I really enjoyed this twist on Beauty & the Beast. It was full of interesting characters, and the protagonist was a great nerdy girl. While the plot was predictable, it was still enjoyable to read and see how the characters grew throughout the story. I think that my students would really like this book.

I received a temporary digital advanced copy of Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston from NetGalley, Quirk Books, and the author in exchange for an honest review.

Rosie Thorne is a typical American teenager struggling to find a topic to write her college essay on, while juggling family and friend relationships, and work. After chasing a dog into a library and finding a rare collection of her favorite sci-fi space opera novels known as Starfield, she lands herself in a bit of trouble and must organize the library with Vance Reigns, one of the actors in the Starfield movies Rosie loves. Vance and Rosie's relationship turns complicated and Rosie must figure out how to be honest with her feelings amidst balancing her difficult senior year.

The Bookish and the Beast was a fun YA romance read that I found to be a mix of Beauty and the Beast and A Cinderella Story (the Hilary Duff version) with a strong foundation in Starfield. When I first started reading, I was extremely confused as to what Starfield was--had I missed a new sci-fi universe in pop culture, or did the author make Starfield up...? After a bit of Googling, Starfield is a video game; however, I did not dive deep enough to see if the two are connected. I now realize that this is the third book in the series, and if I had read the previous two, I probably would have gotten more of an introduction to Starfield in those.

Moving past the confusion in the beginning, the novel is a fast read with elements that all teenagers could relate to. One of my favorite parts of the novel, was Rosie's best friend Quinn, a non-binary teen. I think this is one of the first novels I have read with a non-binary character. I loved Quinn's personality and their confidence. I think the presence of a non-binary character is what really made the novel stand out to other YA romance novels I have read.

Short Review: I read this in one sitting and it was so freaking cute! I love all the fandom references Ashley Poston throws in like: THE LAST JEDI & GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW? MY LOVES.

Anyways. This is a Beauty & The Beast retelling so it obviously loosely follows the plot of the original story, but there are some more subtle reference, one which made me almost cry (idk I was in a weird mood reading this so).

Longer Review (that will be posted to my blog closer to release): This is the third book in the Once Upon a Con series and it is a loose Beauty and the Beast retelling. Geekerella is one of my all-time favorite YA books. I wasn’t as big of a fan of The Princess and The Fangirl, but I still was super excited to read this one.

Rosie Thorne is a bookish geek who had a ~moment~ with a boy in cosplay at the last ExcelisCon and can’t stop thinking about him. Vane Reign was born and raised in Hollywood and after a scandal has been sent to live in a small town to calm down. A mishap that leads to a priceless Starfield book being damaged; Rosie and Vance have to work together catalog the library at the house Vance is staying at. Of course, they don’t get along, but what if there was something there that wasn’t there before??

I love Beauty and the Beast retellings. Do I think there are a lot of them? Oh yes, but I usually enjoy them. I love the Disney movie; I wish I knew how many times I watched my old VHS tape of the movie. I

WHAT I LOVED:
It just so CUTE
I loved the characters Rosie is a bookworm with a heart of gold (and a villain lover) while Vance is a grumpy boy who doesn’t think he
THE TROPES!! Stuck in the rain! Falling down the stairs! I have to stay at your house with my dad (not clickbait).
The fandom references. These books are truly an ode to fandom and Ashley mentioned AO3, The Last Jedi, The Great British Bake Off, FANGIRL, & More.
“LIKE THE SCENE FROM FANGIRL???” DEAD
I loved seeing the characters from the other novels in this one. Elle, Darien, and Jess are not really mentioned, but Imogen plays a nice part
Rosie’s friends
One of them is Nonbinary and the friend group is trying to get them elected as homecoming overlord? We stan.
I read this in one sitting. Which is something I used to do all the time, but haven’t done in months and I missed it so much. I stayed up until 12:13 am which for me is actually late now
This is a solid retelling. The main plot works with the original story, but there are also some more subtle references which were nice.
There was a moment that I literally wanted to cry because I GOT WHAT ASHLEY WAS DOING with a tiny blink and you’ll miss it moment
I apparently have more emotion tied to the Beauty and the Beast story that I thought


WHAT I DID NOT LOVE:
I thought everything could have been expanded a bit more, this book is less then 300 pages and there could have been more depth
Some things seemed slightly inconsistent, like she hurts her ankle and then two chapters later is walking? TBH I could have missed it

Overall, this book brought me so much joy and if you have enjoyed the previous books in the series, I highly recommend this one. If you have not read Geekerella, I recommend picking up that one first!

