Book Review: Greekerella by Ashley Poston

Geekerella

by Ashley Poston

Blurb: Cinderella goes to the con in this fandom-fueled twist on the classic fairy tale.

Part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom. 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 the 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.

Cover Review: I love this cover. The colors, the food truck, the girl. It gives you a quick idea of what the book is going to be like, which is perfect. It's kind of basic, but that's okay.

Plot: On one hand, it follows a lot of the classic Cinderella plot, especially in Elle's POV. But it also has it's own unique points, like Darien's POV and plot-line. If you like the Cinderella Story movies, especially the original, you'll love this book. It feels a lot like that book, but with more nerd.

I think the author did a great job balancing the Cinderella part without feeling too cliche. We have the evil stepmother and sisters, the dead father, the prince, and the ball, but all in fun and different ways. I especially like the touch of her working in the Magic Pumpkin. 

Characters: Elle (which I have no idea if it's pronounced L, like the letter, or Ellie), is our first POV character, and honestly, I liked her more than Darien. She had more depth to her. I felt for her and how she feels like nothing good happens in her life. I also like how her family beats her down, but she's never broken. Also, how she's such a big geek.

Darien is our other main character, and he's an actor. The best part about his part of the story was seeing the behind the scenes of movie making and living an actor's life. It made my film nerd heart happy. He wasn't as deep as Elle, and while their romance started out kinda iffy, it was okay in the end (just not my favorite part of the novel).

Then we have all the other character. Her sisters, one of which is a jerk, and the other one less so. Her step-mom who I wanted to slap. Her co-worker, Sage, who was fabulous (but also gay, and goes out with her stepsister). Gail, Darien's handler. They were all good.

World: This story takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina, if I remember correctly. I liked the bit of Southerness it had, even if the setting didn't play in too much. My favorite part was the con in the third act, because it reminded me so fondly of going to Awesome Con.

Other: I loved seeing fandom culture brought to life on the page. I haven't really seen a book that shows it like this. There were references, memes, and lots of discussion about what makes a "real" fan. The author did a great job creating her own fandom (even if it was a little bit of a Star Trek rip-off). It was super fun.

Rating: 4 stars

Have you read this book? What's one of your favorite Cinderella retellings? Tell me in the comments.

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