I am loving the continuation of this series from Ashley Poston. We revisit ExcelsiCon from 'Geekerella' (book 1) but this time we're following Darien's costar Jessica Stone as she navigates the con while trying to save her career even though she's over being Princess Amara and is hoping that Imogen's push to save her character will fail. Poston gives a fresh new take on the classic 'The Prince and the Pauper' with high stakes chasing a script leak through social media while dodging fans and just the general madness that can be a con. Super fun and flirty and perfect for a light romance read. It's like a lovely Hallmark movie nerd style and I am HERE for it and want more. I'm looking forward to the third installment coming this fall.

First of all, this book can be considered a stand-alone, though I wholeheartedly recommend reading Geekerella first anyway, because it gives you a background of how the other characters truly are. I mean, Darien and Elle make their cameos in The Princess and the Fangirl, and their cameos are all the more satisfying to read knowing their back stories.

TPatF, however, takes a different look at fandom itself, in both the eyes of a celebrity like Jessica Stone, and the eyes of a fan who would do quite a lot to save her fandom. It takes a look at the ugly side of how fandom works; how actors are under the pressure to meet fan expectations, and what happens when one's goals and dreams are not quite the same as what the fans want. The book also takes a look at harassment at cons, as well as the trolls of the internet age, which I thought brought a realistic depiction of the negatives to any fandom, popularized or otherwise.

And I appreciate that Poston adds all of this, because fandom isn't exactly all happy-go-lucky (though, tbh, why shouldn't it be at the end of the day?!). There are people who take fandom one step further than normal, and that kind of ruins the view of fandom for many. Which is what Jessica Stone is seeing throughout the book, which makes it sad.

BUT. Ashley Poston isn't wrong on that count. Without adding those negatives, how do we really appreciate fandom itself despite the trolls and the haters?

Well, she wrote it right here.

But let me get to what I really loved about this book, and that's the characters. Particularly Imogen effing Lovelace.

Imogen is a huge, huge Starfield fan. When the rebooted movie of Starfield--starring Darien Freeman as Carmindor and Jessica Stone as Amara--ends up with Amara's character essentially dying, there is a clamor within the fandom community to bring Amara back to life. At the center of it all is Imogen, who creates the #SaveAmara movement that gets a pretty decent following within the Starfield community. When Jessica Stone makes a deal and switches identities with her (for reasons Imogen doesn't know entirely), Imogen finds that she can push forth her initiative through a new platform.

It does not work out the way she really wants it to, but when do crazy schemes usually do in books?

Still, I love Imogen to bits. I love her character development--which she gets a lot of because of her experience posing as Jessica Stone. I love her inner monologues and constant reference to pop culture. I love that she continues to have an idealized version of love up until she actually does fall in love. But mostly I just love Imogen.

Because I swear, every other Imogen-ish saying made me laugh throughout her POV. Also, it doesn't hurt that her meet cute is with a boy she accidentally spills coffee on, and the rest is history kind of thing. (Though in this particular case, the romance is slightly more muted when you don't really get the other side's POV as much as we got Dare's side in Geekerella. That's just me, though.)

But once again, I think Poston really catered to the fangirl in everyone by writing this book, and the ensuing books that's going to come out from her Once Upon a Con series. I think I could continually read whatever she comes up with because it does make my inner nerd squee when there are homages to fandoms that goes beyond the science fiction.A lot of the references are geek-centered pop culture, sure, but you'd have to really look and see if you can catch all the references, because that's probably my favorite part of Excelsicon in its entirety. It's catching them all that's the best part.

So did I love this more than Geekerella? Not gonna lie, I didn't? But that's not saying much, because while I absolutely ship-stan-will-go-down-with-Darielle-in-a-storm, I am so very entranced with The Princess and the Fangirl as well.

A solid YA novel that was a good purchase for my library. Students have read and enjoyed it, and I purchased it because of this review copy.

Adorable coming of age title. Has a similar feel of The Prince and the Pauper, but holds its own in the new world of retellings.

Unfortunately, I did not get. the chance to read this ARC prior to its release--I'm hoping to work through my backlist now that we're home for the coming weeks!--but we did end up buying this book for the library collection.

I enjoyed Geekerella when I read it but when I started Princess and the Fangirl i realized just how much of Geekerella did not stick with me. Couldn't remember the plot of the book or even character names....so that made this one hard to get into. I gave it the old college try but ended up DNF-ing at 30% in. Thanks for the opportunity to read but in end this one just wasn't for me.

