Book Review: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Geekerella by Ashley Poston / ★★★★☆

Summary: Elle loves Starfield, a sci-fi TV show with a huge following and the strongest connection she has to her dead father, who founded the biggest Starfield convention, ExcelsiCon. When heartthrob Darien Freeman is chosen to play the lead role in the reboot film, she’s less than pleased. However, when Darien acquires her number in an attempt to get in touch with the convention, in which he’s scheduled to make an appearance, an unlikely relationship begins to form.

I am half of my father. Half of my hero. And I am half of my mother. Half soft sighs and half sharp edges. And if they can be Carmindor and Amara – then somewhere in my blood and bones I can be too.

Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary

Plot

This book was cute and sweet (and rather short), and it was a fun book to spend a Saturday on. I admit my first impression of this book was a big “no way” because it looked entirely too cutesy for my tastes, but when I heard it was a love/hate tale about fandom, I was very intrigued. I’m glad I gave it a try, because while it was cute, it had just enough angst and heartache to win me over,

This book was also a lot of fun. I loved Elle’s relationship with Starfield, her favorite show, and how it was not just a show she loved, but a connection to her dead parents and such a huge part of her identity. This book was such a sweet ode to fandom. The romance was fun, too, and I liked the “texted the wrong number” trope, and the whole love/hate identity mix-up between our two leading characters. I also loved that the author explored Elle’s stepmother and stepsisters and gave them some nuance and a real part in the plot, which is something I was hoping for because other Cinderella retellings I’ve read, and Cinderella itself, usually portrays them as very one dimensional.

I do think some aspects of the subplots could have been tighter, especially pertaining to the mystery of who was spying on Darien. I felt like a lot of the characters surrounding him could have had their threads tied a bit more neatly, and their plots explored in a bit more detail. I also did find the ending too fluffy for my tastes- not bad, just a bit over the top for me. Still, this book was cute and fun and I really enjoyed it, it was a nice light, entertaining read.

Characters

I really liked the characters in this book. They were really well developed, and I especially love the friendships and bonds that were formed and strengthened and discovered over the course of the story. Elle was great. I loved her devotion to Starfield and her willingness to go to great lengths for it, and yet how she had this intimidation of her stepsisters and stepmother that held her back. I loved the development of that part of her through the novel. Darien was also wonderful, he was so sweet and kind and I love how he struggled with maintaining his identity in his fame.

My favorite character, though, was Sage. I just knew from the second I met her that she was going to be my favorite. I loved how tough yet kind she was, and I loved her totally unconventional role as fairy godmother. Sage was awesome, and I want a whole book about her.

Writing

The writing of this book was solid and easy to fly through, and the storytelling was great. I thought it did such a great job at balancing the tension of romance and mystery and kept me going the whole way through. I also really appreciated that all the text messages weren’t written in some silly text speak.

Was I satisfied?

Yeah! The end was a bit over the top fluffy for my tastes, but Geekerella was a really fun, sweet and nuanced retelling and I really, really enjoyed it.