by Ashley Poston
Series: Once Upon a Con #3
Published on August 4, 2020 by Quirk Books
ISBN: 9781683691938
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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.
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Packed Full of Geektastic Goodness!
I didn’t need to read Bookish and the Beast to know I would absolutely love it. After Geekerella and The Princess and the Fangirl, I had zero doubts but of course I read it anyway!
Bookish and the Beast ventures away from the convention scene that the first two books followed and takes us to a small town with a castle-like house and football games, homecoming dances, and books. Of course, the books. The world of Starfield is still front and center, though, and I liked that this story looked at Poston’s sci-fi fandom from the perspective of the books written about the Starfield world. Nowadays I feel like we see that a lot with all the Star Wars books and movies, so it felt like a natural progression for this series too.
Rosie and Vance are perfect to bring this side of Starfield to life too. Both have their insecurities and struggles. Not to mention matching stubbornness that keeps things interesting. Like the other Once Upon a Con books, this is obviously a re-telling (Beauty and the Beast) but it didn’t feel like it was trying too hard to stick to the original tale. It’s definitely a re-telling but it’s also its own story and I appreciated that it could stand on its own like that.
Also, you can totally read this book without reading the first two in the series, but if you have read them (and I highly recommend you do) you’ll find some familiar faces in Bookish and the Beast.
Rosie reminded me a lot of my teen self with my nose in a book. I would have absolutely jumped at the chance to catalog a beautiful library like she does, even if it meant dealing with a grumpy actor. There’s just so much heart to Rosie’s story. Her relationship with her father and the changes they’ve made after her mother’s passing, her friendships with Annie and Quinn (a nonbinary side character who’s made me believe that ALL homecomings should have Overlords), and her budding romance with Vance.
And speaking of, this beast has layers. Sure, you get the spoiled, arrogant jerk at the beginning but it’s clear that Vanca doesn’t necessarily agree with that description but doesn’t know how to change it. Being away from the spotlight and spending time with someone so down to earth like Rosie allows him to figure out who he wants to be and I just loved it. Also his guardian/godfather Elias sounds like someone I would definitely want to meet (and maybe take cooking lessons from).
But while these characters are irresistible, my absolute favorite part of Bookish and the Beast is how amazingly geeky it is. Each of the books in the series have been odes to fandom in all the best ways and this one, in particular, is probably my favorite of the three in that regard.
Poston gets it with the details and it really brings her books to life. From a lipsync rendition of David Bowie’s “Do You Know the Babe” from Labyrinth (which made me all sorts of excited to see even mentioned), to the Mrs. Potts running the register at the local diner, to the nod to Howl’s dramatics from Howl’s Moving Castle (that had me dying of laughter for far longer than should be allowed), everything is just perfect. And it truly was the little things, references here and there that I caught and couldn’t help but smile at.
Look, I could gush all day about Bookish and the Beast and the Once Upon a Con series… or you could go read the books yourself. 12/10 high recommend, these books are must-reads for my fellow geeks, for fans of re-tellings, and for anyone just looking for a good literary time.
About Austine
I'm a 20-something research proposal developer with a background in the life sciences and education. Reviewer of books since 2011, amateur photographer by day, and aspiring author by night. I believe animals (and books) are better than people.
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