Information from Goodreads
Title
The Princess and The Fangirl by Ashley Poston (Once Upon A Con # 2) by Ashley Poston
Publication Date
April 2nd, 2019
Genre
YA Contemporary, Retelling
Type of book
Novel
Edition I read
Ebook
Summary
“The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.
Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year's ExcelsiCon isn't her last, she'll consider her career derailed.
When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That's easier said than done when the girls step into each other's shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these "princesses" race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.”
A love letter to fandoms and cons
If you have read Geekerella you will love this companion novel. If you have not, you still would. You don’t have to read both, but there is the crossover with some characters. This is a delightfully fun novel about finding yourself and finding something to fight for. Within the novel is a love of fandoms and cons, and I loved that. This is my Review on Goodreads, but I enjoyed this book a lot so I wanted to do a more in depth discussion about the novel.
Overall thoughts and analysis
Overall, this was a 5 star read for me like the other books I have read from Ashley Poston. As an author, Poston really has a way of creating characters that readers can relate to, and a story that readers will want to keep diving into. Full disclosure, I didn’t like Jessica Stone in the first book, in fact, I thought she was a bit of a snob, and she came off like she was too good to do this movie for a series she had never seen, and didn’t care about for that matter. In this companion novel to Geekerella, we see Jessica Stone in a new light, by hearing more of her story, and hearing the reasons for the way she thinks. While I still didn’t love her as a character, I at least liked her a little more because I could see where she was coming from and her reasoning. The other main character in this novel is Imogen, called Mo or Monster some time, and I loved her so much. I thought she was a great character with a great arc in the story. At the core, this is a story about finding yourself, and accepting yourself for who you are, sprinkled in is a love of fandom for good measure.
Characters 5/5
I have already discussed a bit about the characters above, however; in this section I will go more in depth with my thoughts. To start, I didn’t hate Jessica Stone in the first book. I disliked her because I thought she was overly egotistical, and that she felt she was better than a Starfield movie. This rubbed me the wrong way and was off putting, but I thought her character was written well and worked for the story. The Princess and the Fangirl gives Jessica a chance to escape the paparazzi, and she can be a normal con goer, even if she is pretending to be Imogen. Imogen started a petition and a campaign to save her favorite character, as a reader, I related to her which is why she became my favorite character. I loved everything about her, and as I was following the story, I was rooting for her and I wanted to see a happy ending in her future. Milo and Bran were sweet character, and a cute couple but I wish we had known more about them. Harper is another new character, and I loved what we learned about her, again, I just wish we had gotten to know a little more.
Story 5/5
A story for lovers of fandom and cons?! I was so on board with this story from the beginning! The plot showed the good and the bad sides of fandoms and I loved that, I loved that we could see the full spectrum, as with most fandoms, Starfield had some fantastic fans, and some not so good ones. I enjoyed Jessica's story as it was a way for her to explain herself and live the kind of life she craved for at least a bit. I loved the part of the story where she was Harper, and she was happier than we had ever seen her in my opinion. The other developed storyline was Imogen’s, and I loved hearing her story so much. I really felt bad for her because of how her ex was treating her, but again, this is the bad side of the random that definitely needed to be discussed. Overall, this is a sweet story about finding yourself and going after what you want, I loved all these aspects in the novel.
World Building N/A
There is not much world building in this novel. The world of Excelsi Con is the one you would find at any con, booths, panels, and the dance which I loved, but I’m not sure I would call it World Building per se.
Writing 5/5
This was the third novel by Ashley Poston I’ve read. Honestly, I think she is one of the most talented writers in the Contemporary YA and SciFi Genres today. Her writing is lush, and she really creates a story and fantastic characters with her writing. Her writing suits the genre’s she writes in because it keeps the light and fun scenes light and carefree. The more dramatic, or heavy duty plot scenes, are more intense because of the more serious style and tone to her writing.
Pace 5/5
The pace of this novel was perfect in my opinion, the novel flowed from one scene to the next easily. I felt the scenes that were meant to be read as fast paced, or action packed were fantastic, and part of this was because of the pace not wavering during these scenes. The heavier, or emotional scenes were great because they were slower and meant to make you feel more for the characters and what they were experiencing. One of the best things about this novel is how the pace keeps the reader engaged, and yet still make you feel for the characters while still have a great fun time as you.
Romance 5/5
This book had a little romance, but I thought it was sweet. I am always one that loves a good LGBTQ+ book, and the romance in this book was the start of a female romance with Jess and Harper. While I wish we knew more about where they would take this romance, maybe in another book? Anyway, the short bits we saw were cute, especially when Jess got on the Magic Pumpkin and asked Harper to go to the ball with her. While we spent less time with them, Milo and Bran were also very cute and I kinda wish we had known more about how the two of them had met, and I wish they had more development as a couple. Again, maybe in another nook we will see them and get to know more about the two as a couple.
Have you read this book? What did you think?
