Ashley Poston has done it again with her third entry in her Once Upon a Con series. This time Poston puts her unique nerdy spin on the classic Beauty and Beast tale. Rosie and Vance are heartbreakingly adorable. I can't wait to return once again to the halls of ExcelsiCon!

This book is downright adorable. I have read Poston's first two in this series, and I like this one best. In a good way, I forgot that this was based on Beauty and the Beast. The female protagonist is smart, she takes care of herself, and doesn't immediately swoon over the boy. He is not a great guy at first, so she is right in staying clear of him. The first time they actually do kiss is pretty hilarious. Poston does an excellent job of writing romance in a refreshing and funny way. The boy "villain" in this book seems over the top annoying (and a bit of a stalker), but with the context of the fairytale as inspiration, it makes a bit more sense. I do wish we got to see the main characters more as a couple--the go from fighting to a lot of kissing to fighting again without much in between. It's a testament to how much I enjoyed their banter that I want more of it. Overall, I recommend this book.

Loosely based on the Beauty and the Beast this modern retelling was a very light, quick, and delightful story that will definitely be a hit with the younger teens. I found the characters likable and I wanted to keep reading to see what happened.

Lots of pop culture references however, though seeing as I am an adult, I am sure the teens won't mind and perhaps even enjoy them, I found it a bit overdone. I have not read the others in the series and I'm guessing since I felt I wasn't really missing anything I feel these could be read in whichever order you want if you like to do that sort of thing.

In the end it was fun, diverse, a bit nerdy, and the ending satisfying. It didn't take long at all to read so definitely could be promoted in your libraries as a nice quick summer read for teens. :)

Firstly, I want to start by saying I loved Ashley Poston’s previous books. While I was approved to read ‘Bookish and the Beast’ I was rather delighted. Sadly however, I felt like this book failed to hit the mark for me. Ashley has a knack for writing strong fun characters who we love, even when we should dislike them. She also has great strength is creating fun storylines, and this books storyline had so much potential. Where it fell flat for me is this book failed to capture both the teenage and mature adult YA lovers like her previous books. As a mature YA lover i found the characters tantrums and teenage angst rather difficult to cope with in this book - to the stage that it became monotonous. The story line was predictable and failed to have any surprising twists .
While I dislike writing bad reviews especially for authors when I have adored their previous work - this book felt rushed and as if it was released to meet a deadline before it was completely polished .

I really enjoyed this book! This series is a love letter to nerds and I love it. This book is a lot of fun and I'm a sucker for people who are annoyed about being in love with each other! I thought their romance was super cute and I liked how their feelings developed. I also love the friendship between Vance and Imogen from the previous book. I had a couple of issues with the ending, though.

Spoilers below:
Why did he automatically decide that she must have leaked the video? He knew she'd lost her phone literally the previous day. He had no real reason to assume it was her. Then at the dance, I thought the fight scene was odd. What was the point of that? Why have Rosie destroy the jerk's face? I mean, Garrett deserved it, but there's no way she'd be able to give him a bloody nose and then continue on without getting in trouble. It was an odd way to handle the final confrontation.

This was such a cute book! I loved the Beauty and the Beast aspects in this and how the author retold the beloved tale in a fresh and cute way! I went into this book not having read the other two (I may have to pick those up now!) but I still enjoyed it! It wasn't amazing but I flew through it in 24 hours so it definitely held my attention! My favourite part of all of this was the book love; the descriptions of books, the library and reading just spoke to me in a real special way! I'll definitely be going back and highlighting some of the bookish quotes! I also just love the whole 'nerdiness' that this book is dripping in! It made a fellow nerd (and proud of it!) and book lover very, very happy!
Overall, Bookish and the Beast was 3.5 star read for me. It was fun, fresh and cute! Nothing too serious, nothing too deep, just the perfect amount of cheesy, needy goodness!

A sweet teen novel that retells Disney’s Beauty and the Beast with cute characters that are easy to like. A fast-paced quick read that will be loved by both young teens and anyone who loves the original tales.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the third in Ashley's Poston's Once Upon a Con series. This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with the main characters being Vance Reigns, who plays the villainous Sond in the Starfield movies and Rosie, a small town girl getting over the loss of her mother. Just like the other books in the series, it was a cute romance with a lot of fandom references and call backs to the source material. While this book had a fun romance and all of the Starfield references of the other books, for me it wasn't as interesting or fun as the other books. I didn't connect with the characters as much and I felt that sometimes the references were a little shoehorned in. That being said, it was a fun read and I will be recommending it for fans of geeky romance or those who have liked the other books in this series.

I love anything to do with Beauty and the Beast and was excited to read this. However overall I found most of the writing a bit flat and the book only really sparkled for me when Rosie was with Quinn and Annie. Quinn had me at "overlord" to be honest.

I think there needed more emotional fleshing out of the characters and Rosie in particular... her strength of character etc was a bit... weak.

On a side note, I really don't like the name Vance: it is not at all British. However, kudos to the author for actually getting the occasional British word in there and used correctly, even if it felt a bit forced.

Overall it was a sweet and undemanding read but... not really for me.

What I really want to read is the book about Rosie's dad and Vance's guardian.

This was such fun and just what I needed after a few darker, harder reads in a row. Poston is brilliant at taking known tropes and making them her own. Both voices are spectacular--full of wit and quirk but also grounded in real struggles, The feels are all there as the couple falls in love and I so appreciated that the "beast" in this tale tamed himself, rather than relying on a girl to do the work for him. It keeps the tone contemporary and prevents the story from falling into gender norm traps. The self-aware Stockholm Syndrome reference made me laugh out loud. The supporting cast adds humour and an overall tone of community and love that makes the world a truly delightful place to spend time in. I haven't read the other two books in the series, so if asked, I would strongly recommend other readers pick up books 1&2 first as this is so full of inside jokes and references, I felt like a bit of an outsider--or in the culture of the world within the book, as though I wasn't quite cool enough because I hadn't seen EVERY episode of a beloved show everyone around me was celebrating. That aside, if this book is written directly for readers of the first two, it hits the nail on the proverbial head. I have no doubt it will fly off shelves and into hearts. Or maybe stars.

Rosie is still thinking about a mysterious boy she met at ExcelsiCon when she runs after a dog she almost runs over, leading her to an "empty" house with an excellent library! Of course the guy playing her favorite Starfield character is there and causes her to fall into the pool with a priceless first edition Starfield book!

I thought this was SUPER cute and I enjoyed all the Beauty and the Beast references, AND many of the pop culture ones too. (Avatar anyone?) I did not enjoy how the ending felt rushed, even though it was sweet.

Poston really has a winning series here. It reminds me of the Anna and the French Kiss trilogy, only I like the execution here much better. The mix of stories all focused on the central fandom Starfield, and the fact that they’re all retellings of faerie tales really makes them feel well meshed together. It’s a satisfying ending, but open enough that Poston could continue and I hope she does.

I think this book is perhaps the best connected to its faerie tale, and Poston admits herself that she truly adores Beauty and the Beast. There are so many clever scenes that draw from various retellings. Quotes from the Disney songs twisted to suit the story. Little easter eggs like the diner waitress being called Ms. Potts. If you love Beauty and the Beast this is a perfect amalgamation of all the good parts of it. Poston manages to make the retelling more self-aware, while still pulling everything that made the story beloved into it. Miraculously she also makes it her own.

Vance is perhaps my favourite romantic lead from the series so far. I love how he’s so imperfect and that the romance isn’t as fluffy and easy as the ones in the previous books. Vance has serious issues, and he’s also super hot so that helps. I liked that the POVs were back to alternating sides of the romance again, unlike in The Princess and the Fangirl where they followed two different romances. It worked for that book but this was definitely a better choice here.

We do get plenty of cameos from the characters we love. Imogen and Ethan are back, although we don’t see Jessica at all. Darien and Elle are around but there’s a frustrating vagueness around their story. They’re rumoured to break up but in the end they’re together? It feels like there are threads for an Elle focused follow-up.

However, at only three stars this book didn’t hit the same levels as its predecessor for me. There are two main reasons for that.

