I'm just gonna say it: I really liked American Royals, but I loved this sequel more. Ending the first book on a cliffhanger was a risk, and to be honest, I was afraid that Majesty was going to be predictable and drawn out. But the upside of Katharine McGee giving these characters more room to breathe is that this novel wasn't about establishing who they were; instead, it was all about who they needed to become.

Beatrice Washington is about to assume the mantle of Queen of America. Things get easier from here on out... right? 



American Royals was a joy to read last year, so I was really pleased to get approved for the sequel, Majesty, on NetGalley.
We re-join our chaotic royals and assorted people in their circle a short time after the King has passed away; the royals have been away from the palace to mourn in private, and everyone’s relationship problems have been put on pause.


Everything you thought you knew about these relationships in the first book has been turned on its head and nothing is what it seems.
I’m going to start with the brutal truth: I don’t like Ethan. I do not care about this man at all, and Nina deserves better. I actually don’t really remember him from the first book, but he does little to redeem his beginning and his reason for dating Nina in the first place. I would say that he and Daphne deserve each other, but I do actually like Daphne (she’s not a good person but she’s a great character!) so perhaps I would prefer that Daphne gets to be happy with someone unexpected, none for Ethan, bye.


Nina makes some really bold moves towards standing on her own away from the Washingtons in this book, and I really enjoyed this growth. The little scene at the beginning where she’s hanging out with her college friends is so cute, I love Nina.


Now, here’s where things get grey. I like Teddy. He’s a good guy, he and Beatrice make a great couple, they’re cute together. I’m rooting for them… I also, am mad at the casual dismissal of Connor, her bodyguard and secret boyfriend from the first book. Using the same “I was young and didn’t know better” excuse works when Nina uses it early in this book, I like it as an explanation of why she won’t get back with Jefferson, but bringing it out again for Beatrice doesn’t quite fit. If she was still guilty about the events at the end of American Royals, sure, if she was marrying Teddy out of a sense of duty, sure, if she was in love with both! Sure! I know this is a case of wanting to have my cake and eat it too, but I want there to be an amicable solution to this problem, a love triangle I really can’t take sides of.


Samantha is the only smart one in this book, she really gets to shine. Having realised that being in love with a guy engaged to her sister is not wise in any situation, but especially when your sister is about to become Queen of America, she finds herself in a fake relationship with Lord Marshall Davis; he’s the heir to the dukedom of Orange, and he’s got the same mischievous streak that Sam does. I’m a sucker for a fake relationship “you only kissed me because there were other people around… didn’t you?”, and these two fit really well together. Sam deserves an exciting, lovely guy (who I was imagining as John Boyega, YMMV) and not Teddy, who is nice but steady, like the English guy Princess Mia gets engaged to in The Princess Diaries 2.


Apparently, there’s not going to be a third book, and have read conflicting things as to whether it was always going to be a duology or there’s not going to be a third book for publishing reasons.

However I’m going to feel about the way things end up if there ever is a final book, I really need some closure and all those loose ends tying up… and some more Marshall.

Majesty picks up a few weeks after the events of the first book and follows the same characters dealing with new changes and new romances in their lives.

After the ending of the first book, I expected the book to take this direction, but it was still disappointing to read. First of all, similar to the first book, the book moves very fast and alongside the four narrators in the book – everything seems rushed in regards to the relationships. With Beatrice and her love interest, there was no chemistry it was awkward and the sudden feelings felt very rushed, the same with Nina and her love interest. Daphne’s ending, I liked – she got what she deserved. The only relationship I liked was Samantha’s – she had no chemistry with her love interest in the first book and although the relationship in this book was also rushed, it was better than the first book and it suited her more. I also expected more sisterhood in the book, I thought Samantha would have more of a role alongside her sister and yet for most of the book they barely speak.

I did like the characters and how they were written but the plot is predictable and cliché and I expected more. It does not feel like a sequel, it reads more like a companion book because in the first half the book seems to disregard so much of the first half and have so many new things going on. Although, I expected the book to have all these new relationships, I wanted more conflict in the book – I wanted to see the old couples from the first book interact/fight for each other which barely happened in the book and it made the entire first book seem pointless. Even though the book is very rushed and moves fast, the book was boring – it felt longer than the first book and seemed to drag on and was repetitive. Nothing interesting happens and there is too much focus on relationships rather than the struggles and personalities of the narrators which I liked in the first book. Although I did like reading about Beatrice and her struggles with becoming Queen, it just felt like there could have been more.

