Tag: katharine mcgee

Book Review

Book Review: Majesty (American Royals #2) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Dystopian / Contemporary
Length: 370 pages
Author: Katharine McGee
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 1st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Is America ready for its first queen?

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.

THIRD BOOK PLEASE?

That’s what I need after seeing how this one ended. Book three. THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE.

I thought this was a good follow-up to American Royals. The drama is wild as ever and so many things continually happen that keep you turning pages. Not to mention, I love the shorter chapters and quick pace.

I adored Beatrice’s story line. Without a doubt the best story in here. Beatrice came into her own as a queen. I loved that she got to say a proper good-bye to those who deserved it and made a true love connection with Teddy. They were precious and I absolutely ship them. Both of them together are such a match. I would have loved a longer book just to get more of their (and other’s) relationships.

Daphne Deighton. I can’t even talk about her. I hated the way her story ended. I got the vibe of it and why it was written that way, but it still screwed over too many people and I just want her to get her due. She just drags down this book.

Sam’s story was positive and I’m grateful for her character arc because whoa, I was struggling with her attitude. I love that she really grew up and fought for what she wanted. Sam worked things out well and I love her relationship with Marhsall.

Nina’s POV fell by the wayside here. She kinda fit into everything, kinda didn’t. I did like the way things ended up for her and that she took time to figure out what she wanted before making a decision. I think if there’s more to the story we’ll get even better insight for Nina.

This installment was shorter than the first when I think it needed to be longer. There was good stuff here, just needed some longer stories to really connect with everything rather than flying by.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult dystopia / contemporary
  • Language: some light
  • Romance: kisses / make-outs; a closed door scene
  • Content warnings: grief from losing a parent

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Book Review

Book Review: The Dazzling Heights (The Thousandth Floor #2) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult dystopian
Length: 422 pages
Author: Katharine McGee
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 29th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

All that glitters is not gold.

New York City, 2118. Manhattan is home to a thousand-story supertower, a breathtaking marvel that touches the sky. But amid high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, five teenagers are keeping dangerous secrets…

Leda is haunted by memories of what happened on the worst night of her life. She’ll do anything to make sure the truth stays hidden—even if it means trusting her enemy.

Watt just wants to put everything behind him…until Leda forces him to start hacking again. Will he do what it takes to be free of her for good?

When Rylin wins a scholarship to an upper-floor school, her life transforms overnight. But being there also means seeing the boy whose heart she broke, and who broke hers in return.

Avery is tormented by her love for the one person in the world she can never have. She’s desperate to be with him…no matter the cost.

And then there’s Calliope, the mysterious, bohemian beauty who arrives in New York determined to cause a stir. And she knows exactly where to begin.

But unbeknownst to them all, someone is watching their every move, someone with revenge in mind. After all, in a world of such dazzling heights, just one wrong step can mean a devastating fall.

NOTHING HAPPENED.

I listened to this on audio, which I did really enjoy. The voices weren’t odd and the speaker did a great job. Definite props to the audio book.

But, the book itself? Nothing happened until the last few pages. Seriously.

I know this book is meant to be high drama and such. I got bored with this model though the longer this book went on. The high school hormones were ruling the day and I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling form time to time.

Characters more or less were still interesting. I liked seeing the arc for Leda, because I was really not liking her at first. Watt did her a lot of good. Avery and Atlas definitely have the oddest story and it I am kinda curious what will happen next with them.

There were so many rotating relationships I couldn’t keep track. People were kissing over here, people were kissing over there. And based off of the prologue i thought the entire book was going to have a different more mysterious focus. The character didn’t even show up for the book except for the very beginning and the very end. I would have loved to see more of them.

This unfortunately had all the makings of a weaker second book. So much so I haven’t decided when (or if) I’ll pick up book three. I’m not even sure how this whole saga could end.

I do love the way the world is set-up and find all of the futuristic stuff amazing. I think it would be pretty cool to have a lot of those gadgets.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult dystopia
  • Language: some
  • Romance: kisses, make-outs, a few fade to black scenes with no detail
  • Violence: murder by drowning, physical
  • Trigger warnings: drug use, underage alcohol consumption, a teacher kissing a student

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Book Review

Book Review: American Royals (American Royals #1) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult contemporary
Length: 448 pages
Author: Katharine McGee
Publisher: Random House Books
Release Date: September 3rd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What if America had a royal family?

