AMERICAN ROYALS BY KATHARINE MCGEE // book review

first impression: this book reminds me of this wattpad book i read yEARS ago where the US’s first daughter falls in love with her guard and the selection (in the beginning, beatrice kind of reminds me of eadlyn lol) (i take that back). but that’s only from the first chapter, american royals is so much more (in a the-drama-never-ends kind of way).

american royals by katharine mcgee

pages: 448

published by random house books for young readers on 3 september 2019

genres: romance, young adult, contemporary, fiction

rating: ★★★.5

What if America had a royal family?

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling.

Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her.

And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

boy, are we in for a ride. reading this was like watching a soap opera—american royals is equal parts entertaining and frustrating. disclaimer: i know i probably sound like i don’t like this book but i actually liked it haha.

“Elect the king or queen—what a funny concept.”

the first thing that got me intrigued about this book was the concept: an alternate history of america where instead of democracy, the country is ruled by monarchs. this brings us to the four POVs. there’s beatrice who’s next in line for the throne (she’s to become america’s first queen), samantha: the princess who’s nothing like her sister beatrice, nina who gets dragged into all the royal drama (also sam’s best friend!) and finally we’ve got daphne: her manipulative schemes to win back prince jeff will make you want to slap her across the face (or worse, depending on your level of annoyance). 

“From now on, you are two people at once: Beatrice the girl, and Beatrice, heir to the crown. When they want different things, the crown must win. Always.”

my favourite character out of the four would probably be beatrice, even though i thought her part would be the most boring when i read the first few chapters. it was refreshing to read her storyline because it was not as intertwined with the other three (which is more often than not filled with a ton of drama). the only other person she regularly interacts with out of the four POVs is samantha, who she has somewhat of an estranged relationship with because of misunderstandings.

i think it’s safe to say that daphne is my least favourite character. the fact that we had to sit through her inner monologue was exhausting because she thinks that what she’s doing is right. so, you can expect her chapters to sound unbearably self-righteous at times. if i were to reread the novel, i’d probably skip her chapters to be honest.

other notable characters included the royal family: the king, queen and their son (sam’s twin) jefferson (because we’re not daphne, we’re just going to call him jeff). we barely got to know the queen since the story is mainly focused on the teens so there really isn’t much to her character. the king (i’m pretty sure they have names but i can’t remember) (never mind it’s king george and queen adelaide lmao), on the other hand, is more fleshed out towards the end. the ending of the book is also where family plays a central role in the novel—everyone was together instead of dealing with their own problems (and mind you, they had a LOT of problems).

“Real love comes from creating a family together, from facing life together—with all its messes and surprises and joys.”

for jeff, i also felt like there isn’t much substance to his character other than being every girl’s dream guy i guess. i did like his relationship with one of the main characters hehe, but that did not last long. one thing that i did not like was how he took the side of a certain someone at the end of the book.

moving on to the romances (i’ll be talking more about the relationships in the spoilers section below because i don’t want to spoil anything)!! all four of the girls had their pairings, with the novel was mainly focused on their relationships. if you’re looking for smooth-sailing relationships, this is not the book lol. sure, there are super cute and fluffy moments (which i adored), but each relationship also has their fair share of problems. i loved beatrice and nina’s relationships, i didn’t really care for sam’s, and daphne’s was a firm no for me.

“It was so much easier to break an arm than to break your heart. Hearts didn’t heal themselves. Hearts didn’t remake themselves stronger than before.”

overall, there wasn’t a very definite plot that we were following, not that this is a bad thing because it keeps you on your toes. sometimes the storylines were separate, and sometimes they were connected. the pacing was fine and it was very easy to finish the book. also, it was very entertaining!! i swear, it’s like one moment everyone is happy and all’s good and the next moment everything came crashing down. yes, it was frustrating, but it also made me not want to put down the book because i was hoping that some things might be resolved later on haha. 

regarding the sequel majesty, i’m kind of conflicted on whether or not i should read it. i’ve read both really good and bad reviews soooo… i’ve also sort of spoiled myself on some things in the second book when i read reviews and i don’t really like where it’s going?? okay but i’ve put majesty on hold on overdrive so i’ll most likely end up reading it so i’ll know the ending. (update: as of publishing this, i’m currently reading majesty haha)

anyway, if you’re looking for a quick, entertaining read or you’re in a reading slump (like me zz), check out american royals. and now on to the spoilers part where i talk even more about the book (particularly the relationships haha).

spoilers ahead!!

i’m going to break this down into four sections to make this easier.

beatrice (and connor)

