There is nothing I love more than a good retelling, pop culture references, romance and some texting. In Poston's novel, Geekerella, the retelling of the classic fairy tale of Cinderella is fun, charismatic and easy to read. Unlike most retelling's, Geekerella follows two point of views; our modern day Cinderella, Danielle Wittimer, and our prince charming, Darien Freeman. The stepmother in Poston's version is portrayed as a vain, cruel and selfish party planner similar to Disney's version of Cinderella Story, however this was the first retelling I've read where the twins weren't nearly as wicked as they usually are - at least one of them anyhow.

Personally, I was impressed and drawn in by the endless pop culture references, specifically for the science fiction content and enjoyed stumbling along beside the main character. This novel was fun, easy to read and indulged my inner nerd. In the end I was torn between giving Geekerella 3 or a 4 star rating, but ultimately settled on a 3. It's a light read, and great for a summer afternoon spent down by the beach or beside a pool. While the references to current pop culture where spot on, I don't know how this book will stand the test of time or read to future generations. Either way, it was a great read and I would recommend this to anyone who likes fairytales or cute contemporary reads.

He’s an up-and-coming movie star, set to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot of the cult classic, Starfield. She’s a Starfield superfan whose blog is the perfect place for her to vent about the choice of pretty boy Darien for the new reboot (and to escape her awful stepmother and stepsisters). These unlikely friends unknowingly begin a You’ve Got Mail-esque texting relationship, but what will happen when they both arrive at the same con?

As you might have guessed, Geekerella is a Cinderella retelling. Elle can’t wait to graduate so she can leave behind her horrible stepmother and her gorgeous, snooty twin stepsisters. Her one solace is Starfield, the TV show that brought her mother and father together and which her father taught her to love before he died. The ball she wants to attend is cosplay at the con her father started, and her fairy godmother is Sage, her coworker at an appropriately pumpkin-themed food truck.

Meanwhile, Darien is nervous about portraying his hero, Carmindor, on the big screen. He’s being harassed by Starfield fans (including Elle) for not understanding the deep cult following the show has–they don’t know that before he was famous, he liked nothing better than to roam ExcelsiCon with his (now former) best friend. Desperately lonely, when Darien texts Elle on the mistaken assumption that she’s in charge of the con he’s being forced to attend, they start to bond over their shared love of the show.

I’ve talked before about how much I love You’ve Got Mail. The book I reviewed that touted itself as a food-themed You’ve Got Mail didn’t quite live up to expectations, but Geekerella absolutely did. Elle and Darien turn to each other when the stresses in their lives become too much, not knowing that they’re actually supposed to hate each other. As they get closer to meeting, this ratchets up the tension–what will they do when they realize he’s famous and she’s the blogger who’s trying to take him down?

The Geekerella spin on the old Cinderella tale works well for the most part, too. My biggest complaint about the book is how straight-up evil Elle’s stepmother is. We’ve seen the evil stepmother before; can’t we have a more nuanced, realistic version? There are plenty of ways a stepmother can be unknowingly cruel without actually trying to be horrible, as Catherine does. The stepsisters get a bit more nuance than the stepmother, but I felt that Elle’s family relationships left something to be desired. Fortunately, her friendship with quirky seamstress Sage allows for more depth.

On the other hand, I absolutely loved how Darien (the Geekerella prince) got a lot more to do than the original Cinderella prince. He struggles with being famous for playing a part on Seaside Cove that’s not even close to who he is, and he wants to prove to himself and the other Starfield fans that he can do justice to an iconic character, even at age eighteen. Darien’s relationships with his pushy, calculating manager (and father), his slightly incompetent handler, and his stoic bodyguard are all wonderful as well.

This is one of those books that, once I got about halfway through, I knew I was going to stay up late to finish reading. Not only are the characters interesting and sympathetic, but the romance is super sweet. Anyone who considers themselves a part of any fandom, anyone who has attended (or thought of attending) a con, will definitely enjoy this YA romance.

This book is delightful, these light reads I've been reading recently have not disappointed and I keep waiting to read more and more of them. This one gave me all the warm and fuzzy feels. This is very much a love letter to Geek culture the acknowledgments literally are, I don't usually mention the acknowledgment (but I always read them) is this case however I really liked them. The below quote is from the acknowledgment I completely agree with it, it's great and it wonderfully captures the spirit of the book.

