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.
Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston Series: Once Upon a Con #3
Published by Quirk Books on August 4 2020
Genres: Young adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A sweet and funny story filled with friendship, family and a little romance. And plenty of sci-fi pop culture name dropping!
Bookish and the Beast is another fun entry into Ashley Poston’s lively Once Upon a Con series, where each book takes on a traditional fairy tale and spins it into a modern retelling, complete with plenty of pop culture references. The stories revolve around a yearly comic convention called ExcelsiCon and star the actors in a sci-fi movie franchise called Starfield. Each book so far has dealt with one of the main actors in the movies, and this time it’s Vance Reign’s turn.
One night at ExcelsiCon, Rosie Thorne finds herself on a balcony, taking a break from the crowded convention room floor. There she meets a masked boy dressed in a General Sond costume and strikes up a conversation with him. The two hit it off and spend all night wandering the city and getting to know each other. In short, Rosie considers it the best night of her life, but she knows she’ll probably never see the mysterious Sond cosplayer again.
Fast forward a few months later. Vance Reigns is a famous actor, best known for his role as the villainous General Sond in the popular Starfield movies. When the story opens, Vance has gotten himself into a bit of trouble with the media, having drawn some negative attention after crashing his Tesla while driving with the girlfriend of one of his fellow actors. His parents have had it with his bad boy attitude and want him to lie low for a while until things blow over, and so they send him to a small town in North Carolina called Haven’s Hollow, where the director of Starfield: Resonance has a secluded and empty house.
Rosie Thorne is a high school senior and has lived in the quiet town of Haven’s Hollow her entire life. A year ago, Rosie and her father lost their mother to cancer, and they’re still trying to deal with the emotional and financial aftermath. Luckily, Rosie has two best friends who she can rely on for emotional support, Annie and Quinn. All three share a love of the Starfield universe and go to ExcelsiCon every year. Rosie’s quiet life is upended, though, when one day, chasing a stray dog, she winds up in the “castle” house at the edge of town, only to come face to face with her idol, Vance Reigns. A comedy of errors results in Rosie agreeing to organize and catalog the owner’s immense library of rare sci-fi paperback books, and Vance’s guardian Elias, who is staying with him, insists that Vance help her out.
But Vance wants nothing to do with Rosie, especially when he realizes she’s the girl on the balcony at ExcelsiCon. Vance isn’t really that sweet, attentive guy from that magical night, or is he?
Bookish and the Beast is a fairly short book and a very quick read, and it was exactly what I needed, lots of light, fluffy fun with a cast of characters who quickly won me over. I happen to be a fan of books that revolve around pop culture, and if you enjoy stories like that too, where the characters play Pokemon and other popular video games, watch movies, and go to fan conventions, then you will have fun spotting the Easter eggs Poston has sprinkled throughout her story. What’s different about this book, though, is that it isn’t set at ExcelsiCon like the previous books, Geekerella and The Princess and the Fan Girl. At first I missed that setting, but I soon grew to love Poston’s portrayal of small town high school life, watching Rosie and her friends get ready for the Homecoming game and dance, worry about college admissions, and basically act like high school kids who will soon leave their familiar lives behind them.
And of course, the fact that books figure prominently in this story doesn’t hurt either. I loved Poston’s descriptions of a dusty library full of old pulp paperbacks and her proclamations about the importance of books and stories in our lives. Rosie is a true book lover, having been raised by a mother who loved books as well, and I thought it was a great idea to show how Rosie’s mom is still firmly in her life, as their common love of books and reading keeps her alive. There’s also a cool coincidence later in the story that involves the library and Rosie’s mother, and I thought it was a nice touch. The library is the only real Beauty and the Beast element in the story that I could see, but ultimately that really didn’t matter. (Although there’s also Rosie’s name, which hearkens to the rose in the original tale.)
I did love the slowly developing friendship and romance between Rosie and Vance, which has some very sweet, swoon-worthy moments, but by far my favorite relationships were the friendships in this story. Rosie, Quinn and Annie are true best friends, watch each other’s backs, and basically act as emotional support systems for each other. Rosie’s dad was one of my favorite characters, believe it or not. He’s a librarian—extra points for that!—and he’s a favorite of Annie and Quinn as well, who call him “Space Dad” for some reason. Add in some queer diversity—Quinn is non binary and both Elias and Rosie’s dad are bi—and you have an interesting, well-rounded cast of characters.
The best part of Rosie and Vance’s relationship is that moment when they both realize who the other is, and they can start being themselves. Poston does a great job of showing the emotional lives of her characters, which felt honest and real to me: Rosie trying to deal with the tragic loss of her mother a year later, Vance’s struggles to separate himself from the cold persona of the character he plays on screen, Rosie’s determination to get into NYU and make her mother proud, etc.
