eBook: Geekerella (Once Upon a Con Series, Book 1) by Ashley Poston
Just like in Cinderella, Ella’s father is no longer alive and she lives in her parent's home with a super wicked step-mother, and twin step-sisters who bully her and emotionally abuse her. Elle is outcasted from her family at home and in life amongst her peers. She yearns for the days of geeking out over her favorite show with her father. Her father was the founder of ExcelsiCon, a comic con that was a staple in her family growing up and the fandom community. Both her parents were huge cosplayers and fans of the Starfield series and dedicated themselves to spreading geekdom love. However, her step-mother puts a stop to that by limiting her access to her past life and berating her for having the same love as her parents. Which is not cool!
At first, things don’t seem to be going well in Elle’s life and we can totally feel her emotions at the beginning of this story as she goes through her daily routine of being ridiculed, and having no one to confide in. Elle has no friends IRL and feels completely alone, except for her internet friends and a blog that is dedicated to Starfield.
One day Elle receives a random text message on her father’s old cellphone, the one he used to conduct business for ExcelsiCon. Elle admits that con business calls happen every so often due to the digits still being on the con's website. However, the interaction with this person feels different and eventually they become fast texting friends who start to confide in each other, without knowing each others true identities.
Elle doesn’t know that she’s speaking to and befriending non-other than Darien Freeman, a teen actor who is starring in the new Starfield movie. An actor who she recently blasted on her blog for not being good enough to play the main character and that rant has become popular and circulating the internet. They don’t know how much their lives have already been entangled. After some teen angst drama, they discover things about themselves and about each other through their journey.
I really liked the duel character POV and felt it was well written. Elle also befriends her coworker Sage and they both work at a food truck called “The Magic Pumpkin” which looks exactly how it sounds, like a huge pumpkin. Sage is a great friend to Elle, I liked how their relationship progressed as Sage kind of takes the role of “fairy god-mother" who happens to be a fashion designer and dresses Elle for the biggest cosplay competition in their state at ExcelsiCon. The friendship between them shows how being alone in this world can be really isolating and how important friendship is.
If you are in the mood for a cute, funny, teen romance then I recommend this. Especially since it has all the elements of Cinderella with some awesome nerdtastic, and cosplay love. Also, this book has some great diversity in it with characters who are POC and of the LGBTQ+ community. Oh, yeah and there is some total Firefly love and shoutout, in addition to a Nathan Fillion mention. Always love some Browncoat representation!
Wanna read this book? I'll drop some links below.
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