The homecoming “overlord” plot. While I think Garrett did a fine job in his role as Gaston, I didn’t see a point in the Quinn challenging them plot. It didn’t go anywhere and it felt like a waste of time. It felt like Quinn and Annie just needed something to do. It didn’t mesh with Beauty and the Beast or the fandom aspects of the story.
Not enough fandom – no ExcelsiCon. The other two books were fandom heavy and I think that’s where Poston thrives. We don’t get any scenes at ExcelsiCon this book outside of flashbacks. The references to other fandoms are also super minimal which leaves it feeling less relatable.
This is still a good book in a good series. I will read the next book in the series if there is one. I think Poston has something here. Despite how strongly she wrote the Beauty and the Beast retelling I think this book falls short on my expectations for the series. I really hope this isn’t the end.

I couldn’t put this down because it was exciting and unbelievably cute. It’s easy in beauty and the beast retellings to romanticize abuse, but this book steers clear of that, making sure that the abusive behaviors are addressed and creating a heroine that will stand up for herself, no questions asked. The characters are unique and lovely. I couldn’t help but enjoy reading about Rosie and her friends, Annie and Quinn, as Quinn runs for Homecoming Overlord . I also loved reading about Vance learning about himself and how to be a better person.
There were a few cliches, some plot points that were a little unbelievable, and I knew that everything was going to turn out for the better, but it warmed my bookish fangirl heart and it’s a perfect read for anyone else who wants a quick feel-good romance. It also works well as a standalone! I would recommend reading Geekerella first, but it’s not necessary.(I know for a fact that it isn’t necessary to read the second book either, although I promise I’ll read it soon).

Cute romance with some serious plot holes that hopefully will be fixed before publication, most of them having to do with her phone. How did it survive the fall into the pool? (SPOILER ALERT next comments) How did the boy who found her phone break her passcode? How was she receiving texts from her friends when her phone was lost?

Other than these really annoying mistakes, the book was adorable and everything you'd want it to be. Fun characters, interesting premise. The ending was a little off (they don't get kicked out of the homecoming dance after FIGHTING??? Really?) but satisfying.

I have really enjoyed Ashley Poston's other books in the ONCE UPON A CON series so I knew I had to request this when I saw it!

This book, compared to the other two in the companion series, was lacking for me. Now, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, but I felt more connected to the other stories and characters than I did to these. Rosie and Vance were great main characters and I really liked the bookstore connection and how that played out.

But, it just didn't end up being a book that I loved. I thought that while the plot was good and moved along at a fine pace, it just didn't grip me as much as I had hoped it did. I will always read any contemporary that Ashley writes because she is simply a wonderful person who knows how to come up with the best retellings.

I think my main issue with it was that it was another Beauty and the Beast retelling and I think those are slightly overdone. I loved the second book in this companion series because of the uniqueness of the retelling and that is more of what I was looking for here.

I still recommend this book for people who want an enchanting contemporary retelling!

As wonderfully charming as the prior books in the series! But could definitely be read as a stand-alone. This is a quiet little book, with less frenetic action than Geekerella or The Princess and the Fangirl, and that allows it to spend a lot of time really exploring the main characters. As ever, Poston includes lots of easter eggs for other geeks and for lovers of fairy tales. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

I've read a few other of Ashley Poston's books, and was excited to try Bookish and the Beast. I loooove fairytale retellings, but this one was a little more subtle than most. It was a quick read, and entertaining!

Ashley Poston does it again! I adored this book; Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite fairy tales, and Ashley brought it to life in a totally delightful way.
The characters were real, the representation was awesome to see, and the story was exactly as sweet as I had hoped.
All in all, a lovely afternoon's read, best enjoyed with a cup of tea and homemade peanut butter cookies.

Look to the stars. Aim. Ignite!

This book was just as cute as Ashley’s other novels in the Geekerella universe! I really loved that this one was Beauty and The Beast themed! I think new fans and returning fans of Ashley’s will enjoy this tale!

I think this was my favorite of the three Once Upon a Con series.- probably because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite of the three fairytales she did. I also liked that it had both of the romantic leads telling the story again (unlike Princess and the Pea). I love that they had met under masks, but they found out relatively early who they were. I also think I enjoyed this one more because it didn't take place entirely at the con - I liked the story set more in the real world. All of her books in the series are good, but this one just gave me everything I wanted perfectly. Nothing came as a surprise, but it was delivered in the most satisfying way.

Thank you Netgalley - this made on weekend during COVID go by quickly.