This was definitely the right book to read during the first couple of days of Covid-19 quarantine: a fun and fluffy modern beauty and the beast rewrite, full of cute fanfic tropes. Bookish and the Beast is set in the same continuity as the previous Once Upon a Con books, and while the main characters are new, there are cameos from many of the previous main characters.

Rosie Thorne, our Beauty stand-in, is a small town high schooler who lost her Mom a year before the store begins. She loves her librarian Dad, her two best friends, and Starfield. One day she chases after a lost dog, and a series of mishaps leads to her working off a debt in the library of a sort of castle owned by a mysterious millionaire. The library is full of the coolest sci-fi collection Rosie has ever seen, including a full set of the hard to find Starfield novels. It would be a great gig if not for being forced to put up with spoiled movie star Vance Reigns, one of the stars of the current Starfield movies.

Vance has been sent to this small town to basically get a break from the tabloids and think about his poor life choices. He hates everything about it, especially the local girl who worms her way into his new house. Things get even more complicated when Rosie and Vance realize they've met before, when they were both cosplaying at a convention several months back and spent a fantastic night wandering around Atlanta together (in masks of course).

Bookish and the Beast is of course pretty predictable, but as that's pretty much the nature of romantic comedies I don't really care. I wasn't looking for twists and turns here. The book is full of fun references, including a scene that is a direct homage to the most hilarious scene in Howl's Moving Castle. There's even a local Gaston stand in, constantly trying to manipulate Rosie into being his date for homecoming. Of course things work out in the end, and we get a sweet epilogue checking in with our characters a few months later.

If you like fan conventions, fairy tale retellings, high school romantic comedies, or reading cute fanfic, then give this series a try. It's a lot of fun.

Adorable follow-up to the first two books in the series. This Beauty and the Beast mix-up does the original story justice. It has the romance and comedy of the first two in the series. It incorporates enough of the formers characters to satisfy former readers but not confuse new readers (although it is best read in sequence.) The only downside to this book was that it didn't take place at a "con"; the characters had a brief meeting before the book opens at a "con"; otherwise, there is no cosplay involved in this story. Because of that element, I would say this is the weakest of the three books but still a strong series.

This series is kind of a guilty pleasure for me and I absolutely adore the mix between fandom and the stanned, but the connection between this fairytale and the storyline was a little less connected than the others so I enjoyed it a lil less.

I loved the modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast that Ashley Poston gave!

The protagonist, Rosie Throne, is a strong and developed female character that didn't let herself feel pressured by others. I loved how Rosie's story wasn't just about her romance with Vance, but also about healing from losing someone important to you. All the characters were well developed and I really enjoyed reading about them. Well, except for Garrett. That man needs a lesson in the word "no."

I loved the slow burn relationship found between Vance and Rosie. Reminded me of a great AO3 book, I would waste all day reading to reach the final fairytale ending. You could tell their chemistry was natural and the development of Vance's character due to Rosie's kind presence was amazing.

I do wish there was more dialogue between Vance and Rosie though, as I felt the pool house scene was one of the only times we saw them have a long, deep conversation, besides their time at ExcelsiCon.

Overall, I found the story to be an enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quirk Books for providing an ARC of this book to read and review.

This is the third installment in the Once Upon a Con series and I have to say I enjoyed this book as much as the previous novels in the series. Bookish and the Beast was so cute, Ashley Poston just has a way of writing characters and situations that are really relatable. While Poston doesn’t delve too much in the history of our main character, Rosie, and the love interest, Vance, I still feel their romance played out really well. I hope this isn’t the last we see of this series.

Well, I read it because of the obvious nod to Beauty and the Beast, with an emphasis on books. And I was not disappointed in those 2 aspects. However, I did not really enjoy the writing. Everything felt both overwritten and incomplete at once. The plot was fun to get behind and it was nice when I realized another B&B element had been introduced. But it just isn’t very well written, IMHO. I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. It was just okay.

