I received a copy of this book from netgalley for review.

Secrets of a Reluctant Princess is a cute read. I have no idea why, but I love a nerdy love story. I felt for Andy who was torn between being popular and being herself and getting bullied like she was in her old school. I can understand just wanting to have a happy day. Being a teen is hard enough, but adding in a reality show must be hell. I ended up loving Harper and Kevin, too. I admit that larping seems odd to me, but I know a lot of people really enjoy the escape from every day life.

Adrianna Bottom was always the butt of everyone’s jokes in Seattle. With her geeky personality and a dad who runs a bathroom business she never stood a chance. L.A. is a chance to reinvent herself, as well as star in a reality TV show. As Adrianna focuses on being popular she realizes she might be losing her only chance at a boy she actually likes. Worse, she might be losing herself.

Live action role-playing is an interesting twist in the young adult romance category. Books involving this hobby are pretty rare – and so it’s interesting to see it represented. However, Secrets of a Reluctant Princess isn’t breaking any other new ground. The romance at first interaction is dull. The trail of stupid misunderstandings is tired. There’s nothing worse than watching characters whine about something that could be solved with a simple conversation. Worst of all, the popular kids vs. “geeks” is outdated.

The idea that people who like geeky things are outcasts is tired. Hollywood is sustained by superheroes now, no one will tease you because you like Wonder Woman. Being a “geek” is not longer taboo. Jocks and prissy popular girls are hilarious stereotypes that rarely exist. Four-fifths of the popular crowd have no personality other than dumb or mean and even the main girl is just “friendly”. Popular kids have interests too.

There was also perhaps too much time spent defining the LARPing sessions rather than focusing on the relationship between Adrianna, her friends, her parents and her crush. The reality show was a good plot on its own. LARPing was a good plot on its own. Together they feel like too much, like the book didn’t know what it wanted to be.

The ending is also particularly unsatisfying. Sexual harassment is excused as a “mistake” (a repeated aggressively) mistake by a dumb teen. Parents using their child for fame and exposure who get upset when their child poorly affects their business were “well-meaning”. A shady reality show producer (who shows a seventeen-year old’s underwear on television) is mildly punished and let go.

For all it’s faults, it’s still a fun read if you don’t take it too seriously. There are several major occurrences of second-hand embarrassment, and you’ll be frustrated by dozens of misunderstandings but it’s cute. The main guy is handsome and kind, maybe a little too perfect but lovable. Adrianna isn’t the brightest bulb but she’s sort of relatable.

If you like mildly geeky things and romance this book will definitely satisfy, if not impress you.

Adrianna thought she was getting a fresh start. A new city. A new school. A new look. She thought that if she shed the "Andy" parts of herself and played a better social game, that things could be different. As she worked harder towards avoiding becoming a social outcast, she began to lose parts of herself. Those missing parts were found every Sunday, when she would go LARPing. When Adrianna donned her mask, she became Princess Andy, and this princess was closer to her true self than the Porcelain Princess ever would be.

I found this book to be a very sweet and endearing look at how difficult it can be to be your true self. Andy's struggle was a typical one for many teens, but I appreciated that Griffin did not turn her into an angsty mess. Sometimes you want angst, sometimes you want light and breezy. I was in for some lighter fair today, and the drama level was exactly to my liking.

Griffin assembled a fine cast of supporting characters to help Adrianna find her way back to Andy. Among them was the geeky but awesome Kevin. Kevin was the opposite of "Adrianna". He unabashedly let his freak flag fly, and was a relatively happy guy. There were so many adorable interactions between Kevin and Andy, I couldn't help but jump on that ship. Another standout in the cast was Kevin's sister, Keelie. How do you not adore a girl who is true to her self, speaks her mind, and protects those she loves with the ferocity of a lion?

But alas, my favorite parts of this book were the LARPing parts. Griffin did a great job with all the LARPing sequences. She had me googling to learn more and wanting to fabricate a boffer so I could join in the fun. These scenes were so much fun to read, and added an extra element of enjoyment for me. What can I say? I love geeky things.

Overall: Super adorable and fun read which appealed to my geekier side.

"Secrets of a Reluctant Princess" begins with Adrianna (Andy) Bottom moving to LA and embarking on a new life- one with stylists and where she'll star in a reality TV show. Taking the name, her father has recently become rich from his toilet light and bathroom shop, which he is expanding with a second shop in LA. The reality show is just icing on the cake for Andy's mother, and Andy is willing to participate exactly as much as she has to.

The reality show quickly begins to take over her life, where she is known as the Porcelain Princess and the scenes of her do not reflect reality (but make for quality entertainment). In the meantime, she is swept up in newfound popularity (or at least not being at the bottom of the totem pole). However, what she wants to do will not fit in with the new crowd and popularity she'd love to have after a life of teasing.

Andy was pretty understandable as a character, but it seemed to be a comedy of errors that she couldn't escape. I could feel for her, but she was incredibly unlucky! The only thing I didn't like about the book is that she forced into kissing (sexual harassment if nothing else) and this was not handled well or acknowledged much at all. The character who did this is not punished and never seems to be even told by anyone but Andy that this is not OK/has his own happy ending. I feel that this could have been handled better, especially in a book for teens. I also felt that her parents put too much weight on her with the show and business, but I think this is a pretty typical situation and it did get better.

That all being said, I think this is appropriate for a range of ages (no sexual content or non-larp violence). Overall, it's a light and funny read (if not frustrating at times for poor Andy who seems to constantly find herself caught in blunders!). I do have some mixed feelings about the situation above and residual embarrassment/frustration for Andy who couldn't seem to have an easy time of anything, which is why I'm scoring it a little lower at 3 stars. 

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I received an advance reader copy (from Netgalley) in exchange for a fair review. Thanks to Entangled Publishing and the author for a chance to review this.
I needed an escape from real life and I wanted to read something cute and light and that’s exactly what I got in this book. The LARPing bits are fun to read and different from anything I’ve read in this genre and aside from the main characters, Adrianna and Kevin, the side characters including Lennox and Hannah and all of the others are well written and enhance the novel.
If you’re looking for a cute, fun, read that contains some fun and a good ending I’d recommend this.