Series: Once Upon a Con

ARC Review: The Princess and the Fangirl

Posted March 21, 2019 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
ARC Review: The Princess and the Fangirl

Initial Excitement & Summary I adored GEEKERELLA and was SO excited to see a companion sequel. I already need there to be a million books in this series. The first book was basically a love letter to being a fan, attending cons, and geek culture as a whole. I’m not QUITE as into fandom things (for anything really) as many of my friends, but I totally get it. While the first book was a Cinderella retelling, this was a Princess and the Pauper retelling – the classic situation where two people look like each other and switch lives for a few days. In this case, the actor who plays Princess Amara in Starfield (Jess) switches place with Imogen (a Starfield fan and leader of the “Save Amara” movement). The two switch lives so Jess can track down who leaked the new Starfield script. Storytelling & Characters Just like the first book, this was filled with geeky references that I loved. (Sometimes it feels like a little too much, but not bad! – I liked that Jess was not really a geeky character so the references were only during one of the POVs.) The Princess and the Pauper trope was really well done and super fun to follow in a con setting. I enjoyed both Jess and Imogen as main characters. Jess was hard to get used to in the beginning because she didn’t like Starfield; it was off-putting to hear her grouchy inner monologue. This definitely changed throughout the book […]

ARC Review: Geekerella

Posted March 29, 2017 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments
ARC Review: Geekerella

Initial Excitement I heard a bit of buzz about this one early on from some bloggers, so I immediately requested it… then started it that same night! I’m not AS fandom-y as a lot of my friends (minus a couple of things) but I had a feeling this book would resonate with me anyways. I’ve only been to one Comic Con but love the feel of cons. I love that people can be themselves and geek out without being judged. I’m also a big sucker for Cinderella retellings! Quick Summary Elle is in the classic Cinderella situation – her stepmom is terrible and her stepsisters are just as bad, her dad (and much earlier, mom) passed away, and she’s constantly forced to do things around the house. She and her dad bonded like crazy over Starfield, a sci-fi TV show, and she has a popular-ish blog about the series. There’s a new movie reboot coming out and she’s not very happy with the main character’s casting, but that doesn’t stop her from entering a cosplay contest at ExcelsiCon (a con that her dad created). There were countless connections between Elle and the lead actor in the Starfield movie, Darien, without them actually knowing each other. LOTS OF CUTE THINGS HAPPEN. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels I loved how fandom-centric this book was. I haven’t read many “geek” books like this but my sister has (you bet your ass I preordered this for my sister). I have to say, it covered pretty much […]