Majesty by Katharine McGee
“Pizza sounds delicious,” she amended. “Mushroom, please.”
He let out an indignant breath. “It’s a pizza, not a salad.”
“If you weren’t going to listen, why did you bother asking?”
“Because I assumed you had better taste than to want vegetables.”
Can you see why Ethan is my absolute favorite?
PLEASE READ AMERICAN ROYALS BEFORE CONTINUING!! THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Power is intoxicating. Like first love, it can leave you breathless. Princess Beatrice was born with it. Princess Samantha was born with less. Some, like Nina Gonzalez, are pulled into it. And a few will claw their way in. Ahem, we're looking at you Daphne Deighton.
As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her "party princess" persona...and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace--and Prince Jefferson--at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne's carefully laid "marry Prince Jefferson" plans.
A new reign has begun....
It’s official. No one writes characters like Katharine McGee. She drew me in with The Thousandth Floor and the plethora of painful characters. Now she’s worked her magic again, but with a twist. The American Royals series is insanely clever because all four povs are women: Beatrice, Nina, Daphne, and Sam. They’re not always likeable, but they’re always interesting. They are the main driving characters of the story, and they all have agency. Their relationships and lives are all messy and complicated, but they’re well developed and thought out. They’re all different too, something that you rarely see in one book. I feel like most YA novels have some iteration of the same heroine, and it’s nice to see one book with so many different types of women. The multiple povs also allow you to get into your heads, and Katharine McGee shows you what they’re thinking and feeling, not just what they’re doing.
As far as the boys go, Ethan is my favorite. Teddy redeems himself quite well after his behavior in the first book, and he started to grow on me as well. I was most disappointed for Jefferson, though, who kind of just fades into the background and becomes nothing more than the object of Daphne’s obsession. We hear a lot about him, but we never really get to see him. Considering that he’s directly connected to every narrator, it was kind of surprising how little he is mentioned at all.
The name of the game this time around is growth, and we don’t see any from Jefferson. Everyone else, though, holy cow. All the aforementioned characters go through complete 180s, which can be kind of disorienting, especially if you liked them the way that they were before. There is a lot of drama, and some of it feels a tad forced, but it’s still pretty fun. The zingy one-liners and bantering between characters was enjoyable, and I sped through this book in two nights.
Somehow, though, this series just isn’t able to raise the stakes the way that The Thousandth Floor series did. The characters are just lacking the same dangerous mix of desperation and determination. The only one that comes close is Daphne; the other characters are just angsty and insecure. This all just serves to villainize Daphne, especially in comparison to all the other characters who are inherently good, if somewhat confused. Daphne is pretty similar to Leda, except she is selfish and single minded where Leda was fiercely loyal and loving. Beatrice’s struggles to rule America were the most interesting; I was possibly influenced by the fact that I was in the middle of studying about the Presidency for AP Gov, and possibly influenced by my affinity for young monarchs. I would have appreciated some higher stakes for the politics, though. Something to bring some weight to the storyline. Though the first book ended on a serious note, this one just seemed to float along. Still, the references to American government were priceless, and Beatrice’s uphill battle was well expressed.
Out of the four storylines, one wraps up neatly, two reach resolutions, and one still has some underlying tension. It’s a pretty nice ending that gives a good sense of closure but still left me with enough curiosity to pursue the next book. And it doesn't have an overwhelming amount of loose ends that I’ll inevitably forget.
Overall, Majesty was a fun read that really dives into the psyche of its characters all while riding a breezy and fresh plot.
He let out an indignant breath. “It’s a pizza, not a salad.”
“If you weren’t going to listen, why did you bother asking?”
“Because I assumed you had better taste than to want vegetables.”
Can you see why Ethan is my absolute favorite?
PLEASE READ AMERICAN ROYALS BEFORE CONTINUING!! THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!!
As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her "party princess" persona...and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace--and Prince Jefferson--at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne's carefully laid "marry Prince Jefferson" plans.
A new reign has begun....
It’s official. No one writes characters like Katharine McGee. She drew me in with The Thousandth Floor and the plethora of painful characters. Now she’s worked her magic again, but with a twist. The American Royals series is insanely clever because all four povs are women: Beatrice, Nina, Daphne, and Sam. They’re not always likeable, but they’re always interesting. They are the main driving characters of the story, and they all have agency. Their relationships and lives are all messy and complicated, but they’re well developed and thought out. They’re all different too, something that you rarely see in one book. I feel like most YA novels have some iteration of the same heroine, and it’s nice to see one book with so many different types of women. The multiple povs also allow you to get into your heads, and Katharine McGee shows you what they’re thinking and feeling, not just what they’re doing.
As far as the boys go, Ethan is my favorite. Teddy redeems himself quite well after his behavior in the first book, and he started to grow on me as well. I was most disappointed for Jefferson, though, who kind of just fades into the background and becomes nothing more than the object of Daphne’s obsession. We hear a lot about him, but we never really get to see him. Considering that he’s directly connected to every narrator, it was kind of surprising how little he is mentioned at all.
The name of the game this time around is growth, and we don’t see any from Jefferson. Everyone else, though, holy cow. All the aforementioned characters go through complete 180s, which can be kind of disorienting, especially if you liked them the way that they were before. There is a lot of drama, and some of it feels a tad forced, but it’s still pretty fun. The zingy one-liners and bantering between characters was enjoyable, and I sped through this book in two nights.
Somehow, though, this series just isn’t able to raise the stakes the way that The Thousandth Floor series did. The characters are just lacking the same dangerous mix of desperation and determination. The only one that comes close is Daphne; the other characters are just angsty and insecure. This all just serves to villainize Daphne, especially in comparison to all the other characters who are inherently good, if somewhat confused. Daphne is pretty similar to Leda, except she is selfish and single minded where Leda was fiercely loyal and loving. Beatrice’s struggles to rule America were the most interesting; I was possibly influenced by the fact that I was in the middle of studying about the Presidency for AP Gov, and possibly influenced by my affinity for young monarchs. I would have appreciated some higher stakes for the politics, though. Something to bring some weight to the storyline. Though the first book ended on a serious note, this one just seemed to float along. Still, the references to American government were priceless, and Beatrice’s uphill battle was well expressed.
Out of the four storylines, one wraps up neatly, two reach resolutions, and one still has some underlying tension. It’s a pretty nice ending that gives a good sense of closure but still left me with enough curiosity to pursue the next book. And it doesn't have an overwhelming amount of loose ends that I’ll inevitably forget.
Overall, Majesty was a fun read that really dives into the psyche of its characters all while riding a breezy and fresh plot.
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