Release Date: September 3, 2019
American Royals | Author: Katharine McGee | Rating: 11/11
In all my years I have never been so emotionally involved in a book. I have never been so annoyed-to-boredom with a single character that I wish to fast forward through the chapter. I have never felt love and heartache come so alive through the pages that I feel like I’m the one living through it. I have never wept for my non-existent reigning monarch. And I most certainly have never put off reading final chapters because I wasn’t ready for the story to end. American Royals by Katharine McGee changed all of that.
This alt-history YA novel, set in modern-day America, is filled with feminine power. Each chapter is told from a different female character’s perspective. There’s Beatrice, heir to the throne, who thanks to recent amendments will become America’s first Queen (instead of the responsibility passing to the firstborn SON). There’s Daphne, who comes from a suitable family and was raised to be royal, now ex-girlfriend to Prince Jefferson. There’s Nina, a commoner, who grew up in the palace as best friend to Princess Samantha and currently in love with the Prince. Which brings us to Samantha, Jefferson and Sam are twins freshly out of high school trying to figure out their place in life.
This is a story of love, real love. The love for yourself, for another, for your family, for your country and obligations. The kind of love that you have to fight for, the kind of love that isn’t easy, the kind of love that makes you question who you are. This is also a coming-of-age story, a female empowerment story, and a story of the sacrifices each of us has to make to chase after our dreams. It isn’t always pretty, but it’s real. And this reader will be counting down the days until the American Royals story continues Fall of 2020.