Cover Image: American Royals

American Royals

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Member Reviews

I’ve had this on my TBR for years, ever since I was accepted for the ARC. Unfortunately I’ve never gotten around to read it, and at this stage, I don’t think I will. I’ve left a 5 star rating so the average rating isn’t impacted negatively.

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American Royals asks us to imagine what life would be like if American history were different, and there was a Royal Family. However, the story is really about romance and the relationships of our key characters, all of which seem destined for unhappiness because of a sense of duty.
Princesses Beatrice and Sam, and Prince Jefferson have grown up with a sense of duty. For Beatrice, heir to the throne, this impacts every choice she makes. When duty is instilled in you from birth, I can only imagine how little you get to experience for yourself.
McGee takes us through what each of these children face as they try to manoeuvre themselves into adult life. Relationships - of any kind - are not straightforward and it was hard to see just how manipulative some people were. From Nina, the childhood friend of Sam, to Teddy and guard Connor, those on the outside seem destined to get a tough ride.
As the story progressed there was a grim inevitability to events. Though the situations were presented rather superficially, these were characters that you couldn’t help but like and feel for. I ended the book with book two (which I’d read first) making a lot more sense, and a keen sense of wonderment that anyone would willingly get involved in such an environment.

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This had potential but just had some of the worst tropes. Insta-love and a love triangle done badly? No, No, No. It's filled with mostly unlikeable characters and at times just boring.

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This is the intriguing alternate history of a world that could have been, with the royal siblings—Crown Princess Beatrice, twins Samantha and Jefferson—and their friend Nina, navigating the world of love, romance, expectations and social media.
honestly a good concept but one of the most predictable books ive ever read
2/5 stars

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Sadly, I did not enjoy this book. There wasn't a clear plot and I honestly did not like the characters at all. I thought this would be a fun royal family story but it wasn't at all.

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American Royals follows an alternative timeline where George Washington's family became the royal family of America after the American Revolution. This is a very fun book to read. But I don't think it was ground-breaking.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if it was an alternative historical novel instead of a contemporary one. Because I found it a bit weird why Washington was made a king when part of why they went to war in the first place was that they didn't want to be governed by Britain and wanted to be very different from it. I mean look at how different the political systems are today. I just didn't make much sense in that regard. But this is fiction so I guess not everything has to make sense, does it?

But it is very American and doesn't seem to 100% understand how a monarchy actually works. The royals in this book acted more like celebrities than royals.

Honestly it's just an okay read. But you might need to forget how an actual monarchy works to fully enjoy it.

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First I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me access to this book, it has taken me a while to get to and to be honest I has taken me a while to get through as well.

This seemed like such a fun concept as I thought it would be a modern twist on royalty but really it felt a little outdated and bigoted still. I didn’t really care for the characters as Beatrice was up herself, I get it she is next in line for the throne but links still have opinions in things like Mia in the princess diaries don’t just rollover and accept it. Jeff is a knob how can you believe your ex who you dated for 3 years over someone you have know since you were 6, seems a little pathetic. Then Samantha she felt like she had middle child syndrome where no one could really care what she did but eventually it felt more like a cry for help. And finally Nina - surely being Samantha’s best friend she would have already been in the limelight so why is she making out like everything is so new to her?

I’m not sure if I will continue with the rest of the series as I just don’t really care, but at the same time the fact that when Beatrice tells her dad she loves someone he says no - and then when he tells her to suck it up and she says no he dies! WHAT A COP OUT! I’m just not sure how I feel….

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I thought I’d like this book, but given America’s history and everything i couldn’t bring myself to properly enjoy the book. The characters fell flat, I wasn’t that into the writing style either or the plot of the book. I would’ve preferred a made up country tbh.

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Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

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My type of book. Lovely easy reading with a bit of sass. It's literally Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown in this completely addictive modern-day royal romance.

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I was provided a copy of this book by Net Galley in exchange for a fair and impartial review.

TLDR: the book was an enjoyable read. It made more sense when I understood it was part of an ongoing series (won't say more to avoid spoiling).