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

KARMA COMES AROUND RIGHT?

Because seriously, this one character. I can’t handle it if they don’t get what’s coming to them. She caused a crazy amount of drama all on her own. Was I impressed? Maybe a little, but also YOU’RE NOT A NICE PERSON.

Any who, back to my review here. This book made my heart huuuuurt. It was a darker book than I was expecting. Not that anything intense happened, but a lot of hearts are broken, smashed and tossed around. I felt like I was watching one of those historical TV dramas where you just can’t look away. I’m used to seeing this kind of drama unfold from McGee because of her previous series (The Ten Thousandth Floor). I think if you know that going in you’ll enjoy it more because you’ll know a bit of what you’re going to see.

I wish the character profiles were a bit deeper. Everyone dove into relationships that I wasn’t hating, but also wasn’t sure how much I was loving them. Later into the book I did feel for them more. I was frustrated with the lack of plot, but I know this is more character/life driven than anything REALLY happening.

The ending was expected, and still made me sit their after contemplating WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I think the next book will hold a lot more substance because we get to see a few characters stand out a bit more. There’s a huge entangling web of point-of-views, story lines, romances, and more that I’m sure will only cause more drama.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary
  • Language: none
  • Romance: lots of kissing, some sleeping overnight together (but no sex), one sex scene that is very fade to black and not detailed whatsoever (you know what they did of course though)
  • Trigger warnings: cyber-bullying

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Book Review

Book Review: The Thousandth Floor (The Thousandth Floor #1) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 
Audience: Young adult dystopian
Length: 448 pages
Author: Katharine McGee
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 30th, 2016
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

NEW YORK CITY AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE.

A thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future where anything is possible—if you want it enough.

WELCOME TO MANHATTAN, 2118.

A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. Everyone there wants something…and everyone has something to lose.

LEDA COLE’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.

ERIS DODD-RADSON’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.

RYLIN MYERS’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will this new life cost Rylin her old one?

WATT BAKRADI is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy for an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.

And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is AVERY FULLER, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

Amid breathtaking advancement and high-tech luxury, five teenagers struggle to find their place at the top of the world. But when you’re this high up, there’s nowhere to go but down….

GOSSIP GIRL CIRCA 2118.

I had a bookstagram friend mention that she heard this book was like Gossip Girl in the future. OH MY GOODNESS IF THAT ISN’T ACCURATE. Even if I haven’t scene GG, it toootally had those vibes.

And maybe that’s why I couldn’t stop turning pages? The drama was absolutely ridiculous, but I NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I even ordered the second book, that is how invested I feel at this point.

This has multiple POVs, four main ones: Avery, Leda, Watt & Rylin. Everyone’s stories intertwined and bounced off one another. I liked the flow of the story and with its short chapters it made it a quick read.

It is definitely a lot more dark than I was suspecting. Drug abuse, cheating, some interesting emotions and wicked characters, I was like WHOA GUYS. Back up here. I like when a book sticks to it’s theme though. It felt almost like a tale of warning (and can be completely applicable to today).

My favorite piece was probably that this is a dystopian book that doesn’t a have oh no, the world is ending component. I got so tired of seeing that repeated that I stopped reading dystopians all together. I gave this one a chance for its unique premise and pleasantly enjoyed having a change of pace to this genre. And y’all some of the products they have? AMAZING. A spray that puts your make-up on? A PARK IN A TOWER? It was so cool. Even with all of the drama I still wanted to live there, it took fantastical and imaginative to a new level.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult dystopia
  • Language: a bit (ranging from weak-strong)
  • Romance: a lot of kisses, some brief (and essentially non-descriptive) re-tellings of nights together, a handful of fade to black love scenes (minor details prior)
  • Violence: murder
  • Trigger warnings: bullying, cheating (on boyfriends/girlfriends, and spouses), intense drug abuse, selling of drugs

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