it's kinda giving young royals for lesbians icl (i never watched young royals)

this book follows dani, a young musician who moves to henland and falls in love with the crown princess, rose, while attending a prestigious private academy. i like sophie gonzales' writing; she's a great ya author and i generally tend to like her books. i think this may be my favorite of the four books i've read that have been by her.

i loved the dual-pov; it allowed us to explore both rose's journey to reforming her reputation after a previous accident, and dani's exploration to finding herself in a new country. their individual arcs were well-done, and their relationship was well-developed. i found myself rooting for them to get together. watching them struggle with being together while facing societal challenges was realistic. i liked how the side characters were fleshed-out, especially molly. her relationship with rose was complicated and imperfect, and it was treated in a good way. i think the book is well-paced too; i never felt bored or rushed.

my only complaint is that the country is called henland. we couldn't have been more creative? are the people hennish? that's not real

overall i really liked this; i think it's a great ya romance with plenty of well-developed characters and a strong central romance that still takes into consideration a well-done plot. i would recommend this to queer ya readers or previous fans of gonzales' work.