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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Missed the Con a bit in this one, but that was made up to me with a Howl’s Moving Castle reference.
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This last book in the series is exactly what I hoped it would be; a fun, cozy retelling with all the charm and nerdy goodness from Ashley Poston’s Once Upon a Con series.
The story follows Rosie, a book-loving girl still grieving her mother’s death, and Vance, a disgraced Hollywood star forced to hide out in a small town after a scandal. Their banter is sharp and funny, and their relationship builds at just the right pace—slow enough to feel believable but filled with cute, swoony moments.
It’s one of those books you read for comfort, knowing you’re going to get a happy ending and some sweet, feel-good moments along the way. With an extremely busy month ahead of me, I'm excited to tie up some loose ends reading wise!
Cute and fluffy! This would be a great choice for a teen reader. As an adult, some of the character choices irked me a bit (she wants to go to college to major in English, but used sparknotes instead of reading Dracula?) but it was overall a nice rom com romance read. I’m surprised by how many people liked it better than the first one. I think that’s been my favorite so far.
English Review Below.
هذا الجزء الثالث من سلسلة تدور أحداثها في نفس العالم، الكتابان السابقان لا يؤثران في فهم هذه القصة، لذا إن أعجبتكم فكرة الكتاب يمكنكم أن تقرأوه لوحده، ولو عجبكم العالم، تقدروا تقرأوا الكتابين السابقين، لكن تحذير: الكتاب ده بيحرق القصص الرومانسية في الكتابين السابقين.
دي رواية رومانسية للشباب وهي إعادة حكي حديثة لقصة الجميلة والوحش وعالم المعجبين لعالم شبيه بستار وورز، قصة حب بين باد بوي وبنوتة حبوبة. البطلة روزي قارئة وبتواجه صعوبة بعد موت أمها، والبطل فانس ولد متمرد وبيلعب دور الشرير في سلسلتها المفضلة وهو شخصيتها المفضلة والأحداث بتجمعهم ببعض، مع ظهور المكتبة المهم طبعا.
حبيت كل الإشارات لقصة الجميلة والوحش الأصلية، الرواية كانت مشكلتها قلة التفاصيل لبعض الأحداث المهمة اللي كانت المفروض توضح علاقة الاتنين دول، بس هو فعلا شبه فيلم ديزني للجميلة والوحش. بيكرهوا بعض وبعدين مونتاج سريع بيحبوا بعض فيه، وبعده فجأة بيبقوا مع بعض. فمش مستغربة.
الرواية حلوة ولطيفة وخفيفة وسريعة ورغم أنها مش مترجمة لكنها مناسبة جدا للمبتدئين في الإنجليزية.
A little preface to the review: This is the third in a series but I didn't read the first two, and though it doesn't affect the particular romance in this book, it's apparent that previous romances and the initial introduction to the fandom would be important, so I do advise reading the previous books if you want to go deeper, or you can do what I did, and read this book as a standalone.
This is a YA romance that combines a lot of tropes: first of all, it's a Beauty and the Beats retelling (minus the Stockholm syndrome?), Fangirl-esque for a fandom similar to Star Wars, with adding a bit of the books between chapters, like what happened in Fangirl, A slow-burn enemies to lovers with a bit of hidden identity, and of course it's a bad boy/grumpy with a good girl/sunshine combo.
Rosie is a die-hard fan of Starfield and a bookworm who's having a hard time after her mother's death and falling for a boy in a mask who she never got to know his name and she loves villains in stories, Vance is an actor and a bad boy and he's got a bad reputation so he's "cursed or banished" to a little town to learn his lesson, he's also the mysterious boy Rosie fell in love with unknowingly to both of them. The two of them come together because of a library and a dog.
I loved all the Easter eggs to the story of Beauty and the Beast, also the nods to different fandoms. I just wish we'd seen more of that "night" that made them fall in love instead of seeing glimpses of it every now and then, and the pacing was rough and the character's opinions shift almost abruptly, but I won't deny it was like candy, and I liked the humour in this a lot.
هذا الجزء الثالث من سلسلة تدور أحداثها في نفس العالم، الكتابان السابقان لا يؤثران في فهم هذه القصة، لذا إن أعجبتكم فكرة الكتاب يمكنكم أن تقرأوه لوحده، ولو عجبكم العالم، تقدروا تقرأوا الكتابين السابقين، لكن تحذير: الكتاب ده بيحرق القصص الرومانسية في الكتابين السابقين.
دي رواية رومانسية للشباب وهي إعادة حكي حديثة لقصة الجميلة والوحش وعالم المعجبين لعالم شبيه بستار وورز، قصة حب بين باد بوي وبنوتة حبوبة. البطلة روزي قارئة وبتواجه صعوبة بعد موت أمها، والبطل فانس ولد متمرد وبيلعب دور الشرير في سلسلتها المفضلة وهو شخصيتها المفضلة والأحداث بتجمعهم ببعض، مع ظهور المكتبة المهم طبعا.
حبيت كل الإشارات لقصة الجميلة والوحش الأصلية، الرواية كانت مشكلتها قلة التفاصيل لبعض الأحداث المهمة اللي كانت المفروض توضح علاقة الاتنين دول، بس هو فعلا شبه فيلم ديزني للجميلة والوحش. بيكرهوا بعض وبعدين مونتاج سريع بيحبوا بعض فيه، وبعده فجأة بيبقوا مع بعض. فمش مستغربة.
