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.
Side Note:
Before
I get into my review of American Royals, I wanted to make a side note. This book
is fiction. It is a re-imagining of what the world could have been if we didn’t
elect Washington as president. This author does not deserve the negative press
she was been getting for writing a book of fiction. It is quite appalling that
this book community can’t separate works of fiction from facts. It is okay to
re-imagine a world a different way without you complaining about something be
colonized and stolen from native people. This is a work of fiction. Honestly
readers need to get over themselves and stop shaming readers and authors. It is
okay for people to have imaginations and to write books about the ways the
re-imagine something. Maybe people should actually read a book before you start
calling something racist. There wasn’t any racism in this book. In all honesty,
it is about a royal family more than America itself. This book community needs
to stop sitting on its high horse and judging books they have never read. It is
becoming a disgusting and toxic habit.
Review:
American
Royals by Katharine McGee kind of makes you wish that America had a royal
family. You see how much Britain enjoys their royal family. Even American’s get
invested in it. Most kids wanted to be royalty when they were little until
reality set up. What if you were born royal and you wanted to be anything but.
I think we always want something that we can’t have. This book is about
possibilities and what America would look like today if George Washington had
accepted the offer to become the first American King instead of creating the
presidency we have today.
American
Royals follows the lives of the Washington’s. This is the American royal
family. I really enjoyed this fun re-imagining. We have this family that is
always in the spotlight. Some like being royal and others do not. It seems that
everyone is in love with someone they shouldn’t. When you are a royal,
everything you do is observed. Beatrice Washington is the first born daughter.
Thank you to her grandfather, she will be the first woman to take the throne
instead of it falling to the first born male heir. The one thing she can’t
escape is her parents would like her to marry and still have a king consort to
rule by her side. All Beatrice really dreams about is to be free and make her
own choices. She wants to be able to choose who she marries.
Next
you have Samantha Washington. She is the oldest in a set of twins. Sam likes to
refer to herself as being the spare. She doesn’t think that she can have a mark
on history because no one really cares. Sam’s version of dealing with this is
to try to be the worst princesses she can be because at least people would
remember that right? Sam doesn’t realize is she really could make an impact if
she tried. She desires to be loved and cherished instead of being used for her
status.
Then
we have Jefferson Washington. He would have been the heir to the throne if his
grandfather hadn’t changed the law. Jefferson is America’s heartthrob. Every
girl wants to date him. All he wants is to be with the girl he loves. Even if
it isn’t approved. There is so much pressure when every girl wants to date you.
One of Jefferson’s biggest issues in life is he trusts the wrong people.
We
all know that there is always a best friend in the story. Nina Gonzalez is Sam’s
best friend. She has grown up in the palace her whole life due to her mother
working for the king. Nina has a secret. She is in love with Jefferson. She
didn’t mean to be. The last thing she wants to do is ruin her friendship with
Sam. What happens if this secret gets out? Is Nina going to survive her private
world no longer being private?
Every
good royal family needs a villain to go up against. In American Royals, that is
Daphne Deighton. She believes that she was born to be a princess. She has
created a persona to be the perfect wife for Jefferson. When she and Jeff broke
up she decided that she was going to fight her way back to his side. Even if
that meant taking others down with her. The one thing she has going for her is
Jefferson thinks she can do no wrong. Maybe she can use this to her advantage.
American
Royals is told in four point of views. We have Beatrice, Samantha, Nina, and
Daphne. With these points of views, we really get to know each of these woman.
We find out where they are coming rom and why they make the decisions that they
do. This book is filled with so much drama. I really enjoyed the world
building. Each woman is trying to create her own path in this world even if it
is against what everyone else thinks they should do. I thought McGee did a
great job with this book. She kept me hooked from the very beginning. I read
the whole book in a single day because I was that hooked. You should definitely
check it out and I can’t wait for book two.
About the Author:
Katharine McGee is the New York Times bestselling author of American Royals and The Thousandth Floor trilogy. She studied English and French literature at Princeton University and has an MBA from Stanford. She lives in her hometown of Houston, TX with her husband.
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