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.
I came across this one while scanning the Quirk back-catalog, and then saw that it's the first in a series with a 3rd book recently released. Pop culture, con culture, romance, and a fairytale retelling? Yes, please!
The tale of Cinderella isn't exactly new to me: I've read Cinder, Ella Enchanted, and the original Grimm version, and I've seen Ever After, A Cinderella Story, as well as all three Disney versions (four if you count A Twist in Time). But I've found what separates a great retelling from a mediocre one is when the characters and setting engross you so much you forget about what's set to come next. And Geekerella did just that, more than once, in fact. Even though the destruction of Cinderella's dress is an iconic scene, I still felt genuine horror and heartbreak when the equivalent happened to Elle. And even with the story beats already having hit one after the other, the book still had me on edge about whether the two would get their dance at the royal ball.
Speaking of the two, Elle and Darien were easy to root for, each one totally relatable despite their different situations. Elle is a dreamer, despite her practicality. She knows she's got to toe the line with her step-mom and -sisters, who control the house her dad left her, and she's got a summer job working in a vegan food truck to manage. But when she's not on the clock or performing whatever chores her step-family has cooked up for her, she devotes all her time to Starfield, an old sci-fi show that she and her deceased parents all loved. Between the family problems, trust issues (partly due to said family problems), an anti-social co-worker, and being interested in a cult classic, it's not surprising that Elle feels pretty isolated. So when another fan of the show accidentally gets her number and starts texting her, she finally feels like she can be herself with someone, which spurs her to start branching out in other ways.
Darien is a teenage heartthrob, though he'd like if some of his fans weren't so fanatical. Fresh off the teen drama, Seaside Cove (think Riverdale or The OC), he's eager to start his first movie role, that of Federation Prince Carmindor in the new reboot of Starfield. Despite being a huge fan of the show, he's been told it's better to appeal to his teen demographic if he doesn't "geek out," miss a trivia question here and there, especially if the punishment involves showing off his finely toned body (which he's managed only through much suffering, thank you very much). So when the Stargunners (true fans) online give him nothing but grief, it's understandable that he'd want to back out of the upcoming convention his dad/manager booked him in. Unfortunately the only number he can find isn't to anyone involved with the con, but they are a fan of Starfield, and while not overly enthused about Darien's casting, seems willing to at least give him a chance. Soon what started as a random, anonymous text conversation turns into Darien's lifeline as he explores what he truly wants, even if that means jeopardizing his career.
Each alone in their own way. Each looking to fandom as an escape from their troubles. And each finding a friend in that fandom who pushes them to be better. Is it any wonder I fell in love with them falling in love? If I had to find fault with it, I'd say the romance itself relied a little too heavily on the Cinderella story, with the text conversations not necessarily showing as much connection as one might want between the two leads, but knowing that this romance doesn't immediately result in marriage does a lot to temper that discontent. Texts leading into a relationship isn't all that weird in this age of technology, and finding connections in unlikely places is only becoming more common. This exploration into the idea wasn't the first, and won't be the last, but it was a wonderful ride.
But don't think that this Starfield show is the only piece of fandom to love, 'cause this book is packed to the gills with tons of pop culture. From the obvious inspirations like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Firefly, to other genre juggernauts like Lord of the Rings, World of Warcraft, Marvel, Sailor Moon, and Game of Thrones, you'll be hard pressed to not find at least one thing you recognize, if not love, referenced somewhere in this book. And that doesn't even cover the cosplay culture, or introducing a new person to your fandom, or refusing to acknowledge a show's finale because you don't want to accept it's over, or conventions in general, or other common fandom practices that all help bring this story to life.
Overall, there's not much more I can say about how I loved this book. Despite knowing the original story inside and out, Poston wove just enough unique elements in and around and through it to craft a newly enjoyable experience. Whether you enjoy romance, YA, pop culture, Hollywood, fairytales, or just geeking out about things you like, there's no doubt you'll find something to love about this story. And I hear the next books do more with Starfield and its reboot, so I don't doubt I'll be running with Stargunners again in the near future. Until then, look to the stars. Aim. Ignite. ...And, of course, read.
Read by Eileen Stevens & Tristan Morris
Unabridged Length: 10.5 Hours
Listened at 2x Speed
Unabridged Length: 10.5 Hours
Listened at 2x Speed
I'm sorry to say I was less than impressed with this audiobook's production quality. Not only were the back and forth text conversations not dual-narrated by the two cast members—which was disappointing but ultimately not a deal-breaker—but the time codes for each and every one were left in. Even when the texts were literally rapid-fire within the same minute or two. I get that it's technically presented that way in the book, but I'm sure you could have edited it so we didn't have texts like this—
7:49 PM—read completely unabridged, time stamps and all. I know audiobooks are still working out the kinks in conveying digital media (texts, emails, and such) audibly, and what works for one production might not for another. I just wish more thought and consideration would have gone into making their texts, which convey the majority of the romance of the book, more enjoyable to experience instead of tedious.
—Pshhh, let them riot.
—I’d rather you promise-swear that you’ll never stop.
Elle 7:50 PM
—Really?
7:50 PM
—Really. I like talking to you.
Elle 7:51 PM
—Why? [p. 167]
But the biggest problem I had with this production was the repeated line reads. I can't remember ever having an audiobook that left in repeated takes like this. Even on some CD's, where they did repeat the last couple sentences or paragraph when a chapter break wasn't handy, they at least used the same audio. But no, there were at least five times, all in Darien's chapters (Tristan's audio) where they actually left in redo's of sentences, usually of dialog, with different inflections. One time, it wasn't even a full sentence, but it cut off partway and then restarted. I realize that 5 or so flubs in a 10+ hour recording isn't the end of the world, but it really did sour the whole experience for me. It felt like they didn't care enough to make sure their edit was solid before releasing it. I hope that's not the case, that they had some other problem like a time crunch or something else to explain this lack of polish, but I can only go off of what I have, which is the final product.
That being said, I always love when a split-POV book gets two narrators, and both of them did a great job in their roles. I'll admit that Tristan's voice came off a little too mature for 18-year-old Darien at first, but I warmed up to him quickly enough. He also had a funny way of pronouncing Gee, a nickname for Gail, with a soft G (guitar) instead of hard (giraffe). But aside from those two quirks, both he and his co-reader were phenomenal in conveying the characters and their emotions. Eileen was especially convincing during a particularly dark scene where Elle is breaking down sobbing but still trying to speak. Got me to tear up more than once.
Overall, I'd still recommend this audiobook for the stellar performances by the two narrators, but maybe check it out from the library first to make sure you can get past the annoyances and errors. There was also one final extra in my digital copy—a script excerpt from Starfield's final episode— that was notably absent from the audio. Now, there's a distinct possibility that this was added after the audio was released, so had no way of being included, but I would love to be able to hear a full cast version, along with score and sound effects, somewhere down the line. Who knows, there are still two books in the series I've yet to explore. Here's hoping!
I NEED to pick this one up!! That's such a bummer that there were errors in the narration!
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