Tag: fan convention

REVIEW: Con Quest by Sam Maggs

REVIEW: Con Quest by Sam Maggs

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Cat – 12 years old. Daughter of 2 famous comics writers. Geekicon pro. And this year at Geekicon, she is determined to win the Quest – an unsanctioned scavenger hunt set at the con. Winners get to do charity work for a week with a major movie star.

Alex – Cat’s twin brother. Artist. Gamer. On the autism spectrum. Megafan of Epic, the comic. Alex would be happy to spend the day in Artist’s Alley talking to other creators. But at Geekicon, he can get the autograph of his favorite artist. The fact that he can use that opportunity to help his sister in the Quest is icing on the cake.

Fi – 14 years old. The twins’ older sister. Charged with watching them at the con. If she can show her responsibility here, her parents might let her go on a camping trip with the cool kids from school. But first she has to survive the wall-to-wall people at the smelly nerdfest – and not lose track of the twins.

Review

This was SO FUN! I am a huge fan of comic and fan conventions. And a huge fan of books set at conventions. This is a great addition to that book niche. The convention here is clearly a SDCC-ish event, although the description easily fit my smaller con experience, too.  Con fans will recognize the cosplay, con food, the thrill of discovering a new artist, and meeting a celebrity experiences. There’s tons to love here!

Alex, Cat and Fi take turns telling the story, which is great. There’s a lot of sibling stuff going on here. Alex wants Cat to treat him as an equal partner. Cat is so used to behavioral hiccups with Alex that she bulldozes over him a lot of the time. This dynamic between Cat and Alex was one of my favorite parts of the book. And Fi is so desperate to fit in with the popular kids, it makes her a tyrant with her younger siblings at this convention. Fi changes the most over the course of the story, but Alex and Cat get to grow as well.

At times, the Quest feels like it’s taking the fun out of the con. Cat gets so driven that she rushes Alex away from things he enjoys but aren’t achieving anything for her. Thankfully, the scavenger hunt is only during one day of the event, so there’s always hope that they will get to just enjoy themselves after it’s over. There’s a lot of push and pull here about the goals of the characters for this event.

I’m not used to middle grade books having romantic plot lines beyond crushes. I read another one this year where there was a romance between the main characters, and for me it felt like it pushed the audience up into the 10-14 range rather than the typical 8-12 for middle grade. I tend to fall on the more conservative side, though, when it comes to dating and boyfriends/girlfriends in elementary school. That said, there is a romantic element here between Fi and a girl she knows from school who is at the convention. The fact that Fi is a point of view character draws the romance a little closer to the reader. But the fact that Fi is older might also give it some distance for the typical middle grade reader. It’s something to keep in mind. Third graders reading middle grade might have a different reaction to the romantic plot than 6th graders. Personally, I would set this for the older 10-14 crowd.

Convention fans should be sure to check this one out. I enjoyed the journey with Alex, Cat and Fi, especially in 2020 when the only cons we are attending are virtual! (LGBTQ+)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ = Loved it! Would re-read.

REVIEW: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

REVIEW: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Avon in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Marcus Caster-Rupp has just finished shooting his final season of Gods of the Gates. His public persona has always been on the “pretty but dim” side, and as an actor he can play that role convincingly. But now that shooting is done, maybe he could be something… more.

No one knows Marcus is Book!AeneasWouldNever!. He writes Gods of the Gates fanfiction. He loves the book version which is so much better than what the show runners have done lately with the characters. His favorite person on the fanfiction sites is UnapologeticLaviniaStan. She gets him and gets these characters. She will flip when she sees what the show runners have done in this next season. And not in a good way.

April, UnapologeticLaviniaStan on the fanfiction sites, is ready for serious life change. She kept her cosplay and fandom life secret at work in order to be taken seriously. And she’s never posted pictures of herself online in her cosplay because she doesn’t want to deal with fatphobic trolls. But she’s ready to take a stand and be 100% herself both in person and online.

