Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“Sometimes the universe deals us fates that make us happy, but sometimes it simply deals us fates that make us…”

Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston

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For my first review of 2021, I’m revisiting the world of Ashley Poston’s Once Upon a Con series. We started with Geekerella, the story of a fangirl who ends up getting a direct line to the star of the movie version of her favorite TV show…but she doesn’t know it’s him. Then we ventured to The Princess and the Fangirl, wherein a normal girl switches places with a famous actress to uncover a saboteur. Now, we visit a young lady who wins over a beastly […]

A must read for Con lovers! (Conventions, not convicts!)

Geekarella by Ashley Poston

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Why did I wait so long to read this?  This is pure awesomesauce! It’s a Cinderella retelling (obviously) that involves a fan convention (also obviously.)  But it’s more than that. The story revolves around the fictional tv show Starfield, a Star Trek-like show, but Star Trek exists here, so not really?  Maybe it’s closer to the show that Galaxy Quest is about, but it’s really something all its own.  (Ashley Poston does not shy away from using real show and actor names.  Thanks for that!) […]

YA Round-Up

A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes, #1) by Brittany Cavallaro

The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes, #2) by Brittany Cavallaro

Pulp by Robin Talley

The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes

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

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Here are several YA novels, most of which were pretty good (Pulp was GREAT) if anyone needs to fill a Youths square! (4 stars) A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro I was going to wait and review these for the Sherlock Retelling discussion, but then I realized I’ll be out of town for that and I’m terrible about participating in those discussion anyway so instead I’m going to review it now so y’all can read it and discuss it in my place. […]

The Princess and the Fangirl

The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston

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I very much enjoyed Poston’s Geekerella, so I was excited to get back into that world with The Princess and the Fangirl. It’s set in the same universe, but focuses on different characters at the same convention in a time far, far away…or maybe like a year or so. At the latest ExcelsiCon, the new Starfield movie was a smashing success. Now, they are gearing up for a sequel. The only person not excited is leading lady Jessica Stone. Her Amara was killed off in […]

Not as good as It Takes Two but not bad

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

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“I’m Jess- Jessica Stone,” says a girl on the stage, but it isn’t me. This isn’t happening. This is impossible The Princess and the Fangirl is a modern retelling of The Prince and the Pauper as told in the universe that 2017’s Geekerella takes place. Elle and Darien are tertiary characters this go around and our focus is instead on Darien’s costar Jessica and Imogen, a young woman running a campaign to keep Jessica’s character in the upcoming Starfield sequel. The story is told in alternating perspectives during ExcelsiCon where the two […]

“Never give up on your dreams, and never let anyone tell you that what you love is inconsequential or useless or a waste of time. Because if you love it?…That is never a waste of time.”

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Sigh. I really wanted to love this quirky and cute little book. And for a little while, I did. A modern, geeky take on Cinderella? A love story where the interaction takes place mostly over text? Cons and Cosplay? It all sounded great. The first two-thirds of this story worked for me. Elle lives with her horrible step-mother and horrible twin step-sisters in the house where she grew up. Her mother died when she was really young and her father died a few years ago, […]



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