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guenevol 's review for:
Bookish and the Beast
by Ashley Poston
(2.5 stars, rounded up)
Content warning: grief
Small-town girl Rosie Thorne has her share of high school drama plus the grief from losing her mother a year before the book begins. But before you think you're in for a twisty high school drama, let me warn you that this book is about as original as the main character's name. Rosie accidentally ends up in a house inhabited by actor Vance Reigns and is hired to organize the vintage sci-fi books in the library.
Characters from previous Poston's Once Upon a Con series installments show up in this novel. Vance Reigns was the unlikable Hollywood bad boy chosen to star in the Starfield movie's sequel in [b:The Princess and the Fangirl|39725622|The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con, #2)|Ashley Poston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542265229l/39725622._SY75_.jpg|61408547], and the main character Imogen makes a few appearances. Darian Freeman and his girlfriend Elle "[b:Geekerella|30724132|Geekerella (Once Upon a Con, #1)|Ashley Poston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476734515l/30724132._SY75_.jpg|50652411]" Wittimer also appear.
The novel is sold as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but Rosie and Belle only have books and the lack of a mother in common. Rosie's love interest is an unlikeable character (Hollywood actor Vance) from [b:The Princess and the Fangirl|39725622|The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con, #2)|Ashley Poston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542265229l/39725622._SY75_.jpg|61408547] who is vilified on social media but is secretly a big softie. Oh, and there's a library in a "castle house."
This book focuses a lot less on the Starfield/sci-fi convention known as Excelsicon than previous entries in the series. Rosie mentions attending the previous summer, but the book takes place in small-town North Carolina, not at the Atlanta convention.
Vance is introduced as a character in the previous series installment The Princess and the Fangirl. Vance's name is pronounced "reeg-ins" (with a hard g) in the previous installment and alternates between "reeg-ins" and "rains" in this novel. The book's synopsis says "Reigns," which to me is pronounced "rains." Not knowing the character's actual name is confusing, but I can't comment on what the series looks like in print. Vacillating pronunciation in this installment alone is rather unfortunate, with "rains" cropping up several times.
Representation: nonbinary side character, bisexual side character, Latine side character
I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I also received a digital audio recording of this title from Penguin Random House Audio as a librarian review copy. I read the latter edition.
Read the review here: https://guenevol.wixsite.com/novelmaven/post/bookish-beast
Content warning: grief
Small-town girl Rosie Thorne has her share of high school drama plus the grief from losing her mother a year before the book begins. But before you think you're in for a twisty high school drama, let me warn you that this book is about as original as the main character's name. Rosie accidentally ends up in a house inhabited by actor Vance Reigns and is hired to organize the vintage sci-fi books in the library.
Characters from previous Poston's Once Upon a Con series installments show up in this novel. Vance Reigns was the unlikable Hollywood bad boy chosen to star in the Starfield movie's sequel in [b:The Princess and the Fangirl|39725622|The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con, #2)|Ashley Poston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542265229l/39725622._SY75_.jpg|61408547], and the main character Imogen makes a few appearances. Darian Freeman and his girlfriend Elle "[b:Geekerella|30724132|Geekerella (Once Upon a Con, #1)|Ashley Poston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476734515l/30724132._SY75_.jpg|50652411]" Wittimer also appear.
The novel is sold as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but Rosie and Belle only have books and the lack of a mother in common. Rosie's love interest is an unlikeable character (Hollywood actor Vance) from [b:The Princess and the Fangirl|39725622|The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con, #2)|Ashley Poston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542265229l/39725622._SY75_.jpg|61408547] who is vilified on social media but is secretly a big softie. Oh, and there's a library in a "castle house."
This book focuses a lot less on the Starfield/sci-fi convention known as Excelsicon than previous entries in the series. Rosie mentions attending the previous summer, but the book takes place in small-town North Carolina, not at the Atlanta convention.
Vance is introduced as a character in the previous series installment The Princess and the Fangirl. Vance's name is pronounced "reeg-ins" (with a hard g) in the previous installment and alternates between "reeg-ins" and "rains" in this novel. The book's synopsis says "Reigns," which to me is pronounced "rains." Not knowing the character's actual name is confusing, but I can't comment on what the series looks like in print. Vacillating pronunciation in this installment alone is rather unfortunate, with "rains" cropping up several times.
Representation: nonbinary side character, bisexual side character, Latine side character
I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I also received a digital audio recording of this title from Penguin Random House Audio as a librarian review copy. I read the latter edition.
Read the review here: https://guenevol.wixsite.com/novelmaven/post/bookish-beast