Bookish and the Beast is a great installment in the Once Upon a Con series. It was a cute and fun story that I really enjoyed, but the ending seemed to happen a little too fast.

I enjoyed this book - I'm not always a fan of fairytale retellings so it was nice to find such a well done version.

I absolutely love this series and this book is no exception. The combination of geekiness and fun retellings make these just so much fun. I will keep reading and buying this series for as long as it exists (and I hope that's a long time!).

This is my first taste of the Geekarella books and universe, and it was just okay for me. The fandom stuff is fun and that part of the world feels well built out and detailed, but our main characters left me wanting more. It seems like fans of the series should be pleased though — there are cameos and references throughout that a new reader can detect and appreciate but not with the deeper understanding and enthusiasm of a fan.

My friend described the Once Upon a Con series as "geeky Hallmark" and that is a great way to think of this wonderfully fun, satisfyingly charming, and warmly geeky romance book from the delightful Ashley Poston. This was my first in this series to read, having previously read Poston's HEART OF IRON, and reading it out of order meant that I missed a bit of context, but not to the degree that made the story and characters hard to follow or understand.

I *devoured* this delightfully quirky romantic, geeky retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Pop culture references in books aren't always my favorite, as it can date something or feel too much like an "in joke" but these worked so well with who the characters are and the world they inhabit. It all feels so very fun, energetic, and lively, and for teens looking for a fandom love story, there couldn't be anything better.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of Bookish and the Beat in return for an honest review.

What an adorable young adult novel!

I am always here for a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I was not disappointed in this one at all. If you have read Geekerella you know what you are in for here. A fun, modern retelling through the YA lens. A little cheesy, a little far fetched, but still so entertaining. The main character Rosie, ends up needing to work off a debt after a rare book is destroyed. Vance, the upcoming star of the Starfield (think Star Wars, y’all), has been sent away to live with a guardian after an incident with some paparazzi (Elle sighting!). The romance is a slow burn, and it's so cute!

Honestly, my favorite part of the story was Rosie’s dad and Vance’s guardian Elias. I was VERY invested in this storyline, and I would LOVE a book about them! I thought this book was really fun, and just what I was looking for in these stressful times.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I had to talk myself out of staying up as long as it took to finish this wonderful installment in the Once upon a Con series. The Beauty and the Beast connections were so perfectly woven into the story that I was both completely aware of them and so into this story on its own merits. I have recommended these books to our teens since Geekerella and won't be stopping now. So well done I really look forward to more from this author

I LOVED THIS ONE. Which is absolutely no surprise since Once Upon a Con is one of the best YA contemporary series out there and also I love Beauty and the Beast.

I don't even know where to start. The retelling aspect was perfect, it might be my fave B&B rerelling to date. The romance was ahh. Rosie was absolutely kickass, I loved her so much. The cameos from the characters from the previous books were so on point. The two best friends, Anne and Quinn, were amazing. (Huge yay for casual enby rep!) Rosie's dad (Space Dad <3) was one of the best parent figures I've ever read about. I mean, come on, bi ex-punk current-librarian??? GOALS. Oh, and there is also a cherry on top, the most adorable, bestest girl of them all, an amazing German Shepherd because all the best books have a dog in it.

But the best thing about these books is how unashamedly nerdy they are. The references. Books, films, gaming, ahhh, my heart is so full.

If you still haven't read this series, I seriously don't know what you're doing with your life.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing my copy for review.

I really wanted to like this, but it just didn’t do it for me! It was a nice quick, predictable read which is a positive in pandemic times. I just felt like everything was a little bit too thin to really get into, and I couldn’t get invested (especially since you know exactly how things are going to end). I would have just liked to feel more connection with the characters.

I haven’t read the previous 2 books, which I don’t think made a significant difference in my enjoyment - there were a couple of points when it was clear that characters from those books were referenced, but they felt like a bonus for those readers rather than required background.

It took a lot of prodding and a full day of travel to get me to read Geekerella a few years back. My friend insisted it was great. I was like "Sure, Jan." Something about the cover and the title seemed a bit young for me. However, she was right. I fell in love with Ashley's writing voice very quickly and became a fan for life. Now, in the year of our lord 2020, she continues to make me feel at home when in reality I am feeling psychological stress at a constant rate. She keeps things fresh, providing creative ways to work in the skeleton of a tale as old as time. Rosie and Vance are cute, with earned tension, and that rare book drama had me sweating. My one con here is that I do work with rare books, and that price point was crazy. Nevertheless, the fact that a rare paperback fell into a pool struck an anxiety chord. We got casual LGBTQIA+ representation in multiple characters, which I love to see. In addition, and this is a plus specifically to me but I would still inappropriately mention it when handselling to potential readers, Rosie has a hot single dad. I'm very into him.

