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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the first book, felt kinda meh towards the second, so I didn't have super high hopes for book 3 going in, but found myself pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this installment. I'm a sucker for a Beauty & the Beast retelling and I think this one was really well done. I think this covered a good myriad of different issues and did them well enough for under 300 pages. I knew what to expect but I loved the journey. I loved that there was a nonbinary character. I loved that one of the MCs is bi or pan (not specified) and that there were also queer adults too. Really lovely brain break of a book!
3.5/5 stars.
I really enjoy this series. It is so much fun to see how Ashley Poston incorporates classic fairytale elements from these classic fairytale stories into a modern everyday setting, with a twist of geek and con culture. I still love a good modern fairytale retelling, and I love reading about the fan experience that I also love in real life.
This isn't my favorite of the series (my favorite is still Geekerella), but I really enjoy a good Beauty and the Beast retelling. I love looking for a picking out the elements that transfer from the original story and how the author plans to make them her own. These two had a fun and properly hate to love relationship, which is always a favorite of mine. I enjoyed all the library and book inclusions as well, to really bring Belle's character to life. I also thought it was quite creative how she tackled the Beast character as a 17 year old in the modern world.
I would have loved and enjoyed this series as a teenager, and I would highly recommend this to anyone in that target age group who loves fairytales and retellings. I am not the target audience, but I still really enjoy these novels and always have a fun time diving back into this world. She does a phenomenal job at crossing the characters across the multiple books in a way that makes sense and is effortless. It never feels forced or gratuitous. All in all, highly recommend.
I really enjoy this series. It is so much fun to see how Ashley Poston incorporates classic fairytale elements from these classic fairytale stories into a modern everyday setting, with a twist of geek and con culture. I still love a good modern fairytale retelling, and I love reading about the fan experience that I also love in real life.
This isn't my favorite of the series (my favorite is still Geekerella), but I really enjoy a good Beauty and the Beast retelling. I love looking for a picking out the elements that transfer from the original story and how the author plans to make them her own. These two had a fun and properly hate to love relationship, which is always a favorite of mine. I enjoyed all the library and book inclusions as well, to really bring Belle's character to life. I also thought it was quite creative how she tackled the Beast character as a 17 year old in the modern world.
I would have loved and enjoyed this series as a teenager, and I would highly recommend this to anyone in that target age group who loves fairytales and retellings. I am not the target audience, but I still really enjoy these novels and always have a fun time diving back into this world. She does a phenomenal job at crossing the characters across the multiple books in a way that makes sense and is effortless. It never feels forced or gratuitous. All in all, highly recommend.
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH.
Bookish & the Beast is officially my favorite Once Upon A Con book. I cannot WAIT to buy it, and add it to my collection, and pour over it again when it gets published in June!
Ashley does a fantastic job of taking the Beauty and the Beast plot we all know and reinventing it in smart ways that work, including character origins. I especially think that using Vance's status as a Hollywood heir works perfectly to match the original tale of a prince cursed and cast away! Bookish is also full of references to make any media consumer smile - from fandom to books to dating sims and a particularly wonderful Howl's Moving Castle reference.
Also, this book - and all the books in the series! - feature a diverse and wonderful cast of characters. Come for the fairy tale retelling, but stay for the hijinks and laughter and swoon-worthy romance! I can't wait to see this published and to get my hands on her next book!
Bookish & the Beast is officially my favorite Once Upon A Con book. I cannot WAIT to buy it, and add it to my collection, and pour over it again when it gets published in June!
Ashley does a fantastic job of taking the Beauty and the Beast plot we all know and reinventing it in smart ways that work, including character origins. I especially think that using Vance's status as a Hollywood heir works perfectly to match the original tale of a prince cursed and cast away! Bookish is also full of references to make any media consumer smile - from fandom to books to dating sims and a particularly wonderful Howl's Moving Castle reference.
Also, this book - and all the books in the series! - feature a diverse and wonderful cast of characters. Come for the fairy tale retelling, but stay for the hijinks and laughter and swoon-worthy romance! I can't wait to see this published and to get my hands on her next book!
It should be actually impossible for these books to keep getting better and yet HERE WE ARE and my heart has melted and I have been reduced to dolphin sounds to express all my feels.
Okay, look. I have made no secret in my life that I am ALL ABOUT Beauty and the Beast and it's various retellings. I am such a sucker for a good BatB story. And what I love most about Ashley Poston is that she can take a story (such as the decidedly Disney version of BatB), retelling all of the important parts, but still make it completely her own. When I thought about it, I could pick out things that were going to happen because the plotline followed a familiar route...but I never really stopped to think about it because I was so lost in the story!