"Never give up on your dreams, and never let anyone tell you that what you love is inconsequential or useless or a waste of time. Because if you love it? If that OTP or children’s card game or abridged series or YA book or animated series makes you happy? That is never a waste of time."

This perfectly captures nerd culture and was a pleasure to read, there's so, so many references, including ones to Firefly, Star Trek, and The Princess Bride. Starfield is the fictional fandom the story centers around and the author did such a great job creating it, I became extremely invested in how the movie was going to turn out. I fell in love with a TV show that doesn't even exist that says a lot about how good the writing is. As a retelling it manages to stand out from the dozen of other Cinderella retellings, it stayed true to the original tale but I didn't find Elle to not be that Cinderella like. Elle was a good character but she was inconsistent towards the end and not the best Cinderella.

I liked the other protagonist, Darein but Elle's friend Sage was my favorite character. All the relationships are well developed, the romance is cute and the characters all likable except the evil stepmother of course. The nerdy aspects are amazing and that's pretty much the whole plot, the book felt like a teen movie, like really good classic Disney channel movie. I would love to see a movie adaptation and a actual Starfield TV show.

"Look to the stars. Aim. Ignite."

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.

Elle lives for her favorite show, Starfield. Whenever she misses her parents, especially her father, she goes back to the Prospero and her crew for solace. And she really needs that solace. Her stepmonster is always making her do every chore in the house and her stepmonster's oldest daughter does everything she can to make Elle's life miserable outside the home. Word that Starfield is going from the small screen to the big screen has Elle ecstatic until she finds out who gets cast as the Commander.

Darien Freeman relies on Starfield to get him through the tough times filming the show that shot him to teen stardom. When's he's cast as the Commander of the Prospero, he knows that he has big shoes to fill, but he also knows that he's probably the best person to cast, simply because he knows the show so well. Unfortunately, there's a blogger out there who seems to be out to get him and hate everything he does. And now he's being told that he has to shake hands and sign autographs at the one con he's sworn to avoid.

When Elle meets Darien, she doesn't even know it. A few innocent texts begin a relationship that neither can believe is real, but both want to keep forever.

However, there are forces determined to block them, like an old-friend-turned-enemy, a stepmonster and her monstrous child, an interfering father, a blog, and the real world.

Final thoughts: Another cotton candy book. Nothing serious here except for serious geeking out over fan references. The geek is strong with this author. This being an ARC, there were a number of errors that I'm sure will be fixed in the final galleys, but I was confused by a few issues. For one, the house was left to Elle who is nearly of age, but her stepmonster is able to sell it?? I'm not sure that's actually legal. Also, there's a point where Darien doesn't finish filming until early morning, but he has an early call the next day; that's actually against SAG rules. There is a time gap required after night shoots. Those notes aside, this is just a fun Cinderella retelling with a few choppy moments that bring it down a little. A final note about how the "villains" turn out would be interesting.

Rating: 3/5

ARC courtesy of NetGalley

This YA was wonderful! I first heard about it after watching a Booktuber (the book side of YouTube) who hauled it earlier this month.

A new re-telling of Cinderella, this story follows Elle, a giant fan of a certain TV series, and Dare, the actor playing the Prince in said series. After a wrong number, the two grow close over text messages, not knowing who the other is. Elle lives with her stepmother and twin stepsisters in their slightly rundown house. Cue stepmother that doesn't really care about her and stepsisters who appear to make her life horrible all the time. Elle doesn't have the best life, but at least she has her fandom.

And I loved this book, though it only gets 4 stars because it could have had a bit more complicated story. But Elle and Dare were fun to see grow into their own, and the Con was great to imagine.

The problem that I had was how two-dimensional the characters, outside of Dare and Elle, were. The other characters don't change with only her one stepsister showing that she is more than a twin, which was hinted at from the beginning. Still worth the read and happy to have read it.

"Look to the stars. Aim. Ignite."

This is an adorable Cinderella retelling, that simply delighted me. I swear, I loved every second of it.

Our heroine, Elle, is a total Starfield fangirl. She grew up immersed in the world, but she is not fully enjoying the latest reboot without her father by her side. In an effort to escape her miserable circumstances, she hatches a plan to attend the ExcelsiCon in order to win the cosplay contest and the trip to the LA premiere of the new Starfield movie.

