The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon A Con) Paperback – March 24, 2020

I am so thrilled to be a part of the hype for this book. April 2nd cannot come quick enough. I cannot wait to see the whole layout for the finished copy. Geekerella was such a gorgeous book. When I read Geekerella last year, I didn't expect to get a sequel -- of sorts. The Princess and the Fangirl is actually a companion that follows Jess (Dar's co-star who plays Amara) and another new character, Imogen.TP&TF is a modern gender-bent retelling of The Prince and the Pauper. I've never actually read The Prince and the Pauper, but I am very familiar with the Barbie classic: The Princess and the Pauper. Call me a dork all you want, but the earlier Barbie movies were 8-year-old Olivia's favorite. I loved those movies. They were cliche, they weren't the best plot-wise, the music wasn't as fantastic as the kiddos of the time thought, and they weren't animated that fantastically either. HOWEVER, I really do appreciate the emphasis on powerful and capable women throughout the movies.In this book, there are so many amazing characters. Ashley Poston has such a talent for writing about characters -main and side characters, alike -- that are so well written and complex. I love it when the side characters have their own personalities and lives outside of the POV of the main characters. It adds such a fantastic depth to the overall story. I would have loved to get to know more about Imogen's moms. They were so nerdy and caring. I loved their relationship and their relationship with their kids. They seemed to be so different, but so perfect for each other. I love them.I also absolutely adore Imogen's brother and his boyfriend. I loved getting little glimpses of their relationship. I hope that the next companion (if we get one) is about them. I definitely need that in my life. They were too freaking cute!Let's talk about Ethan. I love him. He's definitely a Hufflepuff and I love his quirks and grumpy attitude. I'm sure that people aren't going to like him, but he reminds me too much of my boyfriend at times to actually dislike his attitude. I love his dedication to his best friend (Jess) and I love what he does when he gets stressed and worried. (I will let you find that out yourself. Please read this book.)Speaking of Jess, let's talk about her too. She's so complex and I really enjoyed her as a character. She and Imogen are technically the main characters of this book, but I really felt like Jess was the #1 focus. She goes through so much growth over four days and I just love her growth as a character. Her behavior, at first really bugged me, but as the book continued I finally understood what all she went through as the reboot Amara. I love how Ashley Poston highlighted the positive and negative aspects of fandom culture. There are definitely wonderful and perfect moments about being in a fandom, but there are toxic behavior and toxic behaviors that come with it. This was the perfect love letter to fandom culture.This book was exactly what I needed during my long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. I cannot wait to read what Ashley Poston has next. I definitely need to pick up Heart of Iron soon! She is quickly becoming a new favorite author. I need to read HOI before the sequel, Soul of Stars comes out in July. Ashley is such a badass writer! Wow!If you love fluffy romance novels with hate to love romance, slow burn romance, wonderful sibling dynamics, fandom references, healthy growth and badassery, sweet diverse couples, and laugh out loud/squeal out loud/scream out loud moments, definitely pick up this book! Pre-order it! It comes out April 2nd! You need this book in your life!This is definitely a favorite of the year!

*Audiobook Review*I was interested in this book because I loved Geekerella, the first book in the Once Upon a Con series.I saw this sequel was a Prince and the Pauper retelling. But when I saw they listed it in the LGBTQ category. I was afraid that the prince might fall in love with the pauper. Before you assume I'm a bigot think about the fact that in the movie Jess and Imogene would probably be the same actress! Now you can see how awkward that would be.Anyway, that's not the direction the author took it and I'm so glad.If you are for (or against) a lesbian love story there is still one, it's rushed and feels forced but it's there.What I loved most was the mystery aspect. Ever since I read Con Job by Laura Van Arendonk Baugh, I have wanted more mystery stories set at fan conventions. Princess and the Fangirl scratched that itch a little, though it is still primarily a romance, and the mystery part isn't as well thought out.The narrators (plural) did a great job with the inner emotional monologues. There was also a great consistency of voices with the side character even when bouncing between narrators.

I feel like I start all my positive reviews with “I loved this book,” but oh wow do I love this book! I absolutely loved Geekerella, so it was fun jumping back into this world. These books really bring the love of fandoms to justice and it makes me so happy. Because the whole book takes place at a weekend-long convention, it is full of geeky references that made me smile each time. The Doctor Who ones especially made me happy. Well, those and every time someone was referred to as a Hufflepuff.The characters in this story felt very real. Jess was someone we were made to dislike in Geekerella, but with this partially in her perspective, we get to see the real her. I think that is one of the biggest reasons why reading the other book first is so important. Throughout this book, she struggles a lot with wanting to just be herself and wanting to be loved for that person as opposed to the image she creates. This difference is a huge part of the book, so being able to see how “awful” she is from the outside in book one is important.That being said, I loved getting to see the inner workings of Jess. She deals with a lot of self-image issues, depression, and not feeling loved. As someone who has had a lot of the same struggles–minus the whole being a celebrity thing–it felt super real. Her emotions and thoughts came across very well and were spot on. I also loved seeing her slowly open up to Imogen’s friend Harper, even though she’s pretending to be Imogen. Getting to see the nerdy side of her was fun, too.Then we have Imogen (Mo) and Jess’s assistant, Ethan. Mo is the ultimate fangirl who feels as if she lives in everyone’s shadow. Ethan has been Jess’s best friend since they were children. He’s in on the plan, but he hates it. He and Imogen fight and bicker the entire time, and me being me… I loved it. When I say the enemies-to-lovers trope is my favorite, I’m not kidding. Their sarcasm and mockery made me all sorts of happy inside.There are also more minor characters like Mo’s younger brother, Milo, and his boyfriend, Bran. I really loved them and honestly, my only complaint about the book is that I wanted more of them. There were also appearances from Geekerella characters Elle, Darien, Sage, and Calliope.The book is well-written. I really enjoy Poston’s style. It’s easy and quick to read. It moves at a good pace, although there were a few slow moments. There were so many incredible quotes in this book, too. I think I highlighted more parts in my Kindle edition than any other book. It showed both sides of feeling insecure and like a nobody, and it was inspirational to see the characters grow and learn to accept themselves.“I’m not a movie star, and I don’t attract swaths of adoring fans, and my voice is tiny—but my dreams are big and I don’t mind being me.”– The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley PostonIt was a fun mystery full of geeky references, tons of sarcasm, and, of course, romance. I highly recommend these books, especially to those who are in a fandom. It’s very relatable in many ways and fun to read a story in such an atmosphere.*Original review on Functionally Fictional.*