When a beautiful cosplayer is trolled on Twitter, and Marcus is pulled into the conversation, he takes the high road, asking the woman out on a date (rather than eviscerating the trolls, which was his first instinct). But Marcus has no idea April is his fanfiction best friend, UnapologeticLaviniaStan. And if anyone finds out about his alter ego, Book!AeneasWouldNever!, Marcus’ career will be over.

Review

This was fantastic! It includes a fandom as well as a convention, which I always enjoy. (You can read my post from earlier this year about fandom and fan convention stories here.) There’s a You’ve Got Mail piece to this too where April and Marcus meet in real life while also having an online relationship hidden behind screen names. At first, neither one knows about the connection. The main difference here is that they are not antagonists in real life like in the movie.

But the real life relationship means Marcus has to break the online relationship and keep the connection a secret for the sake of his job. While he likes April, it’s too soon to know if she can be trusted or if she would even understand the risks he has already taken by writing fanfiction – and talking about the show- in ways that could jeopardize his job.

I loved April and Marcus, together and separately. They have fantastic chemistry together. They also have depth. The author does an exceptional job with the emotional pieces of this – the personal insights, the empathy, the descriptions of toxic family relationships, etc. I adored this layer to the characters and to the larger story.

There’s a secondary relationship that was teased in this book, but mostly took place off-page. I had hoped it would get it’s own book. It seems like that relationship will be the focus of the next book, out next year. I am absolutely here for that story. This is my first book by this author, although I own one of her e-books – Desire and the Deep Blue Sea – and its sequel is on my wishlist. I’ll be bumping her books up on my TBR.

If you enjoy fanfiction and fandom stories like I do, do NOT miss this one! It feels like an adult version of the Geekerella/Once Upon a Con series, which I love. (Language, sex, CW: fat shaming, disability shaming, toxic families/trauma)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥=Great! Might re-read.

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Fandom and Fan Convention Stories

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Fandom and Fan Convention Stories

Posted on by Jaymie

Our family thoroughly enjoys attending comic and fan conventions, book signings, etc.. We have been to several over the last 8 years. We love meeting stars and authors, going to panels, and picking up new artwork of our favorite characters or new books from authors we discover.

Thanks to the pandemic, we’ve only been able to do some online fan events this year. While I appreciate ALL of the work that various groups have done to make these events happen, they are still no substitute for the real thing.

So if you are missing out on your usual con events this year, too, consider reading a book or two about the experience. I find these books bring back lots of fun Con memories (although I wish there were more for middle grade and adult readers). Here are some to consider:

Books for Older Kids/Teens

Con Quest! (LGBTQ+) –  A pair of twins ditch their family at a comics convention while they try to win a huge scavenger hunt. This is the book that gave me the idea to do this post. I love books like this! This was written by Sam Maggs. ♥♥♥♥½
The Game Masters of Garden Place – A group of kids playing an RPG (role playing game, like Dungeons and Dragons) find their characters have come to life. This was SO fun! You can read my review here.
Princesses, Inc – From the MIX line by Aladdin about a group of girls who open up a service of princesses and pirates to babysit neighborhood kids. You can read my review here.
Secrets of a Fangirl – A girl trying to keep her “geek life” separate from her popular “jock life” has a chance to win a contest to go to the movie premier for her fandom. But she will have to go up against older competitors who question her fan cred, and she risks showing her peers this geeky side of herself. This one is on my TBR shelves.

Books for Teens/Young Adults

 