Things I loved:
-Tons of geek culture! I loved the way Poston illustrated the fandom, and really enjoyed all the Starfield bits.
-Elle is an awesome heroine. She was constantly taking a lot of knocks, but she kept getting back up. She didn't have a huge support system, but she did have Sage.
-Speaking of Sage, she was fantastic! What a great analog to the fairy godmother (at least, that's how I saw her). She was an empowered young woman, who just worried about being herself. She was also snarky, hilarious, and a steadfast friend.
-I thought this was a fun retelling. I greatly enjoyed mapping the original to Poston's version. It was an amusing and entertaining translation, that brought me miles of smiles.
-Darian's and Elle's text message romance made my heart pitter patter. I don't know why I love this plot device so much, but I like it in every book I read. Maybe it's the honesty that the anonymity allows each character to express. Whatever the reason, I adored the back and forth between Darian and Elle.

This story sort of had everything I needed: a heroine I could love, a hero who could make me swoon and giggle, villains I could hate, supporting characters who were robust and contributed in huge ways to the story, and an adorable romance.

I am definitely not the target audience for this book. The cover screams YA teenange/tweenage ‘chick lit’ (I can’t say I’m a fan of that term, but it kind of just jumped out at me from the cover image, sorry!). And so, I started out reading it thinking it seemed like a book I already had an audience in mind for. It seemed like a book I could hope to read and then be able to recommend to certain children. In short, I in no way expected to like this book myself anywhere near as much as I actually did. It felt slightly odd in fact, just how much I enjoyed this.

Essentially, I wasn’t far off the mark in expecting it to be a book that would suit certain children I have taught. There are certain types of children that could find it to be very relatable. The book is also current, quirky and geeky in all the right ways. The surprise in this book for me was how much I enjoyed it myself!

‘Geekerella’ centres around two different narrators, both of whom are outsiders, and both of whom relate mainly with the characters of a fictional sci-fi show named ‘Starfield’. In a nice sort of circular way, this is a book that will quite likely speak to its audience in the same way their fictional show speaks to the characters within it. It’s nice to read a book for younger people which makes it clear it is OK to be geeky or different (I could have done with that kind of book myself as a teenager!).

The narrative is pretty clear from the off. Don’t expect massive shock twists. You know Cinderella, you probably know there’s already a lot of similar stories that follow this formula, so you already know what to expect. Where ‘Geekerella’ differs and ensures it stands out enough is in its use of fandoms and cultural references that never fail to raise a smile to the reader. As I expected, I will be recommending this to some of the children I have taught, but I might be recommending it to a slightly larger audience than I had initially expected.

From the first pages, I was hooked on this. I can't even pinpoint why - the writing flowed well, Elle was a strong protagonist, but perhaps it was the fact we got to see the other side of the story with Darien (hello, cutie) which made this more dynamic.

I DEFINITELY shipped them. Hard.

Of the two books centered around Fandom I've read so far this year, this one felt the most authentic. I'm REALLY big on dialogue (maybe haven't mentioned before - ahem) and this never seemed forced to me. The dual POV was a delight, both voices coming across as strong, and all other characters surrounding them were just as strong too.

Sage, the green haired wonder on the front cover, is an absolutely wonderful character. I want her to be my friend. Gail is annoying despite being symapthetic, but then I think she's sort of meant to be because we saw her from Darien's POV.

I think a major plus is this was that I imagined everything so vividly. I could see everything of Starfield - the show they're so in love with - as well, looking at the Fandom, and it wasn't forced. In some books about Fandom they drop names as though they're saying "Look! I know about this one! Paranatural, right?" but in this one Poston really seemed to know fandom. Like, I've been to cons, and they're the weirdest, most AMAZING places, and everyone is supportive of each other. Yeah you get the occasional dick, and we did in this one too, but I dunno. I felt like I was there.

Were some of the villains cartoony? Yeah, maybe, but I think that just added to the charm. I physically hated Elle's stepmother. I know teenage me wouldn't have done a damn thing, but I wanted to slap the woman. It's very rare a book can make me cry, lately, hardened book armadillo that I am, but this one managed.

I felt Elle's pain, and I loved Darien's character, and I want Starfield to be a show ok?!

I loved this. It had fandom at its heart as well as fun and well rounded characters. I really felt for Elle and all she was going through.

My review is on my blog. https://abellafairytale.wordpress.com/2017/03/06/arc-review/

This book was super cute. I liked Darien and Elle, but Sage was my favorite character with her awesome attitude! It did have elements of the book Cinder & Ella, but it was still really good. Geekerella was nerdy and fun, and I kind of want a food truck on wheels now!

This book was soo cute and fluffy! It's like Cinderella but adding fangirl elements, which as a fangirl myself I loved and related to.
I really liked the friendship between the main character and her co-worker, and the development of the characters throughout the story.
There are also some LGBTQ+ elements inside the story, which I thought was really cool!
I totally recommend it to fans or book lovers.

I loved this book. As a fangirl, as someone who has felt out of place before, as someone who loves fairytales and fairytale retellings, I can't think of anything to make this book better. I had trouble putting it down, and I never wanted it to end.

Elle has a lot on her plate. An evil stepfamily, a food truck job, annoying classmates, and worst of all, her favorite TV show is being rebooted, with a pretty boy actor as the lead. What's a girl to do? Blog about it, of course.

The heroine was infinitely relateable. The hero was sweet and a little nerdy. The supporting characters were all colorful and fun. I loved all of the modern elements in the traditional Cinderella story. But the best part of this book was the sense of community and love of fandom that it portrayed. I want to go back and read it again and again.

Elle is a girl on the edge of her senior year, spending her summer working at a vegan food truck and trying to survive her stepmother Catherine and her twin stepsisters, Chloe and Calliope. Life has been pretty grim for Elle since her father died, but there's one bright spot in the future: Starfield, the science-fiction TV show that her parents once loved, is getting a big-screen reboot. There's just one problem--the Prince is being plated by Darien Freeman, a brainless teen-drama heartthrob who doesn't deserve to wear the Starfield crest.

She isn't afraid to say so on her blog, either, and she'd be just as happy to tell him to his face. In fact, she may just get her chance. Darien is judging a cosplay contest at ExcelsiCon, the fan convention that Elle's dad started years ago. The prize is two tickets to Los Angeles for the Starfield premiere. Elle is going to win that contest, tell Darien he stinks, and then fly out to L.A. to escape her stepmother for good. If she can learn how to sew a costume, and if she can find a way to get to the convention in time.

Geekerella is not a novel of immense surprises: You know the bones of the story from the title. Its characters are what makes the story unique and engaging. The point of view switches between Elle and Darien (who is not as brainless as she might think), giving readers a close-up view of Prince Not-Quite-So-Charming. Even one of Elle's stepsisters has a few surprises in store, to say nothing of her green-haired, punk rock fairy godmother. The author slips in just enough geeky references and inside knowledge to let you know that she knows what she's doing, without intruding on the story, and the ending is sweetly satisfying, leaving the reader confident that Elle and Darien will have their happily ever after.

I went into this book honestly not expecting very much at all.
In fact, I was pretty sure that I was going to hate it if I'm being honest.

Retellings of fairytales can often fall kind of flat.
And I don't tend to enjoy romance as a genre.

But I was actually very pleasantly surprised!

This geeky, modern-day, reimagined telling of Cinderella was actually pretty fraking good!

Sure, it has its fair share of silly, over the top, eye-rolling moments.
But it more than makes up for those with its cosy charm, cute diverse characters and heapings upon heapings of awesome nerdy references!

The story alternates between Ella and Darien, each telling their side of the story. And I think it's this choice of telling which keeps the pace of the story interesting.
Though I was always much more interested in Darien's side of the story.
Elle came across rather judgemental and superior in my opinion, at least at the start of the story - she does become more likeable as the tale unfolds.

This is actually a romance which I enjoyed following!
And that a HUGE deal for me.
I am shook.

Go read it and rejoice, fellow geeky bookworms!

I do not think I have enough time to write how much I loved this book. Being a part of a Fandom and finding people who enjoy those world's is always amazing. A book including a classic Cinderella tale mixed with Fandom is even better.

This book made me laugh, cry, stay up way to late, and even pre-order just to have my own copy. If you are a fan of Cinderella, Fandom, and well written humor do not miss this one!

I really enjoy re-tellings and re-imaginings, but, unfortunately, though this one was very cleverly done, it's not a book I can recommend as a Christian educator. Some of the language and plot points make it unsuitable for my classroom.

This book was amazing. It made my nerd heart soar.

This book was super cute. I liked Darien and Elle, but Sage was my favorite character with her awesome attitude! It did have elements of the book Cinder & Ella, but it was still really good. Geekerella was nerdy and fun, and I kind of want a food truck on wheels now!