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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
This was one of those good for the soul kinda books. It was a gentle read with some drama and a really interesting concept for a plot. An American monarchy would be something else.
I’m giving it three stars (because I can’t give it 2.5 AND) because I’m on the fence about the book and the writing, BUT I AM GOING TO READ THE WHOLE SERIES. The short hand review is that I would describe this book as a modern day soap opera told a bit predictably and with lots of clichés.
Before reading I read a review that called all of the characters selfish and I was trying hard to see the characters in a different light than that, I would say I only felt that one of the lead characters was not selfish. Many of the characters felt immature (and perhaps that’s my own fault for still reading YA as an adult?).
I wish the story would focus on only Beatrice since in my
Opinion she seems to be the most like-able character. I love the reimagining of the US as a monarchy and the idea of a princess torn between duty and desires. I wish the dialogue felt more believable as well as the plot line. I so badly wanted to like characters like Sam and Nina but time and time again they proved selfish and immature. I at least have respect for the Daphne character for her commitment to her task, but I nonetheless can’t confidently say I’m rooting for her.
I also think the book leaves us wondering about the male characters - and while I am a champion of feminine literature, I believe the author fails to help the reader learn who the men are through the eyes of the leading ladies. At least three of the characters are supposed to be in love but it is not evidently clear WHY the women love these specific men or what makes the men so great. I also think the Teddy-Sam storyline is waaaaaaay under developed and the author writes as though their fast evolution ‘makes sense’ (e.g. one second they’re making out in the closet and the next they believe they have forbidden love? That’s a long jump to make!) I was definitely disappointed in the direction of the Sam storyline and desperately hope the next book sees her delving into thoughtfulness and maturity.
The book definitely ends on a bit of a cliffhanger that makes an invested reader feel the need to read on in the series. I will be doing so with the hope that these characters will have beautiful arcs that make me fall for them as people!
Before reading I read a review that called all of the characters selfish and I was trying hard to see the characters in a different light than that, I would say I only felt that one of the lead characters was not selfish. Many of the characters felt immature (and perhaps that’s my own fault for still reading YA as an adult?).
I wish the story would focus on only Beatrice since in my
Opinion she seems to be the most like-able character. I love the reimagining of the US as a monarchy and the idea of a princess torn between duty and desires. I wish the dialogue felt more believable as well as the plot line. I so badly wanted to like characters like Sam and Nina but time and time again they proved selfish and immature. I at least have respect for the Daphne character for her commitment to her task, but I nonetheless can’t confidently say I’m rooting for her.
I also think the book leaves us wondering about the male characters - and while I am a champion of feminine literature, I believe the author fails to help the reader learn who the men are through the eyes of the leading ladies. At least three of the characters are supposed to be in love but it is not evidently clear WHY the women love these specific men or what makes the men so great. I also think the Teddy-Sam storyline is waaaaaaay under developed and the author writes as though their fast evolution ‘makes sense’ (e.g. one second they’re making out in the closet and the next they believe they have forbidden love? That’s a long jump to make!) I was definitely disappointed in the direction of the Sam storyline and desperately hope the next book sees her delving into thoughtfulness and maturity.
The book definitely ends on a bit of a cliffhanger that makes an invested reader feel the need to read on in the series. I will be doing so with the hope that these characters will have beautiful arcs that make me fall for them as people!
Full disclosure: This is a rant review.
I have a lot of things to say about this book, and most of them are not kind. To start off with, I really loved the premise and could not wait to read this book! I had it marked as want to read as soon as I heard about it and was so happy when I came across it at a local bookstore while traveling.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t live up to any of the expectations I had for it.
The first third of the book consists mostly of info dumping and a strange attempt at trying to make the characters seem mysterious and multi faceted, but only accomplishing making them stereotypical and shallow. The random (and extensive) paragraphs of information carry on through the whole book, and take away from the flow of scenes. Along with that, the dialogue has absolutely no smooth movement. The words between characters are clunky, overwritten, and bordering on cliche. The characters themselves felt.... inexplicably ridiculous. The author’s choice to have four different points of view failed spectacularly. I only cared about one of the narrators (Beatrice) and only ended up liking Samantha about 75% of the way through the book.
There were way too many plots in the book. Every time I switched perspective, I struggled to pick up all the relevant characters and their respective sub plots, especially with Daphne. To be honest, I had no idea why Daphne existed at all except for to pop up at random moments to lament about the lack of her relationship with Jefferson. I also had no idea why Ethan and Himari were part of the story either.... They had no relevance in any other parts of the story and were so undeveloped and rarely mentioned that I could hardly remember anything about them. Maybe they’re more important in the second book, but at this point I have no desire to pick up the sequel and find out.