Bookish and the Beast (LGBTQ+) – Book 3 in the Once Upon a Con series. Vance Reigns, Hollywood royalty, is hiding from a tabloid scandal in a small town. Rosie lives in that small town, and when she and Vance cross paths, and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself having to work off the debt. She also finds out that Vance is a jerk. Beauty and the Beast, anyone? I thoroughly enjoyed this one! ♥♥♥♥½
Bookishly Ever After – A book nerd tries to use the characters from her favorite books to help her negotiate a romance. You can read my review here.
Don’t Cosplay with My Heart – A struggling teen finds strength in her cosplay character and community. You can read my review here.
The Improbable Theory of Ana & Zak – An unlikely pair of teens team up to find  Ana’s younger brother at a fan convention when he sneaks away from a class trip. You can read my review here.
Eliza and Her Monsters – The anonymous creator of a popular webcomic  loses her anonymity, and everything she has built starts to fall apart. I have this one on my TBR shelves.
Fangirl (LGBTQ+) – When two sisters who grew up immersed in a magical fictional world (Harry Potter-ish) start college, one wants to keep writing her fanfiction and stay connected to that part of their childhood while the other wants to make a complete break. I read this forever ago – while at a fan convention – and it was delightful. ♥♥♥♥♥
Geekerella – Book 1 in the Once Upon a Con series. Elle wants to win a cosplay contest for a reboot of her father’s favorite scifi show. Darian wants nothing more than to be in the reboot, but the fandom seems to have written him off completely. Maybe Elle can change all that. You can read my review here.
The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love – A guy plans how to tell his best friend he loves her – at New York Comic Con. I haven’t read this one yet.
Now a Major Motion Picture – When their grandmother’s famous book series is being turned into a movie, a teen and her younger brother are on set to watch the magic happen. Until things start to fall apart which puts the whole movie in jeopardy. You can read my review here.
The Princess and the Fangirl (LGBTQ+) – Book 2 in the Once Upon a Con series. In this Prince and the Pauper-like tale, a Starfield fan and the actress who is absolutely over the series must team up to find out who is causing trouble for the franchise. ♥♥♥♥½
The Pros of Cons (LGBTQ+) – A mix-up at a hotel hosting 3 different groups – a percussion convention, a fan convention, and a taxidermy convention – brings three teens together in an unexpected friendship. You can read my review here.
Queens of Geek (LGBTQ+) – Three teens at a convention find unexpected chances at love. I haven’t read this one yet.
Verona Comics (LGBTQ+) – Two teens who meet at a comic convention prom wrestle with personal issues and their feuding families (rival comics shop owners) as they grow closer together.

 

Books for Adults

Battle at the Comic Expo – A comics creator and a con security chief team up when a fan goes rogue and comes after the creator for revenge. This is a new title to me. I only heard about this one when I was doing research for this post.
Broken Genius –  Book 1 in the new Will Parker Thriller series. In 2011, a coding error by young revolutionary CEO Will Parker cost a college student her life. His self-directed penance was joining the FBI Cyber Division. Years later, Will is on a case at a Midwest comic convention when he discovers the case involves tech from his pre-FBI life. You can read my review here.
The Con Artist – An illustrated mystery that takes place at San Diego Comic Con. I haven’t read this one.
Loathe at First Sight – As a joke, Melody shares an idea for an app starring male strippers in a survival game, but it quickly becomes her company’s hottest new project, and she’s running the whole thing. There’s a portion of this book that takes place at a gaming convention, some of my favorite scenes in the book. I just posted a full review for this here.
Pros and (Comic) Cons – An anthology of comics and prose focused on comic conventions. I haven’t read this one.

 

REVIEW: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

REVIEW: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Zak is in trouble. Coasting through Health class and using too much Wikipedia for an assignment leave him in danger of not graduating. Zak doesn’t have big plans for his future. Or any plans, really. But not graduating would put him in an awful bind. So when the Health teacher says he can redeem himself by serving as an alternate for the Quiz Bowl Team’s next competition, he jumps at the chance. It’s only later that he realizes the competition is the same weekend as his favorite comic book/fandom convention.

Ana can’t believe they have to put up with Zak on the team. He’s a total slacker! He doesn’t take anything seriously, playing card and role playing games all the time. She needs their team to WIN. That’s why she talked the advisor into putting her 13-year-old genius brother, Clayton, on the team. Ana is desperate to do everything right, and make all the right choices. She saw what her parents did when her big sister didn’t follow their expectations.

But when Clayton sneaks off to the con after the Quiz Bowl, Ana will have to trust the “slacker,” Zak, to help her find her brother and get back before anyone finds out they were gone. Otherwise she could lose everything she’s tried to hard to hold onto.