Ashley Poston has done it again. This is probably one of my favorite contemporary series and it is truly perfect for summer. I would definitely recommend this book.

When I first heard that Ashley Poston was writing another story set in the Starfield universe, my inner fangirl was ecstatic! I couldn’t wait to be reimmersed in a sci-fi fairytale modern retelling and transported back to ExcelsiCon.

However, while I did appreciate the subtle tie-in to the Geekerella universe, Bookish and the Beast lacked the special spark that made the first two books special. Instead, the story itself felt like another YA Beauty and the Beast retelling with a few Starfield references.

Bookish and the Beast is a YA retelling of Beauty and the Beast based in the Once Upon a Con universe. Starfield actor and Hollywood bad-boy, Vance Reigns, has taken time off from his popular show and is hiding away from the paparazzi in his LA mansion. With everything going wrong in his life, things couldn’t seem to get any worse until he unexpectedly runs into high school senior, Rosie Thorne.

Other than a few offhand comments about events that occurred in Geekerella and The Princess adn the Fangirl, this book didn’t truly feel like it fit in the Starfield world. It lacked that special spark that appealed to my inner fangirl, and perhaps it’s because the setting is a small town rather than a sci-fi convention.

Still, there were many aspects of the story I did enjoy. From the hate-to-love romance of a jaded hero, the casual diversity from all the characters (ft. a gender nonbinary friend and bisexual dad), and many geeky references, this book was filled with fun!

While this book isn’t my favorite in the Once Upon a Con series, I still enjoyed the little Easter Eggs and Ashley Poston’s interpretation of a classic fairytale. If you enjoyed the other two books, I would recommend checking this one out simply for the nostalgia.

Another great book from Ashley Poston. A great addition to the bookish series, however I did find it a little predictable at times

The third addition to the Once Upon a Con series, Bookish and the Beast takes us away from the bright lights of the previous titles to a scene some may call the perfect place for a provincial life. Set in a small town, our beauty is a local nerd who accidentally semi-destroys a priceless book from the Starfield series. In order to avoid paying to replace the book, a fee she and her father cannot afford, Rosie agrees to organize the library in the house instead. Vance Reigns (whom you may remember from Once Upon a Con 2), our beast, at first refuses to help her even at his guardian's insistence and spends his days brooding, sulking, and generally being beastly as small-town nowhere is the last place he wants to be when L.A. is waiting for him. As the weeks pass, however, the iciness and general dislike between our beauty and beast begins to thaw and we are left anticipating and wondering...will they get a happy ending?

Even though I am not a huge comic-con fan, I absolutely adore this series and cannot wait to add Bookish and the Beast to my shelf. I was greatly saddened to learn the publishing date was pushed back to August 4th, but with all the things going on with the coronavirus I totally understand--it'll just be that much sweeter when I finally get my copy! Although I feel like this book did not as strongly follow its sister novels, there are always several things I love about this series and Bookish is no exception. As always, I love the LGBTQIA inclusion. It's becoming more critical than ever for books to be written that have these characters in them, and I feel like Poston does this seamlessly without it seeming like these characters are forced into the story line as a "token" character. Finally, I love the sense of belonging this offers those of us who are a little more fictionally inclined. Even though I am not all about comic-cons, this series speaks to me as a reader and reminds all who read it that there is a place for us in this world beyond the pages of the books we love or the seconds of the films we cherish. This series truly is a love letter to nerds, and so I finish with...Look to the stars. Aim. Ignite.

Thanks to the publisher for giving me a free digital galley of this book in exchange for feedback.

I've read and liked the first two "Once Upon a Con" romances, and I've been looking forward to "Bookish and the Beast," so I was excited to get an ARC of it before its formal release.

This one is about Rosie Thorne, high school fangirl, and Vince Reigns, the actor who plays the villain in her favorite science fiction series. Vince is kind of a jerk, and he has been exiled to Rosie's tiny town after his high-profile jerkery got him into TMZ once too often. Rosie accidentally damages something expensive, and has to pay off her debt by cataloging the huge collection of media tie-in novels in his house.

It's Beauty and the Beast, the Disney version with the huge library, but set in the world of fandom.

