I really enjoyed this book. I loved the friendship between lottie and Ellie and the whole hogwarts vibe that the school gave me whilst reading it. I also like how it had such a good twist at the end, obviously a book aimed for quite a young audience it was still a very much enjoyable read.

Cinderella, you will go to the ball! OK! There aren't any wicked step sisters, but there is a stepmother, a rinses and a ball in this YA adventure. However, most of the story actually takes place at Rosewood Hall, a prestigious boarding school that orphan Lottie Pumpkin has worked very hard to get into. She's the first student in twelve years to have a bursary scholarship to enable her to attend alongside the offspring of the elite and famous. A misunderstanding on her first day leads others to assume she's the Crown Princess of Maradova - who is actually her room mate! So begins a story packed with intrigue, surprises and, yes, even a ball. As Lottie strives to keep working hard, the real princess, Ellie Wolf, is a rebellious influence and life will never be the same for any of them. Get ready for mischief, mayhem and even a kidnapping in this action packed story of teens in which I thoroughly enjoyed, even though I left my teens decades ago! I will certainly look forward to reading more in this series in future.

i was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley, without obligation. I chose to read it and this is my honest review after doing so.

If you are in the mood for a pink princess story with a darker twist then this might be a book for you. It was not my cup of tea, I found it too childish for a YA book, but also with some content not so suitable for children, so I guess YA is the right classification. The writing itself was ok, and it had short moments when I got a bit into the story, but my interest quickly evaporated again.

This is everything a teenage princess book should be - much like the Princess Diaries, there are scrapes and shenanigans, rivalries and royalty. The pace of the book is good and the writing is great quality - there is a magical and wistful air to the story and I look forward to reading more of the Rosewood Chronicles with my eldest daughter (and I'm sure she will read them on her own many times too). The characters are well developed and likeable with enough intrigue to keep the story moving along. There is also humour which we enjoyed very much and made it a really fun read.

Undercover Princess is book 1 in The Rosewood Chronicles by Connie Glynn and for me this is a 2.5 star read. 
While this book is aimed at YA I personally think that younger readers would enjoy it better, it had an ok storyline but there were too many holes in the plot line for me.

3.5 Stars - This book is such a cute and easy read. I loved anything with royalty in it and this book did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery element. I did, however, find parts of the book slightly cliche. But, one of my favourite things about this book is the cover and cannot wait to add it to my bookshelf.

So this is a YA novel, and the first in the Rosewood Chronicles series.  Another fun fact: it's published TODAY! So you may need to go and grab yourself a copy and let me know what you think.

Back to the book...Lottie Pumpkin is our central character.  She is a girl who has worked incredibly hard to get accepted into the prestigious school, Rosewood Hall, on a bursary.  She is a typical fairytale character - she lost her mother when she was young, she has lived with her uncaring stepmother and she is a big fan of fairytales.  BIG FAN.

Princess Eleanor Wolfson of Maradova, AKA Ellie Wolf is Lottie's new roommate at Rosewood Hall.  Following a misunderstanding of epic proportions, Lottie finds herself living her dream as a real-life (pretend) princess as she covers for Ellie, enabling her to live a normal life.

The story that follows is one where both Ellie and Lottie discover that their worlds are filled with secrets and betrayals as they learn that they do not always know who to trust. They discover that the life of a princess and the life of a normal teenager are not always what they expect as they become closer to each other while seeking the truth.

When I started reading this novel, I was a little unsure.  It's quite 'fluffy' in that everything is a little too good to be true.  Lottie, the young motherless girl who has had to work hard to become part of such a privileged world suddenly finds herself a princess, and part of a world she never expected to be involved with.  However as the novel progressed, and a threatening presence began to emerge, the novel developed more grit and began to hold my attention.  I don't want to give anything away as to who the betrayer is in this book (although I did guess before the big reveal) so you will just have to read this for yourself.  

By the time I finished the novel, I found myself wanting to read more about these characters.  I am excited to see where Connie Glynn will take them throughout the series.  Ultimately this novel is about true friendship - one where friends will do anything to protect each other.  This is an important lesson for all, and I am pleased to see it as a running theme throughout the book. This novel is aimed at young adults but I would happily recommend it to all - it is thoroughly enjoyable with great characters, a magical setting and a strong storyline.  Let me know what you think!

