When I grabbed this book I was truly looking forward to reading it. Then I hit a reading slump that lasted five years and when it ended my reading tastes have ended. I was very let down by this book. I found it very slow and it just didn't capture my attention at all. I will definitely be trying it again in the hopes it is just a timing thing but right now I just wasn't a fan at all.

It's a love letter to fandoms, as well as a perfect modern take on a Cinderella story, and if isn't yet clear from what I've just said, I LOVED Geekerella! Ashley Poston did a really wonderful job incorporating familiar elements of Cinderella (and even perhaps A Cinderella Story, which I absolutely love too) into her story, but in a way that felt decidedly new to the game. And I adored the fandom aspect of it so much, particularly as someone who dives headfirst and unapologetically into fandoms too. It's a wonderful story, and I'd highly recommend it!

This book was cute and fun - and I sped through it pretty quickly. I just felt like it was too fanfic-y for me, especially since the romance felt almost insta-love. I know, I know, they talked for a while. But only via text and never once called each other. And the explanation for not doing that wasn't compelling enough in my opinion.

Toted to me as a love letter to fandom, I did appreciate the way that everyone interacted with the show, the cult following, and more. However, I thought that having a con dedicated to one show/series and then having panels about other things didn't quite make sense. They didn't explain why this con about this cult following show had other things or how it expanded after Elle's dad died.

I liked Darien enough and was glad to see how his character developed. He was geeky and good looking, so every girl's dream guy. But I wanted way more about his time on set, with Jessica, and his handler and bodyguard. It felt like we only saw him in conjunction with Elle too often and it made him fall a little flat some times.

Elle was a great main character and I really liked her. I definitely related to her blogging and wanting to get the most out of the people she interacted with. I wasn't a huge fan of her being like a mini celebrity at the Con because her dad founded it. That was a bit too much for me, but I liked the scene where everyone gave her pieces of their costume so it's all good.

TLDR: I thought this was really cute and I liked a lot of the retelling portions of this. It hit all the right beats and had a pretty compelling storyline. But I thought some of it was just too convenient and could have been better fleshed out. I enjoyed it so I'll probably continue on with this series.

One of my absolute favorites! It's cute, it's fun, and it's so, so clever. This is such a love letter to love, to fangirls, to life.

This was a really nice and enjoyable read. It flowed easily, pacing was great and the characters were captivating.

I have fallen in love with this author and her take on the modern day Cinderella story!! I for sure will be looking for more of her writing as this book was really really a great read. And can we talk about the cover😍😍

I enjoyed this story as a tribute to fan culture. I liked how it showed the community that can build around media, as well as how both new fans like her friend and old fans who were there from the beginning can all have a place and contribute together. I loved the part where other fans all chipped in to add pieces to her costume - strangers before the conference but all coming together in the moment. Plus, I am always a fan of a fairy tale retelling. I love seeing old stories put into modern day circumstances and this book does that well. My only hesitation is that our narrator is a little too whiny for me. I understand that things are going wrong for her, but I sometimes didn't get why she held off from making a friend for so long. Overall, I would recommend this book, especially for those interested in retellings and fan culture, and I'm definitely going to pick up the rest of the series.

You guys... this book was super cute! And it totally made me rewatch A Cinderella Story (with Hillary Duff and Chad Michael Murray)! Cinderella isn't usually my favorite retelling only because there are so many Cinderella retellings, but I get why. It's a great plot line and easy to change up and make unique.

I really appreciated that this book brought out all the geeky/nerdy stuff! It was seriously an ode to geeks and it was so much fun to be immersed in that world. I also related to the main character, Elle, pretty well. She is a redhead and she's a blogger/writer (I believe she wrote fanfic, if I'm not mistaken).

It was cool that part of this novel was written in an epistolaric format because those are always so fun to read. And it was fun to read the texts that Elle and Darien were sending to each other without even knowing who the other was.

All-in-all, this was a really fun read and if you read and loved Fangirl, I think you should try this book!

