Geekerella by Ashley Poston Published by Quirk Book on April 4, 2017
Genres: YA Contemporary, YA Romance
Pages: 320
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Goodreads
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.
Catfairy Bookmix
I have managed to do some research of my own(Since I am not part of the cosplay geeky fandom.)and gathered the geekiest playlist I could find. Also, I felt inspired and I decided to also add my own fangirl mix into this playlist! I have been a fangirl since I could remember(Back then before the term “fangirl” was created I was called a teenybopper.)and had the typical teenage girl room filled with JTT, Hanson posters, N’Sync, and Jason Priestly (Much better looking than Dylan McKay thank you very much!)! I hope you enjoy this playlist as much as I enjoyed creating it and fangirl dance away!
Twenty-seven years later I still get a thrill of doing this hand motion along with Brandon Walsh!
Catfairy Thoughts
In the words of Darien Freeman, “Holy Batnipples,” this book left me screeching with delight! The book touched me to the core and melted my old little fangirl heart! When I first laid eyes on the cover it just stopped me in my tracks and it was true love at first sight! Not only is the book cover an absolute beauty, the story is just pure perfection and I relished each and every minute detail of this book!
After I was done reading it, I felt that I wasn’t alone in the world and that it was ok to be a total fanatic about anything whether it be a band, a book, or a teenage show that ended in the early 2000’s!
Speaking about a show that ended in the early 2000’s, see below my 32-year old self-coming to visit the filming location of Dawson’s Creek located in Wilmington, North Carolina!
Catfairy in Capeside High School!
I have wanted to visit the filming location of Dawson’s Creek since I was 14 years old and now 18 years later my little fangirl dream came true!
Catnopsis
Geekerella is a Cinderella retelling and even though Cinderella retellings have been played out this is the most original Cinderella retelling I have ever read!
”Ever since I can remember, my fingers have itched to make things. To write. I have filled journals, finished fanfics, escaped again and again into the pages of someone else’s life. If Dad was right-if I could do anything, be anyone-I would make a show like Starfield and tell other weird kids that they aren’t alone. And after next year-my senior year-I’m going to do it. Or start to. Study screenwriting. Write scripts. I’ve already got a portfolio, kind of. Right now I satisfy my need to write by blogging on my site Rebelgunner, where I cover the one thing I know for certain: Starfield. That and the money I’m scraping together from my job at the food truck are gonna be my ticket out of here. One day.”
-Ella Wittimer
Ashely Poston’s story is about a girl named Elle Wittimer who is the epitome of a geek girl. Ella is passionate about a SciFi show named Starfield. She is so passionate about the show that she writes all about it in her blog Rebelgunner. She writes fan fiction and writes about all things related to Starfield including the upcoming movie of Starfield starring Darien Freeman. She isn’t thrilled about Darian Freeman being part of the casting since he is your typical soap opera heartthrob and she doesn’t believe he has the acting chops to deserve the lead role of her beloved Carmindor.
She lives with her cold stepmother Catherine and two stepsisters Chloe (Who is garbage btw.) and Calliope in historic Charleston, South Carolina. Although Ella’s house isn’t your typical historic house in Rainbow Row since it is located on the edge of the historic district and it has a leaky roof and a creaky door. The leaky roof and creaky door is obviously the fault of Ella’s stepmother’s pension for racking debt to uphold a glamorous lifestyle and her wedding planning business.
Ella dreams of getting out of Charleston and moving to L.A. to study screenwriting and she is saving her money for her ticket out by working at The Magic Pumpkin food truck. Until one day Ella gets an opportunity of a lifetime to enter a cosplay contest. The convention is called ExcelsiCon and it is located in Atlanta with Darien Freeman as one of the judges. The cash price could be her ticket out and not to mention the two tickets to the movie premiere of Starfield! Fangirl yell anyone?!
Meet Darian Freeman
”I want to cut out my fanboy heart and show him that it bleeds like every other Stargunner’s. I want to tell him that the Federation Prince Carmindor saved my life.”
-Darian Freeman
After reading Geekerella I have to say that I am a total Darienite fanatic. Under his heartthrob exterior, Darian or Dare as they sometimes call him…is your geeky little hotpants fanboy!
Darian Freeman is a hunky nerd with a six pack and he is the star of the future Starfield movie where he is playing the lead role of Carmindor. Darian is feeling very insecure because there is a lot of gossip about him not deserving the role of Carmindor and he is especially thrown when he reads a negative blog post about himself by the Rebelgunner blogger. He begins an accidental texting friendship with Ella and uses the fake name of Carmindor. Ella has no idea that she is texting the biggest star of Starfield and Darien has no idea he is texting the Rebelgunner. Will their friendship extend past Starfield flirty text talk and will they find out about one another’s true identities?
”Elle we might not know much about each other, and I might not be there, and you might not be here, but I’m glad to share this sky with you. Maybe we should start looking up together, ah’blena.”
-Darien Freeman
I just loved how Darian was a real fanboy of Starfield instead of being a typical celebrity poser who pretends to know all about the show. The sexiest part of Darian was his geeky and unsure awkwardness which made him so much more relatable compared to all those cocky celebrities. Not to mention, it made me swoon whenever he called Ella his ah’blena, which is used in the show Starfield and it’s a translation for ”my heart.”
Bookcasting
Elle Wittimer played by Bella Thorne
Darian Freeman played by Thomas Doherty
View my Pinterest board of Geekerella to view the pictures of the actor, Ella cosplay fashion, and the charming town of Charleston!
Final Catfairy Thoughts
“There is a power of fandom-the power of passionate people who, when working together, can birth movies out of canceled one-season sci-fi shows, resurrect fictional towns like Stars Hollow, and create endearing fan-musicals that will last far longer than its muggle counterpart-and that kind of magic will never disappear.”
-Ashley Poston, Acknowledgements
Geekerella is one of those books that just made me smile so darn much that my face hurt after awhile! I just couldn’t get a hold of myself! Geekerella is a love letter to fangirls everywhere! I highly recommend for any fangirl or fanboy past or present to read this book!
Once upon a time, I was a total fangirl like Ella but instead of it being a SciFi series it was for three little blond haired boys named Hanson! I remember getting made fun of, being told that they look like a bunch of little girls, that they can’t dance (I had some heated debates with those Backstreet Boys and N’Sync girls!), and the list just went on! There were many instances where I felt like an outcast but most of the time I kept my head up and fangirled away to my own MMMBop tune!
Ashley Poston has a real talent for storytelling and she immediately sucked me into the world of Ella, Darien, and the world of Starfield. I love how Ashley Poston exemplifies that there is no shame in fandom. It’s ok to be obsessed with creating Pinterest boards of the OTP of Pacey and Joey from Dawson’s Creek or rocking along to your tenth Hanson concert because it’s what makes you feel alive in this wretched and deranged world. Life is short, nothing lasts forever, so why not fill it with the things we are obsessed with? I have chosen to ignore all the judgmental stares when I am wearing my favorite Gilmore Girls shirt on. Those aren’t my people and I choose not to please them. There is always someone out there that shares your love of FunkoPop or Stranger Things so why not come together and build the love of fandom together?
PS. I don’t know about you but this book has me totally in the mood to watch the Hilary Duff version of The Cinderella Story! Let me know what is your favorite Cinderella retelling by commenting below.
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