The ending and the conflict in the book happens quickly and is over quickly which was disappointing. Beatrice and Nina’s ending was very cliché but I did like that Samantha and Nina were making plans together and Samantha was planning on taking a bigger role.

2/5

Having the read the first American Royals book, which I found pretty average and awarded 3 stars, I was still really intrigued to see what they would do in the sequel. And I'm so glad that I read American Royals 2.
It was considerably better than the first and even though it's not been confirmed, I would love to see a third book in this series I was that invested in the characters and story by the end of this one.
The drama was better, as was the romantic entanglements and character development.
I went from viewing Sam as pretty bratty in the first book to her being my favourite character in the second. Daphne's scheming is on another level and seeing Beatrice take on the role of Queen was all really enjoyable.
I would say that Nina's character really isn't given as much time or storyline as the other three young women. But to be honest, her story wasn't as interesting as a result.
The male characters such as Ethan and Jeff aren't as developed as I would have liked but given that this is told from the perspective of the four females, this does make some sense.
And what happened re. Himari and how she ultimately lets Daphne get away with it, felt like a bit of a cop out.
But I still looked forward to reading more and really liked the book overall.
If you were a fan of Gossip Girl, I've got a feeling that you will really enjoy this.
And I look forward to seeing what the author does next.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4.5/5

I have so been looking forward to this book ever since I read the first book at the start of the year, it ended on such a cliffhanger and I have been desperate to know what the repercussions of that would be.

Majesty was every bit as consuming and entertaining as American Royals, I was a bit worried that this book wouldn’t quite hit the mark in the same way, which can sometimes be the curse of the second book, but once I started reading it I knew that was not the case here. This book has all the drama and scandal of the first book but also gives us a bit more depth to the characters.

I really enjoyed getting back into these characters lives and seeing how events of the first book would change their direction and to be honest there were a lot of changes. I was happy to see a different side to Beatrice, she is under so much pressure but instead of letting it get to her, she starts to push back against what’s expected of her and her position.

I really enjoyed her developing relationship and that they are well suited to each other, I thought it was nice that she could find something unexpected in it. I was pleased that the relationship between Beatrice and Samantha gets explored a little more in this and that they come to understand a lot more about each other.

I think I loved Samantha even more in this book than in the first, she becomes even more vulnerable and I love how self-aware she is, she really works through what she is feeling and does it in a self-reliant way. I enjoyed her back and forth with Marshall, despite their understanding of being together to make other people jealous, they had a connection that jumped off the page and I was actively looking forward to her chapters just so I could find out what would happen next.

I was a little disappointed with how Nina’s character progressed in this book, I felt like there was something very interesting there to explore with her being ‘a commoner’ and Jeff being the prince, once you add in Daphne who is scheming to get Jeff back it makes for a lot of tension. Unfortunately, this whole storyline went a different way and to be honest I do feel like it wasn’t quite as captivating as I was hoping. I also thought it was a shame that Jeff got kind of relegated to an almost non-existent character from someone who was so integral to the first book.

In a surprising turn of events, I ended up quite enjoying Daphne’s chapters you start to see a slightly different side to her and whilst she is still the love to hate character it was good to get a more rounded view of her personality. I don’t know if it makes me a slightly evil person to admit that I quite liked seeing her comeuppance, it’s not often that a book gives the antagonist what they hoped for and also what they deserved.

I am quite surprised that there won’t be another book, or maybe I’m just disappointed because there won’t be one and I have enjoyed these characters and their stories so much.

So I enjoyed this sequel more than the first, probably because I knew what to expect going into it. With ‘American Royals’ I got a bit hung up on some of the details and while I felt that an American royal family was an interesting concept the set up was poorly executed. However, with ‘Majesty’ I was ready to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy the ride.

This is a perfect read when you just want something light, fast paced and with plenty of relationship drama!

There’s a bit more background on the history of this alternative America and its constitution, I found these parts a lot more interesting than the relationships and wish more time had been spent on this. Bee becoming Queen and struggling with established courtiers and Sam adjusting to her new role as heir were highlights.

The rest of the book felt less original, relying heavily on typical romance tropes. That said, it wasn’t entirely predictable with some big changes in direction. This did have the effect of undermining some of the first book and it felt like the characters were playing musical partners but I was happy to be taken by surprise and see the progression of the characters... until I realised this was the last book in the series!

Majesty very much feels like a set up for a final book, introducing some big curve balls that just don’t have the time to fully develop in one book. Some of the characters endings are satisfactory but others, primarily Nina and Jeff, are overlooked. I went into this with less expectations and enjoyed it more but as a conclusion it doesn’t quite stick the landing.

