Cover Image: PRINCESS AT HEART

PRINCESS AT HEART

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

The fourth book in the Rosewood series does not disappoint. It picks up right where the cliffhanger at the end of book three left the reader dangling.

It was good to see some of the secondary characters get a bit more attention, like Raph.

I wish some of the drama between the characters could have been avoided. In most cases the problems could have been solved by just talking to each other.

Was this review helpful?

A good book, at first glance the cover catches your attention, it is very beautiful, the book seemed good to me, it was kind of entertaining, it could have been better but I think that is personal taste.

Was this review helpful?

This is the fourth book in the Rosewood Chronicles. It takes place right after the events of the third book. Lottie, Ellie and Jamie try to overcome what they learned in Japan.
First, the characters felt way more developed than they did before and we really get what they are feeling. As well as that, the relationships and friendships evolve and change.
Secondly, the plot is really addictive and complex. We got the clues as the characters did and the mystery was great.
Last but not least, I got through so many emotions reading this book: I could be laughing at one page and sad the next one. It was a perfect rollercoaster.
Overall, I truly liked this book and will pick up the next one!

Was this review helpful?

Princess at Heart (Rosewood Chronicles 4) – Connie Glynn
Return to the magical world of The Rosewood Chronicles in the fourth installment of this gorgeous series for fans of The Princess Diaries and 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.
Lottie, Ellie and Jamie are back for another year at Rosewood – but nothing will ever be the same again.
They’re still reeling from their discovery that someone rather close to home is leader of Leviathan – the group determined to take the princess down at any cost.
Together they must piece together clues to Leviathan’s evil plans. But this is far from simple – especially as an undercover Leviathan agent is now attending the school.
Friendships are at stake, families must be reunited and hearts are at risk of breaking…

You have no idea how much I LOVE this series! It gives me so much joy you wouldn’t believe! As this is the fourth book in the series, I won’t spoil this one by talking about the plot too much, but for those of you unlucky enough not to have come across the Rosewood Chronicles yet. Here’s why you should read them:

It has the same energy as all the boarding school books I read as a kid
It is gay, very, very gay.
Diverse cast of characters
It is some how fantastical and believable all at the same time
Did I mention that it is very gay?
I just love this series so much! At this point, many of the secrets that have been hinted at during books 2 and 3 have come spilling out and all my precious babies are all falling apart and being separated and I am bereft. It was honestly devestating.
Connie Glynn has truly created something amazing with this series, I never want it to end!

Was this review helpful?

This is the fourth book in the Rosewood series. Lottie, Ellie and Jamie have to come to terms with all that they learnt when they went to Japan.

The have to learn what their friendship is and if it will survive - can Lottie keep the three of them together or will she drive them apart by keeping secrets from Jamie and Ellie?

This book looks at how the thee friends are growing into the people they will be, will it be the future they had planned?

Was this review helpful?

IN SUMMARY: PRINCESS AT HEART's core message of family, friendship and finding yourself is bogged down by contrived plot and awkward writing, but despite being weaker than its predecessors, this is a fun fourth book in THE ROSEWOOD CHRONICLES that will satisfy fans.

MY THOUGHTS:

Right from the offset I could tell this was going to be weaker than its recent predecessors. All the books so far have an inciting incident, something that pushes the protagonists into action. Here… there isn’t one. We already know Leviathan are at Rosewood, but by some law of convenience no one decides to actually do anything about it. Not inform Ellie’s parents nor the police nor school security.

My largest criticism, however, is definitely this book’s plot. Besides having a shy beginning, so much of the story seemed contrived for the sake of it. Characters seem to intuitively know things or drop Important Information when necessary for the protagonists to progress. There’s a pervading mystery regarding a Wolfson ancestor that isn’t addressed whatsoever until the very end. Why? Surely if a Leviathan member was parroting a Wolfson name around, you’d want to research into them to find out why?

The book’s ending is what disappointed me the most. There’s no grand clash between Lottie and Leviathan, between Lottie and Claude or literally any member, as this book promises. There’s a brilliant twist at the end marred by its lack of build-up.

And whilst I think Lottie and Jamie had decent character growth, with a good amount of build-up, Ellie’s didn’t take off for me. Her arc of burdening blame continues from THE LOST PRINCESS, so it had to do something differently for me to believe it – otherwise everything she learnt in LOST was pointless – but she recycles much of the same thoughts. There’s so much for Ellie to explore. The relationship with her parents! Her eventual burden as queen! The knowledge that her uncle Claude is the Leviathan leader! The book doesn’t weave many of these elements in to make Ellie a fuller, rounder character, and when it does it only scratches the surface. The book’s climactic twist would’ve been much more powerful had Ellie attempted to fit into her role as princess better.

The supporting cast, meanwhile, don’t really seem necessary anymore. Lola, Micky, Raphael, Percy… even Anastacia and Saskia could be taken out and the plot would remain mostly intact. Binah gets a pinch of character development herself, so things look bright for her, but #5 really is going to have its work cut out to convince me any of the others are worth remembering.

Another sore spot with this book is the writing. Scenes feel too slow in places where they need to speed up, and too rushed in places where they need to slow. There are so many emotional moments that should hit you in the gut, shock you, make you immediately worry, but the writing never stops to absorb and process those feelings. I can think of at least one, probably the biggest reveal in this book, that isn’t afforded the time and attention it deserves by the prose. On the flipside, characters rarely speak to each other without Lottie’s thoughts injected between. Most of the time, we don’t need to know her thoughts; we can parse it from how she responds or her body language. There are other parts of the writing that I think – hope – will be polished in the final version, that deal mostly with structure, filtering, and contradictions within the same sentence.

Some things I enjoyed: as always, Rosewood Hall itself was magical. I liked how the school project tied it into Lottie’s development (it didn’t, however, work as a plot point. No one cares about a school project when there’s an evil organisation out for your head). The Leviathan POVs weren’t always necessary but I did appreciate the insight they gave us into its members. I also really liked Haru – he’s probably one of the better-written characters in this series.

WILL I READ ON? Of course. We're in the endgame now...

Was this review helpful?

Princess at Heart is a fantastic and perfect installment in the Rosewood Chronicles series!
I already adored the characters, from books 1-3, but their developments made this book the 5* read it was.

I loved seeing Lottie, Ellie and Jamie's growth and changing relationships (although I did SCREAM at them so many times!) But even more than that, this book really gave further development to side characters- in particular the wonderful Binah!
Also, as with the whole of the Rosewood Chronicles, the characters are SO DIVERSE. In such a natural and excellently portrayed way.

This book really explores the themes of family, belonging and self-acceptance... all things I believe everyone can identify with and learn from.

The plot twist was sort of surprising, but also woven in so well in the series so far that it made total sense (a balance that can be very difficult to maintain.) And just as I recovered from reveal A, the author gave us reveal B then FINISHED THE BOOK! So yes. Warning. Mean cliff hanger at the end!

Overall Princess at Heart was exciting and heart-warming (despite how frustrated I got with characters *cough* Ellie *cough*)

**eARC was kindly gifted by Penguin through Netgalley. All opinions are 100% my own.**

Was this review helpful?