• hands down my favourite couple, i was rooting so hard for them omg
• i loved the part when she reminisces their time in harvard ahhhh 
• the sharpie ring is SO CUTE (i was praying she wouldn’t rub it off or something and she didn’t so yay)
• tbh at first i thought there really wasn’t any hope for them because beatrice is so duty-bound (plus everyone expects her to be like that)
• but! i was so happy when she told connor that she’d tell her dad that she wants to call off the wedding with teddy
• ok but deep down i had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy
• and you know what, i was actually right wow (happy times really don’t last in this book i swear)
• my theory is that before the king died, he wanted to tell her to marry connor but NOPE of course he died instead
• and of course, beatrice, being grief-stricken, is now back to square one aka she’s still going to marry teddy from what it seems by the ending (also, sam was being such a bitch about it like gurlie your dad just died, give beatrice a break man).
• i still really want a happy ending for the both of them though (their relationship was so sweet!!). but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen
• frustration level: 5/10 (their relationship problems were mainly due to unfortunate circumstances so it’s understandable i guess)

sam (and teddy)

• their relationship was doomed from the beginning so i honestly wasn’t too invested in them lmao
• they said they loved each other like once (i think?) and kissed a couple of times but that’s it
• is it just me or i thought teddy was a little bland? maybe i just didn’t care enough about him (because beatrice didn’t love him anyway and nothing was actually going to happen with sam)
• lol it’s so fucking weird that the two sisters are trapped in this sort of love triangle with teddy
• i didn’t like how sam kept blaming beatrice/saw herself as the victim when it comes to teddy being engaged to beatrice (sam was kind of a bitch towards beatrice but at least they made up so that was nice)
• at least sam doesn’t like daphne so we’re on the same page when it comes to that HAHA
• frustration level: 2/10 (i just didn’t think there would be a ‘clean’ way for them to be together so ehhh)

nina (and jeff)

• their relationship was honestly pretty cute even though it didn’t last very long
• loved how jeff brought a milkshake to make up with nina at the party (that scene was SO cute)
• BUT!! daphne got into the way so it obviously didn’t end well (the way it ended was so damn frustrating)
• tbh their relationship was quite predictable lmao, with the whole “manipulative ex wants to get back the guy, current girlfriend is no match for said ex and the guy who can’t fucking see the ex for who she really is” situation. add these three up and you get a failed relationship.
• if only nina would just stand up for herself against daphne and didn’t give up so easily
• i was waiting for her to tell sam about what daphne did to her so that sam could at least talk some sense into jeff and/or expose daphne for the conniving bitch that she is but nope. she just kept quiet and LEFT. for good.
• my last hope for their relationship was when nina went to the hospital. but alas, she LEFT when she saw daphne. if only she had let jeff see her :”(
• speaking of jeff, he’s actually so dense and naive omg
• i can’t believe he immediately took daphne’s side instead of nina’s (why on earth would nina lie about daphne out of nowhere)
• maybe he deserves to end up with daphne (i really hope not though)
• i’ll forever mourn their relationship
• frustration level: 11/10

daphne (and ethan)

• dare i say these are the two shittiest people in this book??
• i don’t even know where to begin with daphne abdjksh
• she’s really taking things TOO FAR with the whole “getting back jeff” plan because how delusional can she be to believe that she’s the only one who deserves jeff
• i thought perhaps she would have a redemption arc when she expressed her doubts to her mom but well that was over quickly
• ok well i guess her parents are kind of to be blamed as well for the social-climbing obsession
• can we talk about how she fucking roofied her supposed best friend which resulted the said best friend to be in a coma for MONTHS?? i really hope when she wakes up, she’ll expose daphne so everyone (especially jeff) will see her true colours once and for all
• one word to describe daphne and ethan’s relationship: problematic
• ethan…he’d be a decent person if not for the fact that he loves daphne despite knowing how much of an evil bitch she is
• isn’t he supposed to be jeff’s best friend?? honestly at this point i pity jeff for being surrounded by these two snakes
• i don’t like how ethan romanticises daphne’s manipulative behaviour
• omg why do i feel like the rest of the characters would be so screwed if the two of them starts scheming together to ruin everyone’s lives (so daphne can get what she wants) in the sequel 😮
• frustration level: 8389324/10 (why, just WHY)

well, there you go. i’m finally done writing and holy shit it’s way longer that i thought it’d be. and i’m not even trying to make it long in the first place. i guess it’s easier to rant than explain why you like something. i still can’t decide on the rating for this book (it’ll be either 3 or 4 stars anyway).

also, i’m curious: does anyone like daphne? if yes, do tell me why because i think it would be quite interesting to hear from another point of view haha.

what did you think of american royals?