Paper Princess by Erin WattJen Frederick Published by Everafter Romance on April 4th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Family, New Adult, Romance, Stepfamilies, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 370
Format: eBook
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.
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 boy is more magnetic than the last, but none 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.
I saw tons of raves for this book so I thought I’d give it a try because honestly, I love Elle Kennedy. By the last page there was very little about this that I actually enjoyed. I believe around 40% it started to seriously consider flouncing but all these people with the rave reviews just couldn’t be wrong right?
First you must suspend your complete belief about anything and everything. These characters and the story itself is so damn crazy unbelievable that I’m pretty sure I spent the majority of my time just shaking my head in disbelief that someone thought this was a good idea and that this story needed to be told.
Let’s talk characters.
Elle – I liked her … I think. I mean, she’s a bit tough and determined and doesn’t really take crap from anyone so those are bonuses. By the last page… maybe I didn’t quite like her as much because of some of the dumb things she does along the way.
The Royals… I don’t even know where to start with these douchbags.
Should we start with the twins who are basically sharing a girlfriend who may or may NOT even realize it.
Or maybe we talk about Gideon who shows up on the weekends back from college and really isn’t much a part of this story other than to warn Elle away from his brothers.
Or how about Easton who I can’t decide whether I actually liked or hated.
Or the best one of all … king of the Royal brothers… Reed.
Seriously if you have a crush on this guy I’m going to need to knock some sense into you. And this is where I get mildly disgusted with this story.
“I’m not decent’
“Like I give a shit. You’ve got five seconds then I’m coming in.” The words are flat and forceful.
“Act like a whore and we toss you out on your ass. Gid says your mom was a prostitute. You don’t try that shit here, got it?”
Reed stays with me. “Go,” he orders. “We’ve got a game tonight, and now my guys are distracted because you’re dressed like a slut. Just get out of here.”
“Everything you do is my business. Every move you make affects me and my family.”
And this is just a small sampling of his douchbagery.
First of all fuck you.
Second of all, how in the hell does Elle go from being treated like this to ignoring that it ever happened and diving into a relationship with the guy.
Third of all …
I would like to add that there is some shady history hinted at that these 16-19 year old kids have that you won’t find out about and will have you shaking your head at the idea that that’s used as an excuse. On a more serious note, their behavior is reprehensible and it concerns me when I read a book like this and people look at these characters and say, well it’s okay because it’s fiction and it’s not real but oh man Reed is my new book boyfriend.
WHY WHY WHY. Do you want your boyfriend to be an asshole? Because that’s the only reason you would want this guy in that role.
So the story itself is filled to the brim with so much drama and all the over used NA tropes around that It’d be a pain to list them all here. Just go in with that expectation. Also go in with the understanding that you’re going to be left standing on a cliff when you get to the last page. The authors leave you with something that, had I not known it was there, (thanks for the warning Erin) would have made me toss my e-reader across the room. I was also a bit frustrated at some of the subplots… specifically this “fight club” issue that never really made much sense nor did it really have any kind of impact on the story, so I wasn’t entirely sure why it was there… other than to imply that these poor rich kids had only one way to vent their anger and frustration and that was to take part in this secret club where they beat the crap out of other people and to prove how tough and sexy they are. I say other people because obviously there is no way that a Royal would lose.
ALSO – all the gorgeousness was about to make me toss my breakfast.
“Because he’s gorgeous”
“The claws in question belong to a gorgeous brunette…”
“She’s gorgeous.”
“He’s gorgeous.”
“Tall and broad, his gorgeous features chiseled to perfection.”
“As usual, his gorgeous face makes my breath hitch.”
Of course they’re all rich and beautiful… and mean and hateful.
Alright… rant over. Here’s the thing about this story. I didn’t love it as you can tell, but you can bet your ass I’m probably going to read the next book because of that cliffy. And while there were a TON of things that pissed me off and just generally drove me nuts, I couldn’t seem to put this thing down it’s like a crazy drama filled soap opera. AND if that’s totally your thing then you’re probably going to enjoy this book… just don’t do anything stupid and fall for these Royals because there is absolutely nothing redeeming about them.
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