Royal Rebel- Carina Axelsonn
Published By Usborne
Book Review By Gemma E McLaughlin
This week’s book review is on something that I’ve been meaning to read for a while and I’m so glad that I finally got round to it. I was excited for Royal Rebel because I read a lot of heavy, intense books that are, of course exciting and interesting at times but to be able to read something much more relaxed and sweet is exactly what I’ve been wanting. There were some points in the book, that I’ll discuss later in the review, that I enjoyed less, but overall it was some of the most fun I’ve had reading a book in a long time.
The story is based in a small, fictional Queendom in the mountains between France and Germany called Waldenburg, which is the only country of its kind, being a matriarchal society. The princess of Waldenburg is a thirteen year old girl named Lilly who adores fashion and all things DIY, but given her growing responsibilities as future queen, she is discouraged from spending too much time on these things. Despite all rules and disapproval Lilly starts a fashion vlog under the alias of ‘Tiara Girl’ and gets herself into all manner of scrapes attempting to keep her identity a secret.
The story is told from Lilly’s perspective with a constant youthful spin that makes the reader root for her through every dilemma, whether it involves a rogue royal guinea pig, a secret room, or worrying schedule conflicts. Although Lilly is a cleverly written, vibrant character that I absolutely loved to follow, I also would have liked to hear more from the other character, such as her supportive best friend Leonie who had intriguing snippets of character that I wish had been followed through with. Luckily I have discovered that there are more Royal Rebel books to come, which I’ll be keeping an eye out for and reading as soon as I can.
I read this book much faster than a lot of the other books that I write about in this column, and I am always thankful to a fun and exciting plot that I simply can’t put down until it’s done. In this case I’m especially happy as I sometimes struggle to find a lighter book that can keep me interested throughout, but after reading it once I’m certain that it’s something I’ll be coming back to, to jump back into Lilly’s world or even just pick up a few cute tips on room decoration! All I could ask more from this book is that it could have gone a little further into some of the topics it mentioned, with the mysterious nature of Lilly’s grandmother and the gender equality movement just beginning there is so much more to look forward to in the next books.
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