I was slightly disappointed in this book given how much I have adored all of Sophie's past work.

I found rose to be mildly insufferable and didn't feel particularly drawn to any characters. The story line was fairly interesting but didn't keep me engaged. I actively disliked when Alfie set Danni up on a fake date with someone he knew was interested in her, it felt all sorts of wrong.

Still a good read but overall not my favourite

Sophie Gonzales just does it time and time again. I truly believe she could write her shopping list and I would get all cuddled up in bed and spend my night reading it.

The characters themselves were really well written. Their personalities and their characteristics were developed so well and the GROWTH, especially of Rose was so captivating., especially when you see Rose express her emotions out loud and FINALLY rebuilding her friendship with Molly. Danni is such a likeable character. A young girl going into a new school in a new country, surrounded by new people. All the characters just felt extremely real - they love, they break up, they make up and all the inbetween. The dual POV's were very compelling and it helped to tell each milestone of Danni and Rose' relationship so well.

Outside of the romance, each characters personal struggles were told well and you can see how relatable these experiences would be to younger readers. I know I could've done with it.

SOBBING oh I loved this so much 😭 the longing the slow burn but the love between them and I just ate it up I love them so much and wish we had 21891 books more about them

When Danni arrives at an elite boarding school on a music scholarship, she doesn’t expect to catch the eye of Princess Rose. Still reeling from a royal scandal, Rose tries to keep her distance—but attraction proves impossible to ignore. As their secret romance deepens, palace forces threaten to tear them apart.

I LOVED this book so much!! I was sceptical of a teenage romance because as a 38 year old that feels like a very long time ago. But this was just so sweet and the story was so well paced and thought out. I really warmed to all of the characters in different ways but could see so much of teenage me in Danni that it was both quite reminiscent (having gone to a private all girls school myself) and quite healing to see how much has changed since I was a teenager regarding queerness.

My only complaint was that I wanted more!! I’d love to have a follow up book to see how they are doing once Rose is Queen!

This was such a gorgeous story about young, first love against a really interesting backdrop. I thought the setting and set up were really interesting and kept me hooked throughout. I also appreciated the way that the elements of grief were handled by various characters and the amount of communication that took place was really good. The progression of Danni and Rose was so well written and the ending was so heartwarming.

cute cute cute!!! i really enjoyed this, the perfect palate cleanser with easy to root for characters. very 'young royals but make it sapphic' coded. i thought the main characters had good chemistry & i enjoyed watching their relationship develop over the book. i found the 'scandal' plot a little lacklustre (whilst sad, it didn't really seem like rose could have prevented it?) but understand if you're royalty i guess those kind of things reflect badly! i liked the exploration of how to navigate 'coming out' as a public figure but also as two girls in a very privileged, upper class sphere.

Sophie Gonzales’s Nobody in Particular is the kind of book that sneaks up on you—what starts as a charming, trope-filled romance (crown princess x scholarship student? Yes, please) quickly becomes something richer, messier, and way more compelling. Set in a prestigious boarding school in the fictional country of Henland, the story follows Danni, an American newbie on a music scholarship, and Rose, the scandal-plagued princess desperate to rehab her image. Their chemistry is immediate, but the obstacles—family expectations, public scrutiny, and their own personal baggage—make their love story anything but simple.

Let’s get the obvious comparison out of the way: this *does* give *Young Royals* vibes (queer royalty navigating love and duty), but Gonzales makes it her own. The dual POV lets us see both girls’ vulnerabilities—Rose’s fear of never being seen as more than a headline, Danni’s struggle to belong in a world that treats her like an outsider—and their dynamic is equal parts sweet and frustrating (in the best way). Their banter crackles, but it’s the quieter moments that really got me: Rose slowly letting her guard down, Danni realizing she’s allowed to want things for herself.

What surprised me most was how grounded the story feels despite the royal glitz. Gonzales doesn’t shy away from tough topics—substance use, toxic friendships, the weight of coming out in a conservative society—but handles them with care. There’s a particularly well-done scene where a character is kissed without consent, and the fallout feels real, not just brushed aside for plot convenience. And the friendships here? Chef’s kiss. Rose’s fractured bond with her ex-bestie Molly is as gripping as the romance, full of resentment, grief, and the awkward hope of reconciliation.

