive and negative sides of fandom is an inspiring and necessary platform amid the chaos.

The story also highlights the difficulties of an actress in any mainstream role. From sexual assault to impossible standards, The Princess and the Fangirl gives an unfortunate yet honest depiction of what an actress in a lead role may go through on a daily basis. And it also shows that people can change and first impressions aren’t everything.

At its heart, The Princess and the Fangirl is a story about fandom: the good, the bad, and the super ugly. It doesn’t shy away from the hard topics and it doesn’t sugarcoat the experience as only good memories and fun costumes. But it does make you appreciate fandom as it once again seamlessly combines the fangirl experience with the fairy tale plot. Ashley Poston is already working on a third book for “Once Upon a Con” series, (a Beauty and the Beast retelling) and I am ready for more because she doesn’t just write fandom, she knows fandom.

Imogen is a fangirl trying to save her favorite character Princess Amara. Meanwhile Actress Jessica Stone is happy about the idea of her character dying off and has pretty much made it clear. When a case of switched identities happen at a panel of ExcelsiCon Jessica isn't happy about it. But when leaks of the script of Starfield sequel leaks Jessica's career can be on the line if shes blamed. She needs to find the person behind this but with all the panels and shows she'll need a double to take her place. Imogen steps up in helping out and gets to see for a short while into Jessica's world, while Jessica solves the mystery of who is leaking the script.

Love love Loved this book. Almost as much as I liked the book Geekerella. I loved how the author took the basic of Prince and the Pauper and turned it into something amazing with it. This was such a unique take and I loved seeing what the author could do for it. TBH I'm not a fan of prince and pauper which is why it took a bit of time for me to pick this book up, but knowing who wrote this and after loving the previous one I knew I finally had to pick it up. I was not disappointed this book exceeded my expectation. I loved getting to know the characters and seeing how everything turned out in the end. I thought it was interesting seeing how both girls got to see the other side of each other's lives and finding their own HEA. It was a pretty cute book, I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed Geekarella but The Princess and The Fangirl fell quite flat for me because the two main character voices are just too similar. Of the two, Jess is more developed (and I liked her being unlikeable), but Imogen is just along for the ride and doesn't get much chance to be anything but a rather moody foil for everyone else. I was also caught on the back foot by Jess suddenly being into astronomy and far more geeky than she had any right to be after all that grumping around. It felt more "plot device" than "natural progression of character development". Speaking of, the stolen script really faded into the background and ended up as not much more than a carrier for the various romances. That was a bit disappointing.

I look forward to hearing my teen daughter's review, though, she's dying to read it.

A super cute addition to the Once Upon a Con universe. This retelling of the princess and the pauper had all the fandom references and overall geekiness which made me fall in love with Geekerella. Jess is dealing with the fame that Starfield brought to her when Imogen steps into her place at ExcelsiCon. This hatches an idea in Jess so she can handle script leaks that might be her fault. Imogen takes her place and neither girl is ready for everything that happens in the following days.

I was eager to read The Princess and the Fangirl after being so thoroughly charmed by Geekerella. While it didn’t necessarily end up being as lovable or memorable as its predecessor, this young adult contemporary is not without its charms. I enjoyed returning to the world of ExcelsiCon and the fandom nods, seeing a whole host of familiar faces pop up and the shenanigans that ensued after the identity switch Imogen and Jess initiate; all three of these elements made the reading experience fun for me. It was our two narrators that fell short, however, because it took entirely too long for either one to snag my investment in their situations. I was frustrated by Jess and her terrible attitude, and equally irritated by Imogen’s tendency towards denial, and while those things are addressed later in a believable, sensible way, it didn’t make my initial experiences with both of their perspectives any more tolerable. Additionally, and likely partially for this very reason, I just didn’t love their romantic entanglements the way I had loved the main romance in Geekerella. Still, even with my reservations, I flew through The Princess and the Fangirl and would ultimately deem it a fun read, whether you’re familiar with this world or completely new to it.

In true Piston fashion, the book was a delight. A few moments felt forced and the plot dragged in a significant portion of the middle, but overall, I still enjoyed it. It did what it had to do, and it had a good message with agreeable themes thrown in the mix. The first book in this companion-type series still holds up better than this one, but maybe my expectation were too high, or mayb it just didn’t meet them on its own. But, again, it’s still a worthy read if you enjoyed Geekerella or anything Ashley Piston writes.

A sweet, geeky, pop-culture-ific tale of love and fandoms -- and love of fandoms. I really enjoyed this follow-up to Geekerella. The characters are quirky and lovable, and the setting at a con made it extra special.

Ashley Poston's geekified take on the prince and the pauper was initially unappealing. I had a really hard time connecting with the characters - I didn't like Jessica or Imogen. After I got about halfway through the book, it all came together and the story took off.
The second half of the book was terrific. I enjoyed the madcap adventures and crazy plotting that Imogen and Jessica engaged in. I also liked the LGBTQ representation in the book.
While I won't recommend this book to everyone, I will definitely recommend it to a YA, Con loving audience.

