This book is definitely for the younger fans. It’s a little bit confusing in parts and it isn’t clear whether the princess is in this world or another! A good light read for an older adolescent

I read the first chapter and thought immediately that this book was far too young for me. I was not the intended target audience for this and it would be unfair for me to review it. So, I decided to read the book with my 13 year old niece and see what she thought instead.
	Her first thoughts were that it was all a bit confusing. Not much detail about the world in which it takes place was given so she found it hard to picture everything in her head. I have to agree, it wasn’t explained where exactly Maradova was supposed to be, was it in the world as we know it or some other realm? It was all a bit clumsy. She thought the fact Rosewood Hall had secret passage ways and two way mirrors was super cool, but I thought there was absolutely no explanation for why the school even had those things other than a plot device to move the story along. The dialogue was ridiculous, so many caps lock filled sentences. Even my niece - a firm lover exclamation points and overexcited caps - was like ‘right she needs to calm it.’
	My interest was pretty much non-existent by the time Jamie was introduced, I thought he was dull, dull, dull. My niece thought he was sweet but forgettable. Every character feels under-developed, we don’t really get to know any of them and because of that, I don’t care about how their story progresses. Also they were all so melodramatic about everything, it was beyond annoying. There’s barely any description of what each character looks like as well, so you build your own image in your head and then suddenly about 20 chapters later a small detail, like a hair colour, will be randomly mentioned and throw you off. It’s just not good writing.
	Can we take a moment to discuss the extremely bizarre relationship between Ellie and Lottie? The bath scene was entirely disturbing and unnecessary. My niece thought it was really odd as well because ’no friend’s would ever act like that.’ Their friendship is not the behaviour of “normal” friends, it would’ve made more sense to me if they had been love interests. 
	Overall my niece gives it a 2/5 because she ‘made it to the end without wanting to die’ and I give it a 1/5 because I didn’t enjoy any aspect of it and struggled to even see the potential. Neither of us will be rushing for the next in the series.

I really enjoyed this book.  I really enjoyed the unfolding story of Lottie Pumpkin and Ellie the Princess of Maradova at Rosewood boarding school.  Due to a misunderstand Lottie was mistaken for the Princess which meant that the real Princess was able to have a relatively normal life.  As the story unfolded I was captivated by the unfolding story never sure what the outcome would be.  I will look forward to future books in which will be a great series.

This is an easy read for younger loves of fairytales. If you are looking for a teenage romance/adult plot this isn't for you. But if you are looking for a middle school fairytale about princesses and mistaken identities then this is a perfect read. Middle schoolers will gobble this story up. It has all the elements of a modern day fairytale with Lottie being mistaken for a princess and Ellie swapping places to live normally for awhile.

Undercover Princess is a modern day fairy tale princess adventure story. If your wanting to read something hard hitting and intellectual this is not the book for you but if you are aged between 9-14 or older with a young heart go ahead. 
Lottie a 14 year old girl who dreams of princes and princesses. She gets a scholarship to go to Rosewood Hall, a boarding school for boys and girls of wealthy businessmen and Royalty. Ellie Wolf is a princess who has hidden herself away, she doesn't like the dignitary lifestyle, has rebelled at every opportunity and hidden away so no one actually knows who she is. The girls are thrown together and after rumours of Lottie being a secret princess are mistakenly spread around school the girls swap identities. Not everyone loves a princess though. Someone is trying to scare the princess, will they succeed??? 
As a secondary school librarian I thought this was a fab read. It's an easy read with an obvious story line but kept me intrigued. As I was approaching the last chapter I caught myself thinking, there could be more books, Lottie, Ellie and Jamie- the good looking bodyguard could have so many more adventures 😆 I was happy to read in the note at the end from Connie Glynn that there would be more from them.

I really enjoyed this book, but the girls have got to get together in the next book or I'll scream. They are wonderful characters in a wonderful setting, but it feels so much like it could be gay baiting, especially when there are boys thrown into the mix. I really hope the author takes a stance one way or another because this series could be amazing, but not if we're just being set up for disappointment. 

I loved Rosewood so much. The school was a really interesting blend of magic fairy-tale school and elite prep school, full of beauty, secrets and pressure. It's a place that I know so many people are going to fall in love with and long to go to. 

Lottie and Ellie are great characters. Lottie is so full of dreams, fairy-tales and hopes and Ellie is a beautiful, unique person who I think I could read about forever. The plot is full of suspense, mystery and drama. 

I am definitely reading the next book.

Sorry not one for me. This was a book that had an interesting premise and the friendship part was done well. But had way to many YA tropes for me. I think if I were younger I might have enjoyed this but I found myself skipping parts just to get to the end.