This one wasn't quite as engaging for me as the first two, and it's hard for me to put my finger on why - there were chapters I really enjoyed, and chapters I felt like I didn't connect with at all. I liked it well enough to keep reading, though, and I really enjoyed the details of her love for media tie-ins, because as a young nerd, my drug of choice was Star Trek tie-in novels, which very few people remember as fondly as I do.

I haven't read the other books in this series but Beauty and the Beast is my absolute favorite stories so I had to read Bookish and the Beast. This was such a great retelling of the classic disney story. Love that it didn't follow it so closely that you lose interest while still staying in the world.

Love how diverse and inclusive the cast is. I just want to be friends with them all. And obviously the romance portion of the book was spot on.

I am absolutely reading the other two books in the Once Upon a Con series after finishing this!

Such a fun and cute read for YA readers. I loved the illusion of having a Star Wars like nerdy love story. This book is of course a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast trope, but it's modern and has a fun remix to it. A fresh new way of presenting this story.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

While Bookish and the beast is a stand-alone novel, it does help to have read book one and two of the Once upon a con series.
A charming retelling, Vance, a minor character in the previous books gets his own story and romance when he meets Rosie at ExcelsiCon.

Although a main theme is Rosie’s grief over her mother’s death, the story has many humorous moments and these include some of the references to other fandoms; my favourite was the Howl’s Moving Castle reference.

Yes, the tropes are easily identified but that needn’t detract from enjoyment of the story.

Particularly enjoyable were the snippets of the Starfield book that much of the plot revolves around, Amara up readers, and snuggle down, preparing to enjoy the latest title in the series.

Such a sweet story. I definitely fangirled over this fandom that Poston has created and now need to re-read the series immediately as I impatiently wait for the 4th book in this series. I love that Poston brings her characters back to cameo in her new stories, it ties everything together so beautifully, This is a great summer read and good for all ages in the YA realm for content. I loved all the sly references to real fandoms in the world. This one will definitely make a nerdy (or geeky!) heart beat a little faster.

The story focuses on Vance Reigns, a background character from Princess and the Fangirl, who has once again gotten in trouble and has now been "banished" to mansion in a small town in the Midwest. His bad behavior keeps everyone at an arm's length, and he likes it that way. Rosie, a book-loving Starfield nerd, almost runs over Vance's dog, and through a series of unfortunate events (or are they?) must work off a debt to Vance by organizing the library in the mansion.

I love all of the books in the Once Upon a Con series. They are just fun, cozy reads, and since they use a base plot of well-known fairy tales, you kind of already know that everyone is going to get their happily ever after. However, that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the journey there. I love Disney, and Ashley Poston does an excellent job of making very subtle references to the movies that made the fairy tales popular. In fact, if you're not looking for them, they can be easy to miss. It's like a fun treasure hunt with each new book, to see what moments or quotes she's managed to sneak in. I think I discover a new easter egg that I didn't notice before with each reread. Some of my favorites from Bookish and the Beast include:
Adventure in the great wide somewhere
Antlers in all of the decorating
Screw your courage to the sticking place
Magic spells, daring sword fights, a prince in disguise
And last, but not least, a reference to Stockholm Syndrome :)

Also, enjoy the fun cameos from your favorite characters in her previous books, Princess and the Fangirl and Geekerella!

Bookish and the Beast was a fantastic end to the Geekerella trilogy. While it did not take place at ExcelsiCon, it still captured the pure geekiness of the previous 2 books and made wish even more for more Starfield!

I love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling, but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me.

First off, I absolutely LOVED Geekerella. All the references to Star Trek made me giddy with joy because it's often a left-out fandom when Star Wars comes around. I connected with the characters in that story and was excited for more.

When I started in on this book, I was also excited - I mean, a handsome guy who plays a villain in a TV show and suddenly a small-town girl gets the chance to truly 'see' him? YES please! But it wasn't what I'd hoped it would be.

