claudiaque's review against another edition
3.0
What a fun concept that just kind of got bogged down into too many characters and storylines.
American Royalty is an alternate timeline contemporary novel that presents what would have happened if America established a new regency instead of a democracy after the revolution. Well we would of course have a totally drama filled royal family! The novel follows Beatrice, the oldest daughter and heir to the throne after a recently enacted rule allowing women to inherit over sons. Then we have the wild child second princess, Samantha. Then Samantha’s ‘commoner’ BFF, ….whos name I have forgotten. Then we have lower royalty Daphne who is determined to climb to the top.
That’s a lot of ‘thens’. The chapters are short which make it easy to read but unfortunately leave us pretty disconnected from between the storylines when we are constantly swapping. Beatrice’s romance was the only one that felt like it was more deeply written. Daphne and Commoner BFF vaguely fight over a character that could be replaced by a cardboard cut out. Samantha’s is an insta-love that makes a really big deal out of making out in a coat room.
But anyways, I never really felt like I got to know any of the characters well enough, even from their own perspectives. Beatrice and Daphne were the most interesting since they fell into such easy to follow tropes that you could fill in the blanks but BFF and Samantha didn’t feel rounded so I cared very little about any of their drama.
This book could have very much used a singular focus and I think it would have been great. High drama, fun setting, interesting character set ups but as it was, all of the stories felt like a quarter of one that never really made a whole.
American Royalty is an alternate timeline contemporary novel that presents what would have happened if America established a new regency instead of a democracy after the revolution. Well we would of course have a totally drama filled royal family! The novel follows Beatrice, the oldest daughter and heir to the throne after a recently enacted rule allowing women to inherit over sons. Then we have the wild child second princess, Samantha. Then Samantha’s ‘commoner’ BFF, ….whos name I have forgotten. Then we have lower royalty Daphne who is determined to climb to the top.
That’s a lot of ‘thens’. The chapters are short which make it easy to read but unfortunately leave us pretty disconnected from between the storylines when we are constantly swapping. Beatrice’s romance was the only one that felt like it was more deeply written. Daphne and Commoner BFF vaguely fight over a character that could be replaced by a cardboard cut out. Samantha’s is an insta-love that makes a really big deal out of making out in a coat room.
But anyways, I never really felt like I got to know any of the characters well enough, even from their own perspectives. Beatrice and Daphne were the most interesting since they fell into such easy to follow tropes that you could fill in the blanks but BFF and Samantha didn’t feel rounded so I cared very little about any of their drama.
This book could have very much used a singular focus and I think it would have been great. High drama, fun setting, interesting character set ups but as it was, all of the stories felt like a quarter of one that never really made a whole.
sunshine_raes's review against another edition
5.0
I need the next book right now... nobody prepared me for this! A perfect blend of The Prince and Me, First Daughter, and a whole lot of drama!
shelovestoread's review against another edition
1.0
American royals is a contemporary, romantic reimagined historical fiction. Basically the whole idea is what if George Washington became a monarch instead of a president? So, American Royals follows the modern day lives of America's royal family—the House of Washington, years later.
The book has multiple pov, all 4 voices are of women. We have Princess Beatrice, the queen to be, Princess Samantha , the scandalous rebel, Nina the commoner and Daphne Deighton, the villainous court noble.The multiple povs are easy to follow and did keep me engaged. We deal with the struggles of young princess training to take the role of a queen one day. Nina, and her commoner life interwoven with the royalty. Samantha, and her side of why she is rebellious. And Daphne whose main goal in life is just to get the prince, no matter what the cost.
Honestly the book is full of tropes, surrounding each character. Does not bring anything new to the table, just a lot of filler stuff, predictable characters, predictable storylines and arcs. I think the think that kept it going was the writing, because if flowed and kept you there, when the other things were lacking.
And there are a lot of problems and issues in the books, but they remained as unsolved as in the beginning of the book. I would have liked for at least something to be solved but this one just puts it all for the sequel. And we are as closure less by the end as we were at the start.
Also, the whole reimagining thing is problematic in itself. Because why has no one in the whole publishing process realized that America was colonized from its native people. Genocide happened, slavery happened so instead of a democracy inventing a monarchy to be ruled over said people is so so wrong! And there are no black people in this book that i noticed.
This ballent ignoring of colonialism, its effect and other political things that i will admit that i am not strong in is very very very wrong, specially in today's world. The history is all sort of messed up.An that fact makes this book a colossal what the actual hell. And i don't support that.
So yeah the book in the end, just wasn't something I would recommend.
__________________________________________________
ah wow this review is gonna be a jumble of thoughts to write yikes
The book has multiple pov, all 4 voices are of women. We have Princess Beatrice, the queen to be, Princess Samantha , the scandalous rebel, Nina the commoner and Daphne Deighton, the villainous court noble.The multiple povs are easy to follow and did keep me engaged. We deal with the struggles of young princess training to take the role of a queen one day. Nina, and her commoner life interwoven with the royalty. Samantha, and her side of why she is rebellious. And Daphne whose main goal in life is just to get the prince, no matter what the cost.
Honestly the book is full of tropes, surrounding each character. Does not bring anything new to the table, just a lot of filler stuff, predictable characters, predictable storylines and arcs. I think the think that kept it going was the writing, because if flowed and kept you there, when the other things were lacking.
And there are a lot of problems and issues in the books, but they remained as unsolved as in the beginning of the book. I would have liked for at least something to be solved but this one just puts it all for the sequel. And we are as closure less by the end as we were at the start.