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

I heard about this book first by American book bloggers who had received review copies, and I knew I needed a copy. Me being the dafty that I am, I requested it from America, not the UK, but still a copy managed to arrive (thanks, Jamie). I love retellings, and as a retelling of Cinderella, this was so well done! Ella was a fantastic MC, and really endeared herself to the audience. With an evil step-mother and step-sisters, she dives into her favourite fandom, Starfield, to escape reality. Her blog about the show is quite vocal, especially about the casting choice for the new lead, and this leads to messaging to and fro from someone who believes Darien was the perfect choice. The other MC, Darien, may, on the outside, seem perfect, but he's dealing with his own issues. He adores Starfield as much as Ella, and feels the pressure of being the lead actor to heart. Ella and Darien, not knowing who each other is, soon begin to fall for each other, and the upcoming ExcelsiCon is the perfect chance to meet.

This book was just perfect for any nerdy book/sci-fi lover. Starfield is a mash up of Star Wars and Star Trek, and the fans in the book remind me of real life fans of these franchises. Though the book is based on Cinderella, there is a lot of originality in the plot, and both Ella and Darien's characterisations were fantastic. They were cute and funny together, and I adore them both. I'm so happy that there is a second, companion book, so I'll be able to see more from them again. I can't wait to dive into The Princess and the Fangirl soon!

RATINGS :-
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4.5/5
OVERALL RATING : 4.5/5

Genre : Young Adult, Fiction,Contemporary Romance, Re-telling

Anything can happen once upon a con…
When geek girl Elle Wittimer sees a cosplay contest sponsored by the producers of Starfield, she has to enter. First prize is an invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. Elle’s been scraping together tips from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck behind her stepmother’s back, and winning this contest could be her ticket out once and for all—not to mention a fangirl’s dream come true.

Teen actor Darien Freeman is less than thrilled about this year’s ExcelsiCon. He used to live for conventions, but now they’re nothing but jaw-aching photo sessions and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Federation Prince Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the diehard Starfield fandom has already dismissed him as just another heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, closet nerd Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.


“Look to the stars. Aim. Ignite.”
I received an ARC of Geekerella in exchange of an honest review. I wasn’t sure that Geekerella would be my cup of tea. Reason being that it sounded like those typical cliché cinderella stories which I usually don’t prefer to read.

But to my utter astonishment Geekerella turned out to be the BEST Cinderella re-telling ever! When I got to know to know that Geekerella is a Cindrella story Re-telling my first thoughts were “ughhh not again people should write something new! They should let go of Cinderella stories!!” The Cinderella re-telling can be really shallow and naive sometimes. But let me tell you Geekerella wasn’t like that at all!tumblr_onw0j89kIB1tg.jpg

As the story took pace I got know why did Elle wanted to go to that cosplay contest. It was because first, she loved Starfield all her life. Heck she was grown up while watching it with her dad. And second reason was that she wanted to escape from the step mother and step sisters with whom she didn’t get along.

And our second most important character was no different even if he was a teen idol. He was a huge fanboy of Starfield!! But of course he couldn’t tell anyone as he didn’t want to ruin his “teen idol” image. Due to this all the other hardcore Starfield fans didn’t like the fact Darien will be casted as the main lead in the movie based on Starfield.

One of those hardcore fans who is against Darien being casted as the lead is Elle. She couldn’t accept Darien as Carmindor (the main lead) whom she admires a lot since childhood because in her point of view Darien is just an actor who wants to be in the Starfield movie just for the sake of money.

The best part of Ashley Poston’s Geekrella was how the story focuses on a geeky fangirl! That rarely happens in contemporary books.

GEEKERELLA, as its name implies, is a play on the classic Cinderella story and that’s one of the things that first attracted me to the book! I’m actually not a big Cinderella fan (I like it just fine but it’s not my favorite fairy tale or Disney movie), but throw “geek” in the title of anything and I am there! I also loved the concept of a contemporary adaptation of a fairy tale because I’ve read so few modern, non-fantasy/sci-fi retellings and Ashley Poston really did a great job of pulling this one off!