American Royals 2: Majesty is the second book in the American Royals series. It continues the stories of the characters from the 1st book. It is basically a look at what if America had a royal family and what goes on behind the palace walls. The scandal, the love, the loss, the heartbreak and politics. As the royals try and balance living their lives but also living up to the rules and traditions that come with being a monarch. It;s a gripping page turner that throws you head first in their fictional lives, Fantastic and very enjoyable read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

McGee has done it again! American Royals surprised me by being one of my favourite reads of 2019, and Book 2 is just as enjoyable and addictive. As before, the concept of American royalty is genius and McGee allows her characters to shine while discussing themes of feminism, race and finding out who you are. You will not be able to put it down!

This is not my usual type of book, but OMG… it was just as addictive as the first installment! «Majesty» picks up right after the events of the first book, «American Royals», which I read and reviewed last year. If you haven’t read it, I wouldn’t recommend reading this review. Even though I’ll try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible, the blurb for the second book does give away a lot of things that happen in the first one.

I mentioned in my review of the first book that reading this story reminded me a lot of my favorite TV shows – «Gossip Girl» and «The Royals». There was just enough drama to keep me flipping pages as fast as possible without being overly-exhausting to read.

Surprisingly, both of the books in this dualogy received 4 stars from me. However, I did enjoy «Majesty» a little bit more than «American Royals».

For this review, I thought I’d look back at my critiques of the first book and see if the second one improved some of the aspects I wanted, and if it did something different, and also if there was any change in how much I liked/disliked certain characters.

After reading «American Royals», my main “critiques” were:

It was too long (almost 450 pages) and still had a cliffhanger ending;
There were quite a few love triangles, which I’m not a fan of;
Some eye-rolling moments, especially when it came to the drama between the characters.
Let’s see if «Majesty» improved on any of these points!

1 – Unlike installments in fantasy series that tend to get thicker and thicker, «Majesty» had a nice reduction of pages! It was only 320 pages long and it felt good to fly through it. There weren’t any boring moments. The story was paced quite well and actually benefitted from having fewer pages, in my opinion. I prefer it when authors are more succinct with their story-telling and shorter books do force them to stay focused on the main plotline without unnecessary deviations.

And of course, there is NO cliffhanger! I was very happy to wrap this story up. There is a possibility for Katharine McGee to explore the future stories of some of the characters, particularly Samantha’s and Nina’s, but overall I was very satisfied with how things ended. 👍

2 – NO LOVE TRIANGLES! I’m pretty sure there wasn’t any. 🙌 (let me know if I missed any geometric figures in the numerous relationships of the royals family and their friends!) One of the main reasons I stopped reading Cassandra Clare books were love triangles. I just can’t stand them. So of course I was very excited to find out that Katharine McGee spun her story in a way that was still exciting to read (without the triangles) but that also allowed me to root for multiple people at the same time, as I wanted them all to live their “happy ever after”!

3 – «Majesty» was still full of drama, but I didn’t roll my eyes. Not even once! 🥂 Lots of drama, but also lots of heartwarming and “awww” moments that just melt my heart. I even shed a few happy tears and was swooned by many romantic gestures and dialogues. ❤

Now! Did I change my opinion about the characters?

The answer is yes! In the first book, both princesses felt a little bit underwhelming and very cliché. So my “favorite” character or the most interesting one was Daphne. But that definitely changed after the events of book 2. I really loved Beatrice and how much of her character development we got to see. Sam was still my least favorite one, although her romance was one of the most exciting.

This is more of a 3.5 stars for me because although I really enjoyed it, a few things felt very rushed and random.

I’m a sucker for teenage drama, so after adoring American Royals when I first read it, I was very excited for the sequel. But I have to say, nothing I had hoped would happen did. Am I sad? A little, especially because I loved certain people together and after this book, I highly doubt they’ll ever be an item. Am I mad? Not really. Characters I didn’t really care for became favourites of mine and some that I loved, I don’t care for them as much anymore.

If you think you know how the story will go in the sequel, I’d bet you will be very surprised when you actually read this book.

Every relationship was bulldozed to the ground after the King’s death. But did any of them survive? Depends. If you were a fan of Teddy and Beatrice, you’ll be happy with this book - they spend most of their time together in some way.

Samantha becomes my favourite girl in the book. I love her character growth in this book. I also love her significant other in this book. And I ship them a lot! They’re probably my favourite couple. I do think their relationship felt rushed, as did most others.

On the other hand, Jeff’s character is underdeveloped, disregarded by everyone and manipulated to no end. It’s like the author made him into a puppet. No personality or ability to make decisions of his own. Throughout the book he is easily influenced and used as a plot device to move the narrative and other relationships forward. It really annoyed me.

