ARC Review: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Title: Geekerella
Author: Ashley Poston
Publisher: Quirk Books
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Paperback, 320 Pages
Publication Date: April 4th, 2017

Summary: Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first. Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise. But when she disappears at midnight, will he ever be able to find her again?

I received an ARC edition of this book from Quirk to read in exchange for an honest review, and I'm so glad that I did! I'm a sucker for modern-day retellings of stories, and this one follows the path of Cinderella. Elle is a teen girl who is stuck living with her awful stepsisters and stepmother, and through a stroke of chance, she ends up texting a mysterious guy who had the wrong number. Before long, sparks fly, even though she doesn't know this guy's real identity -- the actor playing one of her favorite roles in her favorite television-series-turned-movie. 

I really, really loved this book. The story itself was adorable, especially because even though it paralleled Cinderella perfectly, it was also so uniquely different in a way. The ending of the story definitely seemed more Cinderella-esque than the beginning, but looking back on the story overall, it all made sense. 

Elle's relationship with Darien had me hooked from the start. Even when they didn't know each other's true identities, they confided in one another, made each other laugh, and created an adorable relationship that blossomed thanks to the wonders of the modern internet. Even when Elle's life seemed to come crashing down, and even when Darien felt that he had no control over his own actions, they turned to one another, and to the fantasy/sci-fi world they both loved, and in that they found comfort.

This book was absolutely geeky and I loved it from start to finish. It's been awhile since I was unable to put a book down, but that was definitely prevalent with this one. I missed the feeling of being totally absorbed in a book and not wanting it to end, so it was definitely a refreshing feeling that I got again with this one.

Seeing the life of a celebrity behind-the-scenes in daily life was also interesting. And the entire convention reminded me of BookCon,which got me super excited since I'll be attending that again this year! I pictured the Javits Center the entire time. I can't wait. :-)

The one thing that I wasn't crazy about in this book was the fact that some jokes were used too much. By the end of the book, if I heard another "Holy _____, Batman" joke, I would've lost my mind. Seriously. That's the one thing that this book could've done without. It was funny the first few times, but then it got a bit tiring. 

All in all, Geekerella was a fantastic book that I really enjoyed, and I'd definitely recommend that you put it on your TBR immediately. I'm so glad that I got an opportunity to read this book (thank you, Quirk!), and I'm also super excited that my first read of 2017 was a five-star review. It looks like things are going to be going up from here!

I really enjoyed Ashley Poston's story, and I'd definitely be open to reading more of her work in the future. Make sure you pick this one up if you get the chance!