Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.
Review: I will read any retelling I can get my hands on, and Geekerella is set in a modern, convention setting. I really liked Elle as the Cinderella character. Her devotion to this imaginary sci-fi series was fun to see. There were obvious nods to franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Firefly, and these are just a few of the references that were made throughout the story. Darien was an okay character, but he was honestly pretty unremarkable. I can't even think of anything else to say about Darien because he was just okay.
I hoped that, on top of the romance, Geekerella would talk a bit more about fan culture and how cruel they can be. At the start of the story, Elle runs a blog dedicated to Starfield, and she says some pretty mean things about Darien being cast as the lead. I wish more time was spent on Elle's assumptions and debunking them, but she and Darien don't spend any significant time together throughout the book. I appreciate seeing more relationships being formed online, but that didn't really work in Geekerella because Darien spends the entire book hiding his identity from Elle. This detachment made it impossible for me to see the chemistry between Darien and Elle. I was honestly rooting for Elle to end up with Sage, even though I knew that wasn't going to happen.
Cute, modern retelling but still underwhelming.
3 howls
Comments