Another fab installment in this YA series. I love how all the characters have grown and developed along the way. and the relationships have changed and evolved. I loved the change in setting and how it was described so viscerally. I can't wait to read more!

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

I really enjoyed this and have recommended the series a lot.
I really enjoyed the adventure and the relationships formed.
This is a good series to read for Harry Potter fans and princess diaries.

First, let me say that I have loved this series since the first page of book one and was awaiting the arrival of book three at the library, especially after what went down in Princess in Practice, so I was delighted to receive an ARC of this! I know I’m not the intended audience for this series, but honestly, these books make me feel so warm and fuzzy!

Ok, so this is the third book in the Rosewood Chronicles, which follows the adventures of the Maradovian princess and the friends she makes while at school and if you haven’t read any of them before, you really need to, especially if you’re a nineties kid like me. When I was a kid, pretty much every book in the kid’s section at the library were about boarding schools or princesses. Like seriously, I was desperate to go to boarding school because the books made it sound so fun, they all seem to have such great adventures! I think that’s one of the reasons why I love this series so much, they remind me of what I read as a child and I am a sucker for nostalgia.

In the third book in the Rosewood Chronicles return to a world that effortlessly combines the charm of The Princess Diaries and the immersive magic of Harry Potter.
Ellie is a rebellious princess hiding her real identity.
Lottie is her Portman, acting as the princess for the public to shield Ellie from scrutiny.
Jamie is Ellie’s Partizan, a lifelong bodyguard sworn to protect the princess at any cost.
Together they are attempting to stay safe from Leviathan, a group determined to take the princess for unknown reasons.
When Leviathan force them to travel to their beloved Rosewood Hall’s sister school in Japan, the threesome find that nowhere is beyond Leviathan’s long reach. The only solace they find is a secret group called Banshee who are fighting against the organisation’s hold. But when long-buried secrets are uncovered, the lives of Lottie, Ellie and Jamie will never be the same again…

Admittedly when I first heard that Connie Glynn was releasing a book about princesses I was a little skeptical, you know, YouTube books. But I was so, so wrong. The Rosewood Chronicles are so delightful and charming! They have just the right amount of high school mischief, peril and of course, princesses. These things are woven together to make a perfect combination, you can’t not love these books.

Like I said, I’m not the intended audience, but Connie Glynn manages to write in such an intelligent and accessible way that you don’t even notice that this is a youngish YA! There is enough high stakes adventure, school drama and the wisdom of an author who has grown out of that stage of her life to make it fun for older audiences. Plus, if you saw my mini review of book two when I mentioned that there was a hint of the LGBTQA+ when it comes to this series, you should know that I was very, very pleased with how it was all addressed in this one. The already diverse cast of characters are so endearing and I’m just falling for them all every time I catch up with them.

As this is the third book, here’s a brief non spoilery run down of what this series is about.
The whole thing kicks off with Lottie Pumpkin, an orphan living in Cornwall who is forever dreaming about a rich ancestor turning up and declaring that she’s actually a long lost princess. She adores princesses, they help her feel close to her mother who used to tell her stories about princesses and royals and castles and left her a tiara which she carries around with her. Lottie is accepted into the prestigious boarding school Rosewood Hall where she is immediately suspected of being the mysterious princess of Maradova, who is rumoured to be at the school that year, but as she’s never been presented publically, no one knows what she looks like. Lottie soon discovers the princesses true identity and the two become firm friends, with Lottie agreeing to pretend to be her during their school lives. The action really stepped up a notch in the second book when Lottie officially becomes the Portman of the princess and finds herself being caught up in a plot to kidnap influential children from around the world.
Book three puts us during the summer holidays and takes us to a whole new setting, Rosewood’s sister school in Japan, somewhere I’ve always wanted to go and somewhere, if you’ve ever seen any of Connie Glynn’s videos, you’ll know is one of her favourite places. This installment of the series is as much a love letter to Japan as it is a continuation of Lottie and Ellie’s story and its obvious that Connie has a lot of love and respect for the place and its culture.

Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts below!

I had read the first two books in this triology and was only too glad to receive this copy in exchange for a review. The story, characterisation, setting, plot and theme is suitable to young readers who want similar books to Harry Potter. Lottie’s adventure filled journey was magical and thrilling. A very exciting read, indeed.

I enjoyed the first two books so much so I was a bit disappointed with this, it just seemed to lack the magic of the first two, the writing is still great it’s just the story itself lacked a bit of direction and seemed to be just a filler. Still an entertaining read, just could have been better.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Ok doky, where to begin with this one?

