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A review by pagesfromhome
American Royals by Katharine McGee
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
American Royals has an excellent idea behind it: What would America be like if we had a royal family? I think that's such a fascinating question to ask and explore so this one had been on my list for a while before I finally got to reading it.
All in all, it was a solidly fine read. It was a three-star read for me until the final couple of chapters. I think the author did an incredible job of bringing lots of emotion to the end of the book so it bumped up an extra half a star on that alone. I found myself not really being able to feel like I had a grasp on the characters because we were bouncing from one to another so quickly so I would have preferred not having the story told from 4 different perspectives (maybe just 2 or 3 would have felt less rushed). I also found myself not particularly intrigued with the mystery subplot, I think that could have been handled more clandestinely - it was a lot of telling rather than showing or feeling. But the romances were really sweet (even if they felt rushed as well) and I liked the father-daughter relationships we see between the King and Beatrice and Samantha. I just really wish the story had slowed down a little bit and really let us get a feel for the characters.
I still really enjoyed it and will happily be reading the next in the series!
All in all, it was a solidly fine read. It was a three-star read for me until the final couple of chapters. I think the author did an incredible job of bringing lots of emotion to the end of the book so it bumped up an extra half a star on that alone. I found myself not really being able to feel like I had a grasp on the characters because we were bouncing from one to another so quickly so I would have preferred not having the story told from 4 different perspectives (maybe just 2 or 3 would have felt less rushed). I also found myself not particularly intrigued with the mystery subplot, I think that could have been handled more clandestinely - it was a lot of telling rather than showing or feeling. But the romances were really sweet (even if they felt rushed as well) and I liked the father-daughter relationships we see between the King and Beatrice and Samantha. I just really wish the story had slowed down a little bit and really let us get a feel for the characters.
I still really enjoyed it and will happily be reading the next in the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, and Infidelity
Moderate: Death of parent