I wanted to like this book, but it just didn't gel with me and sadly I didn't finish. I suspect other people will devour it though ; it just wasn't the one for me.,,,

There were good ideas in there, and I was fairly thrilled at first at the setting and prospects (a boarding school in England, hidden royals that looked like they’d be badass, etc.), but I must say that in the end, even though I read the novel in a rather short time and it didn’t fall from my hands, it was all sort of bland.

The writing itself was clunky, and while it did have good parts (the descriptions of the school, for instance, made the latter easy to picture), it was more telling, not showing most of the time. I’m usually not too regarding on that, I tend to judge first on plot and characters, and then only on style, but here I found it disruptive. For instance, the relationship between Ellie and Lottie has a few moments that border on the ‘what the hell’ quality: I could sense they were supposed to hint at possible romantic involvement (or at an evolution in that direction later), but the way they were described, it felt completely awkward (and not ‘teenage-girls-discovering-love’ cute/awkward).

The characters were mostly, well, bland. I feel it was partly tied to another problem I’ll mention later, namely that things occur too fast, so we had quite a few characters introduced, but not developed. Some of their actions didn’t make sense either, starting with Princess Eleanor Wolfson whose name undercover gets to be... Ellie Wolf? I’m surprised she wasn’t found out from day one, to be honest. Or the head of the house who catches the girls sneaking out at night and punishes them by offering them a cup of tea (there was no particular reason for her to be lenient towards them at the time, and if that was meant to hint at a further plot point, then we never reached that point in the novel).

(On that subject, I did however like the Ellie/Lottie friendship in general. It started in a rocky way, that at first made me wonder how come they went from antipathy to friendship in five minutes; however, considering the first-impression antipathy was mostly based on misunderstanding and a bit of a housework matter, it’s not like it made for great enmity reasons either, so friendship stemming from the misunderstanding didn’t seem so silly in hindsight. For some reason, too, the girls kind of made me think of ‘Utena’—probably because of the setting, and because Ellie is boyish and sometimes described as a prince rather than a princess.)

The story, in my opinion, suffers from both a case of ‘nothing happens’ and ‘too many things happen’. It played with several different plot directions: boarding school life; undercover princess trying to keep her secret while another girl tries to divert all attention on her as the official princess; prince (and potential romantic interest) showing up; mysterious boy (and potential romantic interest in a totally different way) showing up; the girls who may or may not be romantically involved in the future; trying to find out who’s leaving threatening messages; Binah’s little enigma, and the way it ties into the school’s history, and will that ever play a part or not; Anastacia and the others, and who among them leaked the rumour; going to Maradova; the summer ball; the villains and their motivations. *If* more time had been spent on these subplots, with more character development, I believe the whole result would’ve been more exciting. Yet at the same time all this gets crammed into the novel, there’s no real sense of urgency either, except in the last few chapters. That was a weird dichotomy to contend with.

I’m honestly not sure if I’ll be interested in reading the second book. I did like the vibes between Lottie and Ellie, though.

This is definitely a teen book and not a YA. It was okay but the characters weren't overly well developed and it lagged in places.

this was Ok. not great, not awful, just Ok. the heroine was Ok. bit dim, mind, but there you go.
Probably I'm too old for the book - it's tween, not YA, that's for sure.

A poorly written, often derivative semi-fantasy. While good writing can make a predictable premise exciting, the former is largely absent here. Wouldn't recommend, primarily as there are so many better alternatives for this age group and genre from more skilled writers.

The story is simple. Lottie Pumpkin (yes really) has fulfilled her young life's ambition and promise to her dying mother by gaining a scholarship to the prestigious Rosewood Hall. She leaves a rather mean (some might say wicked) stepmother to enter a whole new world. There she meets fellow newbie Ellie Wolf ( are we sending a theme? ) who turns out to actually be Princess Eleanor of Maradova in disguise as a moody teenager ( she plays the part well!). Due to a series of misunderstanding and miscommunication soon the whole school thinks it's Lottie that is the princess and this suits the girls fine - Lottie loves all things pink, glittery and princessy whereas Ellie would probably rather be in a mosh pit somewhere. Despite their differences the girls become fast friends but soon realise their games might be dangerous at somewhere like Rosewood Hall....

OK so here it is. This ain't Shakespeare or Tolstoy. Its a fantasy novel about 14 year old girls written for 14 year old girls. Now I have had many many more years in this world than that but I can release my 14 year old self and enjoy a good kids book. And enjoy it how it's meant to be enjoyed. Its why I still read Harry Potter without throwing abuse at J.K.Rowling for not making Sirius gay or enjoy The Last Jedi despite all my theories been wrong and Luke been oh so different to the one I grew up with. Or maybe I'm just immature but my point is this is a kids book and should be read from a kids point of view. Read it cynically and you'll hate it....but if you read it as a light hearted fairy tale you might just be surprised at the smile on your face when you finish. I really enjoyed this tale of a simpler more innocent world, where even the bad guys are not that bad (well not that bad yet- I suspect this will change in future novels). I'll be interested to see where the story leads.

