I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

Super cute love letter to fandom. I loved the spin on Cinderella. I also liked that one of the stepsisters wasn't really nasty to Elle. Can't wait for the companion novel next year!

Excellent read!

Ashley Poston's Geekerella was a cute YA retelling of the classic Cinderella. Though a little reminiscent of A Cinderalla Story (the one with Hillary Duff), it was different. I liked the integration of "nerd" culture and fandoms into this book, something I can appreciate especially as a Potter Head and Whovian. I also liked the side romance because it was unexpected (I won't give more away than that!). All-in-all, I'm glad I finally decided to give this book a chance because it was really sweet.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

A fandom retelling of Cinderella? Sign me up.

Geekerella is equal parts fun and terrifyingly sad, just like the material that it's inspired by. The story is based on Danielle (Elle) Wittimer, our titular geekerella, who slaves away every day with no real acknowledgement or affection. Cue a film reboot of her favourite TV show and she's set to go on an adventure like she could never have imagined.

It's an incredibly cute story with some interesting side characters and and ending that feels deserved after the journey the reader has gone on with Elle.

One of the only real qualms I had whilst reading Geekerella, is that Darien seemed so much older than Elle even though the age difference was only a year. Maybe this is because Darien is famous and has a different lifestyle to Elle, but you'd think that they would both have had to grow up really quickly in order to adjust to their lives. Other than that, their chemistry was believable and I liked the whole 'You've Got Mail' aspect to it as well with Elle talking about him as a blogger but also their private conversations and them not knowing that these two people were one and the same.

Overall, a very fun read and a world that I would want to return to - thank the lord for the sequel/companion novel.

Geekerella is a fun, spunky twist on one of my all-time favorite fairy tales. I'm starting to realize that I ADORE books that focus on fandom. I really, truly relate to these characters and it's the best thing. I reallllly enjoyed this book. The concept, the references, the swoons--all amazing. I highly recommend this if you love rom-coms and nerdiness. Ashley Poston is an author to watch!

Thank you to Negalley and Quirk Books for this review copy!

this is my favorite cinderella retelling so far! i really liked the story and the geek inside me felt seen!

OMG! This story was positively amazing! It was so adorable and I wish it could have gonna on. This is a wonderful, fun retelling of Cinderella and if you don't know I love ANYTHING Disney. So I definitely have to have this book and it was outstanding and I will forever be rereading this story.

I don't often read books that can be described as adorbs, but here we are: this book is adorbs. Featuring too many nods to geek culture to count, it's a really cute story and a nice enjoyable read. It's also a very quick one! I got through it in a single day. There's not really any surprises here, but the author connects the story to the tale of Cinderella in clever ways. It is cheesy and easy! A problem and I suppose a minor spoiler: (view spoiler) It did sometimes read like a good fanfic, and some people will be here for that. Overall, I give it a 3.5 and would recommend it to someone in the mood for a light YA with geeky aspects.

Elle lost her father years ago, but she carries on his love for Starfield, a classic sci-fi television series. Like so many past projects, Starfield is up for a reboot: a movie! She's both thrilled and nervous that they'll someone manage to mess up her fandom. She's less than impressed when she learns that teen heartthrob Darien Freeman has been cast as the lead. She worries that he lacks the depth to portray such a legendary characters, and resents the fan girls that follow him from a teen beach drama... including her two step-sisters who've never had any interest in Starfield, until Darien Freeman is connected to it. When Elle learns the prize for winning a cosplay contest includes a trip to the premiere, she's determined to make the trip and best everyone else... but she'll have to dodge her controlling step-mother to do it.

I loved this! It was so cute and clever! I loved it even more than I thought I would. The characters were so lovable, and the why Cinderella was retold here was so unique and well done. 5/5 Stars!

Geekerella came to me suuuuuper highly recommended by basically everyone. As such, I think my expectations were a wee bit too high, because I expected a truly new take on Cinderella. That said, Geekerella's a cute and well-executed Cinderella retelling.