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

Undercover Princess combines royalty, a boarding school setting, puzzles and mysteries and creates something really fun. 

Lottie and Ellie are polar opposites but quickly bond and become inseparable when some school gossip gets out of hand and they find a solution that works for both of them. I liked their friendship and the overall focus that was placed on female friendships throughout the book. Whilst there is a little romance (including LGBT), I liked that friendship was at the forefront and how it’s important to be a good friend. 

Unfortunately I also had a few problems with the book. There are a lot of the usual YA cliches and the writing isn’t perfect. The world-building is lacking in some places and there are elements that aren’t fully explained at all. It is a contemporary book but there are a few “magical” instances that aren’t properly developed or explained. 

Is it perfect? No. But if you can look past the cliches and the flaws, there is a warm and charming story to be found here.

First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The story: 

Fairy-tale obsessed Lottie Pumpkin has worked tirelessly to be accepted into the prestigious school, Rosewood Hall. When  accepted, she is beyond thrilled but little does she know, secrets and betrayal await her in the magical halls. First of all, her roommate is revealed to be the crown princess of Maradova, Ellie Wolf, who is attempting to live a normal, crown-free, teenage life. Secondly, Lottie soon becomes Ellie’s cover, standing in and pretending to be the princess for Ellie. However, being a princess is not all it is cracked up to be as something threatens the crown and the girls. Someone knows Ellie and Lottie’s secret. Threats start to be sent and rumours are rife. The story follows these unlikely heroines as they protect Ellie’s sacred name whilst trying to live a normal life at school.

The review:

Okay, my summary was horrible.

I try to not copy blurbs or what is written on Goodreads but every time I tried to describe the plot line, I realised how dumb it sounds so excuse the shoddy description!

Like my description, this book sounds extremely juvenile. It kind of is but if you enjoyed The Princess Diaries and similar books then you may enjoy this one. I needed a really easy and light-hearted read and when I was accepted to review this, it was perfect. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a well-written, thought-provoking, serious novel.

I don’t know where to begin with this book. First I will say is I DO have positive things to say about this book so I will start with negativity, if you don’t want to hear about it then read a few paragraphs down!

I guess I will begin talking about the writing style. Connie Glynn is a Youtuber, who I am a fan of.  I dislike all of these Youtubers receiving book deals, based on popularity. I did have high hopes for Connie’s book though as I tend to think she is a lot more passionate than other Youtubers (about books). Unfortunately, my high hopes were quickly dashed after I read the first chapter. The writing style is terrible. The vocabulary is extremely stinted. Phrases, names and adverbs are repeated all of the time. The book definitely could have benefited from a thesaurus. Characters had limited dialogue, there was a lot of ‘he said, she said, he did, she did’. Not only this but they are melodramatic and this gets annoying quickly.

Okay so this is something I do not like to do – I do not like to compare writing styles/descriptions/plots/worlds to other literary works but a lot of descriptions in this book seemed like clear attempts at copying J.K. Rowling’s descriptions of Hogwarts. If you look at the description of the halls, the forest, and the portrait of the founder of the school in the headmaster’s portrait, you will find these similar descriptions. The portrait really annoyed me – Connie almost even describes the person in the portrait with twinkling eyes, which to me is a signature of J.K. Rowling’s description of Dumbledore.

I am now re-reading the Harry Potter series and I will stand by my observations.

Yet more negativity for you all; There was a lot of characters added for the sake of it. The secondary characters interacted very little with our main protagonists and simply appeared to make it look like a school. They did not add anything to the plot and in some moments, they hindered the plot, making it slow and taking space away from what is actually happening. Connie added characters for the hell of it. Finally, there was no world building. I did not feel as though I was in the school or in Maradove. I could not distinguish between England and Russia, and all places blended into one for me.

I felt the story-telling was quite shoddy.

