March 8, 2023 Abigail Singrey

Book Review: Royal Blood

Scandal upon scandal in this royal treat

I’m so excited to be part of the TBR & Beyond tour for this book. Find the full tour schedule here.

About the book

Royal Blood (Royal Blood #1) by Aimee Carter

Genre: Young Adult Mystery

Publishing Date: March 7, 2023

Synopsis:

An American girl becomes the British Monarchy’s greatest nightmare in this thrilling new series where royal scandals just got deadlier.

As the King of England’s illegitimate daughter, 17-year-old Evan Bright knows a thing or two about keeping secrets.

But when she’s forced to spend the summer in London with her father and the royal family, who aren’t exactly thrilled she exists, her identity is mysteriously revealed, and suddenly the world is dying to know every juicy lie the press prints about her.

After a fun night turns deadly and Evan becomes the primary suspect in a murder investigation, the escalating rumors and fallout threaten to tear her life apart. As she fights to uncover the truth about what happened, she discovers royal secrets that are even more scandalous than she imagined – secrets that could change the monarchy forever.

And her own may be next.

Content Warning: attempted sexual assault, use of the date rape drug

Book Review

A deliciously dark treat of a scandal with a snarky protagonist at the heart of it all. Perfect for anyone who loves gossip about the Royal family.

As the American illegitimate daughter of the king of the UK, Evan Bright is the biggest scandal on not one but two continents. But Evan would tell you being royal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when you’ve never met your royal father.

When Evan gets kicked out of her eighth boarding school, she’s brought home for the first time to Windsor Palace to meet her father and hide out until her 18th birthday. But, when her identity gets revealed, Evan finds herself swept into a glamorous life she doesn’t fully understand, surrounded by royals who hate her. Evan finds it not all bad, though, as the Queen’s nephew Kit befriends her, and the handsome Jasper invites her to a party. But, when Evan finds herself charged with murder, she’s never needed allies more desperately.

The familiar settings will call to Royal fans – Windsor Palace and Buckingham Palace, as well as the descriptions of sumptuous, costly dresses and tiaras. The descriptions of clubbing scenes will make you feel like you were out with Kate and Pippa back in the day.

Evan provides the comic relief as she navigates royal life in a book that’s not afraid to dig into the tough issues of parental abandonment and trauma from date rape. The whole book, I was rooting for Evan to find her people in the UK, no matter how much she thought they weren’t there.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and TBR & Beyond Tours for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Links

About the author

Aimée Carter is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the award-winning author of more thana dozen books, including The Goddess Test series, the Blackcoat Rebellion series, and the Simon Thorn series for middle grade readers, now a #1 international bestselling series under the title Animox and Die Erben der Animox. Her newest middle grade book, Curse of the Phoenix, will be released in June from Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Need more to read? Find all of my young adult recommendations here.

Abigail Singrey

Abigail Singrey is a storyteller, brand strategist and confirmed bookworm. She's the kind of person who wants to stop and pick up every stray dog by the side of the road and buy every book in Barnes and Noble.