Rosie and Vance were both a lot of fun, and as with PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL, I lived for the cameos from previous books (Imogen in particular was such a great element here). The new side characters we meet are also delightful, and the smidge of unexpected side-pairing we get made me squeal with glee. The LGBTQA+ rep is, as always, excellent, and really there just isn't a single bad thing I can say about this. I've seen some people say this was a slow read, and boring, and I just did not see that. Honestly, I marathoned the book in a single afternoon the moment I got home from the bookstore. I could not put it down.
I think I would happily live in the Geekerella universe forever. I don't get the feeling there are future books in store for the series, but A GIRL CAN DREAM. Either way, I can't thank Ashley Poston enough for giving us all three of these wonderful books. These gorgeous, heart-melting love letters to both fairytales and fandom. I can't recommend them highly enough if you're in the mood for something feel-good and adorable.
And in the meantime...
Look to the stars.
Aim.
Ignite.
Okay, look. I have made no secret in my life that I am ALL ABOUT Beauty and the Beast and it's various retellings. I am such a sucker for a good BatB story. And what I love most about Ashley Poston is that she can take a story (such as the decidedly Disney version of BatB), retelling all of the important parts, but still make it completely her own. When I thought about it, I could pick out things that were going to happen because the plotline followed a familiar route...but I never really stopped to think about it because I was so lost in the story!
Rosie and Vance were both a lot of fun, and as with PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL, I lived for the cameos from previous books (Imogen in particular was such a great element here). The new side characters we meet are also delightful, and the smidge of unexpected side-pairing we get made me squeal with glee. The LGBTQA+ rep is, as always, excellent, and really there just isn't a single bad thing I can say about this. I've seen some people say this was a slow read, and boring, and I just did not see that. Honestly, I marathoned the book in a single afternoon the moment I got home from the bookstore. I could not put it down.
I think I would happily live in the Geekerella universe forever. I don't get the feeling there are future books in store for the series, but A GIRL CAN DREAM. Either way, I can't thank Ashley Poston enough for giving us all three of these wonderful books. These gorgeous, heart-melting love letters to both fairytales and fandom. I can't recommend them highly enough if you're in the mood for something feel-good and adorable.
And in the meantime...
Look to the stars.
Aim.
Ignite.
Huge sucker for any Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I thought this did a really cute job.
emotional
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
I wanted to like this book SO MUCH. I really enjoyed the previous books in the Once Upon a Con series, and I'm huge Reylo trash so I expected to love a very Kylo Ren rip-off romantic lead, but... /sigh
This book just tried TOO HARD to jam in ALL the fandom references. There's a part where David Bowie and the song "Magic Dance" from Labyrinth is mentioned, but the character calls the song "Do You Know the Babe" and - I'm going to be honest, I screamed at the book. I love some subtle nods to other fandoms in geek books, but if you're going to jam a bunch of fandom references in at least make sure they're correct. And a lot of the references did not feel at all organic but instead seemed shoe-horned in.
There was also a casual use of lines and lyrics from Disney's Beauty & the Beast in the text (they left to have adventures in the great wide somewhere; a house doesn't use antlers in all of the decorating; etc) and while some felt like they fit and were a but of quirky tongue-in-cheek humor, several of them again felt very forced.
Somehow, Ashley Poston made me long for the Starfield movies/universe to be real while at the same time not being at all interested in reading any more of her books.
This is the third book in the Once Upon a Con series, and while it can be read as a standalone there are some spoilers for the first two books. Also, the main characters from said books play some minor side roles that would probably be more meaningful and make more sense if you've read the first two books in the series.
A digital ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss+ for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.
Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter
This book just tried TOO HARD to jam in ALL the fandom references. There's a part where David Bowie and the song "Magic Dance" from Labyrinth is mentioned, but the character calls the song "Do You Know the Babe" and - I'm going to be honest, I screamed at the book. I love some subtle nods to other fandoms in geek books, but if you're going to jam a bunch of fandom references in at least make sure they're correct. And a lot of the references did not feel at all organic but instead seemed shoe-horned in.
There was also a casual use of lines and lyrics from Disney's Beauty & the Beast in the text (they left to have adventures in the great wide somewhere; a house doesn't use antlers in all of the decorating; etc) and while some felt like they fit and were a but of quirky tongue-in-cheek humor, several of them again felt very forced.
Somehow, Ashley Poston made me long for the Starfield movies/universe to be real while at the same time not being at all interested in reading any more of her books.
This is the third book in the Once Upon a Con series, and while it can be read as a standalone there are some spoilers for the first two books. Also, the main characters from said books play some minor side roles that would probably be more meaningful and make more sense if you've read the first two books in the series.
A digital ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss+ for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.
Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter
Another adorable book in this series. Not what I was expecting, but I liked it!