الرواية حلوة ولطيفة وخفيفة وسريعة ورغم أنها مش مترجمة لكنها مناسبة جدا للمبتدئين في الإنجليزية.
A little preface to the review: This is the third in a series but I didn't read the first two, and though it doesn't affect the particular romance in this book, it's apparent that previous romances and the initial introduction to the fandom would be important, so I do advise reading the previous books if you want to go deeper, or you can do what I did, and read this book as a standalone.
This is a YA romance that combines a lot of tropes: first of all, it's a Beauty and the Beats retelling (minus the Stockholm syndrome?), Fangirl-esque for a fandom similar to Star Wars, with adding a bit of the books between chapters, like what happened in Fangirl, A slow-burn enemies to lovers with a bit of hidden identity, and of course it's a bad boy/grumpy with a good girl/sunshine combo.
Rosie is a die-hard fan of Starfield and a bookworm who's having a hard time after her mother's death and falling for a boy in a mask who she never got to know his name and she loves villains in stories, Vance is an actor and a bad boy and he's got a bad reputation so he's "cursed or banished" to a little town to learn his lesson, he's also the mysterious boy Rosie fell in love with unknowingly to both of them. The two of them come together because of a library and a dog.
I loved all the Easter eggs to the story of Beauty and the Beast, also the nods to different fandoms. I just wish we'd seen more of that "night" that made them fall in love instead of seeing glimpses of it every now and then, and the pacing was rough and the character's opinions shift almost abruptly, but I won't deny it was like candy, and I liked the humour in this a lot.
*2.5*
"They are portals into places I've never been and people I'll never be, and in them I have lived a thousand lives and seen a thousand different worlds."
I want to start off this review by saying that my rating doesn't mean I hate this book, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted. There was a lot of potential for me to fall headfirst in love with this story, but there was just something missing, something that kept me from connecting to the world and characters like I had in Geekerella. I know part of it has to do with the switching of perspectives, as I've never cared for that writing style. But I think it also has to do with how odd the characters act, like their feelings and emotions are solely based on how the story dictates they need to be in order for the plot to move forward properly, and not on how they should probably feel in reality. For instance, the conflict between the two main characters feels really unnatural most of the time, especially when Vance finds out that Rosie is the-girl-from-the-con, and his first move is to push his uncle to fire her even more, like what? And don't even get me started on the finale conflict. But there were also some really nice aspects to this book as well, one of my favorites being how focused on the book side of geekdom it is, obviously I love reading, so it just feels great to have characters who love reading too. I also adored the little nods to dating sims, otome ones in particular, because those are just my jam! (And that Howl's Moving Castle scene was everything!!!) In conclusion, with how I haven't fully enjoyed the last two books in this series, I'm unsure if I'll read any future installments, which makes me a little sad, but there's no point in wasting my own time.
"They are portals into places I've never been and people I'll never be, and in them I have lived a thousand lives and seen a thousand different worlds."
I want to start off this review by saying that my rating doesn't mean I hate this book, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted. There was a lot of potential for me to fall headfirst in love with this story, but there was just something missing, something that kept me from connecting to the world and characters like I had in Geekerella. I know part of it has to do with the switching of perspectives, as I've never cared for that writing style. But I think it also has to do with how odd the characters act, like their feelings and emotions are solely based on how the story dictates they need to be in order for the plot to move forward properly, and not on how they should probably feel in reality. For instance, the conflict between the two main characters feels really unnatural most of the time, especially when Vance finds out that Rosie is the-girl-from-the-con, and his first move is to push his uncle to fire her even more, like what? And don't even get me started on the finale conflict. But there were also some really nice aspects to this book as well, one of my favorites being how focused on the book side of geekdom it is, obviously I love reading, so it just feels great to have characters who love reading too. I also adored the little nods to dating sims, otome ones in particular, because those are just my jam! (And that Howl's Moving Castle scene was everything!!!) In conclusion, with how I haven't fully enjoyed the last two books in this series, I'm unsure if I'll read any future installments, which makes me a little sad, but there's no point in wasting my own time.
I didn’t know if I’d like this final book that much, but it became my favorite of the trilogy. I absolutely loved it. Well done, Ashley!
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:
Complicated
Truly I think this was my favorite of the series. I loved seeing these characters go through this journey. 1000/10 I never wanted it to end.
I enjoyed this series of books. I thought it was cute and a fun YA read. I love a grumpy sunshine trope and connected with the characters.
lighthearted
It could be because we focused on one couple instead of two, but i enjoyed Rosie and Vance's story more than Jessica's and Imogen's. Their banter was cute and their slow realization that they've met before was blindly adorable. This one was definitely more bookish- than geek-love, but i enjoyed the change in focus. The twist at the end was perfect and had me near tears with the perfect Ness of it. However, the homecoming side plot felt like it could have had more page time to flesh out. Loved the nonbinary, bi, and gay rep throughout this book - both returning and nee characters. I wouldn't be upset to have an adult romance following Rosie's dad!