Geekerella
Ashley Poston
Quirk Books
Published April 4, 2017
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
About GEEKERELLA
Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic science-fiction 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 has 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.
My Review
I’ve been seeing lots of love for GEEKERELLA on social media and other book blogs lately. From first glance, a lot of things appealed to me about GEEKERELLA: the sci-fi fan stuff (I loved this element of THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU), the re-imagined fairy tale (no magic, all contemporary, like IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE), and the comic con scenes. Plus, Elle’s a blogger! Yay! I loved seeing a character I could identify with in that way.
On the fairy tale retelling side, I felt like GEEKERELLA was both faithful to the original Cinderella story but also re-imagined it really creatively so that as I read, I felt like I was following both stories and loving every minute.
Several of the characters really shined and made their scenes extra great. I loved Darien’s bodyguard and Elle’s coworker at the Magic Pumpkin food truck. I also found it really moving the way so many of Elle’s memories of her dad were tied in with the Con and his love for Starfield. It made the contest so much more than just a hopeful fan wanting to win. It was like she needed to win as a nod to her dad and how much she missed him.
On the whole, I totally loved this book. I read it pretty quickly (and stayed up way too late– no regrets), and I’m super interested to check out Poston’s next book, THE PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL, which is a retelling of the Prince and the Pauper.
Recommended for Ages 12 up.
Representation
Darien, who plays Prince Carmindor, is Indian on his mom’s side. Elle talks about how important it is that the role of Prince Carmindor gets played by a person of color, since that’s who he is. She worries that some white guy will get cast as Carmindor in the reboot, but that doesn’t happen. Two minor characters are lesbians.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity. A few crude remarks about some discomfort Darien experiences wearing gear for his stunts, and a director makes a crude comment meaning that he thinks Darien’s pretty brave.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Two girls have crushes on each other.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
Some descriptions of Darien acting in fight scenes and doing dangerous stunts.
Drug Content
None.
