I quite enjoyed this book by Katherine McGee. Her previous series lost me at book one, but that might have also been the fact that it took three years for the entire series to come out. So I’m glad I picked this up right before I picked up Majesty.

This was a very new concept. An alternate reality, set in the USA where the democratic system never existed and instead a monarchy was established by King George Washington. I thought it was a fairly unique concept and was interested to see how it would be carried out. The story follows four young women in this alternate reality, Princess Beatrice soon to be queen, Princess Samantha the second sister who has always been the Spare to Bea’s heir, commoners Nina who has a flirty fling with Sam’s twin brother Prince Jeff and charming Daphne who may have filed her claws into fingernails but still keeps a close eye on Jeff, her ex-boyfriend.

While the plot is a bit thin, the book is mostly character-based. It focuses on the trials these four girls go through, Bea struggles with trying to stay true to the path of becoming regnant while falling in love with someone she isn’t allowed to. Sam seems to go through boys like candy, trying to attract as much attention as she can. Daphne has her eyes set on becoming a princess and she’s viciously guarding secrets that could take that dream away from her. And Nina is plagued by an inferiority complex as she falls in love with Prince Jeff.

So as I said, the plot does seem stretched thin, but at the same time, the characters had enough personal drama going on that it allowed the book to roll almost effortlessly. I was most invested in Bea’s romance as well as in Daphne’s manipulations. Both of them were complex characters and I really enjoyed seeing both of them struggle through their problems through the book. Sam and Nina were more boring in my opinion, but it worked in the book’s favour allowing the reader to be able to choose which of the four girls they were backing in the larger dramatics that connected all of them.

The romances between all four girls and their beaus seemed destined to fail. They were written in a charming high school fashion and were light romantic flings, but they all seemed doomed. It was actually interesting because most YA romances see the leads falling in love and staying together forever. It’s highly unrealistic that a first love would be the love that remains. So I’m especially interested in seeing how these pan out in Majesty especially when they’re already falling apart by the tail end of this book.

This is a pretty light read, but I enjoyed the slight romance and sprinkling of drama. The alternate universe is well thought out and it’s actually the novelty of the concept that drew me to the book. It’s safe to say I will be picking up Majesty!