The pacing was off and very vague all throughout the book and that bothered me a lot. We don’t get precise dates and are merely told that certain chapters take place weeks after the previous one when it feels like they happened just the day before. The book is supposed to span over half a year (if I remember correctly) but instead it felt like it all happened in one month. This led me to feel that most of the relationships weren’t as deep and meaningful as the author tried to make me believe they were.

Despite these “problems” I had with the book, I still enjoyed it a lot! I do hope there’s a third book because it ends in a way that makes you want more. I haven’t seen it announced anywhere so I’ll definitely keep my fingers crossed!

I absolutely adore this series and this was even better than the first book. The character development was so brilliant and my heart hurt, was happy and I laughed and cried throughout. I just love this series so much and I can’t wait for the next book already!

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Following the success from the first book in the American Royals series, Majesty looked to hold promise. However, the inconsistency of characterisation and the lack of realistic relationships within the book makes this a difficult read and one which does not live up to it's predecessors notoriety.

The ending lacked any real punch following a fast-paced storytelling which doesn't quite work for the novel. Ultimately, the book seems to lack any real consistency within the series and, if the book had been a standalone, it would have been mediocre at best. As it is, mediocre is a compliment.

Not quite as juicy and dramatic as first volume & some plot elements feel a bit repetitive and obvious but any fans of the first should enjoy this follow up

Interesting story and continues on well from the first book. Was a bit surprised by the ending as the characters developed so quickly and at times was irritated by how it was all the women talking about the boys they like and not much else? I would have loved to see Beatrice dealing directly with matters of state or solving issues with her brain rather than them just happening at random.

But it was a very entertaining read and especially if you are on holiday!

What draws me to these books is the insane whirlwind and over-dramatic nature of their love lives. It's just so excessively insane and I love the sheer hedonist escapism of it all. I raced through MAJESTY, wanting to see what bonkers twist would come next. The series is so far from what I usually read - "guilty pleasure" books that are the perfect pick-me-up

The romances in this book went a very different way from how I had wanted them to go at the end of the first book. Of the three pairings I wanted, not one happened! While being cagey about the ending, one of them really does make sense and the one I wanted... I would have loved it, but I suppose this ending makes sense and probably is more ethical?

The romantic arcs are breakup arcs to start with, largely. Beatrice, Samantha, and Nina have made choices to end their romances, and so have to deal with that - as well as the world watching them. I'm not much of a romantic. Well, I'm not so bothered about the romance. I love where Nina ends up, though. For a book around love and romance, having her romantic arc end <em>there</em> is a nice breath of air - and far more inclusive of different romantic experiences.<

Beatrice's arc is both frustrating to see her go through a world that sneers at her (first American Queen) and because it takes her so long to do anything/realise what's happening. But when she does, it's SO satisfying, because there's all this pent up frustration.

I didn't like Daphne's ending. She's a horrible, self-absorbed character - and I <em>did</em> like seeing everyone realise that about her. She has consistently been my least favourite of the girls, and I had no idea if I was supposed to like her, or if she was meant to be disliked - and thus a really good foil for the others.

However, I didn't feel she got her just deserts, ending up with a boy who did not deserve her at all - and was just going to get hurt down the line. I mean, it felt like the most realistic ending for her, but not a satisfying. I wanted it to end on her rejection by someone else. When her final scene started, I was hoping she'd say no, she'd complete the arc that had been shoved into her last few chapters.

All in all, a satisfying series ending, and one I will return to no doubt!

2,5*

(this review contains spoilers, but they are within marked limits)

Even though I absolutely adored American Royals, and I was anxiously waiting for its sequel, I have to admit I was surprised, and not in a good way, with Majesty.

There were definitely some good things about the book!! I loved how easy it was to be pulled back again into this world of royal drama, how the writing flowed so effortlessly and it wasn’t hard to follow, like at all, and how quickly I finished it, and, well, the characters – I missed them a lot! But there were more bad things than good things, sadly. First (1), I did get a bit annoyed that so many things were repeated so many times, especially the characters’ thoughts, that could have been avoided. Second (2), I thought the time management was poorly done, as I didn’t feel the time passing in the story, and yet suddenly I would read I don’t even know how many months later. Third (3), I felt that this book could have explored so much more outside of the romantic relationships, which four (4), I wouldn’t actually have minded that much, if they had been better performed. And finally, from the characters’ behaviors, it sometimes felt I was reading a totally different book from what I had previously read in American Royals.