I recognize that some may find Vance to be unlikable and the references to be too much. This kind of series isn't for everyone...but it is for me. I like slow burns, small towns, fairytales, and Star Wars. And there are many more readers like me who are or could be enjoying Ashley's books. This series fit into a specific little nook in my brain and has set up shop. If this is her last in this series, I'm thankful for the sweet tales. However, if there are more to come, I'd enjoy hanging with the Starfield crew again.

Words cannot describe how much I adored this book. I have to say this is the best one out of the three. I love reading Beauty and the Beast retellings and this one has to be one of my favorites. I loved the characters, I loved the story, and I especially loved all the pop culture references. Thank you so much Netgalley!! Reading this book was the best thing that could have happened to me this month! I can’t wait to purchase a physical copy!

I thought this was a cute YA novel. And although a little far fetched story wise, it was entertaining. Rosie was sweet and even though Vance was a jerk I felt bad for his situation.

This is the second Beauty and the Beast retelling I've read this year and I enjoyed this one just as much as the first. It was a quick, addictive read, reminding me of an early to mid-2000s romantic comedy film. Think Disney's Starstruck but more nerdy and set over a longer period of time.

Fortunately, the Stockholm syndrome elements of the original fairytale are eliminated in this modern take on the classic story, and so the characters fall in love in a more authentic, endearing way. This was another case of a hate to love romance, however it was executed much better than in the previous book of the series. I'm not sure yet but Vance and Rosie may be my favourite couple from the series.

It was a delight returning to the Starfield universe and meeting some of the old characters, as well. Ashley Poston has created this fictional franchise which feels so vivid, to the point where I want to watch the Starfield films and read the background books. I'm hoping that Poston will write a General Sond x Princess Amara story one day because I really want it - it sounds like he'd have an amazing redemption arc.

Geekerella is one of the earliest contemporary YA books that I remember falling in love with and so I have a soft spot for the Once Upon A Con series, which is why it's so disappointing that Bookish and the Beast fell flat for me.

It had the benefit of being a retelling, obviously inspired by Beauty and the Beast, which is my number 1 favorite choice of fairytale to retell, but this book just didn't work for me. As always, just because something wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean it's a bad book - heaps of other people loved it! So I'd always recommend that if it sounds interesting to you, then go and check it out.

My main issue was with the character of Rosie - she's meant to be the level-headed, responsible character in contrast to superstar Vance Reigns, an over-privileged spoiled Hollywood brat, yet between the two of them, I found Rosie to be more immature and unreasonable. I had a bad feeling from the start where she dramatically quits and storms out of a job that she desperately needs to save up for college simply because her manager gives her a talking-to for using her phone during work TO WATCH A MOVIE TRAILER (she literally leaves her register with two people in line because she couldn't wait til the end of her shift). I get the impression we're meant to sympathize and cheer for Rosie for standing up for herself, but this is her third warning for goofing off on the job and her manager was trying to be respectful and considerate of her situation with her mother passing away the year before, so instead she comes off as rude and childish.

Throughout the book she's usually running late to class, not for any good reason, one time she was sitting in the car park talking about boy troubles with her best friends, which...last I recall, you did get lunch breaks in high school? Pretty sure she could confide in them then? And it felt contrived because she didn't talk to them for the whole weekend even though they're so close, but five minutes before class is due to start, THAT's the time for a heart-to-heart. If Rosie was meant to be a rebel without a cause, someone who regularly flouts authority and is too cool for school, I wouldn't have an issue with this, but she's meant to be bright enough to win a scholarship, yet the only time we see her doing anything related to her education, it's showing up late or taking weeks to write an essay.

Speaking of contrived, the tie-ins to Beauty and the Beast were quite lackluster. Rosie damages a priceless collector's edition of a Starfield novel and exchanges her services working to organize the library in order to settle the bill. Even though Vance's godfather Elias doesn't know the first thing about her except that she broke into their house and damaged a $1,500 book, she's entrusted with entering the premises on a regular basis and handling all the other valuable books in the collection... Never mind that Vance is meant to be lying low and hiding from the paparazzi, and it's probably not a good idea to have a teenage girl who's in the demographic that fangirls over him around who might invade his privacy and take pictures to leak to the media.