The Princess and the Fangirl was a wonderfully lighthearted and charming read. The F/F romance was really sweet but ultimately I didn't enjoy this one as much as I expected to. I had to keep flipping back a few pages to remember who was who, and who knew what, maybe knowing the original this was based on (and having read Geekerella) would have helped but as a standalone it fell a little flat. The two characters were quite similar but I felt that we didn't really get to know either of them outside of their respective romances.

Another geektastic, fun-loving romance that gave me tingles of excitement and gasps of dread! A great read.

Ashley Poston doesn't disappoint in this follow-up to Geekerella! Super cute and can also be read as a stand-alone.

Cute! But not nearly as cute as Geekerella. Still worth the read :).....................
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I was a little sad when I began reading this book because I was hoping for more of Elle. But I was not disappointed with the new characters and their stories, I really enjoyed it.
If I had the opportunity to switch places with a celebrity even for a day I wouldn't my anxiety would take over. But Imogen grabs the bull by the horns and uses this to try and save Jessica's character. While Jessica doesn't want to continue as Princesses Amara she needs Imogen to be her while she try's to save her career.
You'll be flipping through the pages rooting for both girls and hoping for a happy ending for both.
Buddy read with my bestie @borenbooks.
I was gifted a physical copy of this book. ut I also got a free ebook thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

This book was a great reprieve from all the heavy books I have been reading lately and I believe I enjoyed it more than the first book Geekerella .

Jessica Stone is a name that all nerds know. She played their beloved Princess Amara in the hit show Starfield. But despite the praise, there is always trolls and critics dragging her down with their negative words. Being Princess Amara may have jump started her career, but she wishes to advance to different roles but has had no success. Despite Amara being killed off in Starfield, the fans are not eager to let her go and have started an initiative to save Princess Amara from being dead for good. Jessica does not want this and dreads having to make photo ops and panel experiences at this years Excelsicon.
Imogen Lovelace has loved the Starfield franchise for as long as she can remember. And ever year her moms sell merchandise at Excelsicon. She is excited to go this year for she is meeting her friend Harper who she has only talked to online. Her and Harper have booths together in artists alley, Harper selling her art and Imogen promoting the #SaveAmara initiative that she had started. Princess Amara is her favorite Starfield character and refuses to let the producers and director kill her off for good for just the sake of developing Carmindor’s character. In a case of mistaken identity, Imogen ends up on stage posing as Jessica Stone for their look very much alike. The only difference in that Imogen has short pink hair instead of long brown. She uses this moment to speak her mind on the fate of Princess Amara, ruining Jessica’s chances even more to not catch anymore of the media’s attention and getting a different role. Things turn for the even worse when a part of the script for the next season of Starfield is leaked to everyone in the con and Jessica knows that she is to blame for she accidentally threw out the script in the trash at her hotel. But Jess quickly comes up with a plan to have Imogen pose as her and vice versa so that Jess can track down the person who is leaking the script before they expose her. Imogen agrees so that she can get her #SaveAmara petition to a bigger audience. But Jessica has a long time assistant, her best friend Ethan, who is determined to keep Imogen in line.
While Imogen goes to panels and photo ops as a Jess, Jess goes off to meet Harper and in doing so learns that Imogen is behind the movement she hates so much. Jess gets to know what it is like to be just an ordinary person for just a couple and days and starts to fall for Harper as she gets to know her. Imogen loves the attention and the luxury of being famous, but finds Jess’s assistant Ethan to be a thorn in her side. But despite all that they also begin to fall for each other. But the script continues to leak and it takes them too long to find a possible suspect. For by then there is a lot revealed of the new season of Starfield. That Amara is gone for good and that Carmindor is also going to meet his end, leaving the two main leads dead. It devastates all involved, except Vance, a douche canoe of an actor who is to join the cast of the next season as the main villain. It seems that Vance could be the person leaking the script. But Jess and Imogen figure out it is actually the director and stage a plan to expose him with the help of Imogen’s brother and his boyfriend. They ask Harper to help too but she refuses for she is too upset that all this time she has been lied to and has fell for a person that is not who she seemed the whole time.
The plan is successful and the director is exposed for trying to exploit the Starfield and is fired. Natasha, the original Princess Amara is to be the writer and director of the next season of Starfield. Imogen has learned that being Jessica Stone is not that glamorous and can now understand why Jess did not like #SaveAmara initiative. So she decides to end it and her and Ethan admit their feelings to each other. Jess enjoyed being normal but feels awful for what she has done to Harper. She makes a big scene on trying to get Harper to talk to her and forgive her and Harper does. They go to the Excelsicon ball together and Jess is now good friends with Imogen. She has also learned to see why people love Amara and accepts whatever the future holds in her career and in her personal life.