Some of the highlights:
-A library *heart eyes*
-A broody MC who you just know is needing to realize he's worthy of love
-Awesome BFFs
-Chocolate pancakes
-A dog

The low points (for me):
-The broody MC is a bit ridiculous at times...Like, I get that he's in show biz and all but some of the dialogue he had when a certain incident (involving the color orange) happens is ridiculous.
-While funny at times, and also page turning, I found overall that the plot was too expected. Especially when the dark moment came about I was tempted to roll my eyes because--of course--this would be how it happened. It made me skip a few pages because I had really hoped for more in the way of reimagining.
-Real change...I didn't see it in the characters. By the end, I felt like the hero was groveling to make up for a mistake and it just didn't feel genuine to me. Rushed and a little 'shaming'. Granted, I understand what he was apologizing for, but it was so fast I didn't believe it.
-Without spoiling it...there is one character who's sudden interest in another threw me for a loop, especially knowing this person had experienced a great loss a year previous, and it just seemed to come out of left field for me. Kind of like it had an agenda rather than it was integral to the plot.
-ARC copy...whew, this was rough. Lots of typos and honestly, it felt like it needed another good edit through. I know it's not a final copy so I didn't let that affect my rating, but it was rough.

All in all, I sooo wanted to love this story and it just didn't hit the mark for me. I found myself wanting to see what happened but being slightly disappointed by it. I also thought there was too much language and adult concepts, personally (I'd say at least 17+). BUT this is all my opinion. If you do read it and love it - awesome!!

*Note: There is language and some adult concepts/themes joked about.

My Rating: 3.5*



---
Thanks to Netgally and the publisher for this advanced copy! All opinions expressed are my own.

Rose is a book nerd. It all stems from her mothers love of reading. After her mothers death, her dad had to sell their home and her mothers book collection.
Along with her friends, Rose goes to a Con and meets a great guy. Problem is that he was masked the whole night and she never got his name.
Fast forward a few months, and by chance, Rose meets the star of her favorite book series turned movie, Vance. Vance has been exiled to Rose’s small hometown and has a huge chip on his shoulder. When Rose ends up working in the personal library at the house Vance’ is staying in, sparks, of anger and maybe more, fly.
Opinion
This is the third book in this series. If you have not read the other two, trust me you’ll want to. You could read this as a stand-alone, if you really wanted to.
This was a super sweet take on Beauty and the Beast. Rose is a reserved girl who adores the written word. She also has a crush on the guy playing the villain based off her books. The guy is angry at the world and trusts no one. As the book progresses, Rose is able to chip away at Vance’s tough exterior and get to know the real him.
I don’t think I’ll ever tire of fairy tales turned novels. The theme is reassuring, and you know what’s going to happen. However, the authors’ takeaways gives you a different insight. Ms. Piston did not disappoint with this third book. I can only hope that there will be more in this series.
This book is innocent enough that I would put it in the hands of middle schoolers. There is a scene where Vance is fresh out of the shower and has a towel wrapped around him. That is as far as that scene goes. The farthest the two MCs go is a kiss.
This is a perfect book for those looking for first love stories.
Many thanks to netgalley.com for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Such a fun follow-up for this series! I really enjoyed the read, especially since Beauty and the Beast themes are my fave.

***I received an uncorrected proof of this ebook from netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

⭐⭐⭐

I requested this arc not realizing is was book 3. Long story short, I binged them... so my opinions on this book are coming off the tail end of that.

This series is super cute! (Serious Lauren Blakely/ Christina Lauren/ Penny Reid vibes, but for the YA sect.) It's formulaic and cheesy... but that's kind of the genre! The Once Upon a Con series takes it a step further by inundating it with pop culture references. While I love this, I could see it being overwhelming to a reader who isn't very well-versed in geek culture.

This book was a little bit less con-centric than the previous two novels in the series. It doesn't take place AT the con, but references previous con happening. I really wanted to see the Beauty and the Beat re-telling kick it up a notch, but that didn't happen. I didn't really see Vance's behavior as "beastly" enough; I wanted a little bit more intensity there. I'm thinking this series is continuing because there were a few small loose ends. If that's the case, I'll be continuing reading along for the foreseeable future.

Bookish and the Beast: Lost, Confused and Trying Too Hard

I'm not a fan of Beauty and the Beast; from it's weirdly pedestal-like place in our book and pop culture to the undeserved praise of Emma Watson's casting as Belle, it is the only Disney movie I will not rewatch. But, as a massive fan of Ashley Poston's Geekerella and The Princess and the Fangirl, I was willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt. I was sure she would make romance and fan-culture gold out of this over-marketed classic tale of animal brides and Stockholm syndrome.

However, Bookish and the Beast tried so hard to stay true to the Disney rendition and lost all sight of what made the Once Upon A Con series so charming and likeable. Instead, it missed weaving the individual plot with the overall series narrative cohesively and this installment ended up superficial and out of place.

