Back in 2019 when it was announced that we were getting a series called American Royals that had the United States still having a monarchy, I was immediately enthralled. I love anything royals, obviously, so the fact that we were getting a book where America had a monarchy, descending from George Washington, the first king of America was right up my alley.
Originally, American Royals was only supposed to be a standalone book, and then it was extended to have a sequel, then a third book and finally the publisher's caught on that readers were obsessed and continued to allow Katharine McGee to write.
I've reviewed a few of the American Royals books on the blog over the years (linked below) so it feels only right that I would conclude the journey with a review of the final book in the series, 'Reign'.
Past American Royals Reviews:
Publisher's Summary
Surely this is all just temporary. Won’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can't really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?
For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne….if secrets don’t destroy everything first.
My Thoughts
I loved this book so much and it felt like a really appropriate and beautiful ending to what was a thoughtful, interesting series. Just like in the other books, we see multiple POVs: Bea, Daphne, Nina and Sam.
Throughout Reign, there are a thousand different emotions, loose ends and plot lines to tie up into a nice bow and while some were left open ended, others were treated just right. The twists and turns are all over the place, nothing is as expected but everything kind of ends up just how it's supposed to be.
As each page continued, I could not believe where the story was going. Everything was out of left field yet somehow fit so perfectly. It was a long book, 425 pages to be exact, but every detail was necessary.
I truly loved every moment; I laughed, cried, cringed -- everyone got their perfect endings even if I didn't agree with them. Bea's story made my heart hurt; this girl just misses her dad, was in a life altering accident, and is still adjusting to becoming Queen of a country that is rejecting her. I will admit, she kind of annoyed me throughout this book but towards the end, everything grew on me and her ending was picture perfect and made me cry!
Nina is trying to find her own space in the world apart from Sam and Jefferson, her royal allies, and I love how she stood on her own two feet in the end. It was all I wanted for her.
Then there is Daphne, who I've had challenges with over the past four books. I hated her; I think at one point I called her my least favorite book character of all time but wow, what a 180 I did on her this time around. Her ending was my favorite though; it was exactly what she needed and she truly had so much character growth I don't know if I've ever experienced anything like it.
Then we have Sam...I hate Marshall. I hate their relationship and I feel like she truly deserves so much more. I hated how she ended up in this book, but then it turned around and it felt appropriate. Jefferson on the other hand, is a complete f*ck boy and he doesn't deserve Daphne or Nina...and that's saying something.
At it's core, American Royals was initially a fun, YA novel about what life would be like in America if we had a royal family and in the end, it became about women coming into their own, about women from different walks of life who come together in many different ways, sometimes as sisters, friends, or enemies. It's about women standing on their own two feet in front of the entire world. It was beautiful in so many ways, yet light hearted at times & of course, entertaining.
Reign was a perfect, unexpected end to a wonderful series.
I cannot wait to read Katharine McGee's next novel, A Queen's Game, which comes out on November 12th.
xoxo
B
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