I felt the scene-setting at the start of the novel was a bit rushed. I would have liked more time to build the alternate history in which this book is set, and the family history in particular.

The characters are good. Some are easier to understand than others. I added a star to my original review of 2 stars because I hope book 2 draws out more of the characters.

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I adored this! I loved Katharine McGee’s THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR trilogy so picking this up was a no brainer. It’s a fab take on American history, a sort of Gossip Girl meets The Selection YA romp, and it’s great fun to read. I’m excited to pick up the sequel.

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This reads like trashy daytime TV with the most frustrating characters who seem to have leapt straight out of the Kardashians. This was boring and frustrating and unfortunately not worth reading.

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OBSESSED with American Royals - a smart, sassy book in which we're thrown into the world of American Nobility. I loved it and can't wait to read the sequel!

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Frothy, frivolous but above all fabulous fun!

Picture this, George Washington never became the first president, he became the first US king, and now in the 21st century the House of Washington is still in power and due to a change in policy the first born female can inherit the throne making Princess Beatrice heir apparent. Her parents have decided the time is now for her to look for her future prince consort. But can true love and duty walk the same path?

This keeps been compared to Crazy Rich Asians etc but I really have no idea, no mg thing (I'm far too old). But I liked the writers Thousandth Floor series and as I have a daughter fast approaching YA fiction I like to keep in touch! And my inner teenager still lurks. So on the plus side this is such fun! There's romance, intrigue, scheming, misunderstandings etc etc. It's an enjoyable easy read. So all good. But God damnit has teen fiction not got passed the 'good' girls are virgins and the 'bad' girls sexually active? Is this still a thing? Did Judy Blume not get us past that in the 70s? Apparently not. It bugs me. But that aside, sex not been a huge part of the story, I liked this and will certainly read the next part.

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Not my usual type of book but I've seen so much about it on IG I thought I'd give it a go. Although I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either!

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Unfortunately I did not get on with this book and therefore cannot rate it very highly. I really struggled to connect with the characters and storyline.

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This story is an alternate history where America is ruled by royalty. This follows the current generation of the Washington family the reigning monarchs.

This book is split up into four POVs which I found were too many. I didn't feel connected to the characters. I would have preferred if there had been fewer POVs so I could really connect to the characters. I didn't feel that the characters were as developed as I would have liked as they all felt very similar so at times it was difficult to distinguish between them. I think my favourite POV was Beatrice's because I felt that her character was the most developed as the future heir.

I liked the plot idea although I did think that some of the plot points were a little predictable. I did like the way the book ended and it has made me want to pick up the sequel when it is released.

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This is an absolute mockery of a story.
It feels like it has been written for 10 year olds and there are far better books out for teenagers than this.
I certainly would not bother with any more in this series.
Painful to read.

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I was highly anticipating this one after a lot of hype from a few well known authors I follow. I must admit it did not live up entirely to my expectations. I was hoping for a novel filled to the brim with politics, romance and drama. Instead, it felt... bland.

It felt a bit like McGee tried to fit too much into this one. There are a number of perspectives throughout, building a number of separate plot threads. The heir, Beatrice, has her own forbidden romance which is reminiscent of the film First Daughter whilst struggling with the intense pressures as the next monarch. Her brother, Jefferson, has returned to Washington and becomes quickly embroiled in a complicated love triangle/square. Meanwhile, Samantha is going through her problems as the spare, always second to her sister. Each character arc felt lacklustre and under-developed and I just never really had a chance to truly get attached.

There was a lot of potential here and there was a lot to like in this - it's a great guilty pleasure read with promising romances as well as some introspection on the nature and drawbacks of privilege, expectations and fame. A series following an American monarchy is a great premise. However... I was left feeling that I would have enjoyed this more if each royal heir had got their own novel so there would be space to fully develop their story-lines.

With all that being said, this was a very quick read for me. I am glad that I read this and I have high hopes that the sequel may work better for me.

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