Jess as a character was hard to relate to for a little while. She reminded me of Darien in the first book, a famous actor with everything at their finger tips, yet they complained about everything. All Jess did was complain on being seen only as Princess Amara. But I could understand the cruelty of people on the internet, constantly criticizing her for not satisfying their picture on what Princess Amara is supposed to be. She also began to change as a character and had more depth than I realized. I could see her inner struggles but also how her perspective started to change. How she became more of the nerd she always wanted to be and understood why Starfield meant so much to so many people. Change is always important in character so I have to give Jess some credit. Also her guilt for tricking Harper also made me like her more and it was wonderful that despite the repercussions, she made her feeling known publicly to Harper. Needless to say, I would not mind seeing more of this character and I like her way more than Darien.

Imogen I liked from the very beginning. She represented every feminists fangirl and so I could relate to her so well. Her passion for Amara and Starfield was palpable. But I will say that I did not really like that she chose to trick her best friend in order to gain more attention for the #SaveAmara and had a hard time with that knowledge for a lot of the book. But she did feel bad for what she did and also I couldn’t help find her inner turmoil over Ethan adorable. So in the end I still liked her but not as much as Elle in the first book.

As for other characters I don’t have much to say since I don’t feel like I got to know them enough to have much to talk about. All I think is that Ethan was a hard as but turned into a adorable softie and that Harper was adorable and passionate about many things. Milo and his boyfriend was way too cute and wonderful for words and Vance was just as much of a douche canoe as you could get. I think I’m not really missing anyone but I will add them here if I have.

What didn’t make this a five star book was not just some issues with the characters. It really was mostly the plot. It had good pacing but was super predictable. It was obvious that Ethan and Imogen would end up together and same for Jess and Harper. Also there was a little too many pop culture references. Yes this book is basically all fandom (a fake one but still counts) but it was too much and could go over some people’s heads for not everyone knows everything about Star Wars or Harry Potter. But other than that it really did move forward nicely and was well thought out so I found myself returning to the audio more and more until I finished. If you are a hardcore geek you might like these books. It looks like there will be another book and I will most likely be reading it when it comes out since I’m curious as to where this story could possibly go further.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

I had adored Geekerella when I read it way back in January 2017, and for some reason, I just didn't get around to reading my review copy of The Princess and the Fangirl until I remembered the series existed when book 3, Bookish and the Beast was announced. I immediately dug out my copy of this one, and dove straight in, and remembered just why Geekerella was one of my favourite books of 2017.

In The Princess and the Fangirl, we have dual POV, looking at our two main characters, Jessica and Imogen/Mo. Jessica is a Hollywood star, nominated for an Oscar, and has most recently played the iconic Princess Amara in the Starfield reboot. Playing such an classic role has left her open to criticism, both warranted, and not, and when her character was killed off at the end of the movie, she was seemingly blamed for it all. Even if she had initially liked her character, she hates Amara now, and the whole #saveAmara campaign is something she wants to kill off before it gets too much traction. Mo, on the other hand, idolises Amara, and single handedly kick started the #saveAmara campaign online, and when she is mistaken for Jessica one day, and dragged onto a panel in her place, she thinks this could be the perfect time to make it seems as if Jessica wants to #saveAmara too.

When the script for the new film is leaked, and it seems as if Jessica could be at fault, she needs to be in two places at once - on panel and at her scheduled appearances, and also searching for the person leaking the script. So, she gets Mo to masquerade as her, with her best friend and assistant, Ethan, making sure nothing goes too wrong, and Jessica pretends to be Mo, in order to go incognito while searching. Pretending to be Mo allows Jess to be herself, and not have to worry too much about her appearance, her fans, or her career. She gets really close to Mo's online friend, Harper, and wishes she could really be herself, as she starts to fall for Harper. Mo, on the other hand, starts to understand that the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and Jess's life has been made hell recently by trolls and overeager 'fans'. She's also developing her own feelings for Ethan, but thinks he has a crush on Jess, and is only being nice to her because she looks like Jess. As both Mo and Jess get further through the con, and get to know each other better, they find themselves becoming true friends.

