Book Review: Con Quest!

Book: Con Quest! by Sam Maggs

Cover Illustration by Chris Danger
Cover Design by Natalie C. Sousa

Edition: Paperback

Description:

Cat and Alex are excited to be at the world’s most popular comics convention―and they’re even more excited to compete in the Quest, a huge scavenger hunt run by their favorite nerdy celebrity. The big prize: a chance to meet him!

The twins ditch their older sister Fi and set off to find geeky clues, tackle nerdy challenges, and cross as many items as possible off their Quest list, which includes volunteering at an Artist Alley booth, gathering cosplayers in enough colors to make a double rainbow, and actually finding something healthy to eat in the convention center!

Can the twins work together even when they disagree on how to compete? Will Fi find Cat and Alex before their parents realize they’re missing? Most importantly, can these ultimate fans complete the ultimate Quest?





Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Con Quest! was a pure delight to read. This fast-paced and well-written story follows 12 year old twins Catalina "Cat" and Alesandro "Alex" Gallo who are attempting to win the Quest, a huge scavenger hunt that takes place at the equally huge and popular comic book convention, GeekiCon. Although the Quest is an unauthorized challenge at GeekiCon, participants are willing to risk getting caught which could result in them being kicked out and banned from the convention. The Quest was created by Corwin Blake, a popular but slightly odd actor and although it's a fun challenge, it's for charity. Not only is the contestants' entry fee donated to charity but the grand prize has the winner or winning team joining Corwin and some of his friends to help build houses for families in need.

The twins along with their older sister, 14 year old Fiorella "Fi" are at GeekiCon because their parents Anna and Luca, creators of the popular comic book and animated series Ducky McFowl were speaking at a panel. Cat and Alex were excited to start the competition but first they had to get out of their parents' panel and ditch their sister Fi. As for Fi, she is not a fan of all this geeky stuff and truly didn't want to be at the convention. However, since she is supposed to watch her younger siblings, she's hoping this will lead to her parents letting her go on a camping trip that all the popular tenth graders will be going on. Although, Fi is in the ninth grade, she's popular due to being a varsity soccer player. I think part of her desire for going is due to her crush on Ethan Chaudhuri, a tenth grader and Captain of the varsity boys' soccer team who will be going camping.

This was a fun story, I enjoyed going along with Cat and Alex a.k.a. Team DoubleTrouble as they attempt to complete various Quest challenges such as get a voice actor to record a dramatic retelling of your Quest adventure. It's was a full adventure for the twins from going through the ups and downs of working together to trying to avoid being found by Fi. They also had to make sure to avoid James M., an irate security guard who not only realized they were competing in The Quest and trying to kick them out. But he also has a very negative attitude towards anyone he deems to be fake fans and fake geeks. Fi was having her own experience at GeekiCon which initially ranged from annoying to frustrating to a low simmering anger. She was trying her best to find Cat and Alex but she truly wasn't having any luck finding them at this huge convention. And the more she walked around searching throughout GeekiCon the more annoyed she got and probably would have continued if she hadn't literally ran into Rowan Reyes, a girl from her school. Fi wasn't that thrilled to have bumped into Rowan, who is sort of known as the weird kid at school. What I found so interesting about Fi is that she is just so concerned with being cool and popular that she uses that as both a mask and a way to measure whether someone or something is cool or not. As a mask, she doesn't have to question whether she's truly being herself nor allowing herself (or at least admitting to herself) that she like or enjoy things she thinks might not be cool.

Back to Alex and Cat, the twins are very different, Cat is very take charge, spontaneous and outgoing while Alex who is autistic, is more quiet and introverted. They are both very smart and creative, Alex loves art and is really good at it. Their different personalities probably usually mesh really well together but participating in the Quest was highlighting their differences. Because with Cat being so take charge, Alex was feeling like she was making all the decisions without him having any input. While at times during the competition, it didn't seem like Cat appreciated all the things that Alex was doing. I think because they really wanted to win the competition that at times it felt like the pressure was taking the fun out of the experience. But despite a few setbacks, bad decision, misunderstandings and a big argument, I feel like the twins learned a lot about each other. But will all their efforts help them win the Quest?

Meanwhile, Fi was learning a bit more about herself. After her initial slightly negative thoughts and reaction to Rowan, Fi welcomed her help in trying to find Cat and Alex. What I found interesting is that, Fi was starting to see the fun at being at GeekiCon and also being herself. Earlier in the story, she just seemed so focused on having this cool image and demeanor but as the story moved along she was changing her perspective as well as making a new friend. But is the new friendship with Rowan developing into something more? The only thing ruining Fi and Rowan's continued search for the twins was trying to avoid that same mean security guard who was trying to kick them out as well. Will she find the twins before she get kicked out?

I loved reading Con Quest!, it truly felt like a love letter to fans because the story had that fun and chaotic energy of being at a comic book convention. It truly felt like you were at GeekiCon. Plus, it's full of adventure from both Cat and Alex try to win the competition and surprisingly receives some unexpected help along with Fi trying to find them. I thought Fi's growing crush on Rowan was so sweet as well as you could see Rowan also liked her as well. I feel like this was a fun story and that it was also a journey of self-discovery for Cat, Alex and Fi. Because they each ended up learning and growing from this wild experience at GeekiCon.

I have been reading so many good books lately and I feel like over the years that I've honed my skills at picking good books. Which is why I'm going to try to venture outside of my reading bubble and try different genres of books or at least something I might be hesitant to read. I guess I'll see what I'll pick for my next read after I review the final volume of Velvet by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Elizabeth Breitweiser.