Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Published on April 4, 2017
by Quirk Books

Plot Summary of Geekerella by Ashley Poston 

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.

Review of Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Do you ever take a pass on a book and then, after the reviews come out, reconsider? I do. And I had this book on my "maybe" TBR.

Why? I'm kind of burned out on fairy tale retellings. 

There have been a LOT in YA. Most retellings are inherently predictable. And a lot of fairy tales have tired gender stereotypes (wicked stepmothers and stepsisters, girl saved by a prince) that are more than ready to be re-thought. 

But I saw the rave reviews for Geekerella and thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did. Geekerella was possibly the most charming Cinderella retelling I've read in a while. Or ever. 

The funny thing it, the book also broke some of my other reading rules. Fandom books? Not really a fan. Don't get me wrong: I love fandoms, but imaginary fandoms always make me feel a little tired and a lot left out. 

Another thing I'm not a fan of? YA books that have too much pop culture in them. I always feel like books like that are destined to be laughed at a few years down the line. Don't believe me? Watch some episodes of a 2000s-era TV show, where characters are so enthralled by their super-cool Sidekick phones, and try not to laugh.

Geekerella broke ALL my retelling and pop culture and fandom rules and was so completely charming and adorable that I smiled all the way through.

The retelling choices were so clever -- AND so of-the-moment -- that a decade from now, I think this book can be one of those cultural relics that seems charming, not stale. Food trucks. Vlogging. Cons. 

One day, they'll be looked at as cultural relics. But I loved the way that Geekerella embraced them. 

I thought using ExcelsiCon for the ball was creative and hilarious ... and poignant, because that was the legacy Elle had from her parents. 

I loved that the prince, who in most fairy tales is only a prop, got his own POV and his own storyline. And he had a rags-to-riches tale of his own.

All in all, this was a rom-com on a page, a feel-good retelling that put a smile on my face.

If you love fairy tale retellings, you should check out this great list of YA Beauty and the Beast Retellings!

Other books by Ashley Poston 

Ashley Poston Books in order (by series)

The Sound of Us (2013)

We Own the Night (2016)

Geekerella (2017)

The Princess and the Fangirl (2019)

Bookish and the Beast (2020)

Heart of Iron (2018)

Soul of Stars (2019)

Amongst the Beasts and Briars (2020)

The Dead Romantics (adult fiction; 2022)

You can find Ashley Poston's website here. 

Have you read this? Tell me what you thought in comments.