Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - A Tale of Two Princes

I think I'm really going to give this 2.5 stars because that was...a book. Lol. At the beginning, I could suspend disbelief for the Canadian monarchy thing. Sure, maybe it's something that could happen. However, it doesn't seem like the author did a lot of reserach into what it actually takes to establish a monarchy. Most of the details of the monarchy didn't feel remotely realistic, and they acted like it was something that had a long standing tradition. Which, it does in England (where the King and Queen came from. Well, kind of. The Queen was American which is why they left the English monarchy). But not in Canada. Seemed like they could have done things to make it better.

But I digress! Aside from the very bizarre details of the Canadian monarchy, the rest of the book didn't really seem to redeem it. We get two points of view, one from Edward and one from Billy, and it was difficult to tell who was speaking. I had to flip back multiple times to figure out whose chapter I was in. The side characters honestly weren't all that much better, minus Pax who I loved. Pax was one of the only redeeming qualities of this book, honestly. They were great.

Also, I had a problem with the timeline of this book. You're telling me if the monarchy suddenly found out that their long lost son was alive, they would just immediately re-instate him as Crown prince? Like, all of this stuff happens in about two months time, and everyone is surprised that Billy doesn't know the expectations of being a royal?? That's a lot to learn!! Not to mention, Edward's plan to sabotage him also seemed kind of out of left field. Couldn't he have, like, talked to his parents first? His parents who just suddenly have this new son, and seem to prioritize the new son over the one they've raised from birth?? It was just an overall weird dynamic, and I didn't understand it.

I don't know, guys, this is just a bizarre book. It doesn't fit any of the comp titles (Princess Diaries, Parent Trap, Red, White & Royal Blue) in my opinion. I can't say I would recommend it unless you're ready to exclaim "WTF??!?" every few chapters.

Content Warnings

danileah07's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

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