Uninspired Plot and Snail Pacing

It started off with Vance (the "Beast") and Rosie (the "Belle") in a masquerade meet-cute at ExcelsiCon but felt more Romeo and Juliet than Beauty and the Beast. It did not elaborate on these scenes but we got the sense they're supposed to have fallen in love. But they did not know each other's real names nor did they exchange any contact information. Fast forward and we have Rosie, freaking out about her college essay and losing her late mother and Vance, exiled from Hollywood and acting like a spoiled brat about it; we'll get into characterisation in a bit. This seemed pretty promising but as all this happened within the first almost quarter of the book; the pacing was rather slow.

The plot finally began when Rosie comes across a German Shepherd (Vance's dog) she suspects is lost. She chases after it, comes across the local creepy castle-like house known to be abandoned and follows the dog inside, not knowing it is occupied. Inside the house, she finds a library (Beauty and the Beast cliche: check) filled with the entire Starfield collection of books which seems to number in the hundreds, considering it fills an entire mini-library. She picks up the rarest and most expensive book, coincidentally one her mother absolutely loved. She then is discovered and gets chased by a not-intruder (who is of course, Vance) and falls into a pool, all the while clutching said expensive book.

In order to pay for the damaged property, Rosie volunteers to catalogue and rearrange the entire library with Vance to help her, unaware the latter is her mystery ExcelsiCon man. And him not knowing that she's the only girl he's ever really opened up to. Naturally, they get off to a rough start: Vance is reluctant to have another person share his superstar space (say that three times quickly) because she might sell him out to the paparazzi and Rosie cannot understand why the actor playing the character she loves so much is such a prick. Throw into this mix a bunch of supportive best friends, one gay parental figure and one gay dad, a misogynistic creep who is supposed to play Gaston, some Hollywood hijinks and you'd end up with a story that set itself up for success but ultimately, failed to meet expectations.

Uninspired Characters

Which brings me to my next point, terrible plots can be saved with fantastic characters but these characters didn't fare much better. It is tough to rewrite Beauty and the Beast in a way that is new and refreshing but Vance and Rosie seem to be written to fulfill expectations of what Belle and the Beast are rather than breathing new life into well-known characters.

There is the strong-willed, book-smart Belle from the original Disney classic, there's Emma Watson's feminist but emotionally hollow rendition, there's the kind and caring Belle of Once Upon A Time. And then there's Rosie: naive, reckless and a little ditzy with little to no emotional depth. Within the first few pages, she has quit her job in a rage after being written up multiple times for misbehaviour: using her phone during work hours even when she's warned not to and filming a TikTok in the aisle of the store. And, this comes after multiple laments that the job was supposed to help her save up for college. She reads more like a historical romance character than a modern day woman with how easily she falls over Vance and she is very wishy-washy with her opinions and beliefs. The only time I really liked Rosie is when she stood up to Garret and his harassment of her. 

Vance, on the other hand is your archetypal, small-town bad boy villain redeemed by the love of his life. He's a spoiled brat shipped away to a sleepy nobody town after he pulls one too many bad-boy-of-Hollywood stunts. Yet, he spends the first few weeks in town complaining about having to fly coach, not being able to attend clubs or buy the latest designer sneakers. He is boring, uninspired and lazily written. There's nothing compelling about his character: he doesn't wash, he mopes around being a pain in everybody's ass and rude. He's a damn jerk but is he the Beast? Hardly.

In fact, all other characters seem lackadaisical; as if they had all the life sucked out of them. The only ones I truly liked were Vance's temporary guardian and Rosie's dad who were charming and fun. I particularly liked the take on Gaston, a misogynistic wannabe YouTuber who harasses Rosie and only wanted to take her to prom for pity points.

Lack of ExcelsiCon And Fandom

However, it's biggest flaw is the lack of ExcelsiCon and fan culture. Poston probably intended to break away from the convention floor and show a different fandom experience but this attempt felt half-hearted. Rosie is hardly a book collector even though the Starfield novels mean so much to her, she doesn't read anything other than Starfield apparently and she doesn't even talk about books! Which makes no sense why the biggest Starfield and fan culture link that Rosie and Vance had was the library which unfortunately, featured so little in the book. It tries to tie the Starfield novels to Rosie's connection with her mother but as we spent barely any time with the book, it felt like a cop-out. Clearly, it was just a way to include the Beauty and the Beast library and replicate scenes of Belle reading to the Beast. Vance even gifts the library to Rosie a la Beauty and the Beast but it felt cheesy and out of place! 

