Reviews with content warning for Bullying - American Royals

American Royals has an excellent idea behind it: What would America be like if we had a royal family? I think that's such a fascinating question to ask and explore so this one had been on my list for a while before I finally got to reading it.

All in all, it was a solidly fine read. It was a three-star read for me until the final couple of chapters. I think the author did an incredible job of bringing lots of emotion to the end of the book so it bumped up an extra half a star on that alone. I found myself not really being able to feel like I had a grasp on the characters because we were bouncing from one to another so quickly so I would have preferred not having the story told from 4 different perspectives (maybe just 2 or 3 would have felt less rushed). I also found myself not particularly intrigued with the mystery subplot, I think that could have been handled more clandestinely - it was a lot of telling rather than showing or feeling. But the romances were really sweet (even if they felt rushed as well) and I liked the father-daughter relationships we see between the King and Beatrice and Samantha. I just really wish the story had slowed down a little bit and really let us get a feel for the characters.

I still really enjoyed it and will happily be reading the next in the series!

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reddeddy's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

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mollythefishmonger_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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veronicatabor's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

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alexbowie03's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

this book was really good; I did have alot of trouble getting into it in the beginning though. I found the beginning really slow but once things started to pick up it was really enjoyable.

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

Basically, if Gossip Girl were about royalty. Drama, politics, backstabbing, and trading partners… <i>American Royals</i> has it all. Pretty much everyone is obnoxious and spoiled...but you can’t help but like them anyway (except you, Daphne. You suck). Maybe it’s the eldest daughter in me, but Beatrice was my favorite character by far. This was a super quick read, and had so many tropes that, while slightly overused, are still fun to see.

I kind of hated the sisters-fighting-over-a-guy storyline. It makes me uncomfortable and feels very unrealistic—what kind of sister would do that??

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):

Cliffhanger-y! I hadn’t realized that there was a sequel, so I was expecting more resolution...good thing I got the next one from the library super quick!

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