I think I should start by saying that I get where these books are coming from. I think. If the intention was for the plot of these books to be incredibly silly and to kind of plug that gap that comes between middle grade and YA with something whimsical that does go into more ‘older’ themes – mission accomplished.

With that in mind, you do kind of have to switch off the part of your brain that says ‘but that just wouldn’t happen’ when reading these books. There are situations in which these characters end up that feel almost cartoonish – if the bit in book two where they ended up in an icing sugar room in a chocolate factory (where no-one mentioned the food hygiene rating) bothered you then maybe skip this book – it’s not going to get any less ridiculous.

But if we embrace the ridiculous, if we ‘yes and’ the premise we’ve been given – does book three manage to be a good book?

I’m honestly not sure.

So much of this is impacted by the fact that these books are not to my personal taste – they ought to be, they are (at least a little bit) queer, they feature predominantly female characters, there’s a boarding school – it should tick at least a few of my boxes! So why do these books keep falling flat?

A part of it is, I believe, that I can’t quite come round to Lottie as the main character, so often she feels like someone that things happen to as opposed to someone who makes things happen. I do feel like that was beginning to be less of a problem in this book, which perhaps bodes well for later books, and I also felt as though more of the book came from perspectives other than Lottie’s – which is a win in my book! Even with those changes, I’m not sure Lottie is my kind of heroine – so perhaps if later books focus even less on her I’ll be more inclined to read them?

My main issue with this story was the setting. Ok, we’ve done two books worth of Rosewood school, maybe you’re running out of ideas for hidden passageways and messages in that setting – so you need to change things up! Going to Japan is not necessarily a bad idea for a book…however…

It felt, at least as I read this book, that this was a very touristy view of Japan. They talk about Japanese mythology, fashion and culture from a rather western viewpoint that, to me, felt rather narrow. I’ll be interested to read a review from a Japanese reviewer because it’s entirely possible I wasn’t appreciating nuances in the story – but for my part, it felt like a shallow representation of a nation for the sake of a ‘cool setting’ for a story.

Maybe the same can be said of Rosewood Academy itself, but at least Glynn is English so it feels more like an exaggerated idea of English boarding school rather than something more…racially insensitive?

I think you can all see what I’m dancing around here…

If the tone of books one and two were to your taste then maybe you will enjoy seeing these characters in a third book. For me, I think this is where me and the Rosewood Chronicles part ways.

My rating: 2/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Unfortunately I just didn't enjoy this one as much as the previous books. I will say that the cover is stunning and the writing is very good but I just found the story itself to be a bit lacking. It just feels like something is missing and I just can't put my finger on it.

Lottie is back, as they face the fact that Leviathan are targeting the children of influential people they could all be in grave danger.



As well Lottie's grades get messed up by them resulting it them taking a trip to Japan and the sister school of Rosewood where they discover more secrets surrounding her ancestor too as well as making friends over there, her and Ellie are not acting on their previous feelings and Jamie is left feeling useless meanhile Leviathan are watching building a group that's following their every movement...



A weaker book to me in the series so far sadly, however as it felt like a filler and confusing too with Japanese references and words I didn't understand even with translate however I was happy to discover about Japanese cat myths I never heard of! I wished we'd seen more of Lottie and Ellie's feelings come out and Jamie finding a good guy friend to confide in not a bad guy who disappears without a trace. However it has left me wanting to read the next book to see what happens with Jamie and his part in the continuing series now.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

This one will go down as a DNF as I found it quite hard to follow without having read the first book. There were too many characters and personal dynamics, and trying to figure out the world building on-the-go wasn't enough for me. It was a pity I had to abandon it as the story sounded very intriguing.

My 2 stars are not a comment on the story of quality of writing, but for the fact that it didn't work as a standalone book as claimed.

Thanks for the review copy, NetGalley. I only wish I could have read it.

Lottie has failed the year at Rosewood and faces being unable to continue her schooling there. She, Ellie and Jamie suspect that Leviathan have tampered with her grades, but without any proof they are out of options. Until they discover Rosewood's sister school in Japan and the summer programme where she can boost her grades. Together with some of their other schoolmates, they travel to Japan where they find that this school has plenty of secrets of it's own.
I was excited to continue Lottie's story, but have to admit I was a bit disappointed. This book felt a lot more far-fetched and unconvincing. I still enjoyed reading about Lottie, Ellie and Jamie, but just didn't feel as immersed in the book as with the first 2 books.