Vance's character worked a lot better for me, even though he started off broody and sulking in his room, it was acknowledged by the text as a negative character trait and something for him to grow out of and try to overcome. I did sympathize with him because even though he's rich and has the world at his feet, Vance still has his fair share of insecurities and felt isolated with no close friends and nobody he could really trust, which is a hard position to be in. Dealing with constant negative media attention and being under familial pressure makes it understandable that he would throw a tantrum and refuse to come out of his room. At least over the course of the book, he comes to realize his own shortcomings and strive to improve and make amends, which was quite refreshing.

I wanted to root for his romance with Rosie, but honestly the majority of the book was the two characters being involved in one pratfall after another, which I believe were meant to be amusing, but just made me roll my eyes. She pulls him down the stairs with her! She turns his hair orange! She opens a door in his face and nearly breaks his nose! They spent most of their time together arguing with each other and I didn't see what it was that made them supposedly fall in love - mostly because it happens off-page. So the strength of their feelings for each other isn't convincing to me and the requisite grand gesture scene seems ridiculously over-the-top.

Giving credit where it's due, the redeeming factor of this book is its diversity with multiple queer characters (notably Rosie's father and Vance's guardian, whose background relationship I was way more invested in) and one of Rosie's best friends is non-binary. I loved that this was presented as normal and nothing out of the ordinary, which is just as it should be. Rosie's father is particularly endearing and easily the highlight of the book for me, his puns and quips were fantastic. Rosie's friendship group were also great, although I wish that we learned more about her friends instead of them just revolving around her life and drama.

Bookish and the Beast is a decent, predictable, fluffy read with diverse representation. If you're looking for romance, this is very light on that front, but has engaging enough characters. Unfortunately it's not set at a convention like its predecessors so has less fandom incorporated into the story, although the writing drips with pop culture references to make up for it. I'd be interested in reading another installment if there's a follow-up, but this one lacks the magic that drew me in before.

Bookish and the Beast was a really fun rom m-com sci-fi mashup! I felt like Rosie, Annie, and Quinn were my best friends throughout the story, which kept me from not being able to put this book down. The characters like Elias and “Space Dad” were equally as intriguing and made great supporting characters as we see Rosie and Vance’s relationship develop. Overall this was a really fun read and makes me want to read more from Ashley! As Rosie would say... Amara Up!

Thanks Quirk Books and NetGalley for this ARC to review.

I looove “Beauty and the Beast” and was thrilled for a loosely based retelling in a modern, geeky world. This is very, very loosely based and the author had fun ways of making parallels both to the original stories plot and characters. Of course, everything revolves around a library and books. Yay! This was a very cutesy read and definitely for a young YA audience. This is a book I would have no trouble recommending to my 7th grade students, if they are looking for a light-hearted romance. It contained many current day elements that students connect with, such as cosplay, school drama, social media, fan girling, and lgbt characters.

There were some instances in the plot that I wish had a bit more depth and some scenes seemed rushed and unrealistic. Vance Reigns was also a bit wishy-washy for me. He had a complete turnabout in a moment and a secret hobby that didn’t seem to connect or lead to any importance. Overall, it would be a fun read for a young adult and a “Beauty and the Beast” lover.

In this third installment of the series after having met at Excelsicon Ball where they both wore masks, told intimate secrets, and spent a night eating waffles and talking about the Starfield series, both remember that day with happiness but neither of them reveals their identity to each other. One of those people is Rosie Thorne who is still grieving the loss of her mother.
Rosie and her friends enjoy reading books and everything that has to do with the Starfield universe. On the other hand, we have Vance Reigns a 17 years film star who will be the villain in the new Starfield movie, which will be directed by his stepfather.
Vance's stepfather sends him along with his godfather to this small town for a month after a problem occurs involving some paparazzi and Elle the geekerella from the first book. The slow-burn romance in this book was super cute and easy to read. We learn a little more about the Starfield Universe and see other characters from pasts books. I loved the way Ashley Poston created this geeky retelling of the beauty and the beast and I will keep reading more books in this series because although many people think they are a little cheesy whenever I turn a new page in these books it brings me a little bit of joy and happiness to my life.
this book is 5 stars for me
"Look to the stars. Aim Ignite!"
Thanks to NetGalley and Quirk Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Geekerella and The Princess and the Fangirl! They are two of my favorite books. Needless to say, I thought Bookish and the Beast was going to be another love of mine, but unfortunelty, it was just an okay read for me. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t quite live up to the hopes that I had for it.