Now, this book was soo good, and I can't believe I waited so long to read it, but at least now I can start Bookish and the Beast straight away! I adored both of the main characters - Mo more than Jess - and really found myself wanting more and more, and couldn't put it down unless I absolutely had to. The two main romances in the books were lovely to read, but slow, as the book does only happen over the space of the weekend, but I hope we see more of them in the next book, like with did with Darien and Elle in this one. Really, everything I could've wanted was in this book, and I need to know how Vance can redeem himself in Bookish and the Beast because I still don't like his character now.

I love this trilogy. Honestly, it's so fun. I can't even come up with anything I don't like. The characters are fun and diverse, which is so refreshing. The geek element is totally amazing. Ugh, its straight out of my fangirl dreams!

This was cute, and much better than the first in the series. I think the author found her footing and the quality of writing improved, as it didn't seem as confused as to the audience of the book. This is a solid YA nerdy book this time. I think the alternating POV being two female characters helped, as the first in the series switched between male and female, and it didn't work well for me.

I'm not familiar with the fairy tale on which this is based, so I wasn't totally sure what to expect. The premise is cute, there's an overabundance of LGBT characters (yay for representation, but this may be a little overboard and trying too hard to overcompensate for the first book that definitely had some LGBT vibes that weren't fully explored), and generally it's a fun story that held my attention. There were some interesting (and ridiculous) twists and turns along the way, which is always welcome in a book about fandom and cons, because there are so many books on the topic and it's hard to find something fresh.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC that I started ages ago and then expired, but held my attention enough to make me go get a physical copy to finish it.

Representation: F/F romance (side characters)

As a big fan of the convention circuit, I was instantly attracted to Ashley Poston's The Princess and the Fangirl. It's the second book in the Once Upon a Con series (whoops for reading out of order lol) after Geekerella, but I don't think that takes away from enjoying the fandom references, the energy, and the pure love that Ashley displays for her characters and setting.


What I Enjoyed


Jess does not want to be Princess Amara anymore because she fears being tied to the Starfield series forever, unable to progress in her career through what she views as worthier films. A legit concern because typecasting happens and it can be something hard to breakthrough, especially for women in Hollywood. Her worries and fears were realistic aspects that gave insight into her position.




Imogen holds the Starfield series, show and film, dear to her heart, especially Princess Amara. She wants to save the character from a presumed demise at the conclusion of the blockbuster hit film that is becoming bigger than the Avengers films. Her perspective really enabled fans (pick your fandom) to feel themselves within the book. Who among us hasn't worried about their favorite character being killed off? Would we go as far as Imogen to save them?




There are quips and barbs traded, whether toward each other or with side characters, that add to the annoyance factor of Jess and Imogen. After the incident that prompts their trading places act, however, the reader is able to see some slow development of their respective characters. Their motivations in respect to why they've said and done some rude things, why they fear the future (whether it be the Starfield franchise or an unknown life), unfold and make them more layered people.




This clarity moment for Jess. There's a specific scene where Jess is trying to follow a clue to the leaked script and she is viewing the 25th anniversary setup for Starfield. The collection of costumes, particularly that of the original Amara Natalia Ford, gives her pause. She wonders about the expectations that were heaped upon her by outside forces (fans and so forth) as well as herself, but also her preconception about what makes an indie film like her Oscar nominated Huntress Rising role "better" than anything being enjoyed at ExcelsiCon (The Last Jedi, Black Panther, Starfield).




Even though I read this book first and have yet to read Geekerella, there were some throwbacks to the first book that were cute and funny that I could appreciate. I'm sure I'll love them even more once I've read the first book so I can know the full history behind the cameos and whatnot.


What I Didn't Enjoy


There an annoying quality that both girls have at first that stems from their points of view. It was a bit more abrasive than I would have liked, even if they did grow from it.




Not enjoying might be a bit strong for this entry, but: Jess cannot see what the attendees of ExcelsiCon value in the shows, the art, the costumes that are on display. Imogen can't understand why Jess would want to give up on Amara, an iconic female character she could save from fridging if she just fought for her. I was frustrated with these two because they were being so stubborn. Then again, they did just meet, so it's also hard to be too upset about it.


To Sum It Up


A definite TBR addition for fans of conventions, especially those who have read Poston's Geekerella, The Princess and the Fangirl is ultimately a fan letter to the world of costumes, of film festivals, of long nights debating the finer points of our fandoms, and what we would or wouldn't do to save them. It's also about being true to ourselves and taking no shit from those that would try to shove us into precut holes because they think they can.