Darien Freeman is adorable, and the blend of celeb romance and Cinderella works really well. As does The Magic Pumpkin. This book really is more clever as I look back on it. The ship's very cute, and I am pretty weak against romances where they initially fall in love over chat. ALL BANTER ALL THE TIME.

Cinderella's not my favorite fairy tale retelling, but if you want some fandom and some shippiness, you can't go wrong with this adorable contemp from Ashley Poston.

Highly popular among teen readers at my branch, love that it is still popular.

Geekerella by Ashley Poston is a sweet, fun contemporary YA romance centered around fandoms. Elle is a girl obsessed with the cult-classic show Starfield. When the show gets a movie reboot, she is all kinds of excited until she learns that the soap star Darien Freeman is playing the lead. What Elle doesn’t realize though is that Darien is just as big a fan as she is.

I really liked Elle. She’s a quiet, nerdy girl that reminds me a little of myself at that age. At 17, she’s an orphan being raised by her stepmom (or as she calls her the “stepmonster”) and lives with her two stepsisters. When the book opens, Elle is lost or at least she feels lost to me. She is going through the motions of her life, living for others instead of for herself, and missing her dad as the 7th anniversary of his death approaches. When she watches the morning news show that announces the soap star playing her beloved Federation Prince, she takes to her blog and becomes viral overnight.

Darien is a misunderstood guy. He plays a teen heart throb on a CW soap that he describes as the next “OC.” However he is really nerdy and a little shy. He plays a persona when he is in the public eye that doesn’t match who he really is. Like Elle he seems lost and overwhelmed. During the morning show, he is surprised to learn that he will be attending ExcelsiCon with his costars, participating on the Starfield panel and signing afterwards. Because of a bad experience/memories, he hasn’t attended the con in years, especially not since becoming an actor. So he looks up the number to the head of the con and calls it. Instead he gets a wrong number and a girl at the other end.

The plot of this story really revolves around Elle and Darien attending the ExcelsiCon. Elle wants to attend because it was created by her dad and it’s where he met her mother. She also wants to attend to remind herself where she comes from and who she is. Darien wants out of the con but resigns himself to attending. After the wrong number, he begins texting back and forth with Elle, never learning who she really is (the blogger who hates him), and she doesn’t learn his real name. I liked the sweet build up of how they begin to know one another and fall for each other. It makes the love-at-first-sight thing more believable.

I loved the parallels the author makes to the original Cinderella. It’s written well for modern-times, yet Elle is still our Cinder and Darien the prince. There’s even a ball 😀 However the story reminded me ALOT of one of my favorite author’s books Cinder & Ella. So much so that I had to wonder if this author read it. Now there is NO plagiarism. It’s not that at all. But maybe more like it inspired this one. I had a hard time relating and liking these two characters as I compared them to Brian and Ella. Probably just me though 😉

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I listened to it on Audible, really more like I binged it in one day. Eileen Stevens is fantastic. I’ve listened to some books just because of her. She really brings Elle to life with the inflections and nuances that place her as a southern girl. Tristan Morris narrates Darien’s chapters and I got distracted by his pronunciation of “dalek.” I know it’s a little thing but it’s dah-leck not day-leck. Aside from that he brought Darien to life for me too. If you enjoy sweet, contemporary YA romance that is clean, I highly recommend it. Also if you are in a fandom, you will appreciate the fictional fandom Poston has created.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

This is everything fandom's are about.

I have so many heart eyes for this book, it’s not even funny. I absolutely, absolutely adore this. I mean, so much love. For realsies. It’s the cute, geeky cousin to the actual Cinderella, and I love it.

