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Micky Barnard (542 KP) rated Geekerella (Once Upon a Con #1) in Books

Dec 6, 2018

Geekerella (Once Upon a Con #1)

Ashley Poston | 2017 | Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult (YA)

7.8

(11 Ratings)

Book Rating

Sweet but forgettable

This book was cuteness-incarnate with a slice of grit, a retake on Cinderella with a geeky fandom context that worked in a way that was fun and easy to connect. I found myself sucked into this story of Elle and Darien. Darien is something of a beta-male character and I’m always here for that.

As you might imagine, Elle lives with her stepmother and step sisters, things are pretty grim and abusive at home and that made for difficult reading at certain moments. Darien is playing the lead role in a film depicting a fandom Elle has been immersed in since childhood thanks to her late dad’s love of it.

The serendipitous connection through text between these two was a lovely, sweet slow build but the masking of their identities was bound to lead to complications. The events in the storyline were occasionally fresh outside of the fairytale but mostly predictable too, especially when it came to the meeting of these two. There were some very clever aspects like the pumpkin, the cosplaying elements were enjoyable and the side characters were superb. Sage was a highlight from a side character perspective. The character diversity was oozing from the pages in an unforced and natural way. I appreciated how this was conceptualised. .

This was enjoyable, easy YA reading with a delightful geek-fandom. I think this book would appeal to many.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.