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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
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
Next in the line of line-up of late summer escapist reads, a silly, frothy teen romance imagining what it might be like if America had a young royal family. A total diversion. Probably a couple hundred pages too long, nevertheless, it was quick, pretty mindless and an utter diversion. Just what I asked for! Thanks, Kate, for the suggestion!
Perfectly fine royal romance. Did catch me off guard a few times which I liked. Will definitely read the second book at some point
Cute story, entertaining read. Read it on Inauguration Day - glad we don’t have a monarchy!
I enjoyed this book a fair amount but not a ton. It kept my interest when I had enough time to pick it up but I wasn't eager to read it. I enjoyed the royal aspect, it brought me back to the selection series. I don't read a ton of princess books so I liked this pick. My major problem with the book was the ending. It didn't really finish anything. Yes, the King died, but we knew from half-way through that that was a possibility. Daphne's friend didn't wake up, Beatrice didn't break off her engagement or tell anyone about her and Connor, and Jeff didn't get back together with Nina or Daphne. Usually at the end of a book some storylines are wrapped up to create more cliffhangers but with this one it just ended with the same storylines that we traveled with for the entirety of the book. We knew Beatrice was going to have the throne at some point, she still doesn't know what she is going to do any more than she did 300 pages in. I wouldn't be opposed to reading the sequel when it comes out but I'm not preordering it.
I really got excited about the premise of this book but the world building was a complete mess. Unclear why no neighborhoods or landmarks in DC aren’t the same and yet Telluride and the neighboring towns are named the same and exist in the same way they do in reality. Why is there Wawa and yet nothing else gets named checked. The relationship drama is fun and I did like following multiple characters but I also don’t feel like a lot of the characters’ passions beyond romance god explored but maybe that’s because it’s a sequel. It’s fun for a YA romance but as for an alternate reality history it isn’t thoughtful enough. To believe that society would have more progressive values under a monarchy is just ignoring the actual world we live in.
Started as 4.5 stars but went downhill from there. I quite enjoyed the world building but the plot points and complications just kept accumulating. I know it is part of a series but the ending felt like it was still the middle and I would have preferred something more concise. I probably won't keep reading the series. Don't think I can handle the reality show level drama.
Some fun escapism in this weird time. Wish there was... slightly more alignment with reality? The capital city is still called Washington but there’s absolutely no effort to make it seem remotely reminiscent of actual Washington apart from references to the Potomac. Like, among other things, why invent a park by the river instead of referencing a real one? I didn’t come to this for a detailed inquiry into how L’Enfant’s plan would’ve evolved differently under a monarchy, but the places where things could have been true to life but weren’t took me out of the narrative. Also... seems exceedingly unlikely that a Queen Mother who was born into the British royal family would be praying the rosary, but I’m just being picky. The story itself pretty well lives up to the “Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl” comparison promised in a blurb and overall was enjoyable when I wasn’t bumping on details.