Despite all of this negativity, I did enjoy the story. Although I did not get to know the characters and I feel that the author tried to do too many things in one small book, it was an enjoyable read.  I smiled a lot and I thought the protagonists were funny, cute, and enjoyable.  There were some chapters I could not stop reading. I wanted to know more about the characters and the secrets of Rosewood Hall, unfortunately I did not always get this information.

I will continue reading this series, I have hopes that Connie’s writing style can improve and that by reading reviews, she will realise that she has some plot points to decipher.

I am intrigued to see where the relationships go with the characters as I do not think Connie has decided if Lottie and Ellie are more than friends or if certain characters are exploring their sexuality. It seems like it is a very inclusive book and I like that about it.

In all, the book is badly written but it is definitely enjoyable and the characters are delightful (when they are not frustrating). I’ve given this 3 stars, I wanted to give higher but I couldn’t due to the writing style.

Undercover Princess is a sweet tale of two girls and their mission to enjoy life at a quirky boarding school called Rosewood. Ellie is a badass, while Lottie likes to follow the rules. In a parent-trap-esque way, they swap identities so that one becomes the 'undercover princess' and they're able to keep the fun a secret. Of course, things at Rosewood are never that simple. Someone's onto them and they're not sure who it is or how far they're prepared to go to uncover the truth. 

The cover is beautiful and matches the cute friendship between Ellie and Lottie. The way the share a room and have contrasting personalities makes them like sisters and their relationship is one of the strongest aspects of the story. The other girls in school think they know the real Ellie and Lottie, but no one else is quite as involved in the mischief.

As I was reading it, I was reminded of Carrie Hope Fletcher's writing style and I'm sure that fans of her stories would also enjoy Undercover Princess. The quick pace, simple style and extra sweetness makes this story a light-hearted adventure.

Really couldn't get into this book. Not my cup of tea

Edited review 2.5* 

This is a cute story of friendship intertwined with a decent bit of mystery (albeit with an unsatisfying reveal), which is enough to keep the reader guessing and the plot moving forward. Lottie, Jamie and Ellie were all likeable main characters and their relationships were generally well written and explored nicely but I don't really understand Lottie and Ellie's friendship/relationship/whatever it was. They were too physically close- with cuddling up under the covers stroking each other's faces and a very weird section of playful nibbling- to just be friends but no romantic relationship was explored so I genuinely have no idea what their relationship was.  

Overall I quite enjoyed it and will keep an eye out for the sequel as I think there is potential- there is a lot of action and drama in here as well as some genuinely touching friendships. I do have a few issues with it though:

My main issue with this book is that it claims to be YA when it just isn't. It's a really good middle grade read, but the writing and characters are too juvenile to put it in the YA age bracket for me. There are moments where Lottie's thoughts verge on ridiculous including Edmund must have an evil twin because he's behaving differently- what!? And others where she figures out ridiculously difficult clues with far too much ease for example working out the school founder had been born a woman because he was holding a mirror in a painting. Also, why on earth was this never mentioned again? Basically, I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I'd gone into it expecting a middle grade novel, because it's a decent example of one.

The descriptions are not done particularly well either, I'm not sure what Lottie looks like at all and Jamie being Pakistani wasn't mentioned until at least 75%, that's a pretty crucial description to miss. The only character I can actually picture is Ellie. Side note: how was it that only Anastasia noticed that Eleanor Wolfson and Ellie Wolf might have been the same person? 

I understand almost nothing about Maradova- where is is, what it looks like etc, I can only tell you that it's cold there. Rosewood is fairly vivid though and I enjoyed the descriptions of the school. As this is a contemporary story with no magic, there were bits that confused me a lot- the reason behind Lottie's lack of sleep makes no sense in a non-magical world and there were elements of the school clearly ripped from Hogwarts (understandable in terms of world building but again makes little to no sense in the contemporary setting).

Lottie's home life is not explored well. She basically abandons her best friend with a couple of tears then forgets about him forever more, which feels uncomfortable as they have been friends for life and he was there for her through her mother's death. She forgets about Ollie as soon as she meets Ellie and fails to explain anything to him- I will be genuinely amazed if he features in the series again.
Lottie also doesn't grieve for her mother appropriately- there are a couple of off hand comments clearly supposed to illicit sympathy that did nothing for me at all. 