Review

This he-said, she-said story was a lot of fun! I loved Ana and Zak. They think they know about the other person, but their adventure at the con while they try to find Clayton helps them open up to one another. With time, they each see the other a lot more clearly.

The con was a hoot! Our family loves comic book conventions, so parts of the setting were very familiar. In fact, that was the whole reason I read the book. I did a library search for books that take place at or around conventions and discovered this one. I’ve never had a con experience quite like Zak and Ana, thankfully. But I loved watching Ana work her way through her feelings as an “outsider,” especially as she watched Zak in his element.

There are many fun fandom references in the book as well as a sweet romance between the characters. There’s also cosplay, a gay wedding, a case of mistaken identity that turns ugly, and a kidnapping. It’s a WILD ride to the satisfying end. I loved how the author dealt with the parental issues as the story wrapped up. There are a lot of examples here of the problems that come when you assume things about others and the solutions you find when people communicate. Great fun!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Pros of Cons by Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar and Michelle Schusterman

REVIEW: The Pros of Cons by Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar and Michelle Schusterman

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Vanessa is attending the We Treasure Fandom con where she is hoping to enjoy some fanfiction with her fellow Wonderlandia fans. It will also be her first chance to meet her fanfic writing partner – and online girlfriend – in person.

Phoebe is attending the Indoor Percussion Association convention with her percussion team from school. While they don’t have the resources that their competition does, the team is really talented. They have a chance to perform really well this week – until a mishap in the hotel lobby with a xylophone.

Callie and her dad are at the World Taxidermy Championships. Things have been rough since Callie’s mom left.  But Callie keeps hoping that by working together her dad will remember she’s his daughter and not just his assistant.

All three conventions are happening in the same convention center at the same time.

When the convention week becomes a disaster for each of the girls, they find each other. And when their relationships from their regular lives are at their worst, this new friendship  may be what each girl needs to redeem her convention experience.

Review

What a fun story! I loved the three girls. Each one was distinct and yet all were endearing in their own ways. Their interpersonal issues – Vanessa with a “girlfriend” who is flirty online but distant in person, Phoebe whose friendships are changing, and Callie who wants to feel like she matters to her dad – are rich and complicated and realistic. I can’t even pick a favorite. I loved each of them for different reasons.

My favorite feature of the book was the way each of the girls found her voice or her place. Vanessa found the confidence to confront the mixed messages. Phoebe’s injury early on opened up an opportunity to find out she’s gifted in a way she never recognized before. And Callie asks for what she wants and needs (after trying a more passive-aggressive approach first). And when each girl finds her voice, she has something to contribute to the new friendship that is developing between them.

Con stories are my new favorite theme in books for teens and young adults. Our family loves going to cons, and I felt at home in the setting the author created for this book. There’s a fourth con interwoven in the story which made for a fun ending. I love what these authors created with these three characters!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: The Game Masters of Garden Place by Denis Markell

REVIEW: The Game Masters of Garden Place by Denis Markell

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Delacorte Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

The adventurers – Torgrim, Bran, Jandia, Mirak and Gerontius – are on a quest to find the pieces of an ancient scepter. They have secured six of the seven pieces, but the final battle seems impossible to win.

Ralph, Noel, JoJo, Persephone and Cammi have been playing Reign of Dragons for a couple years. Their original Game Master moved away so the kids have been taking turns planning the next part of their campaign for the pieces of the Seven Serpent Scepter. But as they’ve gotten older, everyone but Ralph seems to be drifting away from the game.

Ralph plans one final gaming day with his friends hoping to find the final piece of the scepter before the rest quit Reign of Dragons all together. But one roll of a golden d20 changes everything when  their characters – Torgrim, Bram, Jandia, Mirak and Gerontius – are pulled from the game into the real world.

Review

This was SO fun! I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, but I know enough that I was able to follow along with the game play here. Kids who aren’t familiar with RPGs (Role Playing Games) may need a 5 minute tutorial about how the game works, but the rest of the story will make sense for everyone.

