2023 REREAD: A great guilty pleasure read. Girly, glittery and geeky, but most of all, bloody passionate. There are sprinkling dusts of truth and relevance throughout 'Geekerella', nonetheless. There is heart and love here; a galaxy's worth of it (or a whole fandom's worth).
It could have used better editing for its several typos, though.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Original Review:
What I liked about 'Geekerella':
• This contemporary chick lit is so addictive and engaging - one could read it in a day, and take the paperback anywhere with them. I did, even when I wasn't sure if I'd have time to read a single page of it.
• It is a fantastic beach and summer read.
• Nice, healthy bit of escapism - and I usually can't stand YA that can be termed "chick lit".
• Even though 'Cinderella' is one of my least favourite fairy tales, I really enjoyed this retelling - with its geek and pop culture celebration aesthetic! Where the costume ball is a cosplay contest set in a con!
• Cinderella herself, Danielle "Elle" Wittimer, is a geek and a die-hard fan of a classic sci-fi TV series called 'Starfield' - joining the ranks of 'Star Trek', 'Star Wars', and 'Stargate'. It does sound interesting, as parts of it are explained to the reader throughout. I appreciate that its premise and famous plot points are not explained in one giant infodump.
• The "prince" in this tale is a young POC actor, Darien Freeman, who gets cast in the lead of a movie reboot of 'Starfield'. I adore him - he's funny, witty, and very human. His life and experiences highlight just how hard Hollywood and the acting world at large can be, especially in our contemporary, internet times. And TMZ.
• Darien cries as well. Men and boys expressing emotions other than anger is normal and healthy. Showing men as human who are allowed to be sad and vulnerable is vital to ending the culture of toxic masculinity.
• So the lavish, rich and famous/poor, ordinary and drudging divide between the lovers in the story is still present. Both Elle and Darien are lonely and disenfranchised in their own way.
• Nobody is perfect - every character has flaws that make them human. Elle is a passionate geek and fangirl, but this can make her narrow-minded; afraid of change and anything that does not carter specifically to her nostalgia. She immediately bashes Darien, her future love interest, as the lead in the 'Starfield' reboot - thinking he is nothing more than a cheap soap opera heartthrob with more hair gel than acting talent. She gets very harsh about this as well. She actually says in her first-person narration (both she and Darien get POV chapters), "Darien Freeman is not my Federation Prince Carmindor." Everybody makes mistakes, and judges initially and unfairly.
• Elle's love for 'Starfield' comes from a real, beautiful but tragic place. Both her parents were fans; they organised cons and cosplayed together. Elle was especially close to her nerd dad (her mum died when she was very small). He died when she was eleven, and it truly affected her. She was devastated. She still is. I really like how grief is written into the book. 'Starfield' feels like the only thing Elle has left of her parents, as well as her house which is not her house anymore, as her stepmother and stepsisters took over everything.
• Elle has to hide her favourite jar of peanut butter in her home - in fact she has to hide a lot from her stepfamily. The flawed, insecure, underprivileged teen geek girl feels real to me; not "quirky" in the least.
• 'Geekerella' may be easily labeled as cute and fluffy, but that doesn't mean that its emotional moments - its core heartbeat - are not genuine. Nothing feels hollow, shallow or manipulative in the book. Real care for its story, characters and subject matter went into writing it.
• Seriously funny moments, too.
• Elle is a blogger, so I related to her even more. She didn't receive any attention until she posted her feelings about Darien Freeman being cast as Prince Carmindor. Now she's a sort-after internet critic with thousands of viewers.
• Despite what Elle and everybody else thinks, Darien is not just a pretty face and body. He is smart, and is a huge fan of 'Starfield' too. He saw himself represented in the original Prince Carmindor - proof that representation and casting brown-skinned and other POC actors in major roles do matter. Throughout the book he doubts his ability to play his favourite character in a big-budget blockbuster, and despite himself he does worry about what others think of him in that role. Yes! Celebrities have insecurities, too - show that! No doubt he voices what so many actors feel about stepping into the shoes/boots of preexisting characters in pop culture (Chris Pine is referenced a few times). They are continuing a legacy that means so much to a whole subculture of people - of fans: the good, the bad, and the toxic -after all.
• Additionally, Darien's fear of heights, which he manages to overcome in performing his own stunts, is endearing, and it makes him more and more human.
• Love Sage! She is a green-haired, piercing-covered lesbian workmate of Elle's in their food van called the Magic Pumpkin (get it?! How adorable). I admire her deadpan snark and gives-no-shits attitude. Sage, though she's the same age as Elle, serves the fairy godmother role in this fairy tale retelling, as she is an aspiring fashion designer and helps Elle with her 'Starfield' cosplay for the competition at ExcelsiCon (first founded by Elle's dad).
• A pleasant surprise regarding Elle's stepsister Calliope, which I won't reveal due to spoilers.
• Sage's mum, little page time she gets, is also sweet and funny. Like the Weasleys' function in 'Harry Potter', Sage and her mum show Elle that loving families do exist from her own abusive household.
• On Darien's end, he has friends, too. His handler Gail, a huge worrywarts but an extremely hardworking mother figure, and his bodyguard Lonny, one of the biggest, scariest-looking men in the world, who has a subtle sense of humour. Both are well-developed and interesting. They would do anything for Darien; he is lucky to have them, all things considered.
