okay this might be controversial to some but…i actually like majesty more than american royals. going into this, i had little to none expectations considering i had read reviews saying that majesty did not live up to their expectations and was overall quite disappointing. while i’m kind of meh about some parts of this book, it was honestly a little bit more enjoyable than american royals. (P.S. read my review for american royals here)
reading majesty is like waking up from a dream that was american royals. unlike american royals, majesty is a lot more mature and realistic. it’s kind of like an ‘expectations vs reality’ situation if you think about it. to really give this book a chance, you have to keep an open mind and also note that the characters do change.
majesty by katharine mcgee
pages: 374
published by random house books for young readers on 1 september 2020
genres: romance, young adult, contemporary, fiction
rating: ★★★★☆
Is America ready for its first queen?
Power is intoxicating. Like first love, it can leave you breathless. Princess Beatrice was born with it. Princess Samantha was born with less. Some, like Nina Gonzalez, are pulled into it. And a few will claw their way in. Ahem, we’re looking at you Daphne Deighton.
As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her “party princess” persona…and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace–and Prince Jefferson–at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne’s carefully laid “marry Prince Jefferson” plans.
A new reign has begun….
the review below contain spoilers from american royals and majesty!!
majesty begins from where we last left off—the death of king george and the subsequent coronation of beatrice. this becomes a catalyst for the change in the characters (particularly beatrice and samantha) and relationships. i think one reason a lot of people were upset with this book was how none of the relationships established in american royals continued. that’s how i initially felt at first too, but after a while, i understood why some of these relationships had to end.
this book is very much character-driven, even more so than american royals. while there were still the same four POVs, their storylines don’t intersect as much as before. the four girls each had their own separate problems and goals, so sometimes it feels like i’m reading four different stories. in the previous book, i thought beatrice was quite isolated from the other three, but in majesty, nina was the one whose storyline felt separate.
“From now on, Beatrice would choose her own fate.”
now that beatrice is queen, she finds herself struggling to establish herself as the monarch. it doesn’t help that some people don’t think she’s a right fit for the throne because she’s a woman (ugh). i love her character development so much here!! throughout the course of the story, she becomes more sure of herself and even stands up to those who are against her becoming queen.
connor completely disappears from the plot, only appearing at the beginning and the end of the book. i was kind of sad that he and beatrice didn’t work out, but it was definitely more realistic this way. enter teddy. i really like the development of beatrice and teddy’s relationship, it just made sense yaknow.
“Connor wanted to charge in like a knight in shining amour, offering to rescue her. Whereas Teddy gave her the confidence to rescue herself.”
samantha also grew as a character and became more mature. in the beginning, when she was resenting beatrice for choosing to go ahead with the marriage, you can see the remnants of sam in american royals. but she became a lot more understanding and even developed a bond with her sister. i didn’t like how she kept mentioning she was “the spare”, “the disappointment” blah blah blah. after a while, it sort of feels like the author is just constantly shoving this personality trait (??) of sam in our faces. i get that this is an important part of her character development, but still, her whining and complaining doesn’t really do much to push the story forward.
romance-wise, sam finally sees that she and teddy would never work out so yay. and now, to spice things up, the author decided to throw in a fake dating plot. it was a little cliche, but i still enjoyed it nonetheless. i mean, this duology is filled with drama so what’s new. plus, i liked marshall.
as i’ve mentioned before, nina was mostly living her own life, away from all the royal drama. she appeared for some events and hung out with sam, but that’s about it. it made sense anyway, for her to not be so involved after breaking up with jeff (how they broke up still makes me so frustrated). as much as i liked their relationship, i’m glad they didn’t end up back together again.
nina’s relationship with ethan felt pretty random. lmao is the author just trying to mix and match the pairings?? i knew it wasn’t going to end well, starting with the fact that ethan only got close to her because daphne asked him too. the way nina found out was quite ironic (and funny) because daphne revealed it to her at yet another royal event—just like she did last time—in hopes that they would break up. talk about deja vu. well, at least this time around, nina got the final say in their confrontation.
there’s one person you can count on to remain the same, and that’s none other than our bELoVeD daphne deighton. she’s still scheming and manipulating her way into jeff’s heart. i’m honestly upset that no one (NO ONE) calls her out for all the shit that she did. himari chose not to expose daphne for being the one who put her in a coma, beatrice didn’t put daphne in her place after daphne blackmailed her (i really thought she’d do something with her authority as queen), and nina didn’t tell a single soul about how daphne ruined her relationship with jeff. i was internally screaming when nina saw sam cozying up to daphne and yet she still kept daphne’s true colours a secret.
“Daphne, some of us actually want to keep our best friends, not push them down staircases”
i’m sorry i had to put that quote in because it actually made me LAUGHED. moving on, let’s talk about how she suddenly realised she loved ethan after two whole books’ worth of plot. she was the one who pushed him towards nina and now she expects him to come crawling back to her just because she confessed?? i’m glad ethan FINALLY put her in her place. despite the fact she clearly loves ethan, her ending was expected—she ends up with jeff. this literally brings her back to square one, forfeiting any potential character growth here.
it’s just my personal opinion but daphne’s ending would have been a lot more satisfying if she either i) got called out for her shit or ii) ended her obsession with jeff and/or social climbing. alas, we can’t get what we all want.
i may not like jeff a lot, but give that poor guy some screen time please. he was practically non-existent in majesty, making it impossible to even give his character a chance. he was left out of the whole sibling bonding thing beatrice and sam had, which made me feel bad for him. did they…forget he existed? and i can never understand how dense he is to the point that he can’t see past daphne’s facade. honestly, i want to read his POV so at least i know what he’s thinking (or is he even thinking at all).
the ending felt really rushed, and the crisis before the wedding just felt like a convenient way to tie things up. all the build up from before was literally solved during this. connor suddenly reappeared so their relationship can officially end, daphne confessed that she loved ethan (all it took was a security threat for her to realise her true feelings, love that for her), nina finds out the truth, and sam and marshall made up (speaking of which, his outburst was so freaking random and out of the blue). other than the pacing, the ending was pretty good in the sense that it was mostly realistic.
what can i say? majesty is way better than i expected. it does have its flaws, and deviates from american royals plot-wise, but it’s still enjoyable overall. and it wasn’t as frustrating as american royals, which is always a good thing. i would say majesty fits the bill if you want to read something not too heavy but entertaining at the same time.
stardust pages 