Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - American Royals

Where to begin!

1) don’t call me out for this. (Especially Taylor) I know I have bad contemporary/romance taste ok? But I was in this more for the drama.

This would not be a book I would normally like but the thing is I was majorly in the mood for some D.R.A.M.A. and just needed a guilty pleasure so this book shined through and provided itself in my time of need.

“Sometimes a book is only good when you need it to be.” -Zoe( February 10, 2022)

👆that was probably the case.

Ok so let’s start with characters:
Bea-
Beatrice is basically our main character. She is set out to be the future Queen of America! I didn’t really mind her character overall. I definitely didn’t hate her but I didn’t love her. I liked her! But there were plenty of times where I was like girl what are you thinking(proceed to Connor/Bea section) She (80% of the time) acted her age and felt like good queen material.
Sam-
Love Sam😍 Queen is blonde. PERIOD. FULL STOP. WHATEVER YOU CALL ONE OF THESE: .
She just is blonde and you can’t change my mind. I will not allow myself to believe she is actually a brunette😭It doesn’t suite her. She is spunky and the wild card of the family. You may think she is a “not like the other princesses” but she really isn’t. If you read on and figure out her desire to be accepted and loved by her sister and family you’ll understand. She is a bundle of energy, spunk, and fun. I would love to be her best friend for sure. and I loved how emotionally raw and real she was.
Jeff-
I could care less. He isn’t bad but like dude can’t settle. He can’t settle on a girl. And idk I just don’t feel like he truly loved _ _ _ _. He doesn’t have much of a personality. He is just a heart throb and is pretty bland.
Nina-
I hated her at the beginning. She grew on me but she still annoys me. I can’t NOT imagine her as a Cady Heron from Mean Girls. She and Daphne literally have the relationship of Cady and Regina, correct me if I’m wrong. She seems more of a not like the other girls. With her auburn hair and her flannels and loving books and not being enough to be apart of the royal family like Daphne is. Because she is just a weird commoner. And then she tries to become a princess or whatever (Cady w the plastics) and basically fails and is like “AS IF, I CANT DO THIS!!” And walks away. So no, I don’t like her.
Daphne-
You hate her but then you gotta respect her passion and ambition. She never gives up. She wants something and doesn’t stop till she gets it. Again, I could only imagine her as Raquel from Barbie LMAO seriously Raquel is pretty iconic but ofc you hate her bc you just do. But Daphne is pretty iconic but she just has the most selfish intentions it’s awful.
Teddy-
Teddy😏 Let’s talk about Teddy😌 TEDDY😍 teddy😏 TeDdY🥺 LIL TEDDY🥰 is perfection. He is everything a girl could ask for: Responsible, Respectable, Humble, Caring, Noble, Chivalrous, and just beautiful with curly blonde hair😘 And he deserves better just saying. I’d be interested if we can dive more into his character in Majesty bc i wanna discover more about him and his personality.
Ethan-
Kinda liked him but then I’m like NO. He belongs w Raquel (oops I mean Daphne) and that’s that. Like they are the same person except he is like Ryan. So super annoying. He makes it all about himself instead of his bestie like man no
Connor-
WHERE TO BEGIN MY LEVEL OF HATRED FOR CONNOR. TO THINK I LIKED HIS CHARACTER AT THE BEGINNING. THE NERVE OF MYSELF. HE IS GARBAGEEEEEEEEEE. One he is ugly in my mind (even though he is described as dreamy), two he is so straight up stupid, three he literally is so just… Idek the word. He knows what’s right and wrong yet he literally says to Bea “marry me not him plssss” and draws a sharpie ring like boy. He is so desperate it’s disgusting.

-the writing wasn’t fantastic but I was here for the drama and it delivered.
- the drama was too tier. There wasn’t a chapter without drama!
- I thought this was gonna be funny and comedic but this was emotionally heart breaking. The last two chapters??? TEARS. (Not literally ofc)
- am I ready for Majesty? Yes. I’m glad my past self going ahead and buying majesty cause I thought I’d need it asap did that. Because I need it. Sadly it didn’t arrive in time I’m still waiting😔

OPINIOMS ON SHIPS IN EMOJI FORM:

BeaXConnor:

😑🥴🤢🤮

SamxTeddy:

🤩🥵😍😘

NinaXJeff:

🥺🥰🙄😬

DaphneXEthan:

🥵😌🥵

And SPOILER TIME:

Why did I kinda want Teddy and Bea to get married bc I think they would rule well together and become besties not lovers.