<i>Bookish and the Beast</i> is a really cute YA book in Poston's Once Upon a Con series. I wish more series like this were around when I was a teenager. Its characters are geeky and fully embrace it. It was really fun to read a series that offers an inclusive set of characters who are confident in who they are. My only complaint is the "Space Dad" parts were a little creepy. Mentioning it once in passing would have been fine, but one teenage character's constant harpy on it made it a little gross.


Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Another great modern fairytale adaptation from Ashley Poston. Rosie Thorne has had a tough year. She's at a loss about what to write for her college application essay and doesn't want to leverage her mother's death to get into school. A chance encounter with a german shepherd leads Rose straight to the infamous actor Vance Reigns and a job cataloging a personal library. Rose and Vance get to know one another through an exploration of Starfield novels and their friendship just might give both of them something to look forwards to.

I love how Posten has woven a series of books together about fandom for obscure science fiction and the movies it can create. It was also delightful to get glimpses of the characters from the other stories.

I really love this series, of geeky retelling of fairytale. And, if I had to rank the three that have been released so far I think this might just be my favourite. The Beauty and The Beast is an extremely problematic story when you really think about it - particularly Stockholm syndrome! - yet Poston reinvents the tale with ease. This story, of a book nerd meeting a fallen prince of Hollywood is engrossing and incredibly lovely. There's a great balance of references to the other two stories - you don't have to have read them, but you are rewarded on updates on those characters if you have. A really sweet romance that is utterly charming!

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

I never for one minute imagined that I would be approved for a review copy of this book, no matter how much I loved the previous books, so when my copy arrived, and on my birthday too, I couldn't stop myself from starting it as soon as I was able to, and devoured the entire book in less than a day!

This time around, we have Vance's story. Now, I didn't know what I would think, because I wasn't keen on him in the previous book, The Princess and the Fangirl. After crashing his car into a lake, with Elle there too, he's sent to a small town, basically in exile. All he can do is count down the days until his 18th birthday, when he can get himself home. He comes across local girl, Rosie, when she quite literally falls in front of him, straight into the swimming pool at his borrowing castle-home, taking a first edition Starfield novel with her. To pay off her debt over the book, she has to reorganise the library in the house - more like a dream rather than a chore - but Vance is being awful, and makes everything awkward. For Rosie, she's coping with the loss of her mother the year before, and being close to all these books - some which remind her of her mother just by being there - and trying to get over the cosplayer she met at the ExcelsiCon Ball last year. The more and more that Vance and Rosie spend time together, the more they see the real people, and could they just be the two cosplayers who spent all night together at the ball last summer?

As apprehensive as I was about whether I would like Vance or not, that soon wasn't an issue because his chapters were insightful, and real, and I ended up loving him. Not as much as Rosie, mind. Rosie is my favourite of all of Poston's heroines, and I adored her chapters. She was wacky and real, and didn't take any of Vance's crap, which was refreshing for both me and for Vance, who is used to people pandering to him. The secondary characters, like Rosie's best friends Annie and Quinn, her dad (Space Dad), and Vance's uncle, Elias, were also fabulous, and made the story. The chemistry between Vance and Rosie, too, was off the charts, and they might be my favourite couple of the series.

Being the final book (I think?) in the Once Upon a Con series, it was perfect to see characters from the previous books in cameo positions, especially Imogen who has become a proper friend to Vance after their disastrous pseudo date in book 2. Everything that I needed to be tied together, definitely was, and I could not have asked for a better conclusion to this series! I haven't read Poston's other series, but reckon I'll buy them as soon as I can. This is definitely a series every geek or book lover should read!

Thank you, NetGalley for this fantastic contemporary! Bookish and the Beast, the delightful and charming third book the the Once Upon a Con series, may be my favorite of the series thanks to the ever-apparent nostalgia of the fairy tale and the outstanding voice of both main characters, Rosie and Vance. Poston's brilliant nods to the classic fairy tale made my childish and romantic heart swoon and skip in every chapter. From Mrs. Potts at the diner, to "beastly" references about Vance, and a hopelessly ignorant and clueless updated Gaston-ian villain in the form of Garrett, this retelling will truly stand out among the rest with fans of the classic tale. The addition of a strong, and more importantly, diverse support group (a non-binary best friend along with a bisexual father to name a couple) for Rosie, AKA Belle, makes it all the more relatable for today's teens. Readers will easily fall in love not only with the slow-burn and budding romance of Rosie and Vance but also in those characters ability to love themselves despite a society that may not always understand the quiet book nerd and beastly bad boy celebrity.
Bookish and the Beast will appeal to fans of Rainbow Rowell, Julie Buxbaum, and Jennifer Dugan.