The characters in this – both the real life kids and their game counterparts – are terrific. It took me a little while to get all of them straight – which adventurer had which powers, which kid went with which character, etc. The kids are racially diverse (there’s a conversation about this when the kids explain that dynamic to the adventurers which is terrific) and one of the kids seems to be working through some things regarding his sexuality although it is fairly subtle. While these things round out the characters, they aren’t “issues” to be addressed in the story. These are just pieces of who the characters are. There are some fantastic moments when the kids really click with their game counterparts which was fun. The characters were my favorite part of this story.

This is a delightful fantasy book. The first 40% or so is set up – getting to know the kids, getting the history of their game play, and seeing the game characters in action. Then the game characters are pulled into our world. I loved seeing the adventurers trying to sort out our culture. And the connection between the game world and ours was handled in a clever way.

I highly recommend this book for kids who love fantasy and gaming and RPGs and the like. This was so fun!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Don't Cosplay with My Heart by Cecil Castellucci

REVIEW: Don’t Cosplay with My Heart by Cecil Castellucci

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Edan’s favorite fandom is Team Tomorrow, a comic book property she discovered through an animated show when she was a kid. Her favorite character is Gargantua, who has a complicated backstory. The choices of her superhero team leave Gargantua without a home or a history. So she turns on her team and becomes a villain.

Edan takes her cues from Gargantua as her own life takes an epic hit. Her dad is sequestered while he is under investigation for hinky financial practices. She watches her mother wither under the strain. Her grandmother tries to strong arm both Edan and her mom to engage in life again.

Edan finds the perfect distractions in her new boyfriend and a cosplay club. She learns to develop her own costumes, making due with thrift store finds and her own beginner sewing skills. She’s going to channel Gargantua as much as she can to walk through the challenges she faces. But a Gargantua-approach may not be enough.

Review

This was fantastic! I loved the Team Tomorrow pieces. There were many news-ish interludes between chapters that covered the story of the comic creators as well as different things that happened to the characters over the run of the comic.  When Edan uses the comic to describe her feelings or her choices, it all comes together perfectly.

The relationships in the story are fairly typical for YA books. Edan is keeping a secret from her best friend which will cause issues later. There’s the boyfriend and then the other guy who the reader knows is a better fit. But through the boyfriend piece I thought the author did an excellent job of showing what “gatekeeping” looks like – when fans (often men) question another geek’s fan credentials by asking testing questions to “prove” true fan status. While it was infuriating as I read it, I loved how the author portrayed this behavior and how it left Edan feeling.

There is no tidy ending to this, but things are moving in the right direction for Edan by the end. I loved that things were left a little open. This was thoroughly delightful from start to finish!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

REVIEW: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Elle is one of the biggest Starfield fans ever. She blogs about it. Her parents met because of the show. And her dad started ExcelsiCon to celebrate it. Going to the con this year – winning the cosplay contest – would be a dream come true. And it might even help her escape her nightmare life with her “step-monster” and step-sisters.

Darien is also a huge Starfield fan. But no one knows that. He’s famous for his soap opera work which gets him the role of Prince Carmindor in the Starfield movie. The Starfield fandom hates the casting. They think he’s a poser. There’s a blogger who blasts him online, and her posts have gone viral. And there are leaks and other troubles on the set. Darien can’t catch a break.

Until he starts texting the random girl he called by mistake. In their conversation, both Elle and Darien can be themselves, even though neither knows who the other is. It would be great if they could connect in real life like they do on the phone. But there are too many complications in the way.

 

Review

This was fantastic. Such a fun mashup of science fiction fandoms with the story of Cinderella and a nod to You’ve Got Mail tossed in.

It took a little time for me to get into the rhythm of the story. Elle’s “family” is horrible. She initially has no friends or support which was really sad. And it took a little while for me to warm up to Darien’s character, to really see him as a person rather than the role he had to play. Once the rhythm was established, I couldn’t put the book down.

The Cinderella pieces of the story were my favorite. The “pre-ball” melt down was so horrible and aggravating! But all the pieces – the pumpkin, the dress, the slipper – came together perfectly in fun, fresh ways.

This is a sharp, clever, and FUN story. Great for geeky readers as well as fans of re-worked fairy tales and great teen romance.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½