Review: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Synopsis:
Cinderella goes to the con in this fandom-fueled twist on the classic fairy tale.

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. Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfieldmovie, 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’s ever wanted, but the 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.

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Plot: Super corny, cutesy and slightly cringy contemporary.
From the description, it sounded like I’d absolutely love this book. However, I am disappointed, it didn’t live up to my expectations.
I mean it has so many points I can relate to:

• Geeky girl main character
• Fandoms
• Bloggers
• A cute dog
• Geek conventions
• Girl friendships
• Loss of parents

The actual plot fell kind of flat for me. The first half of the book I was quite bored/ didn’t really care much. However, the second half was so much better that’s when I really started to enjoy the book. It was a fast read, so I’m glad about that.
And texting strangers? Not exactly a great messaged to send to teens…
I don’t whether I’ve outgrown YA cliché romances but it’s just too unrealistic/cringy/cutesy for me.

Characters:
Elle: I liked Elle. I liked her friendship with Sage, that was super nice to read! I like that she was geeky and ran her own blog about ‘Starfield’, it was relatable.
Darien: Really not keen on Darien. I didn’t find him ‘swoon-worthy’, in fact, I found him God damn annoying. He wasn’t so bad when he texted Elle and he did slightly improve by the end of the book. I found his chapters to be pretty boring, especially whilst he was on set. Also, how many times is it mentioned he has INSURED ABS. Ugh. So cringe-worthy.

Rating: 3 Stars

*I received this book from NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review

 

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