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adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use
emotional
funny
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I had fun with this book. I found that I enjoy listening to lighthearted books, because they are pleasant company and I don't have to worry about missing important plot points. Because this is a fairytale retelling, certain plot points were inevitably predictable. However, I thought the female main character wanting to go to comicon instead of the ball, and meeting the Starfield actor instead of the prince, was such a fun twist! I appreciated that the book did not take itself too seriously. There was more cursing than I expected and a bit of crude humor, so I won't be continuing the series. But I don't regret reading this book. It was a refreshing palate cleanser between some heavier reads.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief
Moderate: Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Lesbophobia
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was SO CUTE!
I had so much fun reading this one. It was "A Cinderella Story," "Ever After," and all things wonderfully nerdy all rolled into one!
I loved the characters and the author's take on the classic Cinderella tale. I thought it was a well-done take on the story, and I definitely want to read further into the "Once Upon a Con" series!
I had so much fun reading this one. It was "A Cinderella Story," "Ever After," and all things wonderfully nerdy all rolled into one!
I loved the characters and the author's take on the classic Cinderella tale. I thought it was a well-done take on the story, and I definitely want to read further into the "Once Upon a Con" series!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gaslighting
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting
Moderate: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Abandonment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I like the overall cinderella theme of the book. It was really cute. The better between the main characters is also cute. I didn't like how the 'evil stepsisters' - especially Chloe treated Elle. same for Brian - the way he treated Darien , but that's expected in Cinderella adaptations so it's okay. I thought Elle was gonna buy her house afterward. No mention was made at the end of the book. I thought we would have seen a bigger confrontation at the end btwn Darien and his father. I thought the father would have shown up or something but he didn't. I'm glad Gail got promoted. Well deserved indeed. There was character development throughout the book but I felt that most of the conversations between the main characters were on their phone/ online. I would have wanted there to be more physical interactions between them, even if they didn't know the others' secret as yet. The phone texts I believe took up more than ½ of the book. Instead the texting part could've lasted around ½ the book and their physical interactions could have started right after. They could come across each other more than once. Let their lives intertwine a bit more - the parts when didn't know the either was their phone crush. Kind of like Miraculous Lady Bug and Cat Noir in a way. Both protagonists could feel that their phone crush would never reciprocate what they were individually feeling and slightly give up on pursuing a relationship- conflicted. Then in person, they are seeing each other, not knowing it's their phone crush,start off hating each other then finally liking the other through a series of events (standing up for another, etc.), then they could feel even more conflicted because they feel they are being unfaithful to the phone crush...only to find out they were them all this time. I feel like I would get slightly upset reading that kind of book but it would've been more interesting for sure. I would have also wanted to see more of their interactions after they got together .
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While this book started off slow, I really enjoyed this cheesy YA retelling of Cinderella! I loved the sci-fi fandom aspect and how thoroughly the author created the fandom. It felt new and fresh and I wish I could watch the TV show! The FMC’s relationships with her step sisters and step mother were abusive and honestly made me really uncomfortable, to the point that they took away some of my enjoyment of the book. The FMC made a lot of poor assumptions about other people that also weren’t very fitting for a Cinderella-type character. I love the shenanigans at the very end of this book too! I wish we got a more in-depth look at the epilogue for these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Moderate: Lesbophobia
Minor: Sexual harassment
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Classism
Moderate: Lesbophobia
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Oof. I like Ashley Poston and I was looking for something light to read but this was insubstantial in every way. The characters were flat and the plot was like a Disney Channel movie but even less intelligent. There was zero nuance about anything. It borrowed heavily from A Cinderella Story with the anonymous texting and the main character (Danielle aka Elle, in this case) being heavily invested in her dad’s passion (a nerdy sci-fi series and convention here instead of baseball and his diner) but the evil stepmother takes everything away. I half expected her to find a secret will that showed everything went to her instead of her stepmother.
The only positive I can point to is the love shown to fandom. It’s the only good thing in Elle’s life and was a way she connected to her dad and explored the world socially. If you ever had a tumblr phase, this aspect will resonate with you.
Unfortunately, everything else is jam packed with all the emotional abuse Elle endures, seriously oversimplified aspects of the entertainment industry (Darien’s big budget sci-fi action movie is filmed in 23 days and is completely edited and premiered within the year… there’s no universe where this could happen), and some minor drama about gatekeepy geek boys and bad dad manager behavior.
The only positive I can point to is the love shown to fandom. It’s the only good thing in Elle’s life and was a way she connected to her dad and explored the world socially. If you ever had a tumblr phase, this aspect will resonate with you.
Unfortunately, everything else is jam packed with all the emotional abuse Elle endures, seriously oversimplified aspects of the entertainment industry (Darien’s big budget sci-fi action movie is filmed in 23 days and is completely edited and premiered within the year… there’s no universe where this could happen), and some minor drama about gatekeepy geek boys and bad dad manager behavior.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexism, Car accident, Toxic friendship
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent