Clara Alves' debut novel is an absolute gem! Things get interesting when she literally bumps into Diana, a funny and captivating redhead who seems to be escaping from Buckingham Palace. As Dayana and Diana grow closer, Dayana starts to wonder if the royal rumors about Prince Arthur are true and if Diana's involved. This book is like Red, White & Royal Blue meets A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, mixing royal intrigue with a sweet, unlikely romance. It's heartfelt, fun, and keeps you guessing right to the end! I adored reading this book, it was so cute.

This was such a cute, fun read! I loved the personalities of the two main characters and felt like they balanced each other out perfectly!

A heart-wrenching and beautiful story of grief, second chances, and new love.

After her mom dies, Dayana moves from Brazil to London to live with the father who abandoned her 10 years prior. While getting used to the city, Dayana encounters a girl escaping the palace who may just run away with her heart.

This is a translated novel. There are times when it's easy to tell this would make more sense in Portuguese, but the translator did a really good job. As someone who recently lost a parent and also grapples with abandonment, I really related to Dayana's emotions throughout the story. The Sapphic romance is sweet, with the love interest dealing with her own situation.

This feels like something previously published on Wattpad, further complicated by my being out of the target age range. That doesn't have to be a problem, but sometimes books for teenagers feel like they are written for teenagers and teenagers only, and this is one of them. Dayana is so impulsive and defensive that it pushed me away from connecting with her, which is a real problem when most of the plot is her working through her grief. The whole royal intrigue plot is non-impactful and non-important and could have easily been replaced by something else to the same effect, so that's half of the summary just left on the ground. The whole thing unfortunately feels really shallow and flat.

Thank you to Push and NetGalley for a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This comes out June 4th, 2024. I wanted so badly to like this. It read like a poorly written fan fiction. Dayana was really unlikeable and I was questioning if she was actually a middle schooler the whole time I read this. I appreciated the fat rep though I can’t say it was done that well, it was almost like an afterthought. The random flashbacks were jarring and didn’t make much sense for most of it. Overall, it felt really surface level and like none of the characters had any real depth. The whole thing was very repetitive. We were either at that one spot in the palace or in Dayana’s bed. Really not much happened and I can’t say there was any growth there either.

This was a cute story about a young woman navigating a move to London and her relationship with her father after the death of her mother. I loved the twists of the love interest that she connected with, although I sort of saw where that storyline was headed.

I enjoyed reading this, it had everything that I was looking for from a romance novel. The characters felt like real people and enjoyed the overall story being told with them. It had a great overall concept and enjoyed how the characters were in this. It was wonderful to read the romance grow and it’s ups and downs. I enjoyed how well Clara Alves wrote this and can’t wait for more.

This was super cute and heartbreaking at the same time. I found myself crying through several parts.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc

London On My Mind is a YA Contemporary novel that tackles tough topics and includes a sweet sapphic romance.

Dayana’s mother recently passed away and now she’s moving from Brazil to London to live with the father who hasn’t been her dad for the past ten years. But she won’t be staying with just him but will also be living with his new perfect replacement family.

I enjoyed seeing the way the various family dynamics played out and developed. Grief is a prevailing theme throughout the story. And it seems just about everyone was dealing with difficult parental problems.

Despite some of the heavier elements, this book’s tone wasn’t too heavy. I enjoyed the romance that developed between Dayana and Diana and thought they made a cute couple.

Thank you to NetGalley and PUSH for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a super cute queer romance. Although a bit unrealistic, I was drawn to the story and rooting for the characters until the very end!

What a lovely romantic misadventure! Written in a bit of a timeless style, with a queer cast and fairytale atmosphere, I couldn't help but love this book!

It's about finding yourself, and the people you love, but also finding that everyone is really just human. (And so are you.) The perfect kind of bildungsroman 💖 and I think everyone will love Daya!

And if you're hungry for a bit of Brazil - mixed with UK royals - well, here's that story!

A moving coming of age story. Very similar vibes to "What a Girl Wants meets Red, White, and Royal Blue," which I loved. Dayana had to leave her hometown of Rio de dinero after her mother dies and has to adapt to life in London, complete with a wicked stepmother. She meets a mysterious girl and falls madly in love, but not all is as seems with her. I loved the story and coming of age in a new town. The international aspect of moving from Rio to London, having to adjust to new surroundings and a new life is something a lot of people can relate to. The romance is fun and mysterious.

Now, I feel like I should give a warning that this book was probably not meant for a reader like me. I am a little too disillusioned with the world to be all in for a book that revolves semi heavily around some royal admiration as well as a love for England that I do not possess. (I also never had a One Direction phase.) However, I did pick this up as somebody who’s pseudo-brother is from Brazil and as it was an exploration of grief after the main character’s mother died, something I am all too familiar with.

On the positive note, I really loved Dayana’s struggle with her grief and how it really impacted all of her interactions. That is so incredibly true to life, and honestly why it got the extra half a star. She feels very real in that sense, and I’m just sad it doesn’t get the time I think it deserves.

Now, I will say that this book definitely falls on the younger side of YA. Although the characters are meant to be 16, they definitely act younger than that, and I think it kids around that age would be frustrated with the choices made by these characters. The romance is very, very rushed, and although the consequences seem pretty life altering, they’re all kinda brushed aside in order to get the happy ending we want.

