Unabashedly nerdtastic.
A celebrity wants to be somebody else and a fan just wants to be somebody in this The Prince and the Pauper–inspired sequel to Geekerella (2017).
Having played Princess Amara in the movie reboot of cult sci-fi show Starfield, 19-year-old Jessica Stone is ready to move on to more serious roles. High schooler and self-proclaimed nobody Imogen Lovelace idolizes the independent space princess and is campaigning to #SaveAmara. When the look-alikes collide at the annual ExcelsiCon and switch places—a cinematic improbability acknowledged, then cheerfully exploited—each gains a new perspective on fandom. Jess revels in normality and hesitantly explores romance with Imogen’s online friend, Harper Hart. Imogen relishes the limelight and spars and sparks with Jess’ bodyguard, overly serious 17-year-old Ethan Tanaka. Interracial and same-sex relationships are central—Jess and Imogen are white, Harper is black and female, Ethan is Japanese-American, and Imogen has two moms and a gay brother—all befitting the inclusivity and gender-bending aspects of fandom, cosplay, and cons. Yet Poston (Heart of Iron, 2018, etc.) also ruthlessly dissects the dark side of science-fiction and fantasy pop culture: body-shaming, trolls, social media mobs, and sexual harassment. Sometimes, the best tales are the ones that transport audiences, not serious and philosophical but fun, light, and nerdy.
Unabashedly nerdtastic. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68369-096-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing.
For the second time in her life, Leo must choose between her family and true love.
Nineteen-year-old Princess Leonie Kolburg’s royal family is bankrupt. In order to salvage the fortune they accrued before humans fled the frozen Earth 170 years ago, Leonie’s father is forcing her to participate in the Valg Season, an elaborate set of matchmaking events held to facilitate the marriages of rich and royal teens. Leo grudgingly joins in even though she has other ideas: She’s invented a water filtration system that, if patented, could provide a steady income—that is if Leo’s calculating Aunt Freja, the Captain of the ship hosting the festivities, stops blocking her at every turn. Just as Leo is about to give up hope, her long-lost love, Elliot, suddenly appears onboard three years after Leo’s family forced her to break off their engagement. Donne (Brightly Burning, 2018) returns to space, this time examining the fascinatingly twisted world of the rich and famous. Leo and her peers are nuanced, deeply felt, and diverse in terms of sexuality but not race, which may be a function of the realities of wealth and power. The plot is fast paced although somewhat uneven: Most of the action resolves in the last quarter of the book, which makes the resolutions to drawn-out conflicts feel rushed.
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing. (Science fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-94894-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
For fans of brooding bad boys and the pastel goth accidental necromancers who love them.
A deaf scholarship student at an occult university is plagued by ghosts.
Delaney Meyers-Petrov is so done with being treated like she’s fragile, but she’s not sure if she can hack it at Howe University, where the interdimensional travel program is mostly White, old-money kids who’ve been training for this their whole lives. Between the school’s lack of accommodations and her own internalized ableism, she is struggling, and her cochlear implant doesn’t help enough for her to keep up. Laney’s grateful for assistance from her (hot, muscular, rude) TA, Colton Price, but he hates her for some reason. Little does Laney know that Colton’s part of an occult boys’ club which plays with the boundary of death itself—a boundary Colton’s already crossed once. Laney, a girl with an extremely deliberate goth-adorable aesthetic, is well served by the purple prose (“the shadow-bitten arch of the doorway,” “suckling on the teat of decay”) and dialogue that wobbles between angst and snark in the style of teen paranormal television. Her unusual necromantic powers make her an irresistible target for the power players at Howe (where every figure with power and authority is male, and her peers and allies are all female), but at least Colton is sexy while he deceives and manipulates her. The worldbuilding is shaky but the romantic agita and ironic wit are present in spades. Most characters default to White.
For fans of brooding bad boys and the pastel goth accidental necromancers who love them. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-80947-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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