THE PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL by Ashley Poston – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL by Ashley Poston – ReviewThe Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston
Series: Once Upon A Con #2
Published by Quirk Books on April 2 2019
Genres: Young adult, Contemporary
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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four-stars

The nitty-gritty: A feel-good, funny tale full of cosplay, romance and self discovery.

There are stories that you tell and stories that tell things to you; stories that win awards and stories that win hearts. Sometimes the stories you want aren’t the ones you need, and the ones you need are the ones you never thought you’d like.

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows I don’t read contemporary YA—ever! So no one was more surprised that me when I agreed to check out The Princess and the Fangirl, the second book in Ashley Poston’s Once Upon a Con series. And wow, I am so glad I read this book! I absolutely loved it, and I’ll be buying myself a copy of Geekerella just as soon as I can. This book had everything I didn’t realize I needed in a book: a story that takes place at a Con, characters who are geeky to the extreme and therefore completely relatable, slow burn, adorable romance (m/f, f/f and m/m, something for almost everyone!), a twisty tale where two lookalike characters agree to trade places for a couple of days and all the ensuing hilarity, tons of pop culture references and inside jokes that any geek is going to squirm over, and best of all a cast of characters who wiggled their way into my heart. In short, this book made me all kinds of happy, and what a lovely change it was from the dark and serious books I often read.

Actress Jessica Stone played Princess Amara in the wildly popular movie Starfield, and now she’s expected to sit on panels, answer questions and take selfies with her many fans at the annual pop culture convention ExcelsiCon. But Jess’ character supposedly died at the end of the movie and it’s still uncertain whether she’ll be brought back for the sequel. Jess wants nothing more than to leave Starfield behind and work on more serious films, but one fan has started a campaign to bring Amara back, and it’s gaining even more traction at the Con.

Imogen Lovelace is headed to ExcelsiCon, just like she has every year since she was little. Her moms run a booth there, and this year Imogen is finally going to meet her long time internet friend Harper. Imogen is a huge fan of Starfield and she’s started an internet campaign called #SaveAmara, garnered over 50,000 signatures, and now hopes to make even more of an impact at the Con.

When the script for the next Starfield film is stolen at the Con and leaked on Twitter, Jess will do anything to find the culprit and get back the script. She’ll even go so far as to switch places with Imogen—who just happens to be wearing the same beanie and looks remarkably like Jess—in order to find it.

The Princess and the Fangirl is a wonderful love letter to pop culture and its fans. If you have ever obsessed over a fandom, stood in line for hours to watch the midnight screening of the latest Star Wars movie, or spent time at a pop culture convention yourself, then you will love this book. Ashley Poston is either a huge geek herself or she did a ton of research. She references everything from Pokemon to Harry Potter, Star Wars to Zelda, and everything in between. And all the characters speak the same geeky language, trading quips and making jokes about their favorite fandoms. I especially loved when Imogen and Ethan meet and realize that they both have the same interests, even though at first they can’t stand each other.

But as much as I loved the setting, this story is all about the characters, and I fell hard for every one of them. Jess is your typical, stuck up actress in the beginning, trying to avoid her fans at all costs, but as the story goes on and we get to hear her side of things, we learn that she’s really hurting from all the internet trolls who are constantly attacking her, one of the downfalls of fame. Having a somewhat normal life for a few days did wonders for her personality and I ended up rooting for her. Imogen looks up to her younger brother Milo, who everyone seems to love, and wonders if she’ll ever do anything special with her life. It isn’t until she steps into Jess’s shoes that she gains self-confidence and realizes she’s just as special as Milo. Then there is Ethan, Jess’s best friend and constant companion, who is forced to hang out with Imogen when they switch places, and boy is he unhappy about that! I could see them falling for each other a mile away, but that was OK because boy did I want them to get together!! Jess also gets a shot at romance, and even some of the side characters, most notably Milo and his boyfriend Bran, had swoon-worthy parts to play.

And if you have read Geekerella, you’ll be thrilled to discover that some of the characters from the first book make an appearance in The Princess and the Fangirl. I actually felt lost during a couple of scenes when some of the references went over my head, but it made me even more eager to go back and read the first book.

This was such a fun story about mistaken identity, with both Imogen and Jess trying to fool everyone by pretending to be each other. And as you can imagine, things don’t always go smoothly. The action near the end gets a little out of control and felt a bit on the silly side, but it was all in good fun. And yes, you can expect a happy ending—something I’m honestly not used to in my reading!—this is a fairy tale, after all. And in addition to all the lighthearted fun, Poston drops in poignant moments about friendship, loyalty and being true to yourself.

Ultimately this is a story about seeing things from another perspective and how that changes your own worldview. Both Jess and Imogen are convinced that the other girl has the better life—until they swap places and realize that their owns lives aren’t so bad after all. I grinned and laughed my way through the entire story and wound up with a big goofy smile on my face. Even if you don’t think a contemporary YA story is your cup of tea, I strongly recommend that you give this one a chance.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

 

Posted April 13, 2019 by Tammy in 4 stars, Reviews / 38 Comments

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38 responses to “THE PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL by Ashley Poston – Review

  1. Great review! I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about this book and I didn’t realize it’s the second book in the Once Upon a Con series. I haven’t read Geekerella either but I know of it, of course. Also I very rarely read contemporary YA too so I know it’s a big deal to be recommending one and now I definitely want to read this book!

    • Tammy

      It’s just on the edge of genre fiction because it’s all about fandoms, so maybe that’s why I related so well to it:-)

  2. An in-depth, detailed review, as usual. I was surprised too on seeing this post in my blog feed. You generally don’t read such books. It seems to be beautifully written, judging from your review. This s going into my TBR! 🙂
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    • Tammy

      It’s definitely a nice “breather” between heavier books! And it’s not just fluff, it’s so well written with great characters:-)

    • Tammy

      I can see you really enjoying this! I mean, there are some over the top, silly moments, but overall it’s so well written and paced, and I loved the characters.

  3. This sounds like so much fun! I haven’t read Geekerella yet, but I was curious about it. Now I feel it’s worth giving it a go. 🙂

    • Tammy

      It’s worth it! I’ve already bought a copy of Geekerella so I’m ready to revisit this world, can’t wait.

    • Tammy

      Exactly! Right after I finished I bought copies of both books, so some day when I have time I’m going to dive into Geekerella!

  4. Great review!! I’m so glad you liked it! It is technically a YA Contemporary but it has so much sci fi and fantasy references that it doesn’t really feel like one! I could see Ethan and Mo’s romance coming a mile away too haha but it was my favorite of the romances in the book <3 I hope you like Geekerella too! <3
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  5. Beth T.

    So glad I read the review!! From the title I was expecting a typical Hallmark-style love story, but then again, since you read it, I thought I should read the review…and now I see this is just right for me!

  6. Gwyneth Olaer

    I love the review!! It makes me wanna read the book!! I think I can relate to the story since I have a side of being a fangirl. It is sometimes fun & hurting at the same times because of the spread of negativity on social media nevertheless it is a happiness that cannot be bought with money!!!

  7. Penny Olson

    I don’t read much YA contemporary either but this sounds good because it’s about geeks.

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