This is a delightful and sophisticated story for very young adults. Lottie Pumpkin lives with her stepmother who she doesn't really get on with. She had promised her dying mother that she would always do the very best she could, and has worked very hard to try and obtain a place at Rosewood Hall, an elite boarding school. She has been very lucky and has been awarded a full scholarship to the school, she wouldn't have been able to go otherwise. Her very best friend Ollie takes her to the St. Ives railway station to start her journey to school.. When she arrives it feels like a magic place to her. Lottie has to share a room with Ellie Wolf. They are as different as chalk and cheese but get on very well. The school is rife with rumours that the princess of Maradova is attending the school, and most of the pupils believe that Lottie is her. However, the princess is really Ellie, and she is thrilled to be able to live an ordinary life because Lottie, once she knows, accepts the pretend role. Ellie is guarded by her Partizan, Jamie, who is the same age, and has been trained all his life to guard Ellie with his life.

They have many scrapes and adventures, searching for clues to a riddle that has been set them, and to keep themselves out of harm's way when the Princess's life is threatened. As the book progresses you gradually find out about all the main characters in a very natural way, nothing is forced. You are kept guessing till close to the end of the book as to who the villain is, and although I half-guessed who it was there were several likely candidates, and I wasn't entirely sure I was correct!

A good story, well worth reading.

The story felt really cliche and for the most part, I couldn't get on with the writing style.

Hey Guys,

It's me again. So this is from a buddy read with the bestest. Check her out on Instagram. We have recently started our bookstagram together so its still within is early stages. All links are below to the Katspurl's Instagram and also The Coverless. The Coverless is our joint bookstagram that we will be using to promote hard back books. Not just will we be doing some great photos but we will also be reviewing the hard back covers with out their jackets. Keep an eye out for it.

As it was our second buddy read we knew what we were doing and what to expect. I definitely had a lot more fun this time around. As we were reading almost the same areas. And its also safe to say that we had more or less the same thoughts on the book as well.

So I'll give you a quick synopsis: When fairy tale obsessed Lottie Pumpkin starts at the infamous Rosewood Hall, she is not expecting to share a room with the Crown Princess of Maradova, Ellie Wolf. Due to a series of lies and coincidences, 14-year-old Lottie finds herself pretending to be the princess so that Ellie can live a more normal teenage life.

Lottie is thrust into the real world of royalty - a world filled with secrets, intrigue and betrayal. She must do everything she can to help Ellie keep her secret, but with school, the looming Maradovian ball and the mysterious new boy Jamie, she'll soon discover that reality doesn't always have the happily ever after you'd expect...

So, on with this review. It started okay. Character building is always a slow process if you have to get everyone together in a new place. But surely once you are there, it shouldn't be a problem. Right? Wrong. The idea was a really good one, and kinda reminded me of Princess Diaries being undercover and learning to become a princess but it was so simple. Its age group was young and I knew this. I expected nothing complicated and a nice easy read. It was an easy read. But it was to simple. To predictable.

There were all the different niches. I know kids have to learn about these however there are other ways to do this. It would also be nice to see something less stereotypical. Unfortunately after a while it went from being an easy read to being boring. Katspurl and I had already figured out who the main culprit was and also what was going to happen. This was before we were anywhere near finishing.

I felt very disappointed as it sounded very interesting and fun. Instead, we get something that I feel needed a lot of work and some more fluff. Though please don't get me wrong there was a lot of description used which helped to picture the people and areas. But again there was a lot of description.

Some things were left unresolved as well which I thought, Connie Glynn could be doing a couple of things such as, using that for the next book or she is going to leave that unfinished. I'm not going to lie I will probably start the next one to see if its better. This book may be an exception and the next will be better but we will have to wait and see.

So for the good points, I like the sound of where the story could go and also the description. If it also helps, I like the cover art. So for the good points I will give the book 2 stars.

https://www.instagram.com/katspurl.adventures/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/thecoverless/?hl=en

A delightful book packed with strong female characters and plot twists to keep you guessing. Highly recommend and can't wait for the next book!

Actual rating: A high 3.5/5 stars.

So coming from Connie's YouTube channel and seeing her vlogs about this new series, I just had to support her and read it, so I was super excited when I got it via Netgalley.
Obviously I wanted to love it and for the most part I did, but I am going to be extremely nitpicky in this review and point out some of the flaws, that I think would be non-existant if it was aimed at a different target group.

For the most part, this was a beautiful story about friendship between common people and royalty and how if you apply yourself and work hard, you as an individual can achieve great things. This as well as other themes (strong female friendships, lgbt+ relationships, humour, hints of some kind of magic) were all things I loved and think were done well enough for a debut author, but there are also things I think could have been tweeked or removed completely, that I'll get to later.

