GEEKERELLA

Cinderella jumps aboard the Enterprise in this entertaining if somewhat paint-by-numbers version of the classic fairy tale.

Elle is a dreamy white geek girl who blogs about the television series Starfield and whose deceased, cosplaying father started the original Starfield convention, ExcelsiCon. Brown-skinned part British-Indian Darien is a hunky teen soap actor who has been cast as the lead in the film reboot of Starfield, much to the dismay of hard-core fans like Elle. When Darien accidently calls Elle while trying to reach the management at ExcelsiCon, the two embark on an anonymous texting romance. Their stars collide when Elle enters a cosplay contest that Darien is judging at ExcelsiCon in order to win a life away from her mean stepmother. Poston follows the “Cinderella” plot to a tee. Fairy godmother? Check, in the form of green-haired lesbian seamstress Sage. Unconventional mode of transportation? Check, in the form of the Magic Pumpkin, a vegan food truck. There’s even a pair of glass slippers and a Cosplay Ball. Endless references to real-life fandoms from Star Trek to The Lord of the Rings make this book feel like a long, chummy in-joke.

Romance genre readers who expect a happy ending and teen fans of fandoms may enjoy this timely retelling; others may find the derivative plot too on-the-nose.