Geekerella follows the story of Danielle “Elle” Whittimer and how she falls for Darien Freeman, the hot actor who is all set to reprise the role of Carmindor, Elle’s favourite fictional crush, in the movie reboot of old time show Starfield. Geekerella borrows heavily from A Cinderella Story a la Hillary Duff & Chad Michael Murray and I love it. It has the famous guy (Darien) and the girl next door (Elle) and texting people without knowing their identities and Elle despising Darien without knowing anything about him. It’s all amazing. And the fandom references are lush. So many of them. I was in heaven.

Elle has loved Starfield for as long as she can remember – the love instilled in her at an early age by her parents who met and fell in love because of their mutual love for the show. They were fandom royalty in their day and her father even started a convention – ExcelsiCon that was his pride and joy. But, her mother died when she four and then her father remarried and died in an accident a few years later, leaving her with a stepmother who is more of a step monster, her equally annoying step sisters and a house that’s hers but isn’t really. Her stepmother makes her do all the chores, her sisters make all sorts of horrible comments about her and she doesn’t have any friends apart from Sage, her coworker at the Magic Pumpkin – a vegan food truck – and her fellow Starfield fans. She runs a blog called Rebelgunner where she talks about all things Starfield. When, Darien Freeman is cast as the lead in the movie reboot for the franchise, Elle is pissed. Her passionate blog post about why Darien isn’t the right Carmindor makes her an overnight sensation. Then, she finds out that the winner of the cosplay competition at ExcelsiCon, her dad’s brainchild, will win a meet and greet with said actor, Elle decides that she needs to win it so that she can meet Darien in person and call him out and also so that she can escape her shitty home life. Amidst all this, she receives a call which was really meant for her dad (she inherited his old number) and begins talking to the cute boy on the other end. They connect over their shared love of Starfield and slowly develop feelings for each other.

I really like how dedicated Elle is to her fandom. She is so passionate about it and loves it so much. It really is amazing. She has a bad home life but doesn’t let that deter her and makes the best of it. Yes, she complains about stuff at times, but mostly, she keeps her head high and that is admirable because her step family treats her like she’s less than dirt. She’s been burned by a boy in the past and that’s made her reluctant to open up to any boy, but she can’t help like the boy who called her, the one she starts to refer to as Carmindor. He understands her in a way that no one else does and he’s almost as passionate about Starfield as she is. I love how the romance built in this one. So cute.

And then, there’s Darien Freeman. Darien, who loves Starfield. Darien, the geek who loved going to cons and make geek references. He’s thrust in the limelight by his father, who his more of a manager than a parent. He doesn’t like the image his dad has created for him in the media and really wants people to like him for who he is and not because of his abs (which have been insured, by the way). When he starts talking to the girl he accidentally calls in relation to his ExcelsiCon appearance, he feels that he can finally be himself without the shadow of his screen name. So, he hides who he is and talks to Elle as if he just your average guy. He is so freaking shit cute. I absolutely adored him. Right from the beginning. He has so much to deal with in regards to his father, the media, his best friend who turned out to be just a money and fame hungry parasite and the plethora of fans who believe he isn’t their Carmindor, especially the Rebelgunner, yet he keeps his cool and his head up and faces everything head on. He’s only eighteen, but he seems to have the weight of the world on his shoulders and really just needs someone who would understand who he is as a person and like that person.

These two kids are just amaze all throughout the story and I love them. Totally. So cute. And they’re both such dorks. It’s awesome.

This story is definitely one that will leave a smile to your face and make you fall in love with it. It will also make you want to hug it tight because reading this will be like home because you’re a geek and you love your fandoms.

A definite must read.

This sweet and relevant retelling of Cinderella as a geek princess speaks to my inner fangirl. I loved that we got to hear from a vulnerable "Prince Charming" in this version, and it is absolutely amazing that the author could create such fandom for a fictional series. I really want to watch this show that doesn't exist! Perfect for fans of fairy tale mashups, and fans of fandoms in general.