Firstly, I loved the characters. They were true to the Cinderella archetypes in many ways but also so uniquely themselves. I loved Elle and her geeky past (and present) growing up watching Starfield reruns with her dad. Her dad loved the show so much that he and her mom would cosplay and they started a whole conference for it, which ends up being a big part of the book. I adored THE GEEK’S GUIDE TO UNREQUITED LOVED, half because it had a con in it and it was amazing. Having attended Book Expo (and other book cons) the last handful of years, the concept has grown close to my heart and I loved seeing book characters enjoy the same things! Connected through the con (amongst other things), is Darien, heartthrob actor and… totally normal dude. I LOVED that Darien was this really big teen actor and just wanted to be a normal, geeky guy. He ends up being cast in the Starfield movie and everyone things he’ll screw it up because he’s known for being a totally different character and no one knows his nerdy side. (Which publicists and media people, whoever you are, let us see the geeky side!!! Don’t suppress it!) Anyway… these two are just adorable on their own and I had a hell of a time shipping them throughout this book!

Elle’s family was truly horrible but I did like that there were some gray areas. She does have an evil step-mom and some awful step-sisters but then there are times where readers realize things aren’t just in black and white. Some villains are still villains but others have a story behind their actions or are just along for the ride. GEEKERELLA was a book about everyone getting a chance to be them — whether each character seized that opportunity was up to them but I really appreciated that they all had the chance to stand up for what they believed in and what the loved.

GEEKERELLA is described as “part romance, part love letter to geek culture” and this is 100% true. Every nerd is geeky in their own way and I love that TV fanatics, comic book nerds, book-lovers, and more can appreciate the general nerdiness of this book and see themselves reflected in the characters. It was a positively delightful reading experience and I find myself gushing about it even more as I’m writing the review. It’s a book that sticks with your feels long after the end!

This is such a cute and yet heartbreaking story! It pained me to read the loneliness and sadness Elle carried with her because her stepmother wouldn't accept her geek side and how similar to her deceased husband she is. I'm glad at least one of the stepsisters is genuinely nice and that Elle found a friend in Sage.

I felt that there should have been some more hesitance on Elle's part when Darien came out clean about being the guy who she had been texting, especially considering that she wasn't a fan of him before. I also think he could have guessed sooner who she was because she'd have to carry the convention badge with her and there was only one badge for the daughter of the dead founder of the convention.

Overall I thought this was a great adorable read with a bit of family struggle, I definitely recommend!

Okay guys, confession time - I'm a sucker for Disney and a sucker for epic retellings. Combine them together and you have a crazy me front and centre to read these damn books. This book, right here is an epic and so different retelling of Cinderella, it has geeks not princes and an epic space galaxy show that has an awesome fandom/Cult and Elle is possibly the biggest fan of starfield.

First of all they have a convention which Elle's father co-founded, ERMADERD! This convention sounds absolutely amazing and I want to go to it like so badly. Star Wars, cosplay, epic show references. Okay, I'll try and dial down my fangirling. Elle is amazing, the blogger over at Rebelgunner - a shrine to starfield and a critics to the recently revealed news of her beloved show getting a reboot. She is fierce and deep down she hopes for something better and for things she loves not to get destroyed! Darien is such a dork, like the biggest dork ever. You wouldn't think that especially from an actor, who is soon to play Carmindor from starfield, which Elle isn't happy about.

This was such a 'wrong number, right person' kinda thing. Their dorky texts were hella cute and their growing friendship was downright adorable. I only wish they met a bit sooner and had more time to become romantic. I really liked Sage and the idea of the pumpkin being a vegan food truck and I honestly saw Sage as the fairy godmother.

Ashley Postin has really combined two favourite things of mine together so seamlessly. Being an awesome show obsessed nerd, and I have many shows, and a Disney fan. Mashing up to make such an adorable and cute book that will make you want to reread again. I really need other epic Disney mashup, of alllll the Disney classic.

Adorakably cute and so sentimental. I wasn't expecting this story from a con setting. Ashley has a gift for words and time and place.

2.5 stars.

Geekerella is the first book in the Once Upon a Con series, which is a series of different retellings. This one is a Cinderella-ish story that is supposedly a nod to nerd culture and fandom, but for me, the premise of this book was so much better than the execution. This book was so slow to get going; if I hadn’t been reading it for a round of Book Bingo, I probably would have put it down. It did eventually pick up, but when the main characters meet and it’s the most disastrous scene in the book (and not in a good way,) it’s never a good sign.

