A review by kricketa
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd by Cecil Castellucci, Holly Black
4.0
**i read an ARC of this**
as with any collection of short stories written by several different authors, i had difficulty rating this. the stories celebrate the various lifestyles of teen geek, taking the reader from cons to the rocky horror picture show, with several stops for (sadly unfunny) comics along the way. my reactions to the stories were as varied as the stories themselves.
lowlights included the opening piece, in which a klingon and a jedi fall in lust at a con. which is unfortunate because...its the opening piece, and the idea for the story is what launched the whole anthology. it's a great idea, but weakly executed. i was so bored with scott westerfeld's piece that i didn't even finish it, but i plugged on through the collection because i knew that john green was waiting for me in the second half! and yet...while his story had a handful of my beloved green zingers, i found the effort rather uninspired...dare i say even lackluster?
i know, i know. john green whose very feet i would kiss.
so how did this turn into a four-star review? well, i'll tell you: david levithan's story "quiz bowl antichrist" which made me feel so many feelings i nearly wept. garth nix, lisa yee, & m.t. anderson were also highly enjoyable. and KELLY LINK, OH MY GOD, KELLY LINK!!! perfection!! and barry lyga! man, can that guy celebrate geekitude! and wendy mass' piece about astronomy geeks which put me in raptures! and a solid finish with libba bray!
overall, definitely worth picking up, though i suggest skimming and skipping in tune to your personal tastes.
random note: i'm also pretty sure that james kennedy ought to have participated in this somehow. that's a compliment, james.
as with any collection of short stories written by several different authors, i had difficulty rating this. the stories celebrate the various lifestyles of teen geek, taking the reader from cons to the rocky horror picture show, with several stops for (sadly unfunny) comics along the way. my reactions to the stories were as varied as the stories themselves.
lowlights included the opening piece, in which a klingon and a jedi fall in lust at a con. which is unfortunate because...its the opening piece, and the idea for the story is what launched the whole anthology. it's a great idea, but weakly executed. i was so bored with scott westerfeld's piece that i didn't even finish it, but i plugged on through the collection because i knew that john green was waiting for me in the second half! and yet...while his story had a handful of my beloved green zingers, i found the effort rather uninspired...dare i say even lackluster?
i know, i know. john green whose very feet i would kiss.
so how did this turn into a four-star review? well, i'll tell you: david levithan's story "quiz bowl antichrist" which made me feel so many feelings i nearly wept. garth nix, lisa yee, & m.t. anderson were also highly enjoyable. and KELLY LINK, OH MY GOD, KELLY LINK!!! perfection!! and barry lyga! man, can that guy celebrate geekitude! and wendy mass' piece about astronomy geeks which put me in raptures! and a solid finish with libba bray!
overall, definitely worth picking up, though i suggest skimming and skipping in tune to your personal tastes.
random note: i'm also pretty sure that james kennedy ought to have participated in this somehow. that's a compliment, james.