Katharine McGee

Overall I really enjoyed this novel. The futuristic technology was fascinating, albeit confusing at moments, and the main characters, while not as developed as I would have liked, were interesting and compulsive. As the story went on, my favorites were constantly changing. This took me a while to read, but it was not due to the book being bad. The beginning and middle of the novel are interesting with some exciting plot points, but it is the last 50 or so pages that get insane. I love that the author chose the very first scene to also be the finale. The novel I was guessing who it would be and unfortunately, I was right. The end had so many plot twists and it was just amazing. I recommend this book if you like teen thrillers with some romance and petty drama as well.… (més)

Overall I really enjoyed this novel. The futuristic technology was fascinating, albeit confusing at moments, and the main characters, while not as developed as I would have liked, were interesting and compulsive. As the story went on, my favorites were constantly changing. This took me a while to read, but it was not due to the book being bad. The beginning and middle of the novel are interesting with some exciting plot points, but it is the last 50 or so pages that get insane. I love that the author chose the very first scene to also be the finale. The novel I was guessing who it would be and unfortunately, I was right. The end had so many plot twists and it was just amazing. I recommend this book if you like teen thrillers with some romance and petty drama as well.… (més)

First sentence: The sound of a door swinging open, and a sharp intake of breath.

Premise/plot: Reign is the fourth and perhaps final book in the American Royals series by Katharine McGee. The series premise is relatively simple: what if George Washington had been crowned king and his (non-existent) descendants reigned through the centuries. The series is contemporary alternate history. The series introduces us to three Washington heirs--Beatrice (the oldest), Samantha and Jefferson (twins). These young-ish royals have a balancing act on their hands--how to balance drama-filled love lives AND maintain a good reputation in the public spotlight. Beatrice, now queen, is relatively tame--boring, even. She had her love triangle in the first two books, I believe. She chose Teddy, and that's it, right???? Well, what if she has amnesia from that car accident in book three???? Samantha is the 'spare' who loves drama. What happens if she were to LOSE her title and government funding? What if she were to be thrown out of the royal family and walk away from her duties and become a regular citizen? Read and see, I suppose. Jefferson, poor, poor, poor Jefferson. Out of all the siblings, he has NO VOICE because the author chose not to give him one. He exists solely to be the middle of a sandwich. (I jest, mostly). Daphne and Nina are the other two in this oh-so-stupid love triangle. Will Daphne marry her prince? Will Nina move on from Jefferson? (She hasn't in three books...)

My thoughts: There's one big question you may have--if you're like me. DOES THIS BOOK HAVE ETHAN? The answer is YES. Ethan returns. And Daphne's chapters are entirely better for it. Nina also gets a new love interest, another ROYAL interest.

I have a hate-love-hate-love-hate relationship with these books. I don't know ever why I keep reading them, and why I can't stop reading them. The history is SO incredibly pointlessly wrong. The world-building is shallow and unexplained at best. The modern/contemporary world is barely different at all. You know it would HAVE to be different if we were to take the history stuff seriously.

I loved the way most of the stories wrapped up. So I am happy that I've read this one.… (més)