Funny, witty and adorable. Everyone loves a nerdy princess tale. There needs to be more out there! Loved this.

As soon as I read the description for this book, I knew that I'd love it. What's not to love about a book that reimagines a fairy tale as a modern day look into fandoms? I work with teenagers whose fandoms are their lives. They run instagram fan pages for their favorite books, they talk about the characters as if they're friends. So as I was reading this book, I couldn't help but think how much they'd love this nerdy and adorable book. It was so cute, and so perfect for anyone who passionately loves a fandom. I can't wait for our library to have a copy so that I can recommend it to our teen book club!

Geekerella hit every guilty pleasure - fairy tale retelling and funny romantic fantasy and cosplay! Ella Enchanted meets Cinder meets You've Got Mail ? A YA book sure to please every fangirl - and then some.

I am a sucker for all things Cinderella and this story didn't disappoint! I loved Geekerella! The concept was adorable and there are so many connections to the original story. The idea of cosplay completely interests me and I loved reading this story and learning more about it. Danielle (Elle) is stuck with her terrible event planning step mother and nasty, tennis playing step sisters as Elle works hard to make money on the Magic Pumpkin Foodtruck. After the death of her father, Elle has pushed everyone away and she finds herself alone and lonely. Her outlet is her blog about all things Starfield, the sci-fi show she was obsessed with and a passionate love she shared with her father. When hunky heartthrob Darien Freeman is cast as the special role of Carmindor, Elle isn't very kind on her blog. In a twist, Darien tries to get out of his awful schedule planned by his father (and manager) and finds himself connecting with Elle, anonymously via text. Elle finds a friend in her texting friend Carmindor and a relationship she wasn't looking for. Darien wasn't looking to connect with someone who doesn't know he is a rising Hollywood star, but they find a friendship that drives them forward in dealing with their issues in their lives. Things come together at ExcelsiCon and the cosplay competition that Elle is determined to win so she can escape her evil step mother once and for all.
This story is fun to read and it was fantastic all the little quirky details the author included. I loved her friend Sage and the role she played, as well as the neighbors dog! If you are a fan of anything related to Cinderella or Con's at all this book is for you!

Initial Excitement
I heard a bit of buzz about this one early on from some bloggers, so I immediately requested it... then started it that same night! I'm not AS fandom-y as a lot of my friends (minus a couple of things) but I had a feeling this book would resonate with me anyways. I've only been to one Comic Con but love the feel of cons. I love that people can be themselves and geek out without being judged. I'm also a big sucker for Cinderella retellings!

Quick Summary
Elle is in the classic Cinderella situation - her stepmom is terrible and her stepsisters are just as bad, her dad (and much earlier, mom) passed away, and she's constantly forced to do things around the house. She and her dad bonded like crazy over Starfield, a sci-fi TV show, and she has a popular-ish blog about the series. There's a new movie reboot coming out and she's not very happy with the main character's casting, but that doesn't stop her from entering a cosplay contest at ExcelsiCon (a con that her dad created). There were countless connections between Elle and the lead actor in the Starfield movie, Darien, without them actually knowing each other. LOTS OF CUTE THINGS HAPPEN.

Storytelling, Setting, and Feels
I loved how fandom-centric this book was. I haven't read many "geek" books like this but my sister has (you bet your ass I preordered this for my sister). I have to say, it covered pretty much every aspect of fandom and I LOVED that. It even featured a key scene where Elle was accused of not knowing the fandom and just being a "geek girl" to be cute and get guys. Nope, sorry. Not having it. I also loved how she defended her fandom to her stepmom. Who cares if something isn't real? You can still love it and learn life lessons from it. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a fantasy world.

All of the memories she shared about her dad made my heart break. He seemed like such a great person and their relationship was so cute! I felt like I really got to know him even though he wasn't physically around in the story. Soooo many family feels.

AND the friend feels were so good. Elle starts the story as somewhat of a loner, but grows closer to her coworker in the food truck, Sage. She helps Elle with the costumes and they grow to have a very real friendship. I loved seeing them navigate their relationship throughout the course of the summer and have candid conversations about how to make their friendship work, if that makes sense. I like when disagreements are real and handled in a way that's true to life. Lots of solid friend vibes from this story <3

The romance was pretty great. I loved the texting conversations that the two of them had throughout the story, and the tension that kept building up. Part three (at the con itself) had me on the edge of my seat. I was racing to finish the story at 1 AM on a Sunday night and just couldn't stop. I'm a huge fan of how their relationship developed and all the connections they made later in the story without even realizing.

The parallels to Cinderella were fantastic, from the pumpkin-themed food truck that drove her places, to losing the shoe, to having a friend who whipped up costumes for her, to the evil step-people in her house, to the curfews being broken... it was all there in such a fun way!

Negative Stuff
I saw a quick review on Goodreads that said it was "adorkable" and "infuriating" like Cinderella can be. Cinderella is such a hard story to read because you get so MAD about how people treat the Cinderella-like character. Elle was treated like garbage the whole book and I just knew there'd be some sabotage scene relating to the stepsisters, so I was hurting a lot while reading it. I love Cinderella retellings in general but yeah, they can be tough to read!

There were a few other things that stopped this from being a five star read for me, even though I sincerely loved it. Some of the miscommunication was very eye-rolly at times because you just wanted to shake Darien to make the right decision instead of being a turd. It was predictable at times and frustrated me.

Ending Feels
UGH SO GOOD. I loved the ending of this book. It was split into three parts, and the last part was definitely my favorite. I loved reading about the con itself and getting all fandom-excited! (Of course I was also waiting for the two characters to finally meet and make me happy.) Again, a little bit of frustration and missed connections happened but it was still such a solid ending. <3

TL;DR?
If you're a fan of ANYTHING, you can find something to relate to in this book. I think anyone who has ever loved a character or book or movie or TV show or comic book to the point of obsession will find something to click with here. The geeky vibes were overwhelming but NATURAL. I could tell the author was experience with cons, fanfiction, and fandom. I love that it didn't feel forced. Major geek girl power vibes too. I highly, highly recommend this book!

Loved the spin on the Cinderella story. The main characters are likable and flawed all at the same time. I especially loved that the fact that the "prince" was a geek at heart and they were able to see the "true heart" in each other. What a great story. I can't wait to share this with the kids when I do readers advisory! Thanks for sharing!!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I've never been to a con, but I love people who love cons and the whole con life. I appreciate how Ella's backstory played out with her dad, the con, and her so-called prince charming.

The racial and LGBTQ diversity was A+.

This is the second Cinderella-inspired YA I've read in the last two weeks (both from NetGalley), and this was definitely the superior one. It's not perfect, but it's super charming and adorable in the way I want a contemp retelling to be.