American Royals by Katharine McGee

Series: American Royals, #1
# of Pages: 448
Publisher: Random House
Publication: September 3rd, 2019
Source: Library Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/Historical Fiction
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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.

Quite frequently I go through phases of wanting to read a good historical fiction book. I’m quite sure that having a bachelors degree in history does nothing to improve these sudden, frequent urges. Last year American Royals caught my attention when I discovered that it was a re-imagining of American history in which George Washington never became President of the United States, but took on the title of king. As a result, this novel follows the modern-day descendants of King George Washington as they navigate their royal duties. American Royals follows Beatrice, her twin siblings Jefferson and Samantha, Daphne, and a family friend, Nina. Each struggle with the idea of status, belonging, friendship, family, and love as it pertains to the kingdom and their roles in it.

"She could smile until the bitter end, no matter what it cost her--because she was a Washington and had been trained to smile through anything.
Even through her own heartbreak."

One thing that McGee does well is her ability to capture the varying voices of each character. Each character views and handles the struggle of being a part of the kingdom in such an interesting and complex way. They battle stereotypes and community assumptions. More specifically, Beatrice becomes the key character in the discussion of gender roles as she battles to become the kingdom’s first queen. However, some of the more complex issues that the characters faced were downplayed by unnecessary and cheesy drama. Instead of using the opportunity to create a unique and complex novel, McGee ended up writing a rom-com that was akin to the stereotypical reality TV show. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every single moment of the drama; however, the history student inside of me was cringing. There was barely any monopolization of this new idea of the United States having a monarchy instead of a democratic republic. As a result, I felt as though McGee simply utilized that premise as way to draw in readers. In addition to her inability to use the government structure as a catapult into a roller coaster of a plot, McGee left out some important voices specifically Native and Black voices.  I don’t think it’s appropriate to write any historical novel of the United States without including these voices.

"She hated that her siblings thought she was cold or unfeeling. Just because she'd been brought up to keep her emotions hidden didn't mean that she never experienced those emotions."

While I did find quite a few historical issues with this novel, I won’t lie and say that I didn’t enjoy the drama. I think it would make a brilliant Netflix show. It was childish and unnecessary, but it made for a good story. I particularly enjoyed the narrative surrounding Nina as she is the only character in the book that does not have money or ties to any royal lineage. She was down to earth and I related to a lot of her experiences and feelings.

"All I know is that when I need to eat my feelings, my feelings taste like Wawa milkshakes with extra M&Ms."

I think that if McGee would have just spent time writing a rom-com she would have had a better book. Attempting to add the “historical” perspective was grossly ineffective and honestly this could have been a story about the British royal family. It wouldn’t have made a single difference in the world. I’m still debating on whether I plan to pick up the second novel in the series, but the looming drama makes me excited to see what could possibly come next.