The most vexing thing about this is that Dayana is designed to be a character with a lot of trauma, and when she expresses that, literally every adult brushes her off and tells her to get over it. Which could be a very well done critique, but unfortunately the narrative oftentimes sides with them, or they are let off the hook almost immediately. I love the way Dayana expresses how she is struggling, I just wish that the narrative actually let her.

Overall, if you want a fun read I don’t think this makes the cut, and if you want a character analysis or trauma it doesn’t either. But hey, I did still enjoy myself and truly liked Dayana as a character, which isn’t something that just reading the summary I really expected.

just read the english translation (learning portuguese on duolingo is no help i fear) thank you net galley and the publisher for allowing me to have the most fun i’ve had in a while!!! lady di!!! gays!!! snogging!!
this was an easy kind of light hearted fairytale-esque read! obssesed with girlies kissing in a one direction reunion concert actually!

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=2.5 | 😘=2 | 🤬=2.75 | 13+

summary: girl moves from Brazil to London after her mom dies and falls in love with a beautiful girl who lives suspiciously close to the royal palace… at the same time there’s controversy regarding an illegitimate daughter of the prince… hmmmmmm

thoughts: this was… pretty cringe? I didn’t love the prose, but I don’t know how much of that is to blame on the translator rather than the author since I've never read a translated romance novel before. like I’m not sure how this works??? do I need to cut it some slack?? what is the etiquette? idk??????

there was also a serious lack of slow burn (which is always frustrating in a romance; there’s way less tension) and a weird number of One Direction mentions (featuring a truly truly truly ridiculous twist). but also, this book isn’t trying to be serious?? like that’s not the point?? but nevertheless I didn't really like it????

I didn't hate it, it was just a bit too middle grade for my tastes. This is probably something I would've enjoyed back when I was in 7th grade rather than now. I think it would be a good book for anyone who is struggling as a young teen with coping with loss, and also abandonment issues however.

Book distributed by the publisher via the Netgallery platform

This review contains NO spoilers.

2.5 rounded up to 3 - The book was translated from Portuguese so maybe its possible something got lost in translation.
I liked the book well enough to finish it but I did struggle at the beginning to get to that point. It's YA and although I am a long way from YA myself I end up reading a lot of it. The MC in this one at times seems quite bit more childish than her stated years though so there were inconsistencies in the character for me. The writing is fast paced and the plot was cute but very predictable.

Aside from the "intsalove" romance - which I really wanted to like but just did not find the chemistry between the MC's; the book does tackle several important subjects - grief, paternal abandonment, fibromyalgia and fatphobia.

Overall it likely a very good book for its target audience - which is queer teenagers.

I liked this book. I found at times the romance moved a little too fast and the references to be repetitive but I did find the book to be a fun and cute romance book to read

Thank you Netgalley and Scholastic for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"London on My Mind" by Clara Alves is a charming YA romance that takes readers on a whirlwind journey through the streets of London. Before I get into the review though, I do want to note that this book takes place in an alternate universe where, in this alternate England, Princess Diana is still alive. While the exact timing of this book isn’t very clear, I assume it takes place in the very near future. It took me awhile to get used to the alternate universe aspect since I wasn’t aware this was actually happening based on the description, and I just wasn’t expecting the book to say Princess Diana was alive. So, you definitely want to go into this book knowing this to avoid any unnecessary confusion.

Sixteen-year-old Dayana's dream of visiting London takes an unexpected turn when her mother passes away, forcing her to leave Rio de Janeiro and move in with her estranged father and his new family in London. Adjusting to life in a new country is challenging for Day, especially as she grapples with feelings of grief and resentment towards her father. As Day navigates her new life in London, she crosses paths with Diana, a mysterious and captivating redhead who seems to have a few secrets of her own. Despite their differences, Day finds herself drawn to Diana, and the two girls quickly form a deep connection.

The book is filled with heartwarming moments as Day discovers the beauty of London and learns to open her heart to new friendships and experiences. I really enjoyed the descriptions within the book. As someone who has never been to England, I felt like I was actually there due to the rich descriptions, like how Alves described the Buckingham Palace. Another strong point was how Alves addressed various themes throughout the book, such as grief, family dynamics, and identity, which added depth and complexity to the story. Day's journey of self-discovery is both heartwarming and empowering as she learns to embrace her own identity and find happiness in unexpected places. Dayana definitely felt like a realistic teenager with her dialogue and actions. I did find her acting a bit immaturely at times, but this fit exactly with her age and her circumstances. She sometimes acted “bratty” towards her father and stepmother, but anyone would due to how her father neglected her for 10 years and how her stepmother (who she has never met before) is immediately overwhelming and a bit judgmental.

I did find the romance aspect of the book to be a bit too fast-paced; I wish it had progressed more realistically, especially considering the royalty aspect. There were also a few moments where you had to suspend your disbelief (like how Diana is somehow able to sneak out of the palace despite the sheer amounts of security). But this isn’t supposed to be a super realistic book, so I quickly learned to go with the flow and just enjoy the story for what it was.

Overall, "London on My Mind" is a fun and charming read that will appeal to fans of YA romance and coming-of-age stories, especially those who enjoy royalty books.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for the absence of Rob Lowe.
Was this a Good book? Eh. There was too much One Direction and too many Diana's for my liking, but nevertheless it was Fun, and most importantly, no Rob Lowe.