Title
The Princess and The Fangirl by Ashley Poston (Once Upon A Con # 2) by Ashley Poston
Publication Date
April 2nd, 2019
Genre
YA Contemporary, Retelling
Type of book
Novel
Edition I read
Ebook
Summary
“The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.
Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year's ExcelsiCon isn't her last, she'll consider her career derailed.
When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That's easier said than done when the girls step into each other's shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these "princesses" race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.”
A love letter to fandoms and cons
If you have read Geekerella you will love this companion novel. If you have not, you still would. You don’t have to read both, but there is the crossover with some characters. This is a delightfully fun novel about finding yourself and finding something to fight for. Within the novel is a love of fandoms and cons, and I loved that. This is my Review on Goodreads, but I enjoyed this book a lot so I wanted to do a more in depth discussion about the novel.
Overall thoughts and analysis
Overall, this was a 5 star read for me like the other books I have read from Ashley Poston. As an author, Poston really has a way of creating characters that readers can relate to, and a story that readers will want to keep diving into. Full disclosure, I didn’t like Jessica Stone in the first book, in fact, I thought she was a bit of a snob, and she came off like she was too good to do this movie for a series she had never seen, and didn’t care about for that matter. In this companion novel to Geekerella, we see Jessica Stone in a new light, by hearing more of her story, and hearing the reasons for the way she thinks. While I still didn’t love her as a character, I at least liked her a little more because I could see where she was coming from and her reasoning. The other main character in this novel is Imogen, called Mo or Monster some time, and I loved her so much. I thought she was a great character with a great arc in the story. At the core, this is a story about finding yourself, and accepting yourself for who you are, sprinkled in is a love of fandom for good measure.
Characters 5/5
I have already discussed a bit about the characters above, however; in this section I will go more in depth with my thoughts. To start, I didn’t hate Jessica Stone in the first book. I disliked her because I thought she was overly egotistical, and that she felt she was better than a Starfield movie. This rubbed me the wrong way and was off putting, but I thought her character was written well and worked for the story. The Princess and the Fangirl gives Jessica a chance to escape the paparazzi, and she can be a normal con goer, even if she is pretending to be Imogen. Imogen started a petition and a campaign to save her favorite character, as a reader, I related to her which is why she became my favorite character. I loved everything about her, and as I was following the story, I was rooting for her and I wanted to see a happy ending in her future. Milo and Bran were sweet character, and a cute couple but I wish we had known more about them. Harper is another new character, and I loved what we learned about her, again, I just wish we had gotten to know a little more.
Story 5/5
A story for lovers of fandom and cons?! I was so on board with this story from the beginning! The plot showed the good and the bad sides of fandoms and I loved that, I loved that we could see the full spectrum, as with most fandoms, Starfield had some fantastic fans, and some not so good ones. I enjoyed Jessica's story as it was a way for her to explain herself and live the kind of life she craved for at least a bit. I loved the part of the story where she was Harper, and she was happier than we had ever seen her in my opinion. The other developed storyline was Imogen’s, and I loved hearing her story so much. I really felt bad for her because of how her ex was treating her, but again, this is the bad side of the random that definitely needed to be discussed. Overall, this is a sweet story about finding yourself and going after what you want, I loved all these aspects in the novel.
World Building N/A
There is not much world building in this novel. The world of Excelsi Con is the one you would find at any con, booths, panels, and the dance which I loved, but I’m not sure I would call it World Building per se.
Writing 5/5
This was the third novel by Ashley Poston I’ve read. Honestly, I think she is one of the most talented writers in the Contemporary YA and SciFi Genres today. Her writing is lush, and she really creates a story and fantastic characters with her writing. Her writing suits the genre’s she writes in because it keeps the light and fun scenes light and carefree. The more dramatic, or heavy duty plot scenes, are more intense because of the more serious style and tone to her writing.
Pace 5/5
The pace of this novel was perfect in my opinion, the novel flowed from one scene to the next easily. I felt the scenes that were meant to be read as fast paced, or action packed were fantastic, and part of this was because of the pace not wavering during these scenes. The heavier, or emotional scenes were great because they were slower and meant to make you feel more for the characters and what they were experiencing. One of the best things about this novel is how the pace keeps the reader engaged, and yet still make you feel for the characters while still have a great fun time as you.
Romance 5/5
This book had a little romance, but I thought it was sweet. I am always one that loves a good LGBTQ+ book, and the romance in this book was the start of a female romance with Jess and Harper. While I wish we knew more about where they would take this romance, maybe in another book? Anyway, the short bits we saw were cute, especially when Jess got on the Magic Pumpkin and asked Harper to go to the ball with her. While we spent less time with them, Milo and Bran were also very cute and I kinda wish we had known more about how the two of them had met, and I wish they had more development as a couple. Again, maybe in another nook we will see them and get to know more about the two as a couple.
Have you read this book? What did you think?
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