Book Review: Reign by Katharine McGee

The series is complete. I repeat—the series is COMPLETE!

(Now imagine Paul Revere saying that instead of The British Are Coming…)

I love this series with my whole heart. I started it in 2021 (maybe 2020?) and devoured it. If you ever asked yourself, if America was a monarchy, then this young adult book series is for you. Each book is told in multiple narratives, with multiple storylines all connecting to each other. The series primarily focuses on the female narrators, narrated by each female character. My favorite character? Obviously, Beatrice. But this book specifically, Reign, had me rooting for one miss Daphne Deighton. Way to go, Katharine McGee because you got your wish!!

Synopsis:

A queen's life hangs in the balance, and her siblings' decisions--about what to do, and most of all, who to love--could change the course of history. Romance. Duty. Power...only one can triumph in this stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling American Royals series.

America's royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing--from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it's exactly what they wanted: a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it's the ultimate dream come true.

Surely this is all just temporary. Won't Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can't really be gone...can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?

For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne....if secrets don't destroy everything first.

My Review:

The book picks up where we left off at the end of Rivals (book 3) on that cliffhanger. Beatrice is in the hospital and in a coma, Samantha is in Hawaii living it up with her boyfriend away from the spotlight, and Jeff is thrown in as the heir apparent. Daphne reveals she’s pregnant—but is she? Nina is trying to get away from all the royal drama to continue her studies.

This was a good ending to the series. I liked how the author wrapped up individual storylines but still managed to write good conclusions to each of the characters. Each character had their own issues, their own battles, to work out. Nina was dealing with unresolved feelings for Jeff, but also wanted to get away from the royal drama. Daphne still wanted to be a princess, and was desperate to save her family’s image as well. Beatrice was still struggling in her relationship with Teddy and figuring out a place for him—all while trying to be queen herself. I think the book reverted back to book 1 where we first got to know the characters. Old feelings were brought up and even old relationships! Beatrice visits Connor at his new job to get some questions answered as she was struggling with amnesia since her accident (the cliffhanger in book 3).

Oh, miss Daphne Deighton. Listen, I think the author has wanted us to root for Daphne the entire book series. And to be fair, yes, I have begrudingly. She is stubborn, selfish, and fame-hungry. She’s willing to do anything to get what she wants. But those are qualities that I respect—she is fierce, stubborn (a positive trait as well), strong, bold, and she goes after what she wants. Daphne is someone who initially was painted as the villain, but she’s not the villain at all, and I think the author wanted us to figure that out from the very beginning. She’s like Emily Gilmore in a way—she may have done some bad things, but the heart behind those things was there. And I wouldn’t even consider Daphne as the villain. She’s misunderstood, but once you understand her character arc, you realize you have been rooting for her all along.

Nina? Now she’s one I’ve been rooting for since the very beginning. I am a Jeff and Nina truther—I think that they are endgame. But this book proved me otherwise. Not because Jeff was marrying Daphne, but I just thought their relationship made sense (although sometimes the royal drama made it hard to believe so). But this book cast doubts on that assumption. Ever since the first book, Nina wanted to step out of the way and get out of the royal drama, but still be there for her best friend, Sam, and Sam’s family, the Washingtons. She wanted to keep her private life, private. (Unlike Daphne.) But somehow, she kept getting sucked in. This book, in Reign, she did just that. And I think that did some good for her. It allowed her to find herself in things that she enjoys outside of royal drama and politics. We got to see another side of her, enjoying college things and even a new relationship (still with a prince). I liked her overall character arc but it remained stagnant at times.

Beatrice will forever be my favorite character in this series. I don’t need to write a whole paragraph on her, but all I’ll say is this: she remains the powerful queen and this book did just that. The only thing I wish I read more of in this book is the politics. I wish we read more about the bills and proposals—I think Rivals did that more and this book focused more on her relationship with Teddy. Which I enjoyed, because that needed to be wrapped up. Beatrice is a queen, literally. She was born to be queen, and I think this was the book that solidified that for herself.

Samantha’s character arc really came full circle in this book. I loved her arc, even more than Daphne’s? Daphne’s may be a close second, though. By the end, I was weeping for Samantha because she just came so far. I remember her in the first book as the party princess, and by the end of this book, she had come so far. Loved her arc.

Overall, I’m sad this series ended but I’m glad it did because this was the perfect ending to all the characters. If you haven’t read this series yet, then dive right in!

Rating: 4.5/5

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