Daphne and Ethan pretty much belong together but girl treats him so bad.

OH MY GOSH THE KING DYING IS LITERALLY THE MOST HEART BREAKING THING IT WAS SO SAD AND THEN WHEN HE WAS ABOUT TO SHARE HIS OPINION ON TEDDY AND CONNOR AND IT SAYS:

“His eyes shut and his head fell back”

I WANTED TO LAUGH BECAUSE IT WAS SO BAD IM SORRY IM LAUGHING OUT LOUD RN IT WAS SO BAD AND TOTALLY RUINED THE MOMENT🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

So that’s it for now! Don’t judge it’s bad but in an amazing way🙃

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

stephsbooktalk's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Audiobook: I had seen the cover for this book here and there but really didn't give it much thought. Then the opportunity to read an ARC of the third in the series was presented & in a Facebook group the was a lot of buzz and excitement among other readers so I thought 'lets give it a whirl".

Gosh I am so glad I did!!!! I am actually surprised how invested I became in all 4 protagonists that are featured in this series. I will admit though I had to write down their names and who they were dating/interested in to help keep it straight until I got use to them.

I can't pinpoint what exactly it is that I loved listening to this but I just was so invested in all their storylines and how they intersect with one another. Though Daphne, I could do without but I guess we need a villain to stir the pot. I love that it takes place in America where royalty is our government. Being an American who swooned over the Princes of Wales growing up definitely helped my interest in this book.

I wish we got different individuals for each person but that is just a personal preference.
Though the narrator is great for altering her voice to help distinguish each of the characters.

Though the running time per Libby is 14 hours, I thought it went by super fast and if I didn't have interruptions in my day I probably could've finished it in one day.

Content Warnings

ablosa's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

michleea's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

valeria_balzan's review against another edition

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lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was just pure drama. I felt like I was reading a telenovela and I absolutely ate it up. The story is so well thought out for chaos and I love the author for that.

I am a sucker for multiple Povs but really Beatrice had my favorite chapters of the book. She was a likeable main character in general

and her ~forbidden~ romance with Connor had my heart in shambles

I feel like some conflicts could have been solved by just ✨ communicating ✨ with eachother but it is understandable why they might not think about it since it's risky.

Oh and that last chapter where the King dies and everyone was just kneeling to Beatrice. DAMN. IT WAS HEARTBREAKING.

Waiting for the library hold to read the sequel.

Content Warnings

keysmashhh's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

Plot: 4/5
Character: 4/5
Relationships: 3/5
World-Building: 3/5
Genre: 3.5/5

Plot: Most parts of the plot made sense and were paced really well, the only part I was sceptical of was Nina and Sam's resolution - to me, it felt like they made up too quickly without really addressing the issues of their friendship. The ending though! :0 I both saw it coming and didn't, even if it was a little predictable that didn't stop me from getting goosebumps when everyone bowed.
Character: Jeff was my favourite character, it was slightly frustrating that we never got a chapter from his perspective as I feel that could have really helped me get on board with his relationship with Nina. Nina was a likeable enough character however I did get frustrated at her actions. Although he was a minor character Ethan also intrigued me, I would have liked maybe one or two chapters from his POV (maybe about him and Daphne) Daphne was an unlikable character but I understood her motivations. Beatrice was an interesting character that definitely grew on me. Teddy, I really liked him, I just kind of felt he got lost amongst the rest of the stronger personalities - I'm hoping we see more of him in Book 2. In terms of Diversity, I felt it lacked in POC and Queer characters (other than Nina and her parents) - I think a plotline where one of the royals has to explore the implications of having a queer relationship in America would have been really impactful and added a different sort of storyline.
Relationships: Some of them were alright (Ethan and Daphne's complicated relationship really interested me, I have to say Jeff and Nina's got a little too boring but them splitting up made it more interesting.
World-Building: An amazing premise, I liked the small hints at America's history we got through conversations with Bea and the King - I would have loved to know more about the history of this distorted America
Genre: Young Adult. Contemporary. Romance. - a genre filled with cliches and tropes - the royalty trope will always be fascinating to me. I liked the romance features (THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED!) but I felt that sometimes it was the only thing anyone was talking about. The moments of solidarity between Bea and Sam felt so genuinely real and I liked it but I felt that some scenes had so much emphasis on the romance that we lost the friendships a little bit, I would have loved to see a scene where Teddy, Jeff and Ethan hung out or Sam met Nina's college friends.

Content Warnings

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