Geekerella

 Hello Interwebs!

This month I finally got around to reading Geekerella by Ashley Poston which is the first book in her Once Upon a Con series. I have heard nothing but good things about this book online and I have read the first book of her sci-fi series, Heart of Iron, which I loved. I read this from August 16-22, 2020 and gave it a 4 star rating. As always there are spoilers ahead. 

So in Geekerella we follow a girl named Danielle "Elle" who loves Starfield (a Star Trek style show with a cult following) which she watched with her father before his death. Her father started ExcelsiCon, a convention dedicated to Starfield, and Elle herself writes a blog dedicated to Starfield. She works in a vegan food truck called the Magic Pumpkin and lives with her stepmother and twin stepsisters. She hears about a cosplay contest to promote the new Starfield movie with first prize being two tickets to the ExcelsiCon ball and tickets to the reboot premier in LA. She decides she is going to enter and win the contest to get away from her small town and crappy existence. Darien is the actor who is playing the lead role in the Starfield movie as Prince Carmindor. He's seen as being an interloper and just a teen heartthrob with no real talent but the truth is he's a giant geek and loves Starfield. Then he tries to get out of the signing at ExcelsiCon and looks up the number for the founder, a number that belonged to Elle's father and now belongs to her. The two begin a texting relationship, not knowing who the other is. Elle's friend at the food truck gets her to ExcelsiCon and everyone helps salvage her costume which was ruined by her stepsisters to win her second prize. She flees the ball, leaving behind one of her glass starlit shoes behind as Darien realizes that she's not just the blogger giving her a hard time but she's also the girl he's been texting with that he's fallen in love with. He decides to shake off his overbearing and controlling father/manager and takes off to find his Cinderella. The book ends with them together at the movie premier as dates. 

This book was super cute. I loved how she brought the classic fairy tale Cinderella to the modern era with the texting aspect but still kept the ball and the shoes and the things that make Cinderella special. Elle is completely relatable to me as a blogger and a geek and a convention goer (I've gone to Rose City Comic Con every year for the last 5 or 6 years except last year when it was 10 days before my son was due). Star Trek is something that is very special to me and my dad together and most of my signed photos from RCCC are Star Trek related. The description of the book on goodreads says "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." This is completely true of the book and how I felt while reading it. This book was cute and light and fluffy and a great adaptation of Cinderella. All in all a solid 4/5 stars. 

Happy Reading!

Richelle and Emma