With an interesting premise that falls disappointingly flat, Katharine McGee’s “American Royals” portrays a fun, if shallow, alternate universe where the United States has a royal family.
Told from for different perspectives, the novel centers on the royal Washingtons as the heir to the throne, Princess Beatrice, prepares to find a suitor. Her younger sister, Princess Samantha, copes with her lack of attention from her family and society as a whole while her best friend, Nina Gonzalez, enters a secret romance with her brother, Prince Jefferson. Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend, Daphne Deighton, attempts to rekindle their relationship.
Even with four separate plots simultaneously occurring, the novel still manages to feel slightly unfinished. The conflict itself emits a similarly low-stakes energy, which shouldn’t be an issue in a book about an extremely powerful ruling family. All things considered, I would give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.