Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Rivals

Beatrice, as always, you're both the Queen of America and of my heart.
I love that she had very real emotions and thoughts. The whole "connects to a group and feels welcome" storyline became an absolute home run for me because... relatable.
The new characters enrich the story and the old ones keep us coming back.

BUT THAT ENDING. JAIL. IMMEDIATELY.

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readingwithmeredith's review against another edition

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3.0

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dogbuttsandbooks's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.75

Picking up where book two left off, we find the three youngest members of the Washington family, their partners, and friends at the League of Kings — a conference (of sorts) that takes place every five years for royalty and heirs from around the world.

To say this book was a disappointment would be a bit of an understatement. It took me nearly six weeks to finish this book because there was nothing engaging happening. Everyone was rehashing the same drama from book 2.

What bothered me the most about this book is that every woman in this book was pitted against another. Don’t get me wrong, I do not subscribe to the brand of white feminism that says all women must support one another. But creating an entire book and universe about young women in power only to have them backstab and hurt one another is not what we need in 2022.

On top of that, we have Sam and Marshall (future Duke of Orange) serving as the face of interracial relationships and race relations in America. But outside of one conversation between Sam and Nina, this book is completely devoid of actual commentary about race. Additionally, making Marshall’s family out to be the “mean guys” for not immediately embracing Sam and not following it up with a true apology from Sam is racist. I cannot recommend this book to people of color based on the portrayal of Marshall’s family. Again, it’s 2022 here. The real America is faced with white supremacy from top to bottom and people of color are being killed for the color of their skin. This felt completely out of touch. Readers, especially readers of color deserve better.

I’m not sure what the goal of the book was here. The plot was extremely drawn out - so much so that I felt the last 50 pages of the book could have been the first 50. There were far too many perspectives and main characters to keep track of what was going on. This book needs a single main character, a clear plot, and a goal.

My main question for the author and publication team is - you had an opportunity to reinvent America, and in this book, monarchies around the world, why did you choose to stick with one that’s overwhelming white, sexist, and full of unlikeable people?

I received this as a ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

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