Review from Niamh aged:ten This was a good book about a princess who doesn’t like her job. It is full of drama and mysteries that you have to work out as you read it. I would recommend it to anyone who loves exciting books.

As an adult (who loves teenage/young adult stories) I found this book kinda clunky and, not exactly difficult to read, but I didn't feel engaged. I think maybe  a younger audience might enjoy this more.

Connie Glynn the YouTuber, noodlerella, has branched out and signed a three book book deal with Penguin Books. The series is called the Rosewood Chronicles  is about parties, politics and princesses and documents the life of 14 year old Lottie  as she starts at boarding school - Rosewood Hall.  

In the first of the series, Undercover Princess, Lottie finds herself sharing a room with a Maradovian Princess,  Ellie Wolf.  Lottie finds herself playing "Princess" so that Ellie can experience real life as a normal teenager.  Drawn into the world of royalty, Lottie faces a world full of intrigue, secrets and betrayal.  The forthcoming school ball and the mysterious new boy called Jamie show the reader that the happy ending is not always the one you anticipate or expect.

This is a Young Adult book that treads a fine line between the  classic fairy tale princess storylinr and badass 21 Century princess scenario.  As the story progresses, it is clear that the authors has managed to combine the two, making a great read, updating the traditional princess story line for the 21 Century. 


ARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin in exchange for an honest review.

An easy romp about a princess who doesn't want to be one and an ordinary girl who can't think of anything better. A cross between Shannon Hale and Enid Blyton. Fun!

I have a confession to make, I actually stumbled to this book by pure accident, my hostkid was using the computer with me while I was trying to tame her wild hair into a braid for school, I was browsing to find new ARCs to read but I opened another tab to get on Youtube so she wouldn’t complain about my brushing skills to un-tangle her hair. Out of nowhere when I realised she had asked this book on my account saying she loved the cover.

I read the description and I feel in love with the cover too and I found it interesting that is a series of books. Anyways when I got the ARC naturally I started to read for her too and both of us through bed time got through this book of magic, friendship, discovering where you belong and acceptance.

It wasn’t easy I’m twenty-three and she’s only five even with a mind of almost an eight year old with all her witty and bossy attitude, where I found some things very cliché for her it was pure magic which I do understand it’s a literature for small kids to grow up with the character pretty much like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson where the main characters are young and start getting old by each book.

That’s pretty much it, the first book is an introduction to the characters and there’s a small suspense to find who wants the princess dead and in the end you get your answer but its way more complicated then you think it would be, which leaves the hang to start the second book that I’ll suffer a year or more until I can read it.

Lottie is very simple, very kind, very sad trying to hide it the perfect pleaser girl, the friend that will always put you first but through the book you see her learning to stand for herself and learning that is ok being herself and sometimes not feeling kind all the time. It’s still a working in progress but I have hopes that she will learn that being kind doesn’t mean saying yes to everything and trying to please everyone, the world does not work like that. She gets herself into a mess when people thinks she’s the princess of Maradova.

Then we have Ellie which is the real princess of Maradova, everything that Lottie is Ellie isn’t, not in a mean way. She just wants to be normal, to not have to wear the responsibilities of being the heir of a throne she doesn’t want to be. That makes her very reckless, very bad girl trying to prove everyone wrong that she can do anything she wants and seeking a true friend in Lottie when the girl takes the responsibilities of lying of being the princess so Ellie can have a normal life. The two of them get in lot of troubles but it’s like they are described in the book, two polar opposites that balance each other. I expect to see more of the friendship and the maturity of the two of them in book 2.

Jamie is the last main character and there’s still a lot of mystery around him. You do learn his story in the first book of why he’s with Ellie and why,  you still don’t know what is happening between the three of them and part of me is crying of desperation because I feel that the author will make a triangle out of the three of them and that will kill me, I’m so done with love triangle. But still, Jamie is composed, he’s skilled, he’s fearless and he has the best poker face I ever saw in a teenager. I have the feeling where he’s connecting some dots about Ellie and Lottie that I started to have theories of and that I know won’t be confirmed until the end of the series which I’ll need to wait and see if I’m right or not.

The other characters are funny and some of them you can see bonding in the next books but it’s still not sure their role in the story since it doesn’t show as much of them as I’d like, the first book is more of Lottie and Ellie bonding and sharing the responsibilities of the throne one pretending to be the heir and the other one just trying to be a normal girl.

As in for Connie’s writing style I liked so far, she’s promising, she’s eager and she clearly know how to get the readers questioning themselves when she got lots of suspects where you try to find explanations for each of them. I’m excited for book two and I really hope it won’t take long to come out.

Did not finish, didn’t like characters or writing style in first few chapters.

