Geekerella

Geekerella by Ashley Poston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because of the title. Honestly, anything that operates on the fringes of a life that I am familiar with (the geek and nerd culture) is of interest to me. I feel like despite the fact that it has become more acceptable to love the nerdy stuff, we're still relatively under-represented in literature. That likely has a lot to do with the current culture of instantaneous digital everything, but I digress. One would think that the Cinderella trope would be played out. One would be right, however, despite the fact that it's the overused the author manages to make it fresh.

In this version you have Elle who is a blogger and fangirl of the cancelled sci-fi show Starfield. A love of which she shared with her father who passed away. He started a convention for the show that they used to attend every year together with her mother. Cut to current day where her stepmother and stepsisters are just as awful as you would imagine them to be.

The secondary storyline is of the actor who is going to be playing the lead role in the reboot of Starfield. Darien is a closet super fan and teen heartthrob whose life is controlled by his father/manager.

There's even a Magic Pumpkin in the form of a vegan food truck where Elle works.

One fun distance from the original trope is the accidental texting relationship that occurs between Darien and Elle. They end up failing for each other long before they actually meet. There's a trip to a con described in delightful detail.

I genuinely loved the voice of this novel. Even though it was about teenagers, I felt as though I could relate to the emotional needs of Elle, in which she just wanted to be understood by the people around her. Where she struggled with opening up because she felt alone. While I may not feel that way currently, I definitely felt that way when I was a teenager.

Any nerd/geek who enjoys reading about the world in which they live, would enjoy this novel. It's a familiar and predictable story, but I still really liked it. I'd be willing to read a sequel too (hint hint). This one was Rainbow Rowell-esque and I dearly love that voice.



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