• There's a poor neighbour's dog called Frank that Elle saves. Standing up to animal cruelty is always a plus. Frank is a funny little mutt.
• Ahh the references! Can't forget about those! They make up a lot of the novel's funniest parts. Internet celebs are even mentioned! It is fun to spot them, and they don't distract from the story.
• Love the exploration and critique on fandom culture as well. How no one is any less of a fan of something than anyone else, for any reason.; how there are bad eggs in any community, united by a shared love, etc.
• The infrequent moments of self-awareness are much appreciated.
• The line, "Space princesses don't win Oscars." It it said dejectedly by Darien's costar on the 'Starfield' movie, Jessica Stone. I don't know why that made me tear up, but it did. It reminded me of Carrie Fisher. The Oscars are a sham, full of elitist snobs. Stories that entertain and connect to people on a deep level do matter.
• I probably already referred to this, but I have to emphasize: the love and passion that went into writing 'Geekerella'. You can tell that author Ashley Poston is a fangirl herself.
• There's a not-undeserved swipe at Wolverine that made me laugh out loud.
• Darien's insured abs. That is hilarious. I mean, come on, in real life celebrities have insured parts of their body for BILLIONS.
What I didn't like about 'Geekerella':
• Once again we have a 'Cinderella' retelling where the stepmother and stepsisters are horrible and cruel for really no reason. Like, why did Elle's father marry Catherine, the stepmother, in the first place? She hates 'Starfield', and it was his life. Elle finds out that Catherine wanted to change him, apparently. Why? If Catherine did love Elle's dad, then why would she want him to change? If she didn't love him, then why did she marry him? He wasn't rich, and Catherine is a wannabe socialite and snob who cares only about appearances. She treats the bereaved orphan Elle like a slave, and it is clear to Elle that she is not wanted in her own home.
• Also in yet another 'Cinderella' retelling, there is one stepsister who is less mean than the other - or she is not mean at all, but is just going along with her sister's abuse, keeping silent as Elle suffers. At least Calliope, the "nice" stepsister, redeems herself somewhat near the end of the book. Plus there's that pleasant surprise about her that I mentioned earlier. The mean stepsister, Chloe, on the other hand, is pure evil for reasons lost in a black nebula.
• Speaking of nastiness, Elle does go too far in her online attack on Darien Freeman on her now-famous blog. I know she's young and learning, but come on! It's a funny narrative choice to have her initially hate the boy who would be her true love and soulmate, I guess? She makes up for it by showing just how much 'Starfield' means to her, expressing how many geeks and nerds of pop culture feel. How fandoms are like families.
• In this retelling, the prince and Cinderella get to know each other before the ball via text messages. How modern! They found each other's numbers by accident (long story), and they don't know the other's true identity. Their words and connection to one another feel "real" - like they simultaneously understand and feel understood, mostly through their love of 'Starfield'. This... is either clever, sweet and cute, or stupid, pandering and unbelievable, depending on who you ask. I'm... mostly in the former camp, mainly because of the earnestness of the writing, and how Poston demonstrates her knowledge of modern technology. Despite not knowing each other concretely at first, the relationship between Elle and Darien is somehow still heartfelt. They are lonely, misunderstood geek kids from different worlds, united by a shared love. Like they are communicating faintly from the stars, or under the same starlight sky, no matter where they are in the universe.
• Later in 'Geekerella', a character actually references 'Cinderella'. She calls Elle that when she must leave the ball at ExcelsiCon before midnight. So that fairy tale does exist in this novel's universe. What a massive coincidence, what forces of fate, that everything parallels practically everything in the tale! - like Elle's name, her evil stepmother and stepsisters, her future prince playing a prince in a film, her workplace being a van called the Magic Pumpkin, a costume contest that involves meeting the prince, and her cosplay dresses, once belonging to her late parents, getting ripped apart and ruined by her stepsister the day before the contest! 'Geekerella' is not as self-aware as it could have been.
• I fucking hate Brian, Darien's ex-friend from before he became famous. Even though he receives a bloody good physical beating he deserves, he isn't punished properly. In fact his actions are absolved in the end. Fuck that, Brian is scum.
• Darien's father and manager, Mark, is also a bag of dicks. What he puts his own son through is unforgivable. Living through your child has taken on a new kind of fucked-up.
• There are some critiques on sexism in pop culture and in fandoms ("fake geek girls" - kill mode activated!). Feminism is present. But it could have been explored a lot more.
• There is diversity as well. Darien and Sage don't come across as tokens. As a side note, a female contest winner at ExcelsiCon is described as dark-skinned, who has a girlfriend. However, the intersectional feminism could have been a lot better. More than one POC and queer main characters, please!
• The ending feels rushed and waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy cheesy and OTT, even for this book. Events and character actions are super contrived, in order to fit the fairy tale. Starry-eyed, indeed.
• There are several typos throughout.
In conclusion, the YA lit 'Geekerella' is sweet, cute, loving, touching, passionate, light but doesn't insult the reader's intelligence, flawed, and even kinda beautiful. Great for sci-fi, movie, TV, and internet nerds and geeks. Think 'Queens of Geek' by Jen Wilde, but as a fairy tale, and somewhat less diverse. It can be frustrating and hair-pulling at times, but hey, isn't that exactly like being part of a fandom? Part of a family? I related to it.
'Geekerella' is my guilty pleasure of 2018.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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