The third book in the "Once Upon a Con" series is centred around the actors and fandom of a sci-fi fantasy franchise. In Bookish and the Beast, Ashley Poston subtly combines elements of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast with the small-town teen love story trope, peppered with contemporary teen challenges that deepen the narrative and carries it beyond being just another teen romance novel. Adopting a dual viewpoint narrative, Poston creates a world that is the perfect balance of realism and fantasy, drawing in the reader with the relatability of much of the plotline. With appropriate levels of humour and emotion, Poston expertly navigates touching on difficult real-world subjects such as bereavement and teen pressures; ranging from popularity and romantic challenges, to discovering one's identity and college applications, as is characteristic of the rest of the series. This adds to the relatability of the plotline, with enough fantasy to soften the blow that comes with the realisation of the environments in which teenagers grow up. Though slightly predictable, this doesn't take away from the experience; as with most stories, it's the journey that you're enchanted by. Poston creates a perfect world to lose yourself in, especially as a hopeless romantic and big fan of Beauty and the Beast, such as myself. I, personally, found it very difficult to put the book down: I absolutely loved Bookish and the Beast, and will definitely be rereading the story as it joins my "favourites" shelf.

A very cute retelling of "Beauty and the Beast"...
Vance Reigns is spoiled, grumpy, and mistrustful of anyone who tries to get close to him. Rosebud Thorne is imaginative, free-spirited, and in love with both the Starfield universe and reading. When the two clash, they soon learn that there is more than meets the eye, and that sometimes you have to let down your guard (or the beast) in order to let a little beauty in.

I loved this third installment in the Once Upon a Con series, a play on Beauty and the Beast! I chuckled at the sprinkling in of exact phrases from the Disney animated film and wondered how this tale would overlap with the classic story we all know and love. The appearance of recurring characters from the previous two novels and allusions to their plot lines were fun and tantalizing. The budding romance between the Hollywood bad boy and the small town girl who recently lost her mom is honestly less creepy than the original Stockholm-syndrome-relationship of Beauty and the Beast. I have also been impressed in all three of the books in this series at the way LGBTQ characters are sprinkled in or featured without explanation or extra special attention—just a normal part of the story. That is progress in young adult literature! Overall, this was a joy to read and I truly hope there will be a fourth installment.

I adored the first two books and I'm glad I read this one as well. It was cute and fun. There were so many pop culture references and gave me nerdy feelings. Ashley Poston really knows how to create fandoms from scratch and make them feel like real things! Another hit.

Rating 5

I loved reading "Bookish and the Beast" by Ashley Poston so much! I have read her other books and I am happy to say this one will be another hit. I love how the author takes an old concept and truly makes it her own. Both main characters Rosie and Vance were great! They were both likable and how they interacted together was too cute. The author did such a good job of describing the world and the characters making it easy for the reader to follow along. Not much needs to be said about this book, except that everyone should read it! It's a book that is perfect if you want a modern take on the original story. 

Should you read "Bookish and the Beast"?
Yes! This story has such a cute romance and reminds me why I fell in love with books. 

**Received an advanced copy through NetGalley in return for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

I can't point to anything that's really wrong with this book. The problem is that I also can't point to anything that's really right with this book. I didn't connect to either of the main characters, and I saw every plot point coming. It was just interesting enough to have me keep reading, but upon finishing I wondered why I wasted my time. Fairly forgettable; cute if you want a mindless read.

Ashley Poston's Once Upon a Con series never fails to make me smile. I loved Geekerella, I loved The Princess and the Fangirl, and I loved this book. The way they reimagine the beloved tales into nerdy, con-centric romances is so interesting to me. There have been a plethora of books written set in comic-cons, but these manage to feel new and refreshing.

Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston is part of a series?! I had no idea! This delightful little book is a quick read with quirky characters who are easy to love. I enjoyed the play on the classic fairytale, and I know that high school students will enjoy the pop-culture elements thrown in. I found the Space Dad romance to be heavy-handed, but the relationship between Rosie Thorne and Vance Reign was adorable.

I LOVED this book! It was cute and a great easy read that only took one sitting to complete! This is the first I read in Poston's Once Upon a Con series. This book will leave readers happy and I'm very excited to read the rest in the series!!!

A cute continuation of Ashley Poston's "Once Upon a Con" series. This "Beauty and the Beast" inspired tale is fluffy and heartwarming.