All of the romances seemed, bluntly, stupid. Because of there being so many points of view, I didn’t know any of the characters or their love interests well enough to care about them in the slightest. All of the romance plots seemed to generally follow the same secrecy/on again off again/mildly tragic storyline and ended with no resolution.
Aside from that, the writing was flowery and read as amateur to me. Just like the clunky dialogue, the storytelling and descriptions were stilted and disengaging. By the end of the book, I was unsatisfied and felt like I was still right in the middle of the book. There was no closure or resolution to any of the plots, and yet I didn’t feel at all motivated to get the next book to pick up the rest of the story.
The only thing I can say in favor of this book is that it was entertaining. Despite my constant eye rolling, I was engaged enough to want to finish the book and interested enough in Beatrice’s part of the story to reach the end. I still want to know what ends up happening with Beatrice and the ridiculous mess of Samantha’s and Teddy’s relationship, but I don’t want it enough to rush for the upcoming sequel.
I have a lot of things to say about this book, and most of them are not kind. To start off with, I really loved the premise and could not wait to read this book! I had it marked as want to read as soon as I heard about it and was so happy when I came across it at a local bookstore while traveling.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t live up to any of the expectations I had for it.
The first third of the book consists mostly of info dumping and a strange attempt at trying to make the characters seem mysterious and multi faceted, but only accomplishing making them stereotypical and shallow. The random (and extensive) paragraphs of information carry on through the whole book, and take away from the flow of scenes. Along with that, the dialogue has absolutely no smooth movement. The words between characters are clunky, overwritten, and bordering on cliche. The characters themselves felt.... inexplicably ridiculous. The author’s choice to have four different points of view failed spectacularly. I only cared about one of the narrators (Beatrice) and only ended up liking Samantha about 75% of the way through the book.
There were way too many plots in the book. Every time I switched perspective, I struggled to pick up all the relevant characters and their respective sub plots, especially with Daphne. To be honest, I had no idea why Daphne existed at all except for to pop up at random moments to lament about the lack of her relationship with Jefferson. I also had no idea why Ethan and Himari were part of the story either.... They had no relevance in any other parts of the story and were so undeveloped and rarely mentioned that I could hardly remember anything about them. Maybe they’re more important in the second book, but at this point I have no desire to pick up the sequel and find out.
All of the romances seemed, bluntly, stupid. Because of there being so many points of view, I didn’t know any of the characters or their love interests well enough to care about them in the slightest. All of the romance plots seemed to generally follow the same secrecy/on again off again/mildly tragic storyline and ended with no resolution.
Aside from that, the writing was flowery and read as amateur to me. Just like the clunky dialogue, the storytelling and descriptions were stilted and disengaging. By the end of the book, I was unsatisfied and felt like I was still right in the middle of the book. There was no closure or resolution to any of the plots, and yet I didn’t feel at all motivated to get the next book to pick up the rest of the story.
The only thing I can say in favor of this book is that it was entertaining. Despite my constant eye rolling, I was engaged enough to want to finish the book and interested enough in Beatrice’s part of the story to reach the end. I still want to know what ends up happening with Beatrice and the ridiculous mess of Samantha’s and Teddy’s relationship, but I don’t want it enough to rush for the upcoming sequel.
To be fair, this isn't my genre. I was expecting more background about the nation and how a monarchy would be handled by Americans, but the real story - the relationships of the siblings and their love interests- was just in a royal wrapper.
This book Seems like a fanfic of gossip girl meets the Royal
Once I could get past that it makes absolutely no historical sense for the Revolutionary War to have ended in yet another monarchy (I mean, how in-American!), the book was mostly a fun and enjoyable read. A little cringeworthy at times and the romantic plot lines predictable, but still a pretty good, light-hearted read.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this! Lots of Princess Diaries vibes.
American Royals was a book I was SO excited for, actually went to the store and purchased a hardcover of, and then procrastinated for several months on actually reading, lol. I think it was an instance of being SO excited for a book but worrying I might be let down so I put off actually reading it (despite a few attempts at starting). I finally finished it through a combination of reading the hardcover and listening to the audio, and while I enjoyed reading it, it definitely didn't live up to all of my (admittedly very high) expectations.