This was a cute follow-up to Geekerella; I enjoyed the first in the series much much more, though! I kept getting confused between Jess and Mo on who was narrating they chapters, and I think it might have been helpful if the voices of the two girls were more different. Loved being back in the thick of things though in this fun world and looking forward to reading #3 in the series.

This book is pretty straightforward. It is what you expect it to be in a good way! Not terribly original, but absolutely lovely nonetheless.

This book was great. I had previously read Poston's other book geekerela a few years ago and fell in love with it, but unfortunatelly the publisher never translated the second book in the series, so I decided to read it in english, and don't regret it.I never go into her books expecting a life changing experience or an emotional read, just fun and cute romance with a lot of geeky references. At first I didn't like Jess's character, but as the story progresses we see more of who she truly is and why she doesn't want to be in Starfield anymore, and she becomes a pretty compeling character.Imogen is her total opositte, a very nerdy girl who is invested so much into fandoms that she based her whole life arround it. She sees Ammara as a role model, she inspires her, and that is why she is so invested in saving her favorite space princess.Both girls learn a lot about themselves in this book, that they're enough, that they should be proud of what they became, because they're not perfect and will never be. I enjoyed both romances in this book, specially the f/f one, it was my first experience reading a sapphic book and I loved it.

If you're a fandom girl and love conventions, series and movies: You're gonna love this one. it's filled with all those awesome nods and references and it's really touching too! Maybe even better than the first book!

I adored Geekerella so when I heard there would be a companion book I was so excited! And this book did not disappoint. In fact I probably loved this even more than Geekerella.This book is filled with so much adorable geekiness, I just cannot deal! It’s a feel good book that left me feeling giddy and wanting to go to a con myself. There is so many pop culture references and I loved it! From Harry Potter to Star Wars and so much more. It made the characters, being at the con so real and so relatable! Honestly, I don’t read many contemporaries especially cute fluffy ones but wow did I love this.This story is essentially a modern prince and the pauper retelling and it was so nice to see a retelling of a different story, as all I seem to see a beauty and the beast retellings. With the added bonus of it being set in a con over four days, it was fun and fast paced and intense. A lot happens in these four days from each of the girls learning more about themselves and each other to how it is on the other side of the fandom.I really loved the diversity in the book too. Ethan is Asian and there is a f/f romance. I thought it was really well written and not like it was forced in there.Jessica is the actress who plays Princess Amara on the film Starfield and she receives a lot of hate. People are always commenting all over her social media, sending her hateful messages, which is difficult for her to handle. She feels as though no one wants her there because she wasn’t a Starfield fan and she didn’t want to be in future films. As a result of all of this she is distant and generally looks like she doesn’t want to be there. Although I didn’t particularly Jess at the beginning of the book as her story developed and we get to see all that she has had to go through and how unhappy and lonely she is and I ended up really loving her and totally rooting for her!“We need those stories, too. Stories that tell us that we can be bold and brash and make mistakes and still come out better on the other side”Imogen is probably the opposite of Jess. She is reckless and passionate and adores Starfield. So much so that she has spearheaded a campaign and started a petition to save Amara. She has a younger brother Milo who she feels she is constantly in the shadow of. Her mums can be a little over protective and she had her heartbroken at the last excelsicon. So she puts everything into the saving Amara campaign, regardless of whether Jessica Stone wants to continue being Amara or not. Throughout the story we learn why saving Amara is so important to Imogen but she also learns why it isn’t okay to force Jess to play a role that makes her so unhappy.They both have some great character development even though it is only set over four days and the beginning of a romance. While they switched places they both meet someone who they start to develop feelings for. Imogen’s hate to love was great, I loved how they both misunderstood each other and their own prejudices got in the way of them realising their feelings. And I oved that Jess was able to meet a girl who she could talk openly to without fear of her words being twisted and shared all over the internet. I loved seeing their friendship develop into something more. I liked that neither couple “fell in love” but that it was the beginning of something as they have only known each for a few days.I loved that the darker side of cons and being part of a fandom was also discussed from how obsessive fans can make the actors feel uncomfortable and unsafe. To how females are portrayed in films, especially sci-fi/fantasy. They tend to be a love interested and there to push the story and character development of the male hero. How actresses are held to higher and stricter standards than their male colleagues, even mentioning real actresses that this has happened to.“I’m sick and tired of princesses being either damsels in distress or the foil for a male character's emotional growth."I think the only thing I was unsure of was the motives of the person who leaked the script. Why was it leaked? What did this person hope to achieve? I also figured out pretty early on who it was but none of this lessened my enjoyment of this book. It’s honestly so fun and anyone who loves cons and is part of a fandom will love this!P.S Can we have Starfield made into a real show?

My daughter loves the book