The plot moves far too quickly and it felt like we went from Christmas to Summer in the span of maybe 30 pages? 

Also, I was not a fan of the very thinly veiled preachy comments about vegetarianism- obviously being a vegetarian is a totally valid choice and I have a lot of respect for people who do so- but comments about how eating animals isn't very 'princessy' felt both out of place and a bit preachy. Particularly the description of 'pigs wrapped in a blanket of their own flesh' was uncomfortable. It is possible to make characters vegetarian/vegan without these unnecessary comments. This is obviously only a very small thing but I found it incredibly irritating.

Lottie dreams of being a princess and Ellie who is a real princess wishes she was an ordinary girl.  The girls become unlikely best friends when sharing a room at Rosewood Hall an elite school to which Lottie received a scholarship.  Together the two girls find themselves in tricky situations including a case of mistaken identity which works in both their favours. Jamie is Ellie’s bodyguard and has his work cut out for him as the two girls swap identities. 

This is a great coming of age story with lots of laughter, mischief and kidnapping to keep readers entertained and riveted to the book.

I'm a conflicted about Undercover Princess because on one hand it's a nice boarding story but on the hand it's a little far fetched and loaded with certain YA tropes that I'm not a fan of.

I have to admit I wasn't aware of Connie Glynn as a YouTuber but I don't believe this would have had any impact on my experience of the book had I known beforehand. I'm very levelheaded with reviews and am willing to take it as it comes - if I like a book I like it.

Lottie Pumpkin (yes a cute name) finds herself drawn into a royal cover up when she's unknowingly roomed with the Crown Princess of Maradova. I liked the concept of a Princess trying to have a normal school experience away from the spotlight but I just couldn't fathom how NOBODY would have ever seen Ellie. 

I liked the friendship between Lottie and Ellie and kept thinking there was the chance it could blossom into more as it seemed a little flirtatious at times. 

I really would have liked to see more character development because it often felt a little flat. For example the villains didn't seem real because the jeopardy was lacking and a certain bad guy almost seemed like a spoof villain.

I liked Jamie and would have loved to see more about him - more page time in the next instalment please!

A lot happens in Undercover Princess so be prepared for lots of the usual teen romances and drama, as well as a hint of the mystical plus a big old royal showdown.

3 Stars in my Sky!

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Undercover Princess is the first book in the series of the Rosewood Chronicles.  When fairy tale obsessed Lottie Pumpkin starts a new school, it just so happens that she ends up sharing a room with the princess of Maradova.  Throw in some misunderstanding about who is the princess which then leads to this fact being taken advantage of.

A very readable book.

It’s not for me and I had to abandon about a third of the way in. It reads more like a MG book than a YA.

I am a big fan of YA literature and have read a lot of it, past and present, and while obviously themes, plots and characters are going to be simpler, I believe it should be held to the same standards as standard literature. As such, unfortunately this novel, written by a vlogger (with ghosts? it's not clear but that's the usual model), has a good few plot holes, the motivation and characters are not consistent, and it seems that all that grabs the reader is the weirdly erotic thrill of the friendship between the two main characters. It's not clear whether the worlds have magic or not, and I wasn't motivated to find out (stopped reading at 45%)

It should be praised for its inclusivity - the teachers at the school are shown as strong women in a variety of ways (artistic, sporty, etc) and of a range of ethnicities, just as a matter of course rather than to advance the plot; One main character, Ellie, seems to be described as gender-neutral in the now-becoming-infamous half-naked bath scene, and this is to be encouraged, too. 

Younger people might find this an exciting read, but it's not really going to be satisfying. 

But ultimately there are better books out there about life swaps, being taken out of the everyday and magical schools. Try Diana Wynne Jones, for example.

I really liked Undercover Princess, however, I felt it was perhaps aimed at a slightly younger audience than I. However, despite this, I liked the mystery of the novel and the whole concept. However, at times the plot lost some slight coherency making it confusing for the reader. 

At times, I felt the characters read a LOT older than they actually were, which perhaps meant I could connect with the book more. 

I think this book is probably perfect for the pre-teen audience, but it's definintely no YA novel. I liked it as an introductory book, and hope for some further development in their world later.