If I had to describe Majesty in one word it would have been frustrating. I felt that many loose ends from the previous book didn’t even get addressed and, on top of that, got worse. As I mentioned before, there was a huge focus on the several romantic relationships, and by doing that, we totally missed the opportunity to see other relevant events, such as Beatrice fulfilling her duties as queen, or the development of Beatrice and Sam’s sister relationship (that was also very unsatisfactory), for example. However, I like to think that I wouldn’t have minded the romantic stuff that much, had the relationships been handled better. I was honestly rooting for every couple in American Royals, and I was disappointed, to say the least, about the outcome of every single one. <spoilers> I genuinely thought Beatrice and Connor would end up together, but as Connor left the scene and Beatrice and Teddy’s relationship developed, I started to lowkey accept the latter couple. I did like Beatrice’s outcome of choosing herself and ruling alone, though – probably one of the few things I liked, – but I was incredibly annoyed about the lack of communication between Beatrice and Connor, a conversation that only happened in the day of her wedding (which, by the way, was very predictable). I do not know what to make out of Sam’s behavior, to be honest. While her pining after Teddy was somewhat “justified”, and her relationship was the one that turned out okay, it was so full of clichés that I only realized almost at the end of the book that I hadn’t really enjoyed one of my favorite tropes, fake dating. Besides, it happened pretty much the same thing as in the first book: Sam and Beatrice barely noticing each other throughout the whole book, and then suddenly making peace, while I longed for real sister bonding. Nina and Ethan’s relationship was another walking cliché. It was obvious that they’d eventually break up because Ethan was never 100% true with Nina, never told her about Daphne, and in cases like that, the girl always knows the truth from a third person. And don’t even get me started on Daphne’s character! Throughout most of the book, she seemed the only character true to herself, always plotting something, always ahead of the others, … While obviously in love with Ethan, she was determined to win Jeff back. But then, out of nowhere in the wedding scene, she declares her love for Ethan?? Where did that come from? She just got pettier and pettier throughout the book, and I was REALLY MAD she truly got Jeff back in the end, and he doesn’t even suspect how evil she is. Another detail that slightly irked me was that Ethan said he noticed how Daphne was “not like other girls” (first, this is a big no) and how smart she was, mentioning artists and paintings and whatever – and ok, I’ll admit she has a very creative brain for plotting, but we never really got to see her interests besides fashion and trends, and isn’t that what Ethan mentioned the other girls were all into? <end of spoilers> Mostly, I was annoyed the pairings didn’t go as I expected and hoped for, which is totally a personal preference, but every single romantic relationship was so predictable and had one cliché that I did not enjoy reading about. Moreover, I lowkey feel that the inclusion and discussion about diversity was a bit forced. I was glad to see it there, but it’s just a feeling that I had while reading – that whenever it was described in the book, it was in a way that really wanted to bring attention to it, as in “I’m here!!! Notice me!!!” in big bold fictional letters, while it definitely could have been better included in the narrative.

So I’m definitely sad about this sequel, but I think there might be another book? Because nothing much was handled here, it felt it was just to fill space, honestly. And while I am curious about the outcome, I don’t know if I’m interested enough to keep reading. 🤔

I loved the first book in this series so I couldn’t wait to get into this one and it did not disappoint! I started the book with the intention of only reading a little book and managed to finish it in one sitting. There’s so much going on, great to be back in this world with these characters and Would love to see more in the future.

So I read this in a day after reading book 1 in a few days the day before!!
This is such a fab duology (hoping for a trilogy though) and one of my favourite YA books I’ve read in the while. The American perspective is so interesting and I loved the characters, storyline and the important feminist and anti-racist conversations ongoing in the books.

Absolutely loved this sequel, completely addictive reading. I enjoyed how the storylines were spread equally through all the characters and not just about Beatrice. Heroes and villains abound in this story which makes it all the more enjoyable. There’s still So much story that could be told here and my fingers are firmly crossed for another book.

I am SO obsessed with these books. I love anything to do with royalty as some of you may know and I enjoyed book one immensely so when I was approved for this ARC I was literally running to get my kindle so I could read it.

- Sam’s character development in this book was incredible. She’s honestly my favourite person. I thought Beatrice was nice, kind of the same, kind of boring and I really liked Nina in book one but in this book I found her kind of annoying. And Daphne, I have never wanted to punch someone in all my life.
- The writing, plotting and pacing was incredible as always. I find myself really falling into the world created and I can believe what is happening.
- I enjoyed the ending!

Overall, this is a fun, witty and interesting sequel to a really good modern day royal series!
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.