Friday, June 21, 2019

Book Review + Playlist: "Her Royal Highness" by Rachel Hawkins


So as much as I want to dive straight into this review and discuss all my feelings, there's a few things that are different about today's post! For starters, I want to give a huge thank you to Penguin Random House for allowing me to be a part of their Summer Lovin Blogger Campaign (featuring these awesome three LGBTQ+ books during pride month no less!). I am so excited about all three of these books but today I'm here to focus on one in particular: Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins.

This is one of those books you can't help but fall into and binge-read in a day. At least, that's how it was for me. Obviously I'll have more to discuss in my review at the end of this post, but I really enjoyed this book and it just made me so happy.

This post is broken up into a few sections including a description of the book, a playlist that I've specifically curated for this book, my spoiler-free review, and a few other cool things! Enjoy!



SYNOPSIS

Regal romance abounds in this flirty, laugh-out-loud companion novel to Prince Charming, by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins. 

Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. Heartbroken and ready for a change of pace, Millie decides to apply for scholarships to boarding schools . . . the farther from Houston the better.

Soon, Millie is accepted into one of the world's most exclusive schools, located in the rolling highlands of Scotland. Here, the country is dreamy and green; the school is covered in ivy, and the students think her American-ness is adorable.

The only problem: Mille's roommate Flora is a total princess.

She's also an actual princess. Of Scotland.

At first, the girls can't stand each other, but before Millie knows it, she has another sort-of-best-friend/sort-of-girlfriend. Princess Flora could be a new chapter in her love life, but Millie knows the chances of happily-ever-afters are slim . . . after all, real life isn't a fairy tale . . . or is it?

-

 Rachel Hawkins lives in Auburn, Alabama with her husband and son, three cats, and numerous abandoned craft projects. When not writing about fake royals, she's reading about the exploits of real ones and tracking some of their bigger scandals via her #SexyHistory stories on Twitter. Her Royal Highness is Rachel's eleventh novel.




REVIEW

Title: Her Royal Highness
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: YA Contemporary
Page Length: 304 pages
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
Date Started: June 19, 2019
Date Finished: June 19, 2019
Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

I adored this book. It was so cute and heartwarming for most of it and I was laughing out loud at  good portions of it. I have to say, I am so happy to have read this book because it was just what I needed to lighten my mood.

One thing that I really liked about this book was how short the chapters were. They weren't overly descriptive and contained just enough. Each chapter was so short that I was able to say to myself, "oh just one more chapter because they're short" and then I would end up reading fifty or more pages. It was great.

I loved the setting. I've always enjoyed the idea of Scotland but I loved getting to follow Millie around Scotland through school trips, royal trips, and just general exploration. I'm studying abroad in London this fall and this book has definitely pushed my excitement about visiting Scotland even higher than it was before.

The plot was easy to follow and wasn't convoluted like some fantasies and science fictions can get. I enjoyed the simplistic nature of it while still seeing the growth of characters, the conflict and stakes, and the overall progression of the book.

I loved the characters. I really want another book of just all of these characters hanging out together--especially Seb and his friends. We got a glimpse at them but not a whole lot and I just want to know more about them all. Flora was pretty great, though I didn't connect to her as much as Millie as the POV stayed with Millie the whole time. I still loved seeing her growth and progression throughout the story.

I think just overall I enjoyed this book so much because it's a light-hearted contemporary with such an exciting setting and background. I think a little bit of everyone fantasizes at some point in their life about becoming royalty and reading this book is kind of like the next best thing. I just...it was so cute and light and wonderful. I related so much to Millie just personality wise and I thought she was an interesting character paired with an interesting love-interest.

Enough rambling from me...I'll just leave my final parting thoughts as I loved this book and I am so glad that I got the chance to read it. I'm definitely going to go and read the other book set in this world just so that I can get more of Rachel's writing and characters. I HIGHLY recommend!



PLAYLIST

*Disclaimer---I don't have amazing music taste and these are just the first songs that came to mind for different scenes so while they might not sound amazing back to back I'm pretty happy with how they describe different scenes!*

If you haven't read the book, you can check out the playlist at this link! I'll be briefly describing what song goes with different scenes here so if you don't want to be spoiled, I would suggest listening to the playlist on YouTube!

Flora: "Cool" by Jonas Brothers

When Millie sees Jude kissing another: "Better Than Revenge" by Taylor Swift

When Millie is arriving to Scotland: "The Skye Boat Song" by Bear McCreary

The Bar Fight scene pt. 1: "Drink and Fight" by Dropkick Murphys

The Bar Fight scene pt. 2: "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen

Lost in the Highlands: "Up Is Down" by Hans Zimmer

Flora teaching Millie to dance: "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith

Flora falling for Millie: "Falling for the First Time" by Barenaked Ladies

Millie falling for Flora: "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Haley Reinhart

Their first kiss: "Kiss Me" by Ed Sheeran

After their fight: "All You Had to Do Was Stay" by Taylor Swift

When Millie is confessing her feelings to Flora in the parade: "A Thousand Years, pt 2" by Christina Perri

General Millie & Flora: "Amazed" by Lonestar

General Millie & Flora: "There You Are" by Zayn



PURCHASE LINKS

Penguin Random House      |      Amazon      |      Barnes & Noble      |      Book Depository



Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren



You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right!

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link



6 comments:

  1. the lost ways book are essentially the old-fashioned content, but still much viable for the modern world. These old skills will make you a better survivor click here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are some of the lessons I want to pass on to my children. As I write my own stories, maybe ideas are popping into your mind of stories you can pass on to the next generation! wilderness survival stories

    ReplyDelete
  3. This article was written by a real thinking writer without a doubt. I agree many of the with the solid points made by the writer. I’ll be back day in and day for further new updates. Royal online

    ReplyDelete
  4. This article was written by a real thinking writer without a doubt. I agree many of the with the solid points made by the writer. I’ll be back day in and day for further new updates. Royal online

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your MP3 player software can help you in creating your wide variety of playlists from party playlists to groove dj booking agentur playlists to romantic playlists from a gigantic one. All you need to do is properly tag or number the songs you want to be played at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These days not very many individuals use tapes to make playlists and the time of blend tapes gradually colors out.buy followers on twitch

    ReplyDelete