This is not the type of book I usually read – it's an out-and-out romance, which isn't my thing. I think it was on my list because I enjoyed "Red, White & Royal Blue" – though the people recommending it wouldn't have known that I liked RWRB in spite of it being a romance. That said, this book reminded me of how I felt when I was in sixth grade plowing through a Sweet Valley High book... total escapism, even if the plot lines were a bit predictable. Besides, it's fun to reimagine the US as if George Washington had been made King instead of President, and to think of a young woman facing the pressure of being America's first Queen Regnant.
THIS BOOK ENDS WITHOUT RESOLVING ANY OF THE CONFLICTS AND NOW I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL FALL 2020 FOR THE SECOND ONE AND I WILL PROBABLY LOSE MY MIND IN THE MEANTIME.
If you, like me, enjoy any or all of the following, this book is for you: 1. Rich people behaving badly, 2. Petty drama, 3. Forbidden romances, 4. Fictional royalty, 5. Alternate history that isn't What If Hitler Won WWII (why is it always What If Hitler Won WWII???).
The characters and the universe of this book are vivid and lovely. I loved all the small details of what an American monarchy would be like: "traditional" names for royalty like George, Martha, and Alexander; duchies in place of states; monarchs in place of democratically elected leaders in much of the rest of the world because American democracy wasn't there to influence the paths of foreign governments. I appreciated, …
THIS BOOK ENDS WITHOUT RESOLVING ANY OF THE CONFLICTS AND NOW I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL FALL 2020 FOR THE SECOND ONE AND I WILL PROBABLY LOSE MY MIND IN THE MEANTIME.
If you, like me, enjoy any or all of the following, this book is for you: 1. Rich people behaving badly, 2. Petty drama, 3. Forbidden romances, 4. Fictional royalty, 5. Alternate history that isn't What If Hitler Won WWII (why is it always What If Hitler Won WWII???).
The characters and the universe of this book are vivid and lovely. I loved all the small details of what an American monarchy would be like: "traditional" names for royalty like George, Martha, and Alexander; duchies in place of states; monarchs in place of democratically elected leaders in much of the rest of the world because American democracy wasn't there to influence the paths of foreign governments. I appreciated, as well, the diversity of the nobility (including Native American duchies and queer nobles) and the acknowledgement of that the uglier parts of America's history are part of its heritage, too. I do wish less of the diversity was in the background; Nina and her two moms are the only non-white, non-straight main characters.
Nina and her moms rock, though, as do all the rest of the characters. Even Daphne, who is clearly set up as the villain, is fascinating. Like, she's awful, but she's also brilliant in her way. I kept hoping she would start focusing her brains and creativity on something worthwhile, instead of just trying to snag the prince. She'd make a killer diplomat, for example. Nina is a total sweetheart and deeply relatable; Samantha is a cheerful troublemaker who's angsty in all the best ways; Beatrice is trapped, always, between her true self and the weight of expectations as the first female reigning monarch. I love all of them dearly. I'm also just now realizing that all the POV characters are women. Hell yeah.
My only gripe is that there are perhaps...1-2 too many forbidden romances. I know! I love forbidden romance, too! But literally every POV character is in love with someone they shouldn't be. The streams get especially crossed with one person's "person I should be in love with" being another's "person I SHOULDN'T be in love with but am." But if you need a light fluffy book to make you forget about the horrible things happening in the world, this is an A+ pick.
