Reviews

The Royal We by Heather Cocks, Jessica Morgan

Only show reviews with written explanations

s_pywow's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

tig_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

With my rating system being:

<1 Finished it but wished I had DNFed instead. Several major criticisms.

1 Not the worst thing I've ever read but wouldn’t read it again; probably one major gripe.

2 Meh. No major sins but but don’t like it enough to buy a physical copy. It's fine. Just fine.

3 Liked it and will casually seek out a physical copy to have in my library

4 Thoroughly enjoyed it and have no major criticisms; will recommend to others, read again, and consider a special edition version

5 ABSOLUTELY FERAL FOR THIS BOOK, will not shut up about it, will maniacally and immediately seek out a special edition and/or bind one

I’m giving this a 1, although I came close to DNFing several times and I think the only reason I persisted was because I was in a bit of a slump and didn’t have anything else I was immediately in the mood for. I generally don’t read reviews before I start a book because I don’t want to be unduly influenced but in this case, I wish I had. This book is essentially revisionist history of Will and Kate if Kate was an American devoid of personality. At times it felt very clearly like a self-insert/exercise in wish fulfillment on the part of the authors. It wasn’t different enough from what actually happened to be interesting, and not the same enough to be scintillating. It’s basically just self insert fan fiction and if that’s your thing then go for it, but I personally was hoping for a modern royal romance with a fresh twist on the classic storyline. This ain’t it.

trin's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I care about the English Royal Family not one jot -- but I still devoured Heather Cocks' and Jessica Morgan's "The Royal We" like I was starving and it was a perfect plate of fish and chips. (I actually care about fish and chips a great deal.) Cocks and Morgan are the creators of the perennially hilarious Go Fug Yourself blog, where aside from keeping me fashionable and entertained for something like 10 years, they have also taught me what little I do know about the Royal Family -- mostly that they have a penchant for large, silly hats. I gleaned my rudimentary knowledge of the Prince William/Kate Middleton romance and wedding through the GFY site -- a story which, in The Royal We, Cocks and Morgan reinvent as a pitch-perfect romantic comedy. While studying abroad at Oxford, American Rebecca "Bex" Porter meets her housemate, Nick -- without immediately realizing he's more commonly known as Nicholas, Prince of Wales. Despite the fairy tale setup, the narrative is surprisingly grounded, thanks in large part to Bex herself, who's one of the best romcom heroines I've encountered in a long time: she's adorable, but her flaws aren't; she's a true, realistic everywoman, yet still uniquely herself. I fell in love with Nick through her eyes, then raced through the book, desperate to see if they'd get their happy ending. The journey is wonderfully complicated, and totally dishy, but never trashy, fun. This is the perfect comfort read -- ideal for bed, beach, or plane.

carlisajc's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

*I was given an advanced copy of this novel to read and review by the publisher. This in no way affects my opinion of the book!*

Originally posted on Confessions of Carlisa | http://bit.ly/1PjEl1Z

This book. I’ve seen it described on here as Kate Middleton fan fiction and that description is spot on. It’s the story of an American girl, Rebecca or Bex, who takes a year abroad and studies at Oxford, where she finds herself living down the hall from the future King, Prince Nicholas. They fall in love, they kiss a lot, romancey things happen, yada yada yada. Basically the average girl’s fantasy. Except it’s different. Because life isn’t a fairy tale. It’s real. This story was 4 stars for me because it took that classic, almost-cliché story and made it real.

First the characters were so well-developed and this was completely necessary. It follows Bex and Nick through eight years of their lives and their relationship and if their characters hadn’t been believable or hadn’t been well-rounded, it would have been eight years too many. As we take this journey with Bex and Nick, we see every side of them. The bad and the good. The charming and the not-so-charming. The beautiful and the ugly. We even see these different sides of the Queen of England herself throughout the pages. The emotions of the characters are so sincere and honest to real life that they were almost hard to read at times. But that’s how life is. Emotions and relationships aren’t easy and as we experiences these eight years with Bex and Nick, we see that.

Also Bex’s voice as a narrator is awesome. She’s awesome and I love her so much. There are so many places where I wanted to reach through the pages and hug her or laugh with her or cry with her and a few times even slap her. She’s just Bex and she’s great.

I also just like how this completely throws us off of what we expect as this modern-day fairy tale. That’s why I like Into the Woods too because it builds what we know as a fairy tale and then completely warps and destroys all of those expectations. This is similar (though not quite to the extent Into the Woods takes it). The perfect magical thing doesn’t happen just at the right moment to save the day. There are no fairy god mothers or genies to grant them wishes. It’s just life despite the princes and the castles. This story shows the side of these fairy tales that we don’t often see. The honest side. The hard side. The real side.