Two Fangirls Review Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston

Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston is the third standalone book in the Once Upon a Con series and this series just happens to be super special for both Christy and myself. You see the first time we ever worked together on a joint blog post was to co-review Geekerella, back when Christy and I were not blogging together. Our friendship grew and so did our collaborations – like turning #SignedBookSundays into an instagram challenge, until one day she helped me with a review when I had a family emergency and from there we became co-bloggers.

Anyway, back to Once Upon A Con series, after Geekerella, we reviewed Princess and the Fangirl together too, so of course we have to review Bookish and the Beast together!

We love this series so much we have put together a giveaway for a complete set of the series! See below to enter to win!

Bookish and the Beast (Once Upon a Con, #3)

by Ashley Poston
Published by: Quirk Books
on August 4, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary
Audible
Goodreads

In the third book in Ashley Poston's Once Upon a Con series, Beauty and the Beast is retold in the beloved Starfield universe.

Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.

On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he's forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.

When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual.

But as Vance and Rosie begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off—and they may just find that there’s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening their hearts.

Co-Review

Let’s talk about Rosie and Vance. What 3 adjectives would you describe them with?

Kelly: Rosie is smart, big-hearted, and kind of obtuse in her own way. Vance is a rich spoiled, snob, and also very complicated.

Christy: JUST KISS ALREADY.

Ok ok. Rosie is level-headed. Passionate. Fangirl. Vance just needs a hug. 

Yeah, I’m doing this wrong.

Bookish and the Beast is a Beauty and the Best retelling. What elements did you spot that reminded you of the source material?

K: Well there is the library for starters and there’s a definite spoiler I would love to just gush about…but I won’t spoil it for y’all.

C: I loved Garrett as Gaston. An influencer who can’t take no for an answer? Perfect.

What can fans who have been following this series since the beginning expect?

K: Well for starters this book is set after the ExcelsiCon – however both main characters were at the con, Vance because he plays Sond, so of course he was there, and Rosie was there as a fan! She’s a big fan mostly because of the memories she holds of her mother. You get all the same nerdy call outs throughout the book and you will also smile a lot while reading…that definitely hangs over from book to book.

C: While the other two books were set within the convention, we get to see the characters outside and in the real world. I loved that. We also get to see some of our favorites from past books!

There are some excellent parents in this story. Who was your favorite side character?

K: Well clearly Space Dad! I mean he’s a Bisexual librarian…sounds like a literal fairytale. But I also loved Imogene’s role in this book, she made such a good friend and voice of reason to Vance. Plus Quinn and Annie were like the best friends a girl could have!

C: Definitely Rosie’s dad. DILF. Queer. Here for it.

Any fav pop culture references?

K: I mean I was thrilled with The Last Jedi conversation they had…but you’ll just have to read it to see what I mean. I also loved that Ashley was finally (?) able to work in a Howl’s Moving Castle shout out.

C: I loved the references to Star Wars books. I mean, there’s a library full of SFF books and I just want to live there.

We clearly both love this series and the geekiness of it all, and no matter what level of fangirl you are or consider yourself to be, you are sure to enjoy this series!

Giveaway

Win paperbacks of Geekerella and Princess and the Fangirl plus a hardcover of Bookish and the Beast! Second chance on at Kelly and Christy’s Instagram accounts. 2 winners – 2 full sets!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Many thanks to Quirk Books for the advance copies and the finished copies which do not influence our opinions above nor are they responsible for our giveaway.




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