That said, the book isn’t flawless. The pacing drags a bit in the middle, and if you’ve watched Young Royals, certain plot beats might feel overly familiar (though Gonzales’s author note explains this was written pre-Wilhelm and Simon). Still, the characters are so vividly drawn , Rose’s dry humor! Danni’s quiet determination!

Nobody in Particular is a love story, yes, but it’s also about figuring out who you are when the world keeps telling you who to be. It’s about the messiness of first love, the ache of growing apart from friends, and the courage it takes to stand up for yourself—even (especially) when you’re scared. If you’re into sapphic romances with emotional depth, a side of drama, and a happily-ever-after that feels earned, this one’s for you.



(Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette for the ARC!)

I enjoyed the ups and downs of Rose and Danni's relationship, as they tried to figure out how to be together, especially as their relationship had to be a secret

Nobody in Particular follows Princess Rose of Henland, who has recently been involved in a scandal that lost the trust of her country and her best friend. She is determined to repair her image and can't afford distractions. But when funny and beautiful new student joins her boarding school, she finds herself quite distracted. And the more new student Danni gets to know her classmates, the more intrigues she becomes by Rose. As their bond deepens and rumours became to swirl, being in the public eye adds to their pressure of their relationship, often threatening to tear them apart.

If you've watched Young Royals on Netflix then that definitely gives off the same vibes, both following a scholarship student and royalty who just happen to fall in love with each other. It's a trope that I definitely love so you can assume I would be eating this up. But I did feel a little disappointed, the chemistry to me just didn't flow as much I wanted it too, the constant on and off happening enough times to just annoy me more than anything, then how it was a tad rushed.. The pacing also felt a little off and some parts felt like it was unnecessary.

On a positive note I do like how this book explores first love, coming out and exploring the different dynamics with family struggles and friendships breakups. It was something that was written really well and I do like Rose's character, especially her development throughout the book. She is definitely one that grows on you.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc of this book! All opinions will be my own.

Oh my goodness, I loved this! This is my first Sophie Gonzales book and I am going to need to read the rest of them now.

Set in an all girls boarding school, Nobody in Particular is a wonderful, queer romance, that also deals with hard hitting topics, so please do check the trigger warnings. I cried several times

Rose and Danni complimented the other's character perfectly. While both know they know their own sexualities, it was interesting to see them navigate this and a secret relationship in a world that they are worried about how they will be treated if they came out.

This book was so full of hope, love (both romantic and platonic) and about realising who you want to be in the world. Highly recommend.

this is my first every Sophie Gonzales book and I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Had a great time with the characters and I loved the royalty aspect of it! It dealt with serious topics in a very careful way with still having some light hearted banter as well

Sophie Gonzales is one of the best YA contemporary writers out there now. She manages to write queer YA stories that feel extremely authentic and are compelling reads. As a huge fan of Young Royals, I was so excited for this book and I absolutely loved it. Both Danni and Rose were well developed characters and I loved the tension between the two of them. I will continue to read everything that Sophie writes.

I am incredibly grateful to both NetGalley and Hachette Children's Group for the opportunity to read and review Nobody in Particular. Being selected to explore this captivating story before its official release has been such a treat, and I can’t wait to share my thoughts on it with all of you. A huge thank you to the teams at NetGalley and Hachette Children's Group for their generosity and for making this advanced reading experience possible.

Nobody in Particular is a standout novel that warmly embraces themes of identity, love, and self-acceptance with humour, heart, and honesty. From the first page, I was drawn into a world that felt both fresh and deeply relatable, especially as a reader who appreciates authentic queer representation.

The story follows characters navigating the complexities of relationships and personal growth in a way that feels incredibly genuine. What I found most compelling about this book is how it handles bisexuality and queer identity—not as a plot device or stereotype, but as an integral part of the characters’ lives and experiences. The novel captures the messy, beautiful process of figuring out who you are and who you want to be with remarkable tenderness. It’s a love story that avoids clichés and instead feels honest and grounded, full of real emotions and relatable insecurities.

It truly was just such a cosy book for me to read. I really enjoyed it.

I think the only downside for me was the dual point of view, by the time I get halfway through the chapter I always forget who's chapter it is but that's very much an issue of mine rather than the author's. I just have terrible memory.

