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.
GENRE:
Young Adult, Contemporary
PAGES:
488 pages
PART OF A SERIES?:
the 1st in a series
RELEASE DATE:
September 3rd 2019
PUBLISHER:
Random House Books for Young Readers
SOURCE:
Library Ebook
YOU CAN PRE-ORDER THE BOOK AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE/LIBRARY OR THE FOLLOWING LINKS:
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
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.
MY REVIEW
I knew immediately that I wanted to read this book. I don’t think I’d even read the full description when I knew I wanted to read this book. I love modern day royalty. I was obsessed with Princess Di as a child and I love seeing what the royals are up to nowadays. I remember squealing when Princess Charlotte was born. I love books like The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot and Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins. I was expecting a book of that nature but honestly, I got so much more than that.
First off, I love history. I’m a history buff. In college, I was a history major, focusing on American history and especially the American Revolution. I loved that Katharine took the Revolution and changed it – George Washington takes a crown instead of a presidency and its the House of Washington that has ruled for the past two centuries. I absolutely adored the little tidbits of known US history being twisted to fit the new narrative that Katharine created. The alternate history was incredible to contemplate and I think it was done really well – none of it felt impossible. It felt completely plausible that this is what the US would look like if George had taken a crown.
I also really love the depth that is in the story. If I thought I was signing up for a lighthearted, fun story about young royals, I was definitely wrong. Don’t get me wrong – it was definitely a fun read. I sat down and read it in a matter of hours because I was hooked immediately. It just had so much more depth than that. Beatrice is going to be the very first Queen of America after years of only Kings and its a lot to put on a young woman’s shoulders – especially since her parents are pressuring her to find a consort. Samantha is the younger princess, both wanting the spotlight and not. Nina is the best friend of Samantha and the love interest of Prince Jefferson. Its all these pressures that a lot of young adults go through but with the addition of the weight of the crown on their heads and its just done so well. I cared about every character – even Daphne, who is diabolical – and I cared about what they cared about and I cared about what happened to them. This was an incredibly emotional and thought provoking novel. One minute I was laughing and the next, my heart was going out to one of the characters.
I can’t wait until the sequel comes out. There is little to no information about it but after that EPIC cliffhanger at the end of this book, I seriously need to find out what happens next. I was hanging on the edge of my seat and then the book just abruptly ended and I was left with a WTF I NEED MORE. So please, Katharine, write the sequel quickly and send it to a poor reader in need!
RATING:
5 out of 5 Stars
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