Once Upon a Con is a series I can't wait to kick back and visit again.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel.

DNF @ 20%

I'm absolutely gutted that this ended up not being for me, but I'll definitely be reading more by this author in the future!

First off, I haven't read Geekerella, I found out I could read this one as a standalone and I also found out it featured a F/F romance, so I really wanted to read it. I'm not sure whether not reading book 1 would've changed my opinion.

Ultimately, I just didn't get on with the main characters, I liked Jess to some extent, but Imogen was starting to really get on my nerves, I was also pretty bored and I couldn't see myself getting through another 80%.

One thing I loved was the casual queer rep (and queer parents which I love to see).

Overall, I'm very happy I decided to give this a go, and I will definitely be reading this author's work again, this one just wasn't my cup of tea, but I would still recommend it to anyone who likes diverse characters, fandom and conventions.

I liked this one better than the first in the series. Loved all the fandon related stuff/convention feelings. Loved the book made me happy and made me laugh throughout the reading. Still, it wasn't a favourite but I still liked a lot. It's cute, adorable and a quick read.

This review will go live on The Blogger Girls on November 12, 2019

3.5 stars

“Anything can happen once upon a con.”

The Princess and the Fangirl is the anticipated sequel to Geekerella and kicks off at the next ExcelsiCon one year later.  Where Geekerella is a Cinderella retelling (I love Cinderella retellings), The Princess and the Fangirl is a retelling of The Prince and the Pauper (I’m not a Mark Twain and attempted and failed to read this in high school, but I’m fairly familiar with the premise).

It has been a few years since I’ve read Geekerella and I remember it being fun with lots of cute and geeky fandom references.  The Princess and the Fangirl follows along that same vein with the main fandom being Starfield…the inspiration for ExcelsiCon.  Jessica Stone is the actress who plays Princess Amara, one of Starfield’s favorite villains in the recent reboot movie.  Unfortunately, Jess the actress isn’t a fan favorite and is ready for her career to leave Princess Amara in the past.  Imogen Lovelace isn’t new to the convention experience and has even started the online #SaveAmara movement along with a petition that has amassed 50,000 signatures.  Mo also happens to look very much like Jessica Stone. After an incident of mistaken identity, Jess convinces Mo the two of them should switch identities for the remainder of the con giving them both a chance to pursue their own secret agendas.  

In the beginning, I struggled a bit because I didn’t know who the romantic pairings would be.  I knew going in this story fell under the LGBT tag so I guess I assumed it would be Jess and Mo together, but it quickly became clear that wouldn’t be the case.  I don’t want to spoiler it so I’m only going to say there is good representation and the romance only amounts to small piece of the story anyway. I would have preferred more romance, but there was so much happening with drama around Starfield and the movie sequel, there wasn’t enough time for much falling in love.  

Between the two main characters, Imogen was my favorite.  She was a little naive with her #SaveAmara quest but I think that was what I loved the most about her: she could take something she loved and share it with others…and they could love it too.  Also, her romantic pairing was much more interesting. Jess, on the other hand, had a lot of growing to do. She is totally unhappy with her experience as Princess Amara, but eventually she is able to understand and embrace what Amara represents.  I wasn’t a fan of her romantic pairing since 90% of them falling for each other was based on a huge lie.  

I loved so many of the side characters:  Jess’s assistant Ethan and Mo’s brother Milo and Milo’s boyfriend Bran.  There are even several appearances from Geekerella couples Darien and Elle, and Sage and Calliope.  

There is an underlying mystery about who is leaking pages of the Starfield sequel script.  For some reason I didn’t find the mystery very interesting and the “bad guy” wasn’t a big surprise to me.  Maybe it wasn’t really intended to be? Anyway, I found the mystery to be the least interesting part of the story.  

Overall, I wanted more romance and less mystery and Starfield drama.  Still, worth reading for any fans of Geekeralla.

Looks like there will be a 3rd book in the Once Upon a Con series featuring one of the new characters from The Princess and the Fangirl.  I just can’t figure out who it could be.  I would like a Milo story, but I also like Milo with Bran.  Hmm…

I was so excited when this book was announced so imagine my disappointment when it didn't live up to my expectations. I felt like the story was so slow and was just dragging. It didn't capture my attention like Geekerella did. The characters weren't bad but I didn't love them. With the book being so slow and the character sbeing a bit meh to me, this was not a book for me.