Ratings51
Average rating3.4
The TikTok sensation Paper Princess, the first in the #1 New York Times bestselling The Royals series, now in a new special edition with bonus material! From strip clubs and truck stops to southern coast mansions and prep schools, one girl tries to stay true to herself. These Royals will ruin you… Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone. That is until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal is more magnetic than the last, but none is as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from. Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals. He might be right. Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.
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It is way to late to formulate an actual review and true thoughts on this book, but I will say that I loved it. It was fully of amazing comebacks, snide remarks, and great sarcasm. I basically read this book in one sitting so you know I enjoyed it.
But do not go into this trilogy expecting an amazingly written story. It is full of amazing remarks and sarcasm, but it is completely unrealistic and has many aspects that are completely not plausible. This is a good book to read when you need something quick to get through and something that is over the top and obnoxious.
I really enjoy Paper Princess. I'm re-reading it right now, and I forgot some of the little details, but there are parts that I'm waiting for. My favorite scene is the scene where Ella bails Easton out with the money in her car, and he and Reed figure out that she has been preparing to run and is ready to leave at the drop of a hat. I haven't even gotten to Ella getting a car, or where the boys start to tolerate her, which I always associate with them watching football with her. Additionally, I'm really excited to read the other books. I've only ever read the first part of the second book, and would like to get through the whole series, because I think the dynamics of the book are very interesting in general. Some of the complications of the book are not my favorite, specifically with Steve's widow. I don't like her and the whole thing with her trying to keep the money from Ella is just her being a bitch. I like the relations between people, and the complicated relationships that is caused by the fact that they are all rich assholes with too much time and money in general. The whole Steve thing in general, which I understand is a major plot point and the whole reason she is there, is wholly uncompelling to me, and I much prefer the, she's with Easton, oh now it's Daniel because the seal has been broken, but she's with Reed now, and takes her revenge on Daniel with Savannah and Valarie. This is so much more interesting than the adult drama, which just feels so real. The teenage drama just seems so unreal and wild that it feels like fiction, whereas the adult drama feels real in that they are older, more mature, and have the ability to make rational decisions.
I finished the book this morning, and the ending gets me every time. I really like how it brings a close to the current line, and I really want to start the next one because of the cliff hanger. I also want to read Fallen Heir, which I think is about Easton, who is by far my favorite character. I like that he becomes so protective of his family, and especially Ella. I like how he starts off so brazen and seems to only follow Reed and do things that are easy and fun, but it gets more complicated. While that is still the crux of his personality, it gets explain a little bit more, and it seems that Easton has some real deep issues going on, and I like how he tries to deal with it. He seems to be slowly but surely getting better, like he quite oxy, but still fucks anything that moves. He gambles, but since Ella had to bail him out, I would think he would stop, and the scare of Ella leaving will influence him.
I also think it's interesting how there is a distinct difference between Callum, Gideon, Reed, and the in group two is Easton and the twins. When Gideon is warning Ella, he specifically states that he, his dad, and Reed are poison for women. I wonder if that has to do with the ages, because both Reed and Gideon have been leaders of the brothers, and Callum the leader of the family, but it's different. I think that they all have their own issues, but I think the twins being younger eliminates them, and Easton being too much of a follower also disqualifies him from the too fucked up group. I also want to know more about the relationship between Savannah and Gideon. I'm sure it will come up in the other books, but I find it very fascinating. The only part of the book that I didn't really enjoy was the whole thing with Dinah, because it just seemed so boring.
I loved this book so much. I was hesitant to read it at first because by the blurb it didn't sound like something I'd be interested in. I'm so glad I did though because as soon as I started it, I couldn't put it down. It's a breath of fresh air after reading a few books with the same boring plot and superficial characters. The Royal family is so intriguing I just wanted to keep reading to try and figure them all out. Ella is a strong, spunky character as well. That cliffhanger though!! I have my theories as to what is happening. I can't wait until book 2 is released to see if any of them are true. I highly recommend this!
I debated about this for a weeks before I came to a decision. It is a pretty addictive read, but overall, I don't think it was worth the hours I wasted going through it.
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5 primary books6 released booksThe Royals is a 6-book series with 5 primary works first released in 2013 with contributions by Erin Watt.