IN SUMMARY: THE LOST PRINCESS is thrumming full of magic, adventure, bright characters and thoughtful mystery. Not a flawless book, but the best in THE ROSEWOOD CHRONICLES yet.

MY THOUGHTS:

I enjoyed this one. A lot.

If you read THE LOST PRINCESS in comparison to UNDERCOVER PRINCESS, the improvement is phenomenal. I didn't read PRINCESS IN PRACTICE all that long ago, so it's exciting to see already that the characters feel and act more real and that the prose is much sharper and stronger. Not flawless, but much better, and much, much more tolerable.

Sayuri was a great addition to the cast. She is the most striking out of the newbies, the most memorable. She has a distinctly no-nonsense personality that provided a great foil to Lottie's "let's all help each other" mindset.

That said, she just shies away from feeling entirely like a three-dimensional character, which is an overarching problem with this series. Why? It all boils down to the fact that character development moments were either too sudden or completely absent. There's a point where Saskia has a breakdown about her past to Lottie... that didn't feel earnt whatsoever. Why does she tell all to Lottie of all people? Why is Lottie the one to comfort her? Why not Anastacia, who has been there for her since even before Leviathan? Where is this sudden outpouring of emotion coming from in the first place???

They rarely interact and it never delves further than superficial small-talk, which is frustrating when this approach is taken with all the characters and all the relationships in the book. Saskia and Lottie needed to have built a slow but steady friendship. Then Saskia needed to slowly reveal snippets of her past before clamming up, shutting Lottie out again. They'd need to hang out and strengthen their friendship. Only then can a true breakdown like this feel like it is earnt. That's how trust in the real world develops, after all.

There's a few other instances that I could talk about, but the gist is: if you don't flesh out your characters organically, they come off as plot devices and tools to achieve the plot goal, rather than representations of actual people. I wouldn't say the characters here were downright wooden, but they needed a smidgen more TLC in the development department before I could believe in them.

This book/ series really loves coincidences that help the protagonists. Just before her play airs, Lottie suddenly wants to participate on stage and, lo and behold, the main actress is sick at just the right time! How lucky, am I right? Other instances here made it feel very engineered, like Glynn had written her characters into a corner and couldn't else figure out how to get them to do the right things at the right moments.

As for the writing, like I said, it's much improved. Sometimes the book goes too ham with its similes and metaphors to the point where they feel out of place and break sentence flow, but it's easy to adjust to it. The filtering is heavily reduced in frequency since PRINCESS IN PRACTICE.

Finally, I'll conclude with the climax, which was slightly disappointing. After the all the build-up, it ended up kind of feeling like "... that's it?". Like the villain didn't even try.

In the grand scheme of things, a lot of my complaints are minor, and this book was pure, delightful escapism, and a lot of fun to read. I particularly enjoyed the mystery and the change in setting in this one. Takeshin Gakuin was fun, and unravelling more of Lottie's ancestry was also exciting to dig through.

WILL I READ ON? By the time the fifth book rolls around Glynn will be a master writer and I will finally be able to stop writing essay reviews and just enjoy. So yes. I'm on board the hype train for #4!

The Lost Princess sees the Rosewood crew heading over to Japan to attend a summer school away from the Leviathan's reach...or so they thought. I was really excited for this book, knowing how much Connie loves the Japanese culture, i was interested to see how her experiences with the country would affect the setting. I've always felt like the series has lacked a sense of place. It's never really mentioned where Maradova is on a map - apparently it's near Japan, but has a lot of Russia/European influences in language - and the Japanese location was exactly right to add some much needed grounding.

By the third book in a series, you'd expect a lot of character development. But, unfortunately, I feel like Lottie is the only character in a different headspace than where she was at the beginning of the series! Jamie is probably the most underdeveloped. I have a feeling that will change now that he's become a target of the Leviathan, but at this point, we're asking the same questions about him that we were in Undercover Princess, and it's feeling very cookie-cutter assassin type to me.

Also, the Rosewood students that were left behind felt very under utilised. Binah is possibly my favourite character in the series - she falls on the ace spectrum - and I wanted to see her be more than just the knowledgeable one. I did appreciate Ollie's appearance since he's been neglected since page 10 of the first book, but they all deserve so much more than a tiny side quest.

Big waves need to be made in the fourth book for me to want to continue the series after not being delivered what I wanted. Now that we actually know who's behind Leviathan, we can finally get some much needed answers and more juicy character interactions!