#BookishandtheBeast #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-arc copy of this novel.

I really enjoyed this book. This series is a lot of fun and enjoy seeing the characters from previous books. I stayed up late because I couldn't put it down. This is a great YA series and my library will purchase this book.

I’ve loved all the books in this series but this one was especially good. It’s sparse on conflict and drama, and hinges a lot on fandom and mutual love of specific genres. The MCs relationship basically is built on that. So if you haven’t ever experience the joy of a true meeting of minds over a show or book you love, you might find this flies past you and you don’t get what they see in each other. (Tbh I honestly think there are worse things to be into someone for in YA romance than a shared love of something!) This was very sweet and undemanding. A cute, convention centric fairy tale rom-com.

I absolutely love the Once Upon a Con books, and I was thrilled to have a chance to read the latest one early. I read this as an ebook from Netgalley, and some of the formatting was off. This made reading it slightly less enjoyable, but the content itself was fantastic.

I was not sure what to expect from a contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast. At times I would forget I was reading a retelling, and then little Easter eggs would pop up to remind me! (By the way, it also took me way too long to realize one of the characters was Gaston. Embarrassingly too long, really).

But anyway, if you're unsure what to expect from a contemporary BATB retelling, I'll give you a couple hints. There's a castle, a moody guy (Vance), a pretty girl who LOVES books (Rosie, of course), an egotistical guy who won't leave said girl alone (GASTON- but his actual name is Garrett), a rose is featured, there's a birthday countdown, a Mrs. Potts, a reference to chapter 3... And so much more! Plus, if you've read the previous 2 books in the series, there's a couple appearances by other characters, which is always fun. You don't HAVE to read these books in order, but honestly they're all adorable and why wouldn't you want to?!

There was one thing that kinda irked me though. Vance's guardian makes tamales one night and there's talk of how he made enough for dinner and he's checking his oven for them (and of course they burn). I know this is a minor thing that does not impact the story in any way, but it really stuck out to me. I feel it is my duty as a Latina to say that tamales are never made in the oven, and also they are SUCH labor intensive work, that you never just make some for dinner. It's a whole day affair and often the entire family gets involved, and then you make like 100 or so and freeze them up so that you can defrost them later on when you want one.

Aside from that, I loved this book. All the nerdy references were adorable. Space Dad was the absolute best. Rosie's friends were amazing, and that one scene was unexpected and perfect. There were a couple of things that seemed to be missing- a couple times it seemed like some dialogue was skipped, and we were dropped into the middle of a conversation so we just had to fill in the blanks. Also, cat puns were mentioned as having happened, but never actually happened. And I so wanted cat puns. But I'm not certain if that was due to e-arc formatting errors, or if there were a couple things that were left out of this early version of the book. Hopefully the finished copy will include cat puns - and a couple other lines that seem to be missing from the story!

Wow !! The third Book in the Geekerella Trilogy . Well , I have been dutifully been reading this trilogy and I have been enjoying the books . <b> Geekerella ★★★★★ The Princess and the Fangirl ★★★★★</b>
And Ashley Poston drops a Beauty and the Beast retelling , I mean who doesn't love the epic classic. The Beast taming and falling in love with girl and having their happily ever after . The book offers this and more and I can't wait to more.
*Complete review on the release day !! *

Actual rating 4.25/5 ✨:

A Beauty and the Beast retelling set in the modern world, filled with fandoms and geeks and queer characters - what else do bookworms like me need?


I’ve read quite a few Beauty and the Beast retellings over the years but all of them were either sci fi or fantasy so I was super curious to find out how it would work in a YA contemporary novel - and I loved it! The references were definitely there (the main character’s name is Rosie Thorne after all haha) but they were subtle in a way that didn’t make them seem forced.