With little to no mention of fan or con culture, the book turns into just another retelling featuring a spoiled-brat actor and a rather ditzy fangirl. Remove ExcelsiCon and Starfield from the equation and replace it with another fandom and nothing would have changed significantly. There was a massive loss of wit, charm and realism that made the Once Upon A Con series so entertaining; after all, it was a massive ode to fan culture!

In previous books, we had plots revolving around the convention and Starfield, filled with quirky things people who attended conventions and participated passionately in fan culture could understand. In Geekerella, Ella's father was the ExcelsiCon founder, Darien was the actor to lead the revival of the Starfield movie franchise and there was a cosplay contest. In Princess and the Fangirl, Imogen runs a campaign to save Princess Amara, Jessica is Princess Amara and the plot revolved around a missing script and a reluctant actress. But here, Vance is the actor playing Sond and Rosie is just a Starfield fangirl who has a strong emotional connection to the fandom through her dearly departed mother.

Too Many Elements

At this point, if you are confused at having to keep up with all the elements, don't worry, so was I. The book is the poster child for cramming as many elements as possible into a few 300+ pages. Some elements seem to be plot points never explored and brought back only for convenience. It was exhausting keeping up with them. Below is a non-exhaustive (pun not intended) list with minor spoilers:

Rosie's college essay
Her mom and Starfield books
Sansa the dog
Vance loves to play video games; it's a character point
The two best friends, one is non-binary
Vance is best friends with Imogen from The Princess and the Fangirl
Homecoming
Gaston/Garrett
Vance's emotions and conflicts
Their Romeo&Juliet meetcute & romance
the ridiculous fight over a girl between Vance and Garrett (in Beauty and the Beast, the Gaston/Beast fight was because they believe he's a monster)
Vance crashing a school dance???
Vance doing the typical romcom run cause he's out of time
 her phone, her missing phone, does she not need a phone to live? We live in an electronically connected world!
enemies to lovers plot
gay dad, might fall in love
reading together in the library
Star Wars and Star Trek mentions
Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell mention
Getting caught in the rain
mini Ella and Darien drama
Beauty and the Beast library

The book works so hard to keep the library a central element that it ends up being extremely cheesy and unrealistic. Poston could have chosen any form of library from fanfiction archives to music libraries or even a public library in order to retell the story instead of a personal library that didn't even belong to Vance. Even though Rosie is supposed to have a sentimental connection to the library, it didn't resonate on page because we barely see that connection developed. It works so hard to make Rosie and Vance fall in love and incorporate a million other elements that it lacks a sense of direction: where are the readers emotions supposed to be go? What are we supposed to fall in love and empathise with?

How does it compare as a retelling?

Halfway through the book, I only remembered I was reading a retelling. While I absolutely love a retelling that is so unique and original that you can hardly compare the source material to it, this one felt more as if Poston was trying to shove elements of Beauty and the Beast into the plot to make it fit her narrative rather than the other way around. 

With some many Beauty and the Beast retellings floating around, most of them fantasy, this was Poston's chance to tell a unique rendition and fit a dated classic into a modern world. While I appreciated how the book brought Gaston into the twenty-first century with a self-important YouTuber harrassing Rosie to go to the prom with him, there was not much else in terms of feeling fresh and interesting. Instead, it fell to cliches and cringey pop culture. The characters were not memorable or lovable and the plot felt like your run-of-the-mill teenage rom-com complete with Homecoming and a hero racing against the proverbial clock to confess his undying love. 

Not even being an enemies to lovers trope (which I love to death) could have saved this book and plot. 

Despite its many flaws, I was compelled to finish Bookish and the Beast because of my undying love for the Once Upon A Con series and the dedication to fan culture. There were also some rather lovely moments such as Rosie and her father's relationship, dust-filled and romantic library moments and diversity that made me smile but none of these could have saved it from its multiple flaws. But, with so much success from the first two books, I'm confident that Poston will bounce right back with a fourth retelling that will blow this one out of the water.

I was hoping for more from Bookish and the Beast but it was pretty predictable the whole way through the book. The meet cute in the beginning had promise but the rest of the book did not add anything more interesting than any other YA rom-com but had less rom and com. The author at the end stated that she wrote it for her self with all her favorite tropes and that’s great, but it just wasn’t a great retelling of Beauty and the Beast. So far the first in this series is still my favorite.

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.