ROYAL BLOOD - Aimee Carter


Evangeline "Evan" Bright has not been a particularly good student. She's been kicked out of more private school than years she's been in school. It doesn't help that her mother has been institutionalized and she hasn't been allowed to see her, other than the occasional Zoom call, and her father ... well if her mother is to be believed (and Evan does believe her mom), her father is the King of England. And with Evan not being the daughter of the Queen of England, it's not likely she'll be meeting her dad anytime soon.

But when Evan gets in hot water at her latest school and put in a jail cell, she is rescued by a very proper man with a British accent. He claims to be the King's personal attendant and that they've been looking out for Evan the best that they can.  But her latest escapade has real legal ramifications and they think she'd be safest in the palace with her father, at least until she turns 18 in a few months.

The bastard child of the King of England isn't exactly welcome news to the rest of the royal family, or to the British tabloids, but King Alexander truly loves the daughter he's never really known and feels that now is as good a time as any to welcome her into the royal family.  Alexander's other daughter, Mary, heir to the throne, isn't what Evan would call 'welcoming.'  And when Evan is framed for the murder of the wealthy son of Britain's largest tabloid, even the King's authority may not protect her.

I found this to be a really fresh YA story that manages to include a number of traditional YA tropes - the kinds of things that certain young readers really want to see without dwelling too long on any one of them and instead making this a murder mystery. First off, we have an American girl who is a British princess. How clever is that?  Of course this isn't anything too new (Princess Diaries, anyone? ... I know they aren't British, in name ...) but author Aimee Carter jumps right in and announces this, and then has her protagonist rebel against the idea of being any kind of royalty.  She just wants to be loyal to her mom.

It was clever, I thought, to have Evan so against the whole thing and instead have Alexander be the one to try to get her integrated into the family. It was a nice reversal from the typical or expected course of action.  I did find Alexander's attention and determination a bit far-fetched and over the top at times. This is a daughter from an illicit affair!  Certainly it helped that the Queen was also having her own affairs.

In a literary sense, it was nice to have Evan have to face issues that teen girls might actually face, such as being drugged and sexually preyed upon. Evan's being rescued by others, however, means that the average reader won't have these resources available.

There's a little bit of romance, despite the sexual assault, and there's a light mystery to be solved (we never believe for a second that Evan is guilty) and overall I really appreciated the positivity portrayed throughout, despite challenges and assaults and accusations.  Teens have enough negativity to deal with.

Looking for a good book? Royal Blood by Aimee Carter is a YA murder mystery that allows readers to get everything they want in a typical YA book and still leave with a positive feeling.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

* * * * * *

Royal Blood

author: Aimee Carter

series: Royal Blood #1

publisher: Delacorte Press

ISBN: 9780593485897

hardcover, 368 pages

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