For What It's Worth


Monday, March 20, 2017

review: queen of geeks by jen wilde



20170311_170942When BFFs Charlie, Taylor and Jamie go to SupaCon, they know it’s going to be a blast. What they don’t expect is for it to change their lives forever.

Charlie likes to stand out. SupaCon is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star, Reese Ryan. When Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought.


While Charlie dodges questions about her personal life, Taylor starts asking questions about her own.


Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with Jamie—no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about the Queen Firestone SupaFan Contest, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe. ~
Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review:

Queens of Geek is fun, geeky goodness.

The story follows best friends Charlie - a Chinese-Australian, bi-sexual vlogger, Taylor – a girl on the autism spectrum who suffers from panic attacks in new, overwhelming situations, and Jamie – an American boy who moved to Australia 4 years prior.

Charlie is invited to SupaCon, in San Diego, to promote her latest movie and brings her BFF’s along for one last epic adventure before they move on to college.

Charlie has to navigate SupaCon appearances with her douche bag ex, Reese, the studio and fans that want them back together and meeting her long time crush, fellow vlogger, Alyssa Huntington.

Meanwhile, Taylor is overwhelmed when things keep going off plan at the con while trying to push herself out of her comfort zone and dealing with her confusing feelings towards Jamie.

Queens of Geek takes place over one weekend at SupaCon while the friends deal with romance, sex/sexuality, anxiety, body shaming and adulthood. At times the messages get a little, not heavy handed at all – but plentiful?? like the author was trying to fit every positive message into one book. It slowed the flow of the story at a times but Queen of Geeks manages to stay light, positive, and filled with fun nerd/geek references.

One thing I’ve noticed about myself reading these YA geek/con type books – I just don’t understand YouTube culture and that relationship between the vloggers and viewers. Or I should say I get it but it seems scary to me.

They way viewers feel like they *know* you and that they have a say in your happiness and the way the vloggers have to stage their life to keep up viewership. I think that’s my old age talking though. But it does take some of the enjoyment out of it for me. I end up worried about everyone instead of the fun vibe I’m sure someone younger, who relates to this, feels. lol

Most of all though, I think Queens of Geek will feel empowering to a lot of readers who don’t get to see themselves on page very often.

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Queens of Geek’s dedication page

22 comments:

  1. I can only look at your socks, I want them

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  2. it sounds interesting here, and quite a lot packed into this book!!

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  3. So many things going on in this book. Still curious, nonetheless.

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    1. Not really. There are two pov's and storylines - it's just there are a lot of positive messages seemingly crammed in. Not that that's a bad thing! It's just that some of it didn't flow naturally with the narrative.

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  4. I'm so excited to read this one Karen and received a copy in the mail the other day. Seeing people all over the world being able to enjoy and relate to a work of fiction by an Aussie author and a book set in Australia is brilliant and I hope it leads to more readers navigating towards Aussie YA. I'm so glad you enjoyed this one even if it was a little too busy at times. Brilliant review Karen <3 <3

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    1. The characters are Aussie but the story takes place in the US.

      It was a really fun book! I enjoyed it a lot.

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  5. This sounds cute! I do hate when an author tries to fit everything in a book though. Great review!!

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    1. All of the messages were great! but didn't always necessarily flow with the story. Still a fun book!

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  6. I do want to read this one! Love the dedication page. I really like books that focus on geeky things and fandom culture. I'm not really into the whole vlogger thing, but yeah, some of those fans are a bit too intense!

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    1. I think vlogging books aren't for me. I finally hit that age where I "don't get it" lol

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  7. I can really appreciate the diverse characters!!!

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    1. They were all really wonderful and fully developed.

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  8. Your socks are so cute! And, yeah, I don't quite get the youtube dynamic either.

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    1. It's intimate yet not. It feels real yet staged - if that makes sense.

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  9. I'm not a vlogger either and I don't think I would be being younger, but who knows? Maybe I'm just too old to get it too. LOL I do say that the dedication page does draw me in!

    PS.... don't show my mom those socks. She loves foxes! :D

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    1. I'm sort of obsessed with all things fox right now lol

      I would never have been a vlogger - I was even shyer than I am now! And I'm so thankful I didn't grow up in the social media age.

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  10. I did think the same thing- the messages were plentiful- that's a good word- like she was trying to fit a LOT in. But other than that, yeah it was good geeky fun and nice the way she handled the representation, I thought.

    I thought that dedication was awesome. As someone who loves going to cons I can definitely relate, they just have a feel to them- it's nice to get away.

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    1. I've only been to book cons so I can't totally relate but I do love the energy that only a fandom can bring. They are your people lol

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  11. Yet another cute pair of socks! I love this kind of your book photos! You should make it your trade-mark book photo shoot. Such a lovely and heart-warming dedication.

    Your comment about YouTube culture resonates with me a lot. I feel the same way, probably we are just too old for this stuff. Lol. And it makes me anxious about my kids who will be facing that social media life in a few years. It’s really scary that social media play such big role in the life of teenagers (and adults for that matter) nowadays.

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