As for negatives, I thought the plot itself was the weakest part of the story. The whole set-up with Rosie organizing the library was really a stretch, and in my opinion was Poston’s way of trying shoehorn in some Beauty and the Beast elements to make this more of a retelling—which it really isn’t. There are lots of scenes that felt contrived and awkward, like that scene where Poston needs to get Rosie upstairs to Vance’s private bathroom so that thing can happen. Or that scene where Rosie accidentally destroys the rare first edition of The Starless Throne so she has a reason to be in the library with Vance. Or that time when Rosie’s dad sets fire to their kitchen (he’s a terrible cook!) so they have an excuse to spend the weekend with Vance and Elias. You get the idea. It didn’t always make sense, but I forgave the author for these missteps because the outcomes were so much fun.
Overall, this was a delight to read, and I do hope there will be more books in the series. Despite its tenuous connection to Beauty and the Beast, I recommend this book to readers who love stories with lots of pop culture references, sweet romance and strong themes of friendship and family relationships.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
My curiosity was piqued the moment I read the title and my eyes landed on the cute cover! It’s nice that this book has pop culture references, and a sweet romance with strong relationships usually works great. I didn’t know about the series, but I’ll have a look at the other books as well, thanks for the recommendation 🙂
The other books are even better, in my opinion. And all are standalones, so you can read them out of order:-)
ooh, I’m just about to start this, held my breath as I clicked into this post – glad you enjoyed it, despite its weaknesses! sometimes a book has its flaws, but it makes me happy enough that I can overlook them, sounds like this is that kinda book 🙂
I hope you enjoy it, Annie!
This sounds exactly like the “feel good” book we all need now and then – especially now…
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books on My Summer 2020 TBR
It’s definitely a book that will take your mind off the big bad world for a while…
I want to draw hearts around this goodness! I am so glad it is as lovely as it sounds!
Yes, lots of good in this story:-)
It sounds cute and the way things are right now, I think some cute is in order. Doesn’t seem like the dog plays a big part though. Is this a dog-bait cover? Glad you enjoyed this one.
Ugh I forgot to mention the dog! Honestly, the dog is just a prop to bring the two characters together, which was a little disappointing.
This sounds like fun and I enjoyed your review, Tammy. I’m looking towards some lighter reads and something outside my normal genres.
Laura Thomas recently posted…Books From The Back Log #43 ~ The Fall
It was fun to read a YA contemporary, which I NEVER read:-)
I love stories of relationship and pop culture references and Beauty and the Beast too. I’m always looking for a delightful story, so I’ll be adding this. Terrific review, Tammy!
Thanks Jenni!
Yay, this sounds just as fun as I hoped it would. I can’t wait to read it!
Lots of fun, just what we all need right now:-)
Not sure if I have seen you review a contemporary romance type book before or not often…lol. Glad you enjoyed it, fluff is fun!
Ha ha, you probably haven’t! It’s not my go-to, but I love this series, who knew?
It’s probably not my kind of read but it does sound fun and I’m glad you enjoy it 😀
I didn’t think it was mine either, but I like the simplicity of this series, it’s a nice break from so much complex sci fi and fantasy:-)
It does sound cute. I might take a look at the author’s other books – a bit of cute fun could be just what’s needed right now.
Lynn 😀
Exactly. Sometimes you need a completely different genre to shake up your head, lol.
Glad you enjoyed this! I really want to read this one too, it’s just my sort of thing and I liked the previous one as well. 🙂
It’s worth reading, Lisa, hope you get to soon!
Ashley Poston is so delightful. I’m going to have to read this one stat!
She is, and she has another new book coming out soon, a fantasy. I’m very excited about it!
I don’t know if this is something I could get into, and yet there is a certain appeal to it. Similar to cozy mysteries. I don’t read them and have doubts I’d enjoy them, and yet I’m curious about them because there is sometimes that pull for something simpler, down to earth, positive, relaxing, funny… Really glad to see how much you enjoyed it.
This is probably the only series like this I’ll ever read, lol. But now I feel committed, so I guess if there’s a fourth book I’ll probably wind up reading it.
Ugh, pop culture is so hit or miss for me, because that’s not usually my thing in books, but also, that cover is so freaking cute and it sounds like a fun read. I have to say that I really love the idea of this series, though. And I might just have to check them out anyway. xD It sounds like it’s geeky pop culture, and I am definitely all for that!
Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den recently posted…First Line Friday 56 || Asian-Inspired Dark Fantasy
If you like geeky pop culture you’ll probably enjoy these, they are fun for a chnage, especially when I read so many heavy books.