Another romp in the Geekerella world, at ExcelsiCon, this time focusing on Jessica Stone, the actress who played Princess Amara, and the fangirl, Imogen who has started a campaign to #SaveAmara. These two have such a cute journey when they end up getting mistaken for each other, and then end up experiencing the Con unlike ever before. Also, you get plenty of references to all things nerdy & geeky, plus your favorites from Geekerella make a few appearances!

Even though Jessica can be a bit prickly to start, I really sympathized with her. I can’t imagine being a young star during this internet age. I mean I get sad when my bookstagram pics don’t get likes, could you imagine if people blamed you for role in a movie?! Whilst posting mean and negative things all day, every day. But yes, once she was at the party with Harper…I just knew Jess was holding back and needed to experience some normality for once.

This book had me smiling through the entire thing. I didn't want to put it down. Absolutely love this series, I am excited for more and I think it would be so cool if Quirk & Ashley wrote a graphic novel that would be the actual Starfield movie!

I clearly both loved Geekerella and The Princess and the Fangirl, and no matter what level of fangirl you are or consider yourself to be, you are sure to enjoy these books!

While this book is a typical ‘everything will turn out right in the end’ type book it is still super fun & addictive. Hands down the best way to describe it is addictive! The Fandom/Con atmosphere of this book makes my book loving heart happy! I love the hints to real fandoms, Harry Potter especially of course!

“Nice to meet you, Gryffindor.”

There are also other fandoms/movies/TV shows/Games/etc. mentioned like Edward Scissor Hands, Mortal Kombat, etc. But Harry Potter the most which I LOVED!

This book is very fast paced and gripping, I read it so damn quickly and loved every second of it. There is a mystery element to this book which I really enjoyed trying to guess. You’ll be glad to know I did not guess correctly at all! So definitely unpredictable, that or I’m just blind haha.

Of course I loved the first book, Geekerella, so I adored seeing characters from Geekerella make an appearance in this book. While I love Darien & Elle from Geekerella, it was really refreshing that this book was a companion and followed new characters instead of the same ones as Geekerella. It was awesome getting to know characters mentioned in Geekerella in this one as well. There is also a book 3 and I can’t wait to see how it is tied into the first 2 books!

This book is in multi POV following Jess & Imogen. My only negative for this book was the POV. I enjoyed our two main characters, they were 2 very different people. However the POVs read very similar, so at times it was a little hard to follow as you would kinda forget who you were reading from as they felt very similar at the beginning. After a while we kinda got into the swing of it and they felt different. But in the beginning they didn’t have a lot of substance, I guess, to make them feel like different people. That’s my only negative for the book.

The Princess and the Fangirl was another wonderful read by Ashley Poston. I love the characters in this series and only wish we could have seen even more of the relationship building between the characters. A story about finding yourself despite others expectations of who you are or who you should become. Hoping for more in this series.

The perfect follow up to GEEKERELLA! I loved the first book so much and I couldn't have asked for a better companion novel. The same charming, geeky feel as the first book full of sweet moments. My heart was bursting the whole way through. I'm so happy to have read this and would 100% read again. Great voice, great writing, great plot. Can't recommend enough!

Okay so I'm supposed to say here that I got this book from NetGalley for free in exchange for my honest unbiased review BUT- I also want you to know as soon as I finished this I went ahead and purchased my own copy so yeah...you can trust me here.
I feel like this book knew how to connect with me. It had a little bit of everything. There were several moments that made me laugh out loud, plenty of moments that made me sigh with love, and then really inspirational moments that I didn't see coming when I started this book.
Overall, I would recommend this book! To anyone that's ever loved a fandom of any kind, I bet it's in here(Doctor Who, Pokemon, Mortal Kombat, Buffy, Firefly, Harry Potter, Sailor Moon, and too many more to name are all mentioned several times throughout the book). To anyone that's ever gone or wanted to go to a convention, you'll love how this book takes you there.
This book is just a perfect little nerd book for my little nerd heart to love.
I also read Geekerella and honestly, I think I love this one more. It felt a little rushed and if I'm honest, I wish it would have been a bit longer to really get into this but this book was just so cute!

I read Geekerella in 2017 and I really loved it so The Princess and the Fangirl immediately became my most anticipated releases this year. I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to but it was still an enjoyable read.

Imogen Lovelace is a fangirl and her mission is to save the Princess from being killed off from Starfield, her favorite franchise. Jessica Stone is the actress who plays Princess Amara and with all the hate she’s getting from the Starfield fandom, she doesn’t want anything to do with it anymore. Their paths crossed when Imogen has been mistaken for Jessica.