If you've hung around my blog for a while, you probably know that contemporary books with a focus on royalty are my favorites. From The Princess Diaries to The Royal We, I'll read pretty much anything with a the premise of modern day royals. When I found out that American Royals was also going to contain an alternate history version of America, one where we had become a monarchy with good old King George Washington, I was so excited! The cover was also stunning and I loved how under the dust jacket the hardcover was even red, white and blue. Suffice to say I was REALLY looking forward to reading this one.
The story itself follows four POV characters: Beatrice, heir to the throne of America, Samantha, her rebellious little sister, Daphne, Prince Jefferson's on/off again social climbing girlfriend, and Nina, Samantha's best friend who is a "commoner" and who's mother works for the government. While I appreciated the inclusion of various female narrators of different backgrounds, I just wasn't very interested in all of them. Beatrice's POV was the most intriguing because she was the heir (and set to be the first Queen inheriting the throne) and Daphne's was interesting due to her ruthlessness in pursuing marriage with Jefferson, but Samantha's narrative came off feeling very petty and immature and Nina just bored me. Their stories all wove together, however I would have rather seen a POV from Jefferson, or the King or Queen to break things up. This book also read very YA to me, which is not a bad thing (I know I am not the target audience) but many of the plot points were very predictable and lacked originality There was also a love triangle/quadrangle (or a few, I suppose) that were none too original and took up most of the plot of the book, which wasn't exactly what I was expecting (I was hoping for more political intrigue, I guess).
There was also a lot less alternate history than I was expecting. I was so excited whenever a nugget would be tossed out (such as how the Revere Guard was formed, what America's relations are like now with other countries, how the Royal family refuses to drink tea- LOL) but I still had SO many questions about the world building, especially when it came to how the country was divided up, because there were Dukes of cities (like Boston) but also states (like Texas) and I couldn't really get a grasp on the structure of the aristocracy. I appreciate that the author didn't info-dump but I'm hoping in the next book we'll get more alternate history facts!
Overall: I enjoyed American Royals for what it was to me- a overly dramatic YA novel with a fun alternate history setting that put too much focus on romance and main characters that could have been fleshed out more. I'll definitely be reading the sequel and hoping it gives the series more spice and intrigue as this book ended on quite the cliffhanger, but I really do hope we see some more plot development outside the various love triangles.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages
If you've hung around my blog for a while, you probably know that contemporary books with a focus on royalty are my favorites. From The Princess Diaries to The Royal We, I'll read pretty much anything with a the premise of modern day royals. When I found out that American Royals was also going to contain an alternate history version of America, one where we had become a monarchy with good old King George Washington, I was so excited! The cover was also stunning and I loved how under the dust jacket the hardcover was even red, white and blue. Suffice to say I was REALLY looking forward to reading this one.
The story itself follows four POV characters: Beatrice, heir to the throne of America, Samantha, her rebellious little sister, Daphne, Prince Jefferson's on/off again social climbing girlfriend, and Nina, Samantha's best friend who is a "commoner" and who's mother works for the government. While I appreciated the inclusion of various female narrators of different backgrounds, I just wasn't very interested in all of them. Beatrice's POV was the most intriguing because she was the heir (and set to be the first Queen inheriting the throne) and Daphne's was interesting due to her ruthlessness in pursuing marriage with Jefferson, but Samantha's narrative came off feeling very petty and immature and Nina just bored me. Their stories all wove together, however I would have rather seen a POV from Jefferson, or the King or Queen to break things up. This book also read very YA to me, which is not a bad thing (I know I am not the target audience) but many of the plot points were very predictable and lacked originality
Spoiler
Such as the heir who doesn't want to marry an aristocrat, the spare who thinks her sibling has it so great and that she is overlooked, the "I never asked for this" internal monologue from almost every character, etc.There was also a lot less alternate history than I was expecting. I was so excited whenever a nugget would be tossed out (such as how the Revere Guard was formed, what America's relations are like now with other countries, how the Royal family refuses to drink tea- LOL) but I still had SO many questions about the world building, especially when it came to how the country was divided up, because there were Dukes of cities (like Boston) but also states (like Texas) and I couldn't really get a grasp on the structure of the aristocracy. I appreciate that the author didn't info-dump but I'm hoping in the next book we'll get more alternate history facts!
Overall: I enjoyed American Royals for what it was to me- a overly dramatic YA novel with a fun alternate history setting that put too much focus on romance and main characters that could have been fleshed out more. I'll definitely be reading the sequel and hoping it gives the series more spice and intrigue as this book ended on quite the cliffhanger, but I really do hope we see some more plot development outside the various love triangles.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages