Reviews

3.5 This series reminds me of reading The Clique books except this has more monarchy, marriage, and paparazzi. It's fluffy YA drama and I really want to know what happens next...

mkwells13's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Loved it!!!

nplunkie's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A fun read and a great sequel to the first book in the series. Definitely plan to finish out this series

maseface's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

My short non-spoiler review is this. It's really good. It made me say "Aww" which books usually don't do.

I was a little upset that the couples in the last book weren't maintained. But now that I've read this book I like some of the new couples better (some worse but the good ones are really good) my favorite couple is Samantha and Marshall which is an improvement over Samantha and Teddy. Samantha dates Marshall to make Teddy jealous because he chose her sister Beatrice over her. I was really worried Marshall was just going to be a rebound especially as he's one of the few characters of color in the book and they rarely get to be part of the endgame couple. But as the story goes on Samantha falls out of love with Teddy and falls in love with Marshall and luckily he feels the same way too. I really hope the author won't force them apart in the next book because I liked seeing them together so much.

Although I still had a bit of a soft spot for Connor, I really got into Beatrice and Teddy. Early on while reading the first book I thought Beatrice could just pull an Elizabeth I, and say she's married to America. The ending of this book where she postpones her wedding so she can rule America on her own for a while without a king is kind of the same idea.

The only relationship I wasn't rooting for was Nina and Ethan because the whole thing was built on a lie. I had trouble sympathizing with Ethan in the last book because he kept enabling Daphne's bad behavior but I really struggled to find Ethan sympathetic in this book because he lied and misled Nina throughout their entire relationship. Daphne may be a jerk but Nina needed to know the truth about why Ethan started hanging out with her because he wasn't going to tell her. Nina still has feelings for Ethan and is considering giving him another chance and I strongly disagree. Even if she forgives Ethan at best they should just be friends. No relationship built on a lie should last. If Nina has to get back with one of her exes Jeff is a much better option. Unlike Ethan he didn't actively deceive her. He just didn't know whether to believe his girlfriend or his ex-girlfriend/current friend.

Technically there's a 4th relationship of Daphne and Jeff but it's so minor compared to the other relationships. Daphne spends most of her chapters in her own personal drama and Jeff feels like a distant afterthought. Daphne after all the bad things she's done is going to have to make some serious amends before I root for her to get a happy ending.

Honestly I can't wait to read the sequel. I need to know what happens next.

ametakinetos's review against another edition

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2.0

Dropped my review to 2 stars after realizing this series is only two books. What the heck? I thought Nina became boring and unlike herself and Jeff was seriously underutilized - swapping Nina's POV for Jeff's would have been a much more fascinating story - but I was rooting for everyone else and liked Beatrice's plotline. However, there was no conclusion! I felt highly dissatisfied, which is what you want with a trilogy but not with a duology!

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