Jill's Book Blog

Title: American Royals
Author: Katharine McGee
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Random House
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

What if America had a royal family? If you can’t get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha.

Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown. 
Two girls vying for the prince’s heart. 
This is the story of the American royals.

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. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren’t just any royals. They’re American. And their country was born of rebellion.

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.

The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded–and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history.

Review:

This book definitely lived up to the hype!

I loved this reimagining of America. It shows what it would have been like if the United States had a monarchy instead of the government. It was a unique revision of history.

There were four different narratives of girls who are part of the royal family. Two narratives were of the princesses, Beatrice and Samantha. The other two narratives were about girls who were on the outside of the royal family but were very close friends of the family, Nina and Daphne. All of these perspectives gave a complete picture of the life of the royal family.

The only thing that bothered me about this story was how boy crazy the girls were. They were all strong, independent women, yet they spent all of their time worrying about the boys they liked. The multiple relationships made for some intense scenes, because no one was ending up with the person they loved. However, I wished the women were able to live without depending on those men.

I loved this book! I hope the story continues because it left on quite a cliffhanger!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Royals (Royals #1) by Rachel Hawkins

Have you read American Royals? What did you think of it?

Title: Permanent Record
Author: Mary H.K. Choi
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Emergency Contact, which Rainbow Rowell called “smart and funny,” comes an unforgettable new romance about how social media influences relationships every day.

On paper, college dropout Pablo Rind doesn’t have a whole lot going for him. His graveyard shift at a twenty-four-hour deli in Brooklyn is a struggle. Plus, he’s up to his eyeballs in credit card debt. Never mind the state of his student loans.

Pop juggernaut Leanna Smart has enough social media followers to populate whole continents. The brand is unstoppable. She graduated from child stardom to become an international icon and her adult life is a queasy blur of private planes, step-and-repeats, aspirational hotel rooms, and strangers screaming for her just to notice them.

When Leanna and Pablo meet at 5:00 a.m. at the bodega in the dead of winter it’s absurd to think they’d be A Thing. But as they discover who they are, who they want to be, and how to defy the deafening expectations of everyone else, Lee and Pab turn to each other. Which, of course, is when things get properly complicated. 

Review:

I really enjoyed this new novel.

Pablo straddles two different cultures, Korean and Pakistani. Since he is part of two different backgrounds, he doesn’t really feel accepted by either one. He hasn’t even travelled to either of his parents’ birthplaces, making him feel even more left out. This affects the rest of his life, leaving him unable to finish school and even abandoning his job.

I loved how realistic this book felt. It felt like I was reading about someone’s real life. Pablo has a pretty ordinary and unexciting life until he meets a pop star and they begin a relationship. Even though this extraordinary event happens to him, he is drawn back to his real life. The ending was perfect for this ordinary boy.

This is a great young adult novel!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

Have you read Permanent Record? What did you think of it?