Beyond the romance, the novel also explores friendship, family dynamics, and the importance of community, adding rich layers to the narrative. The pacing is just right, balancing lighthearted moments with deeper emotional beats, making it a truly immersive read.

So I read this book on the plane, it’s basically tradition for me to read a Sophie Gonzales book on the plane, it’s happened on the last few trips I have taken, and I am really happy to say that I enjoyed this book! I mean it’s basically a guarantee that I will enjoy any and all of Sophie’s books, I have yet to dislike one, and I hope I never will! Sophie is definitely an auto buy author for me!

I really liked the private school setting and royalty attending said school, it gave me Princess Diaries vibes. I liked the main characters, Danni, who is not only new to the school, but also to the country, Henland, and Rose who is the princess. Unfortunately for Rose, her past has been following her and she has to be on her best behaviour. From the beginning it is mentioned that something happened in Amsterdam, and that Rose was involved in it somehow. This mystery is later told to the reader, but I really wanted to find out what happened and this was the first thing that had me hooked, turning the pages.

Apart from the Princess Diaries vibes I got, I also had some Young Royals (show on netflix) vibes, there is both in the show and in this book a scholarship student and royalty who fall in love. And they’re both queer! Nobody in Particular is a sapphic book, and Young Royals is achillean. But this isn’t a Young Royals review, though if you haven’t watched it then you need to! Danni is at the prestigious boarding school on a music scholarship, and I enjoyed the fact that we did have scenes of Danni practicing and attending music lessons in the book, as I feel like often the scholarship reason is overlooked or forgotten about after being mentioned, but not in this book! There were a few things that also reminded me of Red, White and Royal Blue, mainly the royalty “going against tradition” and sexuality of the royal. So if you enjoyed either of those movies/shows and books, you should definitely read Nobody in Particular.

There was a lot of drama in this book, there was some politics, and twists throughout. I found the chemistry believable and the progression of their friendship and romance, I loved the friendships between the supporting characters. There were a bunch of things that Nobody in Particular touched upon, moving to a new place and not knowing anyone, being a new person is a new place can be really daunting. Social Media and bullying are also big things, accountability, and alchohol/substance use in teens. Sexuality is also handled with care, especially as the two main characters and love interests are both females. The setting is in a place where there is stigma surrounding sexuality, and there is unsurity. There was also an element of fake dating, though Rose wasn’t particularly happy about it, and was done more to appease her parents and the people of Henland, though I did enjoy the twist regarding that!


This book is truly a testament to not giving up on what you love and want to do, this book is over a decade in the making and it is finally here! And I am so happy it is! Nobody in Particular is a queer commoner / royalty romance set in academia, and I really enjoyed it! I am giving Nobody in Particular 4 stars, and I am already impateintly awaiting the next book that Sophie Gonzales comes out with, she is truly an author who I know won’t disappoint!

Perfect for fans of Young Royals, Sophie Gonzales returns with another phenomenal queer YA. Filled with a variety of diverse characters it’s the exact kind of book I love seeing more of available to younger readers.

To me this felt like a warm hug with how seen I felt as someone who came out later in their education. From diversity and pride to betrayals and school drama it’s constantly engaging from start to finish. Our characters are incredibly passionate about the things they love, for our main character Danni this is piano, which results in the beautiful quote ‘Music is the closest thing we have to practical magic.’ One of our other main characters Rose is especially passionate about making change for minorities such as unhoused youth and domestic abuse victims which especially hits home hard for me with my own volunteering activities.

There is something about Sophie’s queer fictions that makes them unput-downable and each one I read I just love more. Perfectly, it has timed its release with pride month, which makes its messages of breaking societal norms and expectations of heteronormativity all the more powerful. Potentially my most favourite yet, I could not recommend this book more highly.

This was SO SO cute!! I just finished and my heart literally feels so warm.

I love the royal × commoner trope, especially when that commoner is from a non royalist country, so I was already excited for this. At first, the writing/characters did feel on the younger side of YA, and I was a little disappointed by it, but after a couple chapters it shifted away from that, and felt more older YA, which continued on throughout the book.