I am a huge YA fan but I could not get into this novel. I think if you are someone who enjoys YA and conventions, you would definitely like this

This is the first book I’ve read by Ashley Poston, and it was just what I wanted as a palate cleanser after reading a pretty heavy and intense novel. Rosie, a high school senior still reeling from her mother’s recent death, meets and forms an instant connection with a guy at a con, but they leave their cosplay masks on and don’t share their true identities. A month or so later, Rosie almost hits a dog, which she thinks is a stray, and she ends up following the dog back to her home, a weird castle like house in town that no one usually lives in. Rosie (strangely) goes into the house and starts exploring, finding a library full of amazing sci fi books, including first editions of her favorite series. She grabs one to look at and then runs into Vance Reigns, a bad boy actor who plays her favorite character in the movie adaptation of said series, who has been sent to Rosie’s small town to lay low after some bad publicity. Shocked, Rosie tries to run away and falls into the pool with the book, ruining it. Because the book is so valuable and she and her dad don’t really have much money, they work out a deal with Vance’s guardian that Rosie can work off the cost of the book by organizing the library’s scattered collections. She grows closer to Lance and they soon realize they already met - at the con, all dressed up. This was cute and quick but with some depth, and I look forward to reading more Poston.

This was my favourite in the Once Upon a Con series. A fun fantasy about how a normal, everyday girl challenges a famous, spoiled boy who can get what he wants from everyone to figure out what he actually values as they navigate what starts as an awkward working relationship.

This book was fine. If you are a sucker for cutesy romances at all times, I have no doubt you will probably devour this book happily. But personally, this was the weakest book in the series.

I am going to preface this by saying that I am not a huge 'cutesy' contemporary YA romance reader. But up until this point Poston has surprised and captured me with her Once Upon a Con series. Alas, all goods things must come to an end.

Up until this book, the books have been paced really well - quick and engaging, loads of fun and quirky moments. While Bookish and the Beast still retains that quirky style of writing, it is much slower. Both in plot and the romance. Which is just something that just does not work for me.

On top of that, this book seemed to rely much more heavily on typical YA tropes i.e. enemies to lovers, misunderstood bad guy. I don't have a thing against tropes, but this felt like just a typical copy & paste YA, with nerd references thrown in.

Again, if these tropes and romance is your thing - pick it up! But this book just wasn't the one for me.

Adorable! I really loved the first two books in this series so it was no surprise that I loved this one too. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories to have retold and it was done so well. I loved the anxiety rep and the love of books. As always with Ashley Posten, this was wonderfully nerdy and perfect.

This was such a feel good read!
I've read Ashley Poston's previous books in this companion series which I also enjoyed.
However I am a proud lover of everything and anything Beauty and the Beast, which is one of the main reasons I've wanted to pick this book up.
Like Poston's other works, this read like a love letter to fandom and geek culture. I can understand why that may be a turn off to some readers who don't enjoy the little easter eggs and nods to nerdy pop culture, but it was something that made me smile while reading.
I have to say, though, that I didn't enjoy this latest release as much as "Geekerella". The characters just don't seem as fleshed out as they did in that first book.
Bookish and Beast is definitely like a Rom-Com in book form, which won't be for everyone. But for anyone who is looking for a feel good quick read, perhaps as a break from big, dense tomes, I think it'd be a good fit. Or, of course, for anyone who just loves a feel good book with a happy ending.
My favourite aspects of this book would definitely be the friendship our main character, Rosie, shares with her close girl friends and the fatherly relationship between Vance and Mr. Rodriguez. This is definitely where a lot of the humour was introduced.
One thing that did grate on my nerves a little was that Vance's character was extremely immature and bratty throughout most of the novel. Admittedly the character of the Beast is meant to be a spoiled prince, but it would have been less irritating and more believable if he would have had more reason behind his attitude and actions. I would have loved to see a bit more of a build up between the two characters once they admitted they liked each other. A lot of the "couple" moments you'd expect in the 2nd act of the book were just glossed over and off-page. So, for me, it wasn't entirely believable when the "L" word was mentioned. However, I just took it for the light-hearted read that it was and it wasn't a huge problem for me.
It was nice to see how many nods to the Disney Beauty and the Beast that Poston included in her story, and yet she still managed to give them a modern twist while still being able to see their echo in the Disney fairy tale.
Ashley Poston's books always seem to have a great relationship between the author and the reader. Because you can clearly see she writes with passion and love when she talks about books and the fandoms she loves and for the reader they can relate and see themselves in this, too. It feels like being able to talk to a friend about a book series that you both love and obsess over. This latest book by Poston is no different in that aspect.

Unfortunately the ending was a little lacklustre for me. It does, sadly, fall into the trope of "communication could have solved everything", and introduced drama that was unnecessary and quickly solved after a few pages so the reader doesn't really have the time to get on board with it or think it believable. Especially, when compared with the motivations of the characters during the whole book up until that point.

The character and plot arc of Garrett or alternatively "Gaston" from the Disney version, didn't feel entirely believable to me either. It just felt like it was introduced to have some form of conflict and to mirror the fairy tale many of us know and love. To me it just didn't feel needed, or alternatively, more time needed to be put into that plot line.
Overall, I would recommend this to fans of Jenny Han, Emery Lord and Holly Bourne. It's a quick fun read that will put a smile on your face with its cheesy Rom-Com goodness.

I think I am growing out of the phase of person who really likes her books. her first installment, Geekerella, was so good in my opinion but as the new ones come out I find myself more and more bored.

For any fan of modern retellings of fairytales. I really enjoy Ashley Poston's writing and this book was no exception. The universe that she created around Excelsicon has given readers a realistic fandom world to escape to.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s a secret that I happen to be a HUGE fan of Beauty & the Beast. For one, this blog actually used to be called Belle’s Book Blog (super dumb name in retrospect, I know, but I was only 14 😂) and honestly, what bibliophile doesn’t relate to Belle? And, to quote Kat from The Ugly Stepsister (which, if you somehow haven’t read yet, you really need to!!) “If the Beast gave me a library like he gave to Belle, I’d marry him too.”

Needless to say, I have been anticipating this book from the very minute that I found out out that it was going to be a B&TB retelling! And guys, I have some fantastic news for you – not only did it live up to the hype, it fully exceeded and surpassed my wildest expectations!

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What I Liked:

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1. Rosie was such a relatable character

Trust me when I say that from page one, you’ll no doubt be fully relating to our main “Belle” character, Rosie Thorne! (side note: that has got to be one of the most creative fictional names ever!!) Rosie represents the inner bookworm that us bibliophiles all share – which makes her beyond easy to connect with! I don’t know about you, but I always love seeing bibliophiles represented in books – it truly does make me feel so seen.

In addition, Rosie’s struggles felt so real. From college application essay stress, to working as a cashier to save up money for college, to dealing with the tragic loss of her mother, Rosie is definitely one of the more easily relatable YA characters out there.

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2. It’s not a traditional Beauty & the Beast retelling

One thing I’ve seen a lot of in reviews on Goodreads is praise for how well this follows the “original tale.” Spoiler alert: this is NOT a retelling of the story written by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve. Rather, it’s a retelling of Disney’s Beauty & the Beast.

I bring this up because while the Disney movie and fairy tale are similar, there are definite noticeable differences between the two. For example, Gaston was completely nonexistent and Beauty was neither bookish nor without siblings (in the original, she actually had a few older sister). But honestly, I will take Disney’s version any day of the week (and yes, I realize that this makes be a terrible bookworm. #sorrynotsorry).

Some of my favorite casual nods and Easter eggs are the inclusion of Garrett (the “Gaston” character), Rosie’s outfit on the cover (a subtle nod to Belle’s blue & while outfit!), Vance’s library (which possess much of the same “wow” factor as the Beast’s library), and even the one-liner about “Mrs. Potts” being a local diner employee.

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3. The side characters were out of this galaxy!

This, in my opinion, is one of Ashley Poston’s strongest points. I adored each and every one of the side characters, almost as much as I enjoyed Rosie herself!

First, we have Rosie’s BFFs, Quinn and Annie, who were just… perfection (*sigh*). I especially love how Quinn is nonbinary and goes by them/them pronouns – not only was it fabulous represention, but it felt so real and natural.

Then we also have my personal favorite, SPACE DAD!! Space Dad, AKA Rosie’s out-and-proud bisexual and apparently really good-looking Youth Services librarian father, was the literal icing on the fictional cake. This was my first time seeing an LGBTQIA+ parent represented in YA, and it was done SO WELL.

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Overall, Bookish and the Beast made my book-loving and geeky heart swoon ten times over. From a fantastic line-up of main and supporting characters, to a heartfelt depiction of Disney’s classic tale, I can’t sing this book praises enough. This is arguably Ashley Poston’s best YA book to date, and I beg you to check it out for yourselves – trust me, this is one 2020 release that’s not to be missed!

I just love this series so much. The characters are so wonderful. The writing is so fun. I really hope there will be a 4th. Recommended for grades 8 & up. Read in order for the best impact.