Rezension: Jen Wilde – Queens of Geek {YA, LGBTQIA, Romance} {english}

When I stumbled upon “Queens of Geeks” on an american book blog I follow I immediately put it on my wish list. How could I resist a story about three friends going to a convention and finding love? Well, exactly… I couldn’t 😉 So when I decided to treat myself with a few new books last month it was the first one that went into my cart. And then I started to read and then I fell in love. Like on page 2.

The story starts with Charlie, Taylor and Jamie, three friends from Australia, arriving at their very own version of Disneyland: SupaCon. While Tay and Jamie are planning on having a blast, Charlie is there for a more serious reason: she is a YouTube star who just starred in her first Hollywood movie which was a great success. So for her SupaCon means mostly interviews, promotion and a lot of smiling. Which becomes a lot of fake smiling when her co-star – who happens to also be her ex-boyfriend – Reese arrives on the scene.

Due to Charlie’s tight schedule the three friends don’t get to spend much time together so that one story actually becomes two. One is about the adventures of Taylor and Jamie, the other one revolves around Charlie and her experiences as a star guest at SupaCon.

“This is it, you guys,” I say as we approach. “Everything we’ve always dreamed about. This is our Holy Grail.”
Charlie, Jamie and I stand before it side by side, tears in our eyes as we admire its indescribable beauty.
“Our Disneyland,” Charlie adds, her pink hair blowing slightly in the warm breeze.
Jamie nods as a wide smile spreads across his face. “Our Graceland. I can’t believe we’re actually here.”
We each take in a deep breath.
“Are we truly worthy of so much awesome?” I ask.
Charlie takes a brave step forward. “Yes. We are.”
When we say it, it’s a whisper, like the name itself is to be cherished. “SupaCon.” Jen Wilde – Queens of Geek, Page 1

Taylor and Jamie became friends when Jamie moved to Australia four years ago. They bonded over the famous fantasy book series “Queen Firestone” and have been inseparable ever since. For Tay it’s very special friendship – besides Charlie she never has had a best friend. Well… and then there are these feelings she has for Jamie. Feelings that definitely go deeper than just being friends. The problem is: she can’t bring herself to make the first move.

Which is really too bad because it’s more than obvious that Jamie has these feelings too. So they are dancing around each other, giving each other these special kind of glances and all you want to do is to make them kiss. I rooted so hard for them! The whole time reading I screamed at them to finally get their shit together and talk to another. But in a very good way. In a way that made me smile and sigh and smile even more. Oh yes, I ship them. Hard.

But the this relationship is not the only thing keeping Taylors mind occupied. For her SupaCon is not only about meeting other fans and maybe even the author of her favourite book series, it’s about growing as a person. She has problems with anxiety so it’s a real challenge to not only fly thousands of kilometers but to a foreign country where a situation she can’t appraise is awaiting her.

While Tay has to face her feelings for Jamie, Charlie on the other hand has to deal with to admirers. First there’s Alyssa, a fellow YouTube star she has been following for a while now and, yes, has a crush on. Meeting her at the convention is like a dream come true, especially since Alyssa seems to be watching Charlies videos, too. But then her manager tells Charlie that her ex-boyfriend Reese who cheated on her, will also attend the event which throws her completely. This weekend was supposed to be all about her and her work but now the studio expects her to play nice – for marketing reasons, of course. So Charlie has no other choice then standing beside this bastard, smiling while she doesn’t want anything more than spending time with Alyssa.

[Charlie, while talking to Alyssa] I’m sure she’s flirting with me. At least, I hope she is. It excites and terrifies me at the same time. I love everything about crushes. The butterflies, the possibilities, the giddy wonder of it ll. But this is the first time I’ve liked a girl who might actually like me back. Jen Wilde, Queens of Geek, Page 60

While the stories told in “Queens of Geek” aren’t exactly new or innovative, the surroundings are. First of all there’s the setting: a fan convention ♥ I’ve been to two fan events (dedicated to the tv show Supernatural) myself and can totally understand the excitement the three friends are experiencing. It’s like its own world, being surrounded by people who love the same things you do, meeting the stars you only know from your Tv or – in Taylors case – their writing. It was so great to see all this fangirling, the energy of the event – it’s one of the things that made me fall in love with this book instantly.