So this book covers the typical Cinderella story - a young woman who was incredibly close to her father left behind when he dies with a step-mother who treats her terribly and two wicked step-sisters. The fairy God-mother in this story comes in the form of Elle’s co-worker, Sage, who owns a food truck with a pumpkin painted on the side of it. Sage is Elle’s age, and quite frankly, she was the only interesting person in this book. I liked the way she and Elle became friends, so suddenly, and that she was Elle’s allie through the entire story. She was such a good friend and constantly cheering Elle on, right up until the very end in a hilarious scene with her and Darien, the love interest in this book. Speaking of Darien - the poor guy. He was such a bland character. He had no backbone, and his story was so predictable and boring. And like I mentioned earlier, the first meeting between Darien and Elle was incredibly lackluster as well. I will admit, he was being a bit rude when they first met, but I really understood his motivation and think a lot of his actions were driven by anxiety. Elle, by comparison, was just being bratty and mean-spirited, and it made a lukewarm story even worse. And what really frustrates me is that I think this was supposed to be an example of her standing up for herself. But that’s not how it felt to me. It was her being nasty, plain and simple, and it’s frustrating to me that this is how ‘strong’ females are being portrayed in YA. I also feel like this book relied heavily on the fact that Elle lost her father, and that just doesn't instantly make a layered character. I need more than that. My last gripe is how closely this book followed the beats of Ever After, and I know, I know. They’re both Cinderella stories. But if you’re going to emulate a beloved story like this one (more so Ever After than the original,) then it should be done so much better.

I guess I’ll stop here, because I honestly feel like I’ve talked myself down another star on the rating. In summary - Sage was the shining star of Geekerella, a misunderstood loner, and I think her story could be worth reading. But I’m not sure I want to give this author another go. I guess time will tell.

For some reason, I never reviewed this when it came out. I will need to re-read it soon (I still have to read my purchased copy of the sequel!) and maybe do a double review!

I did, however, do a design vlog upon its release:
http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/2017/04/design-vlog-geekerella-by-ashley-poston.html

And last month, I reposted a Comic Con Round-Up Post from 2018 for the launch of SDCC that included the title:
http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/2019/07/12-books-about-comic-con.html

I have always been a sucker for happy endings, fairy tales, and Cinderella. This book combines all three.

I loved the relationships that evolved over the course of the book- friendships, family and romantic ones. The characters are almost all really solid with only one minor exception for me. I don't want to spoil anything, so I can't really say which arc I enjoyed the most. We'll just say that it is a supporting arc that occurs very late in the book.

Elle, Darien and Sage are all fantastic. The step-mother and step-sisters are perfectly done. I frequently wanted to smack them throughout the story. Mark is a horrible character, but really well written, he's another character that I wanted to smack. I love Lonny, his character is exactly who Darien needed. Jessica is superb {and I can't wait to read her book}. The only character that I felt wasn't as developed for me is Gail, but I kind of think at least part of that was necessary for plot development.

I enjoyed the misunderstandings and wrong turns the characters took throughout the story and the ending was so much fun. I pretty much devoured the last few chapters with a huge smile on my face and laughed out loud on several occasions. I loved it!

This was such an incredibly fun read! The geek take on the Cinderella story was fresh and relatable, and the story was cheesy and predictable in all the best ways. Some of the fandom lingo felt overused and grated on me a little over time but overall it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story or from my ability to root as hard as anyone else for Elle and Darien. Now to find myself a con to go to and a food truck to eat at...

I received an ARC of this story from NetGalley in a Quirk Books giveaway.

Its cute, its funny, its everything you expect it to be from the title and cover.
Which i personally really enjoyed. I liked the easy and fast to read writing and sure the charactery could have been better developed, the story a bit deeper but all in all its what its supposed to be and the reader expect going into it.

This book was full of all the fully cuteness you want in a YA book. It went perfectly with the Cinderella theme but added so many fun elements that it never felt stagnant or repetitive.

I loved that Elle and Darien get to build this awesome bond without the weight of their true identities. I loved Cal’s evolution and Sage as the fairy godmother. All kinds of recommend this book!!!