I have to say although my teen days are long forgotten I did enjoy this.
The writing was very young though and confused me about how old the characters were actually meant to be.
A good start to a series although whether I would read more I don't know.

In the spirit of great childhood classics from Mallory Towers to Hogwarts, Connie Glynn gets her heroine’s parents out of the picture and sets the first of her Rosewood Chronicles series in a boarding school, providing excellent opportunities for all manner of ‘parties, politics and princesses’

The Story treads a difficult and fine line between one character’s classic fairy tale princess that might appeal to younger readers, and another’s wild child bad ass plot involving intrigue, danger and a whiff of romance which older readers may be more likely to enjoy. I watched this carefully as the novel progressed at a thrilling rate and am happy to say the author walks that tightrope proficiently, cleverly giving us a book that will appeal to both audiences and which ends in a satisfying and gratifying conclusion neatly paving the way for a sequel.

The characters are well drawn and the setting of the school and the castle in Maradova bewitching. There are some clever roles including the Partizans and Portmans as well as the mysterious Leviathans of whom more, I feel sure, in the sequel.

Great storytelling, an original plot line and an edgy take on the classic fairytale formula. A compelling read.

Undercover Princess. By Connie Glynn 
Got an early read. Published Date 02 Nov 2017

Review: The title caught me straight away and wanted to read then and there. The blurb was interesting and kept me intrigued. 
And average girl with the drive to succeed gets into one of the most prestigious school in England which is known to cater to big names and high end children with designer labels and money to burn, heirs and royal. 
Lottie Pumpkin ends up rooming with the princess of Maradova who has come to Rosewood discretely. A misunderstanding of where she's from has most 9f the students believing she is the secret Princess of Mavardova. 

Alot happens in the book. A lot of guessing games and clues on who or why someone is sending threatening notes to Lottie and Ellie (the true princess of Maradova). Everytime you think you've nailed the culprit down, theirs something there that eliminates them. Halfway through I did realise who it was and I liked the intrigue of how it still made me doubt myself. 
There was an element of magic to the book which at times made it seem like there's hidden magic about and Lottie just needs to find it or unlock it. Cause things seemed easy to surreal at times for it just to be a hunch and she would instantly know with conviction that this is right or this is what the clue is or so on and not just her gut feeling telling her.

The friendship between Lottie and Ellie started of rocky and they they clicked instantly. I think they need more of a build up to just be friends instantly and there were times when they fought or snapped at eachother which made them seem much more alive and as teenagers. It was quite amusing to see Lottie jealous when her closest friend was hanging out more with someone one else. 

Apart from Lottie, Ellie and Jamie who appears a quarter aways into the book, there really wasn't much character development with the other students/friends. Lottie had met a few students on her first day at Rosewood and the group of students did pop about quite a bit in the book but they literally felt like background character. Apart from Binah and Anatascia, the latter quite standoffish at times and the former a smart little owl like girl who popped about whenever she felt like it. 

Lotties father was never mentioned so it feels like they'll be an important revelation about him in the coming book  and with how everyone kept pointing out her likeness to the queen with the same hair and features they might be a long lost connection or maybe I'm just reaching. But the fact that Lotties mother mentioned her ancestors studying there a hundred years ago and the tiara of hers being a family heirloom there seems to be connections, not sure if it's with Ellie side or the founders of the school and houses. Most likely a connections probably to Tufty. Can't wait to find out which way it goes. As it's mentioned that she was meant to be at Rosewood.

There is alot left to be discovered yet, more secret passageways, more secret paintings and riddle's and more on the secret renegade group and it's hidden agenda. I also believe Uncle Claude will make and appearance sometime and I'm hoping to find out more about Jamie's mysterious past. 

At times Lottie seemed to irritate me. She was very quite calm and held her feelings in as seem with when she interacted with her step mom but then as soon as she got to school she seemed in to minds with her personality. Quite at times when she shouldn't be and snapping at times she should be the opposite. I understand she's finding herself with all the new experience and friends and environment but I'm glad she finally settled down near the end of the book. 
There was one instant I really didn't like her, it was when she bragged at being the princess to Jamie when she was portrayed as a sweet girl who would keep what's told in confidence and she didn't seem like a bragget to me, so I thought it was out of character. 

All in all. It was a good book. With princess and princes and alot of mystery. I think the subtle magic needs to be cleared up cause all I kept thinking is that there's a lot hidden about and no one's touching on it an the authors making us guess on how we should interpret it.

DNF at 50%.

I think this is a major case of 'it's not you, it's me'.

Rosewood Chronicles tells the story of Lottie Pumpkin as she enters the privileged world of boarding schools at Rosewood Hall. Here she meets Ellie Wolf, secret princess of Maradova, and otherwise normal teenage girl. Together the two form a friendship as they fight to keep Ellie's true identity a secret - which might be more difficult than it sounds.

