Review: American Royals by Katherine McGee

I think you can sense a theme of what kind of books I’m drawn to. I’ve read a lot about royalty, presumed royalty (like Alice Roosevelt in American Princess), and fictional royalty. When I saw the cover of American Royals by Katherine McGee, I knew I had to have it. 

If you liked The Royal We (which is one of my favorite books to reread), I think you will really enjoy this. I read it pretty quickly, in two days, and am looking forward to the possibility of a sequel. However, if you’re tired of the classic “heir and spare” dynamic, maybe skip this one, because it’s discussed A LOT. 

American Royals focuses on a future where George Washington became the first king of the United States and in 2019, his descendants are still ruling. Beatrice is the heir to her father’s crown and thanks to a law passed by her grandfather, she will be the first Queen to rule in her own right and NOT have the crown inherited by the eldest male heir. She’s under a lot of pressure to be perfect, to make the people love her, when all she wants is to be loved for who she truly is. Her twin siblings, Samantha and Jefferson can what the please which has landed them all in quite the sticky situation. 

This novel is also multi-perspective. I’m not always the biggest fan of this style; I think it can be done really well but I always form certain allegiances to characters and I can get bored or impatient if we doin’t revisit their perspective enough. I love Beatrice and found her perspective the most interesting! Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect to Nina. Sometimes I wasn’t sure what she was trying to say or represent as the “commoner”. I didn’t feel like she was 100% relatable, especially since she wanted to hide her friendship with Sam. Nothing makes me sadder than an unequal friendship. Daphne is bananas as the villain and made me so angry, but it was fun anger since I can’t imagine a real person being such a social climber. But those people exist! 

I personally think the concept is really clever and a fun “what if” to play with. Do you ever wonder what the United States would be like today if George Washington HAD accepted the nomination for King? I think about it all the time. 

This writing is fun and engaging and typical of a YA/Adult Fiction book. I enjoyed this book, it’s a really fun read and a fun topic especially if you love all things royal. Which I definitely do. All in all, a four star read for me! Thank you to Random House for the advanced e-copy!