And the characters, oh the characters ♥
I have to admit that I expected to root for Charlie the most. I can’t lie, it’s hard for me to resist a well written queer character – there are just too little of them. So I was more than ready to fall in love with Charlie… but then I met Taylor. Adorkable, cute, absolutely lovable Taylor. And she just won my heart.
All her anxiety and nervousness? Yeah, that’s real. And it becomes even more real as the story continues. How do I know this? Well, because I have a person in my life who is exactly – and I mean exactly – like Tay. Okay, they probably would never attend a convention but apart from that I could see them in everything Taylor is doing or thinking. And this is where “Queens of Geek” shows its excellence: it is authentic as hell.

[Dialogue between Taylor and Jamie] “Do you remember that scene in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’, when he’s solving the word puzzle and any wrong tile he steps on crumbles underneath him?”
“Of course. It’s a classic”.
“That’s how I feel. Like the ground is giving way beneath me. All. The. Time. Nothing is ever stable. Any minute, the earth could collapse beneath me, an dI’ll fall into a chasm. But inlike Insy I don’t know the answer to the puzzle. I don’t even know the question.” Jen Wilde – Queens of Geek, Page 223

And while my love for Charlie didn’t turn out as strong as I imagined it would, I still liked her a lot. She’s self-confident, funny and cute. Oh, and openly bisexual! I think it’s absolutely adorable how she’s crushing on Alyssa, but I think everyone would react that way when they would meet one of their idols 😉 I also loved how she tells Reese to go to hell and handles the whole situation with him. Charlie is the kind of girl I would love to be friends with.

I just realized I am using the word “love” a lot in this review. But actually that’s what I am feeling towards “Queens of Geek”. I love this book. I love everything about it. It’s just plain awesome.

What I also – yes – love about Jen Wilde is that she doesn’t give you all the information at once. When you meet the characters for the first time she only shows you a part of them so that throughout the story you gather more and more information about them. So it takes some time till you have a whole picture of Taylor, Charlie and Jamie. I think I like this way of writing because it’s kind of realistic – when you meet someone you never know them from A to Z, you just get to know them. I also enjoyed how the author mentions some facts about the characters totally casually without making a big deal out of it. For example: Charlie isn’t Caucasian. Admittedly I assumed she was when I began reading but no, she’s not. And that’s awesome. Especially since it doesn’t define her in any way. So, she’s not white, who cares! Exactly… no one!

[…] but we don’t care about the mess we’re making.
Messes aren’t too bad, so long as you have the right people to share them with. Jen Wilde – Queens of Geek, Page 242

And there is so much more. So many little details that lightened up my whole world and made me swoon. The pop culture references, the feminism, the addressing of sexism in the acting world, the fangirling, the friendship, the love, the queerness, the authenticity of anxiety and the autism spectrum. The laughs and the tears and, ohh, the smiling. All the smiling that made my cheeks hurt.

Normally I am not a very passionate person but after the first few chapters of “Queens of Geek”, I sang how much I loved it – literally. And I told my Herzblatt again and again how much I am in love with this book. I couldn’t stop myself, I just couldn’t.

*takes a deep breath*

So, yeah, I kind of enjoyed reading “Queens of Geek”. And I really hope you will, too, because you have to read it. Please read this book! It may not be a masterpiece but it’s so perfect in its own way. Thank you!

And do you know why this book is as awsome as it is? Because Jen Wilde knows what the f*ck she is talking (or rather writing) about. She is not only queer herself, she also is on the autistic spectrum. And this, dear readers, is what happens when people write about exactly the things they know: it will be awsome. It will be deep. It will be real.

So, thank you, Jen Wilde, for creating this beautiful piece of my world. Or as my Herzblatt said: I will reread the hell out of this book ♥