Imogen and Jessica are two very different characters but both courageous and determined. They’re both flawed and relatable. I liked Imogen at first but it changed throughout the novel. I ended up liking Jessica’s character more. One of the things that I enjoyed in this book is the cameos! It made me so happy meeting my favorite characters again from Geekerella. Also, I love the diversity in this book. We have POC characters and Imogen’s family is wonderful. She has two mothers and a brother who has a boyfriend. And can we have more of Harper?

Just like in Geekerella, there are a lot of pop culture and fandom references in this book. The story takes place in a con which was really fun to read. The panels, photo ops, artist alley and more. I haven’t been in a huge one (like ComicCon or even BookCon) but the author made me feel like I’ve been there. I liked that this book is written in Imogen and Jessica’s perspectives. We get to see the passion behind fandoms as well as the toxic side which I thought was very well-written. Also how social media can affect our lives both in a good and very bad ways. One of the lines that got me was “it’s impossible to have a nuanced conversation on Twitter.”. Preach!

The beginning was quite slow and it took me awhile to get into the story and characters. I wasn’t invested with the romance part of this book. It’s adorable but it’s very quick for me. Like I always say, I don’t have problems with insta-love but it depends on how the author executes it. The characters spend time together over the weekend which I thought was too short for me. But yey for sapphic romance.

Overall, The Princess and the Fangirl is a great companion novel. I recommend it if you’ve read Geekerella and if you love modern geeky contemporary retellings. Also, read Geekerella first.

Geekerella was one of those books that I randomly picked up one day and then proceeded to immediately devour. It appealed to my love of fairytale retellings and my fandom heart. So when I heard that Ash Poston was writing a companion novel, I couldn't wait.

The Princess and the Fangirl had a lot of what I loved about Geekerella. Poston also explores the toxic side of fandoms and what effect dealing with that can have on the actors/actresses. I thought including that was brilliant and that she did a great job of handling the topic. Jessica's character arc was my favorite, I loved how she changed throughout the novel. Imogen's was also good, I just didn't connect with her quite the same way I did with Jessica.

Overall, I found it a bit difficult to connect with the plot. The time frame was just too short for me to really start rooting for the romances. Everything takes place within the weekend of the con so the relationships that form between characters didn't have the depth that I like to see (or that was present in Geekerella). Instalove is one of my personal pet peeves in books though so take this with a grain of salt!

The Princess and the Fangirl was still a very fun, very cute read though! It's a different type of love letter to fandoms and cons. It definitely put a smile on my face and I loved the cameos from previous characters. I do think that many readers will connect with this book more than I did. One note - I'd recommend reading Geekerella first or you'll be missing some pretty important backstory.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from Quirk Books and Netgalley! I got an e-arc from Netgalley and the physical from Quirk Books! Thank you guys so so much! All opinions are my own.

Book Series: Once Upon a Con #2

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: April 2, 2019

Genre: YA Retelling/Contemporary Romance

Recommended Age: 13+ (slightly mature romance scenes, slight sexual assault, sexual harassment, some language, and a naked cat)

Publisher: Quirk Books

Pages: 320

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.

Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year's ExcelsiCon isn't her last, she'll consider her career derailed.

When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That's easier said than done when the girls step into each other's shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these "princesses" race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.

Review: Holy cow Batman! How can I sum up how much I loved this side story/sequel to Geekerella? I loved it so freaking much. The story was well thought out and I loved how it was a Prince and the Pauper retelling. The writing was incredible, Ashley Poston is a force to be reckoned with, so watch out SJM! The characters were well developed and this book just made my little geek heart happy. I also loved how Poston drove home the injustice of fan-people when it comes any strong female character. It’s hard to be a female in the fandom world and I’ve read more than a dozen comments discussing the actress’ breast size and how she’d be better if she supported this male character and how the exact color of her hair does not match the characters and blah blah blah. But you remake Spiderman 40 times and no one complains (except me. I complain. Shameik Moore as Miles Morales is better than Tobey Maguire any day and don’t even get me started on how much we need a Gwen Stacey movie). I think the sexism among some of the fandoms is really sad. We can have the strong female character and the strong male character and the even stronger non-gender conforming character. We don’t need to have these archaic notions of what men can do compared to women and, in my opinion, if you choose to keep those beliefs then you won’t progress as a person in the future. The future is inclusive and we see success and strength in all, not just some.

If I had to choose a working point of this book I’d have to say that I think it’s great, but I wish that the relationships were expanded a bit more. Poston had enough material to go another 100 pages easily and I would have enjoyed them. As is the book is great, but I just want more of the couples.

Verdict: A definite must read!

I really adored this book. I love the small cameos we got to the previous book in this series. I also really enjoyed Ashley twist on the the prince and pauper myth. I really had a hard time putting this book down. I loved the duel female POV and also how the book featured two very different romances pairings. I really enjoyed how this book tackled different parts of fandom life especially how women as actress are treated in the media. I really flew though this book and found it to such a prefect read. This book was the right book to life my heart and just remind me why I love cons so much!