Once Upon a Comic-Con

Author: Maggie Dallen
Series: Geeks Gone Wild, book 3
Publisher: Self (April 17, 2019)
Kindle edition, 174 pages
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Summary
King Geek vs the Cheerleader

Julia Farrow has it all. She’s got the friends, the grades, the smile, the perfect reputation, and the new boyfriend who adores her. All in all, life is pretty much perfect for Grover High’s favorite cheerleader. Until she’s tagged, that is. That ridiculous Geeks Gone Wild hashtag is still going strong and while Julia has managed to steer clear of the drama unfolding between the jocks and the geeks, one embarrassing photo is enough to flip her world upside down. The boyfriend? He’s out. The friends? Turns out they’re more like frenemies. And that perfect reputation? Well, that’s all about to crumble as the truth comes out about Julia and her secret, passionate love affair with all things comics.

But Julia isn’t about to go down without a fight. She’s spent a lifetime honing her perfect image and when it’s ruined, there’s really only one person to blame. The school paper’s editor-in-chief and the guy behind the hashtag–Matt Cartwright. Sure, he claims he’s innocent, but if it wasn’t for him she’d still be on track to be prom queen. He might not be able to fix this disaster that her life has become, but there’s one way he can make it up to her. He can bring her along to the comics convention he’s assigned to cover for his internship with the local paper. He’s got the tickets, she needs an escape, and really, it’s the least he can do. She’s just tagging along as a fan, that’s all. It’s not like they have to be friends or anything. And those kisses? Well, what happens at comic-con stays at comic-con…right?

Review
I read the entire Geeks Gone Wild series in less than 24 hours, because I just could not stop reading them. That being said, this was probably my least favorite of the three (though I still highly enjoyed it!)

I do wish this entire series wasn’t basically the geeks and then the only three nice jocks/popular people. I wish that Dallen would have given at least a few of the popular kids some more spine and common decency, because I felt like I knew the last book would focus on Julia since she’s the only other “nice” popular kid.

I also didn’t 100% get Matt, or fully like him. I feel like we get a lot about Julia’s home life and why she is the way she is, like we got a lot about Suzie and Luke’s home lives, and Margo and Jason’s past. I feel like I didn’t really get to KNOW Matt, and I was still kind of pissed at him for something crappy he did back in the first book of the series. He just wasn’t a sympathetic character for me.

Now JULIA, on the other hand… I want to be Comic-Con Julia’s friend. We can cosplay together, haha. I love the chemistry between Julia and Matt, and how she’s basically two different people. People are complex, and Maggie Dallen really shows that here.

This is the third book in the Geeks Gone Wild series, and while it could technically be read as a stand alone there is a LOT of set up done for this one in the first two books, as well as major spoilers for said books in this one. I highly recommend reading this series in order, starting with Love at First Fight.