Some other things that I absolutely loved:
The cast of characters! I loved the families and friends and the diversity - especially a nonbinary side character just completely stole my heart! But we have several LGBTQ+ characters and I just loved that it was woven into a story in a very natural way. Queer representation in books is so important and we need more books that feature LGBTQ+ characters that aren’t bullied and that aren’t mistreated but really ones that are just living their best life because we deserve to see happy queers in books.
This entire series is super cheesy and fluffy but in the best way and it’s just so cute and these books make me very happy, ok?
I also just absolutely adore all of the fandom references and how much those make me relate to the characters.


Why it didn’t quite reach 5 ✨ from me:
I really liked the main characters and I thought they were cute together but I wanted to see more dialogue between them. They fall in love - and of course it’s predictable and cheesy but I’m not complaining about that - and I would’ve preferred if the author had shown us how they grew to like each other so much (so their conversations) instead of being told that they had a great time together. Because of that the pacing felt a bit off. It simultaneously felt like nothing was happening and things were moving too fast.
And another thing that bugged me a bit is that some things were just unlikely. I get that this story isn’t supposed to be realistic (famous actor moves to the small town a girl he talked to once lives and they meet again etc.) and I love that it’s so whimsical buuut there really were just some plot holes that could’ve been avoided. One character first sprains their ankle and has to go to the ER and then they suddenly say it’s broken and they have to use crutches but then two days later they can run around again like nothing happened? Yeah, no. These are the kind of things that will hopefully be changed by another round of edits before the book is actually published though.


To wrap it up:
I really enjoyed Bookish and the Beast and it was such a fun read buuut I guess it’s my least favorite in the series so far. I still highly recommend checking it out though!



Thank you to NetGalley and Quirk Books for providing an ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review!

5/5 sparkling stars✨

Should you read this book? YES.
I’ve heard so, so much about Ashley Poston’s books, but I never came around to actually picking up one of them. So yeah, Bookish and the Beast is my first read from the Once Upon a Con series. I understood that there’s gonna be small references and stuff from the previous two books soon after I read the first few pages, but the writing is so, so much fun and enchanting that I couldn’t stop myself!
So, definitely going to go and read the previous two now.

Did I mention that I read this book literally in one sitting? This is such a page turner. I loved, loved the characters, especially our main female protagonist (YOU GO GIRL!) I’d like to thank Ashley Poston for writing such a strong, well developed female protagonist.

There’s so much funny banter in this book. And they’re my weak points. I loved every retort and remark, Space Dad and Elias. Did I not mention Sansa?
I loved, loved the involvement of a library in the book. This book lifted my bookworm spirits to cloud nine. And the writing is so...heart warming. This book is HEART WARMING. AAAAA.

The whole plot was so much fun to read. It’s the kind of a light read that instantly lifts up your mood. There may be some unrealistic things, but believe me, they’re a GOOD sort of unrealistic.

Overall, I will recommend this book to everyone. I suggest to go and read the previous two though, and from the samples that I’ve read, they’re hopefully just as stunning as this!

Bookish and the beast is a fun twist on the classic story of Beauty and the Beast. Having read Ashley's other stories in this series I felt this was a fun retelling. Rosie is an adorable nerd who you'll love from the start. Vance is the bad boy villain you can't help but fall for. So, of course these two make the greatest couple and you'll be flying through this story to find out the end.

This book feels like when you curl up with an AO3 link and spend the afternoon reading 40,000 words of fluffy, feel-good story that doesn't really have a lot of surprises or angst, but you don't care because the point is that everyone is going to be happy and in love at the end.

In short, delightful. It's a Beauty and the Beast retelling, so we all know the major tropes and plot points going on. However, the characters are fun to read about and the supporting cast is just as great. You don't really need to have read the first two books to get what's happening, but the cameos are so fun that it certainly helps.

One thing that made the tone of this book so different from the other two in the series is the removal of the convention setting. Part of why I liked the first two so fiercely is because they brought back all the positive feelings about the convention atmosphere and how it feels like you're utterly removed from actual life and magic can happen. In this book, you start at the magic at the convention, but the main story happens in the aftermath when you return to life and the usual life issues.