I loved this quirky and geeky take on Cinderella. Ashley is a true fangirl and it really shows in her writing. I'm not going to lie, some references I didn't get, but the fangirl inside of me was so happy while reading this book. I think Elle is an outstanding character and love how she finds solace at a con. Definitely a fun and fast read!

Elle is stuck living with her awful step-mother and step-sisters. They treat her like garbage and constantly make fun of her Starfield obsession, the only thing she has left to connect her to her late father. Now, on top of it all, Darien Freeman (teen sitcom heartthrob) has been chosen to play the lead in the new Starfield movie, and he could not be more wrong for the part. Meanwhile, Darien is struggling to balance his geeky interests with his fame. When their paths collide, Elle and Darien learn a lot about fandoms, fame, and themselves.

Ok, I had a love/hate relationship with this book. But it definitely ended up with love in the end. At first, I wasn't entirely convinced by the Cinderella retelling. I want my retellings to be more original and veer away from the traditional story. I don't mean that Geekerella wasn't original, by any means. But there are lots of aspects from Cinderella that appear throughout the book. A girl living with her step-mother and two horrible step-sisters, forced to clean and cook for them, and working in a food truck called the Magic Pumpkin. And that's just the start. There's even a glass slipper. It's not a bad thing to include these elements, but it's not my personal preference.

I got over this issue pretty quickly, however. I was able to look past the cheesy Cinderella elements as I kept reading and fell in love with the story and characters. The book actually ended up being a combination of Cinderella and You've Got Mail (which happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time). The story was so stinking cute. All of the supporting characters were brought to life beautifully and some of them were absolutely hilarious. And you couldn't help but root for Elle and Darien - personally and romantically.

While the story was obviously leading toward a happily ever after, the romance didn't feel overbearing. Of course it was there (this is a Cinderella story after all), but I found myself cheering Elle and Darien on throughout the book as they were finding their place in the world. It was nice to see a book with a romantic story, but characters that were independently strong on their own.

Overall, Geekerella turned out to be sticky-sweet and ooey-gooey and just wonderful. It is such a lovely feel-good story that I think just about everyone can enjoy. If you are a hardcore member of pretty much any fandom, you will understand and love Elle's and Darien's commitment to Starfield. Even if you aren't a fangirl or fanboy, you will still love the hilarious and adorable story presented in Geekerella.

➜Took awhile to get into. It came across as a lot of white nonsense at first. Wasn’t sure how bad her life was actually going to be & I’m in no mood for a whiney brat.
➜Be careful my fellow survivors! The abuse was hard to read, it was so accurate and gut wrenching. It took me right back into that horrid “I can’t do anything right and it’s all my fault. I ruin everything” mindset. 
➜Teared up several times and straight up sobbed at the end. Abused girl thriving and living her dream gets me every time. 
➜Doesn’t deal with why her dad fell for such an awful person, how it was before he died, or why she’s so terrible besides the cliche jealousy that doesn’t make much sense in this case. 
➜Yay for new besties! And crafters! And positive fandom experiences! 
➜W/W supporting character romance. POC LI. Mentions racism POC LI faces in fandom.
➜I was not in love with the romance at first either but thankfully it’s a slow get to know you, which gave me time to be won over. And I was definitely won over. 
➜There is one romance-texting moment that I question: Why would she ask him what a character’s catch phrase? If she can run a sewing tutorial on her brick phone, she can Google a question. Seems fake. 
➜Their show is a mix of Firefly and Star Trek. I was thinking it was a Firefly stand-in until about half-way through when it was suddenly mentioned half a dozen times like someone finally realized and didn’t want it to be too obvious.
➜This made me want to watch the best Cinderella adaptation ever: Brandi’s Cinderella. Which totally holds up still.
➜Recommended if: You’re in a fandom, esp. Sci-fi or fantasy audiovisual. You like mystery romance paramours. You like Cinderella (duh) without any of the can’t-recognize-you, must-use-slipper nonsense. 
➜You might also like: Gena/Finn, Fangirl, Starfish,