Shipped: A Heart-Warming, Geeky YA Contemporary

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Shipped by Meredith Tate
Genres: Coming of Age (YA), Contemporary (YA)
Pages: 272
Goodreads

Can two IRL enemies find their happily ever after online?

Stella Greene and Wesley Clarke are Gene Connolly Memorial High School's biggest rivals. While the two have been battling it out for top student, it's a race to the bottom when it comes to snide comments and pulling the dirtiest prank. For years, Stella and Wes have been the villain in each other's story, and now it's all-out war.

And there is no bigger battle than the one for valedictorian, and more specifically, the coveted valedictorian scholarship.

But Stella and Wes have more in common than they think. Both are huge fans of Warship Seven, a popular sci-fi TV drama with a dedicated online following, and the two start chatting under aliases--without a clue that their rival is just beyond the screen. They realize that they're both attending SciCon this year, so they plan to dress in their best cosplay and finally meet IRL.

While tensions at school are rising and SciCon inches closer and closer, the enemy lines between Stella and Wes blur when a class project shows them they might understand one another better than anyone else--and not just in cosplay.

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This book is promoted as perfect for fans of Geekerella and if that ain’t the truth, I don’t know what is. Seriously, if you enjoyed Poston’s Geekerella, you’ll love this book! But it is not a carbon copy, there are differences that make it stand on it’s own as a super cute YA contemporary.

In Shipped, we get two POVs: Wesley and Stella. Wesley is the popular rich kid and Stella is the snobby overachiever – at least that’s how everyone, including each other, views them. I liked and disliked both of the characters for different reasons, some are hard to explain without spoiling the story, but this like/dislike is good and shows how neither of them were perfect and they both went through a character arc by the end of the story. Personally, though, I did prefer Wesley over Stella. I found him to just be a kinder person throughout while Stella was a bit frustrating with how judgmental and rude she was. Actually, her character reminds me a lot of Molly from the movie Booksmart. It’s like Molly from Booksmart meets the geekiness of Geekerella.

I enjoyed the progression of their relationship – especially how they didn’t know it was one another they were talking to online. While maybe a little dangerous to meet an online stranger at a convention by yourself, I think this book also shows how online friendships are valid (hello all my fellow bloggers and bookstagrammers!). Also, like Geekerella, there are snippets of the show they both love in between chapters and I liked how those snippets mirrored the progression of Stella and Wesley’s relationship. Basically, their relationship is just a super feel-good enemies-to-lovers connection. Oh, but side note, Stella sucks at pranks. Wesley’s were always way better than hers 😆

♥ Related post: Not Exactly a Love Story by Audrey Couloumbis // Exactly the love story I wanted

Overall, I enjoyed this book! It was a perfect break from some of the heavier fantasy I’ve been reading lately. It’s a cute romance with all the things we love: nerdy tv shows, online discussions, cosplay, fanfic, and more. Wesley and Stella both develop into better people by the end and their romance is just adorable to watch unfold. Plus, the story itself addresses other issues like gate-keeping and sexism in the sci-fi world. It’s just a cute, heart-warming story that I think most of us will enjoy!