I love both our main characters of Danni and Rose, I loved that they were both so sure of who they are in regards to their sexuality, while still learning how they fit into the world as teenagers.

Both girls went through a journey of self progression, be that with stage fright or how to process emotions or how they want to be perceived by others, and it was so nice to see this done so realistically in stages throughout the book instead of some insta fixes.

their romance was so sweet, it genuinely made me smile and roll my eyes and as mentioned, it made my heart warm. I loved their banter and dynamic.

I also loved the way sexuality and being queer was handled in terms of the monarchy and a Catholic majority country, how being outted and social media and just being a lesbian/bi was portrayed. And i agree with what Danni said, Rose being a lesbian would make her uniquely qualified to represent the people of her country that don't usually feel seen.

She did it again, folks. Sophie Gonzales has knocked it out of the park again.

I love how this was both Sophie’s first book and yet also her most recent one in a whole collection of released works. All throughout reading I constantly kept this in mind, thinking about how silly the publishers were for not scooping it up back then, but also thinking about what kind of reception it would have had if it were published when originally intended. But they’re all side thoughts!

This book was brilliant. I adored both Rose and Danni. Gonzales gave both characters an equal amount of time in the page, and I felt both characters were fully developed and had their own arcs and storylines. Sometimes with dual POVs, especially in romance, I find that one character usually suffers a bit more in terms of the story not paying as much attention to them but this was definitely not the case here.

I loved how this book explored first love, coming out, friendships, friendship breakups and grief. I loved how it explored complicated family dynamics and the societal and familiar pressures a lot of young adults can face. I think while the situation is something a lot of us will never experience (to my knowledge I’m not a Crown Princess) I think at the core and the heart of it the struggles are similar to that of any ‘ordinary’ teen.

I really loved the relationship between Danni and Rose and how it grew organically. I loved how honest and open they were with each other. I love how they grew as a couple.

Another great thing about this were the friendships. I loved Molly and Eleanor and thought they were two great friends and supporting characters. I really liked seeing Molly and Roses friendship over the course of the book, and how they began to learn to navigate their differences and their problems. I thought that was really important and special and it can show the trauma that can come alongside grief, and how people react differently.

All in all, I really loved this book and I would highly recommend it!

Euphoria x Young Royals in this superb boarding-school royal romance.

If there is one thing people know about me as a reader, it is that I don’t enjoy drama. Relationship drama (not strictly romantic) in my books is simply something I avoid, and this book is fuelled by such conflicts.
So, it should stand as a testament to Sophie Gonzales storytelling and writing that despite this book centring around the interpersonal character conflicts and relationships, I loved this book.

Nobody in Particular made for addictive reading, the kind of story that can easily be devoured in one sitting (partially because if you’re like me, you’re so stressed for the characters that you *need* to get to that happy ending).

Tonally, this book reached far darker places than I had expected (do as I say, not as I do and check the trigger warnings!), but never did any of the characters struggles with trauma or mental illness feel like it was not earnt. Yes, the characters suffer (a lot), and we see them reach their lowest lows, but more importantly, we see the journey after “rock bottom” and we get to see Danni and Rose heal and flourish as individuals as well as with each other.

Anyone who enjoys stories with flawed but lovable characters, forbidden romances and journeys of self-discovery will find the pain that this book brings (So. Much. Pain.) worth every moment of suffering for the payoff.

The book definitely feels like Young Royals so if that's your jam, read this book! We follow a princess at a boarding school with another girl from a scholarship background.

The author's writing is good but I found it difficult to find myself reaching for it. As much as I enjoyed it, I will say that the speed felt very slow. It was difficult to engage with the text as it felt like it was taken ages to get to the plot and in general the book focused more on character than plot which is not what I'm used to. I'm used to the plot and characterization balancing each other out but it definitely felt like the characterization took centre stage here - which was a surprise as that's usually not the case in the author's other books.

Nobody in Particular is a book that reminds me why I love Sophie Gonzales’ writing. Her writing makes me feel … elated. Even when I’m upset over what’s happening on the page, reading her books makes me feel a deep sense of joy. I love her style, and I always adore her characters.

I read a somewhat similar book years back, which this reminds me of, except, this is better. This feels perfectly executed, and is such a lovely, and kind of hopeful story. I would read this again. I will be buying this after release.