Published by Penguin on February 5th 2009
Genres: Adolescence, Fiction, General, Legends, Myths, Fables, Love & Romance, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 368
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The ideal L.A. fairy tale for fans of Once Upon a Time and L.A. Candy!Inspiration for the Disney Channel TV movie, Geek Charming!Dylan Shoenfield is the princess of L.A.?s posh Castle Heights High. She has the coolest boyfriend, the most popular friends, and a brand-new ?it? bag that everyone covets. But when she accidentally tosses her bag into a fountain, this princess comes face-to-face with her own personal frog: selfprofessed film geek Josh Rosen. In return for rescuing Dylan?s bag, Josh convinces Dylan to let him film her for his documentary on high school popularity. Reluctantly, Dylan lets F-list Josh into her A-list world, and is shocked to realize that sometimes nerds can be pretty cool. But when Dylan?s so-called prince charming of a boyfriend dumps her flat, her life?and her social status? comes to a crashing halt. Can Dylan?with Josh?s help?pull the pieces together to create her own happily-ever-after?
Dylan Shoenfield rules Castle Heights High. Josh Rosen is just trying to make it through his senior year and submit a phenomenal video to USC’s film school. When Dylan’s bag falls into the fountain at her father’s mall, Josh comes to her rescue on one condition—she lets him film her and her friends for a documentary on popularity. This unlikely pair starts to become friends, but their relationship is really tested when Dylan ends up single and unpopular. Now Josh’s documentary has taken a turn. Can he scrounge Dylan a happily-ever-after?
One of my guilty pleasures is watching Disney movies on Netflix. It sounds silly, but there’s something about not having to think about what’s going on in a movie that’s wonderful. I had already seen the movie Geek Charming a few times and got incredibly curious about the book that inspired the movie. At first, there were a few similarities in the novel, but then there were a plethora of differences. I don’t like watching the movie before reading the book, but this was a rare occurrence. What I hate the most about having watched the movie ahead of time, is that I couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed in the book.
The main source of my disappointment in the book was the ending. There were major differences in how the book ended and how the movie ended. Some of the differences were caused by the fact that the hugely important dance, which plays a pivotal role in the movie, wasn’t a focus in the book. Even though there were the same characters and similar plot, it was almost like the book and the movie were two different stories. That being said, you might love one and hate the other or love each one independently of the other.
Josh and Dylan’s relationship was a lot different than boy/girl friendships in most books. Throughout the entire book, I thought I knew exactly how the author would let it play out but soon learned how mistaken I had been. Most of you might draw the same conclusion that I did, some might think a little outside the box. Almost immediately after I turned the last page, I jumped online to see if there’s a sequel—there isn’t.
Even though this is a young adult novel, the characters acted younger than seniors in high school in some scenes, so it would be great for a younger audience as well.
Fairy tale-like feel and a comedic look at the ins and outs of popularity, Geek Charming will keep you entertained riding the subway—that’s how I read it; I could totally live in New York—during boring family gatherings, or when you need a light read to slip away with right before bed.
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