The writing for this was very clunky at best, with the descriptions and plot all over the place. There's no world building - I only have a vague idea of where Rosewood Hall actually is, and beyond that I know nothing of the wider world. Is it suppose to be similar to ours? Where is Maradova? Why does it appear like it's identical to England? The description of things also confused me. I wasn't really able to picture what Rosewood Hall looked like in my mind, although it did seem to have weird hidden passage ways/two way mirrors conveniently placed for eavesdropping?

Ellie and Lottie. That weird bath scene near the beginning where Ellie is half naked? It's just...weird. And not something I would believe many women would do, let alone two fourteen year old girls. It was a bit creepy, and made me feel uncomfortable. In fact, their whole relationship in general was odd. They go from being immediate enemies (based entirely on the state of a bedroom) to extremely close friends in the space of seconds.

I think I gave up around the the time the character of Jamie is introduced - mainly because he was really boring, with no apparent personality and with a really odd backstory. In fact, none of the characters are really described very well and because of this I had no interest in any of them.

This may appeal to a much younger audience, who may be able to overlook these major discrepancies - unfortunately I couldn't.

Because I was unable to finish this, I have not rated it on my goodreads feed as normal - although the review itself will be posted.

Undercover princess is a fun read that shows that nothing is as it seems with people. 

The highlight of Undercover Princess is the strong female friendship between Lottie and Ellie, they support each other throughout the book even though they have completely contrasting personalities. Jamie is also a strong character in the book and is definitely a positive male role model.

Undercover Princess is a fun read with some mystery mixed in as someone is trying to hurt Lottie and riddles and notes are passed throughout the book.

I would recommend this book for younger readers, possibly early teenage years as it is a fun and easy read.

*Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for exchanging an ARC for an honest review*

I really enjoyed the twisting plots and turns of the story line. Slow to start and then I couldn't put it down, even had a sneaky read at my desk to try and finish it. Lottie is an unpredictable character who just makes you feel good. She's not perfect and makes mistakes but strives to be kind, strong and unstoppable. 
My only disappointment was I didn't realise it was the first of a series so I have to wait ages to find out what happens to Jamie, Lottie and Ellie.!

This has a great premise and shows some real promise but while it's an easy read it's not quite working yet. 

I did really, really love the idea of this story, a girl who loves fairytales and princesses gets into an exclusive boarding school where she gets the chance to live her dream by impersonating a real princess but the execution doesn't quite work.

Firstly, it reads very young. I know it has been classed as YA but I read a lot of YA and this felt closer to middle grade to me. The main characters are supposed to be 14 but despite it occasionally going much more grown up main character Lottie felt a lot younger. 

I have to admit I was expecting something a bit sharper and more contemporary. I love books set in boarding schools so was hoping for something a little more Harry Potter with fun and feasts, friendships and some properly mean kids, bullying teachers etc. Instead everyone is nice and helpful and despite a couple of minor conflicts there's just no spark.

The story itself is pretty superficial and full of holes. It is a mystery and the first in a series so it is expected that there will be some gaps, twists and questions raised so that there's something to look forward to but I found myself pondering pretty basic stuff that I think really should have been answered or at least acknowledged. When the story begins for example, Lottie lives with her not very nice stepmother following the death of her mother but there is absolutely no mention of her father. I spent a lot of this book wondering about this. If she has a stepmother, she must have had a father. Where is he? Who is he? Why do they only talk about her mother and not even ask about him? It's all very weird.

The rest of the story was just very predictable and a bit too twee for me. The characters are stereotypical but aren't defined or strong enough to leave any kind of lasting impression. I had a bit of a tendency to forget who was who but it didn't really matter as many of them were interchangeable.

Main character Charlotte Pumpkin kind of bugged me. I was really happy when someone finally called her out for being naive as that is an understatement. At times she seems about 6 years old the way she goes on about princesses, Prince charming and magic. I'm a big fan of fairytales but she seemed to be bordering on delusional at times. I did understand why she was so obsessed, we're told enough times, but I'm afraid I'm not buying that a 14 year old would be so silly..

The relationships between the characters are also a little on the strange side. I honestly couldn't figure out what was going on. Are Ellie and Lottie supposed to be friends or more. There's an awful lot of stroking palms, shivers and blushing for just friends but then Lottie also has two or three other potential love interests and it seemed like there was something else going on between Ellie and Saskia. I don't mind a little romantic intrigue but firstly they're 14 and secondly it was just too confusing.

The writing itself is ok for the most part, a little bit clunky and overly dramatic in places but not terrible. There was however just a real lack of tension and emotion and a little too much tell instead of show.

As far as I understand there will be about five books in the series so there's definite room for growth.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.