The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con, #2) in Challenge Corner

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The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con, #2)

Ashley Poston

Start date: June 1, 2019

Finish date: June 30, 2019

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Sep 17, 2021 Ellen-Arwen Tristram rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, audio-book, reread

[2023 reread]

So, I was hoping my memory was wrong because I remember being seriously disappointed after Geekerella. Unfortunately... my memory is okay.

It's not a BAD book (I have been a bit generous with the stars though), it just pales in comparison to the first book in my opinion. I only realised second time through that this was a retelling of The Prince and Pauper, of which I have ZERO knowledge, so I may do some investigating in case that makes it super clever and enhances my experience of ...more

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Feb 23, 2020 Lee added it

Shelves: young-adult

This is a hard book for me to review. I truly enjoyed Geekerella, but this book did not have the same feeling as it did and just left me feeling disappointed.

So much of this book was references. I never thought I'd find myself reading a book that had so many Dragonball Z references, but it wasn't only that. It was every pop culture thing. I think at one point there was a reference to two different things within a sentence. It was distracting to the story.

The plot wasn't as engaging for me eithe ...more

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Apr 10, 2023 Celia Buell (semi hiatus) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fairy-tale, retelling, skokie-library-ebook, favorite-series, series, series-to-finish-not-owned, author-i-like, fandom, the-prince-and-the-pauper

Geekerella introduced me to the convention world. The Princess and the Fangirl made me want to text by online best friend (who I met through fanfiction) and make plans go to Leakycon. And luckily I looked it up and this year's is in Chicago, right near me. Leakycon, here we come!

Everything about The Princess and the Fangirl was magical. At first, I had a hard time liking Jess or Imogene (or the audiobook readers who voiced them). However, they quickly grew on me, especially Jess. She has so much Geekerella introduced me to the convention world. The Princess and the Fangirl made me want to text by online best friend (who I met through fanfiction) and make plans go to Leakycon. And luckily I looked it up and this year's is in Chicago, right near me. Leakycon, here we come!

Everything about The Princess and the Fangirl was magical. At first, I had a hard time liking Jess or Imogene (or the audiobook readers who voiced them). However, they quickly grew on me, especially Jess. She has so much depth once she can figure out how to go beyond her desires of being a "big-name" actor. I really like how that part unfolded.

I loved seeing the cameos of everyone from Geekerella a year later. I love strong side characters, and Darien and Elle work great as side characters as well as main characters in their own story. Darien is especially great in this one, the way he's willing to help without really "getting" it. I also enjoy seeing how everything in his life played out a year later. I was also happy to see Sage and Cal (and the adorable Frank) at the side character forefront once again. They absolutely made the last book, and I love seeing how involved they've become in the Starfield community after just a year.

I liked the new side characters as well. Imogene's perceived competition with Milo, as well as Milo and Bram's relationships and willingness to be there for both Imogene and Jess were special additions to the story. I don't often see this kind of story with a focus on positive sibling relationships, and I love to see it here. Then there's Ethan and especially Harper. Harper reminds me of my online best friend who I also met through fanfiction - although I could never imagine doing this to her at our first time meeting and hurting her this much from the get-go. That part frustrated me quite a bit.

At first, the plot seemed very similar to the first one - leaks of important information, a vengeful ex... however, this took on a life of its own as it was a lot more closely related to the main plot of Jess and Imogene's swap. I enjoy how this forced them to let each other in.

I did love the references to the "impossible universe" that Elle defined in Geekerella It's almost a bit of fourth wall-breaking with a subtle reminder from the author that this is, for all intents and purposes, realistic fantasy. At the same time, I love that all the characters recognize this and define it the same way.

The romance in this one took a lot longer to build up, and the ending relationships were less final-seeming than those in Geekerella. I like that contrast between the two books. I especially enjoyed the end scenes in regards to this.

I started off with low expectations for this one since Geekerella was so magical, but The Princess and the Fangirl blew me away. I'm hoping that I'll feel the same way about Bookish and the Beast when I get to it, as I am not looking forward to reading Vance the conceited dickwad's story (even if Beauty and the Beast retellings are often my favorite). Looking forward to that one as well. ...more

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Mar 27, 2022 Sharon Mariampillai rated it really liked it

Shelves: alternating-povs, audiobooks, 2022-reads, 4-stars, books-i-have, contemporary, fairy-tales, must-read, ya, romance

Actual Rating: 4.25

This was an enjoyable read. I love retellings and this time, we got a modern retelling of The Prince and the Pauper. I thought it was great, but the first book is still my favourite. I thought the story started off strong, and it was interesting to see Jesse in this book and the struggles that she faced. It was also nice to be introduced to the other main character, the pauper or the fangirl in this case, Imogen, and how relatable she was. I thought the story did have some are ...more

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