American Royals by Katharine McGee

9/12/2019

SYNOPSIS

Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown.
Two girls vying for the prince's heart.
This is the story of the American royals.

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American. And their country was born of rebellion.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling.

Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded--and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history.

Synopsis from Goodreads

PERSONAL REVIEW

The Thousandth Floor series by Katharine McGee was popular for a reason: the stories were entertaining, moved quickly, and we got to know a slew of different characters. I enjoyed the books (see my review here) and was really excited to find out that she had begun a new series, this time around the fictional American royal family. I'm a fan of rewriting history and couldn't wait to see where the story took me.

Love the Rewritten American History
I loved the many nods to how McGee has rewritten history, which start in the Prologue of the story. Basically, imagine a world where George Washington became King George I, causing all other countries to continue accepting their own monarchs, thereby changing the way the world is run (bye bye, democracy!). There are so many great moments based around this concept and I genuinely loved when characters talked about how a democracy wouldn’t work because it would encourage power-hungry people to run for office...hmmmm.

Entertaining, if a Bit Frustrating
American Royals was so much fun to read! I loved the different POVs and following the drama of the “royal” family. A lot of this actually reminded me of one of my favourite TV shows: Royals. If you like this book, you’ll love that TV show as well!! My slight frustration was around how predictable most of the “drama” is. Nothing really jumped out and completely surprised me. The cattiness of Daphne, the meekness of Nina, Beatrice and Sam's love interests... everything felt a bit flat. I do wish that we had gotten Jeff's POV, because right now he is coming off as a naive boy, which doesn't really suit the "jaded prince" mentality. All that said, it's still a fun read!

A Little Too Similar to The Thousandth Floor
It’s clear that McGee loves writing about class divide and the people who try to “cross” the line into a different class. However, many of the same "class" barriers that she used in The Thousandth Floor series frustrated me the first time and it’s frustrating me again here. Nina and Jeff spend more time apart than together, so their relationship never seemed to really go anywhere, making it hard to care about them. While I think I would like them together, Nina spends the majority of the book thinking about her relationship instead of actually being in jt. Daphne also felt like a copy of Calliope: manipulative, shallow, and selfish. Her chapters are more about her thinking about how beautiful she is instead of actually developing her character. She’s a little too one sided to be a good villain.

Overall, this was a really fun start to a new series! I'm excited to find out what happens next and I definitely know who I'm rooting for in the different mini dramas that are unfolding. While there are few surprises in this book, the characters are entertaining and McGee makes sure to keep the story moving quickly. If you are a fan of Katharine McGee's other novels, character driven novels, or are just looking for a fun and fast read, American Royals is a good choice.

FINAL RATING: 3.5/5