First off, Bookish and the Beast is the third book in the Once Upon a Con series! These books are companions so no, you do not have to read Geekerella or The Princess and the Fangirl to read this book. It can stand on its own just fine. However, I personally feel like you will have a better experience with this story if you read the other books first. There are several references to prior events and characters so you may get a little confused if you don’t. Also, this series is a lot of fun so I highly recommend Geekerella & Princess any way!

As you can probably tell, this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling! Ashley Poston did a wonderful job taking the classic tale that we all know & love and she put a bookish and geeky spin to it!

Rosie is our Belle! When Rosie chases after a dog, she ends up in an abandoned house….so she thinks. There she finds a huge library full of the Starfield books. After being caught in the house and damaging an expensive book, she must organize the library to pay off her debt. I really loved Rosie. She is a total book nerd. She loves the look of books, the smell of them and getting lost in th pages. My favorite type of character! Rosie recently lost her mother, the person who helped her to fall in love with books and Starfield. She is trying to navigate life without one of her parents while also trying not to be the “girl with a dead mom.”

Vance is our Beast. He is Hollywood royalty and oh, he plays the villain, General Sond in the Starfield movies. After many slip ups with paparazzi, Vance’s parents send him away so he can try to see the error of his ways. Vance can be pretty annoying and almost unlikeable at times. He is has that *I can do anything I want because I’m rich* thing going on and it drove me crazy. Of course, I still wanted the best for him though. He struggles with trust. He thinks that everyone is out to get him. He also feels like he isn’t good enough. It was interesting to see his character changes & learns. By the end of the book, he isn’t the same person we see in the beginning.

What I loved most about Geekerella & The Princess and the Fangirl is that they were very fandom centric. Being the nerd that I am, I really enjoyed the convention settings, cosplays and all the other nerdy things that those books had. I was hoping for something very similar with the third book, but sadly that wasn’t the case. Bookish and the Beast went in a different direction and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. We still get to see the wonderful word of Starfield, but it’s through books. Obviously being a bookworm, I loved that, but I always found myself missing the fun of the ExcelciCon! Compared to the first two books, there wasn’t enough fandom related things for me to nerd out to.

As far as the romance goes, it wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t hate it by any means, but I didn’t find myself rooting for it either. The chemistry between the two seemed to fluctuate. At times I could definitely see the sparks between the characters and then other times I was almost cringing at the awkwardness.

My favorite part of Bookish and the Beast were the adults that surround Rosie and Vance! They were incredible. Vance’s guardian, Elias is a total gem. He was always there to support Vance, especially when his parents weren’t. Yes, Vance has his troubles, but Elias saw the best in him. He believed in him when Vance needed it the most! Rosies dad was the coolest! I’m not even kidding, I loved him. He is a music loving, ear gauge wearing, queer librarian. Total perfection! His relationship with his daughter was very special. It’s just him & Rosie. They take care of each other no matter what. He is so supportive and gives amazing advice! Space dad is the best!

This may not have been my favorite book in the series, but it was still a fun & quick read. The Once Upon a Con series will forever have my fandom loving heart!

Posted to Goodreads: Rosie Throne has spent the last year trying to get over her mother's death and she reluctantly agrees to attend ExcelsiCon with her best friends. At the con, Rosie meets a mysterious boy dressed as her favorite Starfield character, General Sond. The two spend the night talking with their masks on never revealing their true identities. Now, more than a month later Rosie is still dreaming of her mystery love. Vance Reigns is the newest star of the Starfield movie portraying the villain, General Sond, but it's his real-life drama that gets him exiled to the middle of nowhere. When Rosie and Vance's paths cross their unknown connection begins to reveal itself and if they can both let down their protective shields they may just find love.

This book was just all sorts of cute. It is a classic Beauty and a Beast tale with an adorable nerdy sci-fi twist and I just really enjoyed it. Rosie is a classic Beauty who values intelligence and kindness over material possessions and Vance is the perfect gruff and standoffish Beast. Their developing relationship was a little slow at the beginning and then a little rushed at the end however it just kind of worked. I will admit that there was nothing particularly groundbreaking or extraordinary about this book but it was just so fun to read that I had to love it.