Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Holy fangirling, Batman! I LOVED this book. It has everything I want in a story – it’s cute, funny, and well-written to boot. If you have been part of any fandom in the last 20 years, READ THIS BOOK. I’ve never read a book exactly like it, and yet part of it feels like coming home.

Full disclaimer here: I’m a fangirl. I spend a good 80% of my free time on the internet, immersed in pop culture and fandom. I have read fanfiction until the sun comes up, squealed over trailers with people from other continents, other timezones. In fandom, I found a diverse range of people who still find something in common. Never before have I read a book which captures this so well.

Geekerella is a love letter to fandom dressed up in a Cinderella dress. It hits all the notes of the retold fairytale, swapping the ball for a cosplay competition and the fairy godmother for a green-haired workmate with a knack for fashion design. Beyond that, it echoes You’ve Got Mail through anonymous text messages. Their public interactions even have shades of a gender-flipped Pride and Prejudice, with Darian proud of his nerdy background and Elle prejudiced against him for his soap opera beginnings and screaming fangirls. Neither character is perfect, but they learn and grow as the story goes on.

The rest of the characters are fully fleshed out, as well. Even Catherine, the evil stepmother, has a human side. Instead of some one-dimensional caricature, she comes across as a shallow woman with a deep resentment of the fan culture that makes up the backbone of the story. Not because she’s shallow, but because she feels her deceased husband loved it more than her.

Geekerella is also peppered with fandom references and outright name-dropping, from Lord of the Rings to Doctor Who – all the big name fandoms of the last 15 years save Harry Potter and Twilight (though the former gets a shout out in the acknowledgements – let’s hear it for AVPM!). They all feel natural, inserted with great care because the author loves them and not just the main characters do.

Elle’s final confrontation with Catherine also has a lovely monologue on the power of fandom, how it’s not the subject matter but the community that is built around it. There also is an awesome takedown of the ‘fake geek’ mindset and celebrity culture, and validation of all sorts of fans – even those who liked Val Kilmer’s Batman. The author gets it.

I could gush about this book for a lot longer. It’s not perfect – the story is mightily predictable and I sometimes wished both characters would stand up for themselves a little more – but I enjoyed every word. If fandom means anything, has ever meant anything, to you, go read Geekerella. Please.

Five fangirling stars.

I received a copy of this story from the author through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.