Also, the whole reimagining thing is problematic in itself. Because why has no one in the whole publishing process realized that America was colonized from its native people. Genocide happened, slavery happened so instead of a democracy inventing a monarchy to be ruled over said people is so so wrong! And there are no black people in this book that i noticed.
This ballent ignoring of colonialism, its effect and other political things that i will admit that i am not strong in is very very very wrong, specially in today's world. The history is all sort of messed up.An that fact makes this book a colossal what the actual hell. And i don't support that.
So yeah the book in the end, just wasn't something I would recommend.
thankyou to penguin platform for my advanced copy!!!!!!!
__________________________________________________
ah wow this review is gonna be a jumble of thoughts to write yikes
bookswit's review against another edition
4.0
I tried to read this a few months ago and it didn't work for me at the time. So glad I gave it a second chance! American Royals reminds me of a tv mini series full of drama, love, and backstabbing just like Gossip Girl. The story starts with an American monarchy - what's democracy?
The book is told from four POV's: Beatrice, the heir; Sam, the spare; Nina, Sam's best friend; and Daphne, the girl out for power. Beatrice is my favorite of the four. I couldn't wait to see what happened with her and the mess her parents put her in. She's responsible and full of grace and poise. It's provoking to see her inner desires fight with her training and sense of duty.
Thankfully, Majesty has been released! I don't know if I could have waited very patiently to continue on.
The book is told from four POV's: Beatrice, the heir; Sam, the spare; Nina, Sam's best friend; and Daphne, the girl out for power. Beatrice is my favorite of the four. I couldn't wait to see what happened with her and the mess her parents put her in. She's responsible and full of grace and poise. It's provoking to see her inner desires fight with her training and sense of duty.
Thankfully, Majesty has been released! I don't know if I could have waited very patiently to continue on.
viktoriya's review against another edition
5.0
I have to be honest, when this book started making it's round on BookTube last year, I had zero interest in reading it. The more people talked about it, the more disinclined I was in picking it up. It wasn't until I received an ARC for [b:Majesty|51518972|Majesty (American Royals, #2)|Katharine McGee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582291053l/51518972._SY75_.jpg|62253211] that I realized that now I actually had to read American Royals.
Well, for once BookTubers got it right. This book was soo much fun to read. I flew through it in one breath. I loved how Katharine McGee took real parts of American history and flipped and twisted them to become parts of fictional American monarchy. Very clever on her part. The characters were extremely believable and relatable and I came to care for all of them.
It's a very good thing I don't have to wait to read the sequel because I definitely want and need more.
Well, for once BookTubers got it right. This book was soo much fun to read. I flew through it in one breath. I loved how Katharine McGee took real parts of American history and flipped and twisted them to become parts of fictional American monarchy. Very clever on her part. The characters were extremely believable and relatable and I came to care for all of them.
It's a very good thing I don't have to wait to read the sequel because I definitely want and need more.
julierambaeck's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
Det var svært at ‘connecte’ med karaktererne da der var så mange forskellige. Men jeg elskede dramaet! Kæmpe cliffhanger...
Det var svært at ‘connecte’ med karaktererne da der var så mange forskellige. Men jeg elskede dramaet! Kæmpe cliffhanger...
thebooksareeverywhere's review against another edition
4.0
https://thebooksareeverywhere.com/2019/09/26/american-royals-1-by-katherine-mcgee/
I’m pleased to say I enjoyed this book much more than I expected. I’m not going to say my expectations were low, as such, but this is not necessarily a book I’m usually drawn to. I ended up picking it up at YALC as an ARC, and was very pleasantly surprised when I really enjoyed it!
This book is definitely what it says on the tin. It’s a fun, entertaining novel about a hypothetical royal family in America, re-imagining history for the Washington family. To be blunt, I expected it to all be slightly trashy, and to a degree that is what this book delivered. Above all, it was entertaining, and drew me in because of it’s reality-TV style.
I actually thought the multiple POV was handled incredibly well once I found myself captivated in the story. Each of the four women was distinct enough to have their own story, and drew me in in their own weird and wonderful ways. Having the differences between them kept the book intriguing and fast paced.
I have to liken this book to The Selection series in a lot of ways, with the same levels of guilty-pleasure, but with a little more depth. I like both of the series for different reasons, and if you liked one then I’d recommend the other!
Overall, this was a fun, dramatic read that flew by. It wasn’t perfect and was still trashy in some ways, but I still found it very enjoyable!
★★★★
4 out of 5 stars
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
I’m pleased to say I enjoyed this book much more than I expected. I’m not going to say my expectations were low, as such, but this is not necessarily a book I’m usually drawn to. I ended up picking it up at YALC as an ARC, and was very pleasantly surprised when I really enjoyed it!
This book is definitely what it says on the tin. It’s a fun, entertaining novel about a hypothetical royal family in America, re-imagining history for the Washington family. To be blunt, I expected it to all be slightly trashy, and to a degree that is what this book delivered. Above all, it was entertaining, and drew me in because of it’s reality-TV style.
I actually thought the multiple POV was handled incredibly well once I found myself captivated in the story. Each of the four women was distinct enough to have their own story, and drew me in in their own weird and wonderful ways. Having the differences between them kept the book intriguing and fast paced.
I have to liken this book to The Selection series in a lot of ways, with the same levels of guilty-pleasure, but with a little more depth. I like both of the series for different reasons, and if you liked one then I’d recommend the other!
Overall, this was a fun, dramatic read that flew by. It wasn’t perfect and was still trashy in some ways, but I still found it very enjoyable!
★★★★
4 out of 5 stars
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
darthmaulreads's review against another edition
4.0
Going to save myself all the pain and act like this book was a stand-alone with a “take it in whatever direction you want” type of ending