Characters:
Our main character Lottie was a little bit weak in some things but strong in others, which made for an interesting balance. Poor girl, kept getting teased about her last name when everyone seemed to have overly strange names! She showed true determination and loyalty to her friends at most times and I generally liked her, even though she was a bit wimpish. I did keep getting annoyed with some of the things she did. Like, why does Lottie "groan internally" so frequently? I did like how she was used as an outlet for Connie's thoughts to radiate through Lottie. Sometimes it was too much but most often I found it quite endearing, because they were all traits that I like about the author herself.

Ollie was such a sweetie, but I honestly forgot about him as he wasn't mentioned much after Ellie moved. There was an argument that took place later in the book that I kind of felt was a way to justify his lack if existance for the rest of the book, but which annoyed me because he seems like a great character that I want to see more from.

Ellie was awesome! She was so badass and an incredibly loyal friend, that was very quick to get rise to a temper, however her heart is always in the right place. She was so dangerous and electric but she's the backbone that Ellie certainly needed.

Jamie turned out to have a bigger role in this story than I was expecting. I'm quite liking his envolvement but can't help feeling a little put off of him because of his responsibilities.

Briefly I'll go over Lottie's other friends... Binah seems pretty mysterious. She's a bit of an odd one to me because I feel like she could play mind games and I just point blank don't like Anastacia.

I was deperate for some magic in this book as there a few hints to something bigger, but after reading Connie's author note it seems like it's more of an internal magic, which could be just as beautiful, if done correctly, so that's something I'm really looking forward to in the second book!

So, time for my one of my biggest pet peeves that were totally at play here:
- a misunderstanding that can be easily corrected but is dragged on for far too long and is probably gonna be made into a big deal.
- large time jumps. e.g. that big jump from the school to the plane.. like how did they get permission, do the teachers know now?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!
- overused words. These being: static, stormy and meticulously grated on me!

I'm not going to lie, some things in this are a bit cringey, for example threatening to bite someone. The way it was said made me feel awkward especially coming from like 15/16 year olds, because to me the tone felt slightly sexually and teasing. I think either some bits could have been left out and had it marketed as Middle grade, or perhaps it should have had them a bit older to express some avenues that were certainly hinted at more than once... Though that may have lost the princess, fairytale charm. Either way, I don't think it worked very well having both. It just felt a little off.

The ending was very unexpected and dramatic but it somehow did not feel out of place. It didn't feel rushed and we still had time to process what had happened with our characters, which I greatly appreciated. Despite my little picky points, this was an amazing read, but I think perhaps if it was marketed as Middle Grade, or written in a more mature style/less amature (two extremes, I know) I would have enjoyed it to it's fullest. Hopefully these are all improvements that can be considered for the remainding books and I look forward to venturing into more of the Rosewood school and the students' lives.

I received a copy of this book for my independent honest review. It has taken me a while to consider how to review it as I am not from the target audience age group. It reminded me of a modern day Mallory Towers by Enid Blyton. I loved this series as a child growing up in the seventies and fondly remember placing myself in their world. I think that this book will have the same feel good factor for young teens today who want a little easy reading escapism. It shows good examples of friendship which I liked, however it didn't keep me gripped. I still read children's and young adult books on a regular basis and there are many that I have to keep reading without a break. Therefore I only awarded this book 3.5*. I did enjoy it though. The story was easy to read and did evoke good childhood memories for me and I would recommend young readers give it a try.

Undercover Princess is a book written by Connie Glynn aka Noodlerella. I will honestly say that although I have seen a few videos by Noodlerella I wouldn't say I really know anything about her, I definitely think this helped going into the book. This story has serious Princess Diaries vibes and I was down for it!

This, for me, was by no means perfect. A lot of the story was predictable and after a while Lottie became very whiny and repetitive. I also feel like the book tried very hard to put you off the scent of the 'bad guy' and for me made it clear the person the book was hinting to wasn't our culprit. However, this was still a cute and easy retelling of the famous Prince and Pauper tale. I did really like the writing style. I found it flowed really well and made reading this very enjoyable. I liked Jamie a lot, to me he was the right balance of broody and sensible and young to be both believable in his role as a friend but also for his job. The setting of the book has Harry Potter like vibes for me and brought me back to the times when I was younger and has wished to be whisked away to a remote boarding school in the country.
The one thing I really wished for with this book was more Ollie! He was introduced as such a funny and lovable character and then Lottie essentially abandons him, such a shame!

I would definitely pick up more of Connies books (especially Princess themed ones!)

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!!*

I got this physical ARC from deptcon3, which seems like ages ago! And I had really wanted to read it in time for its publication, but I didn't get to and since I went on an unintentional hiatus for November, you're getting the review now!

First of all, the cover is gorgeous. I saw quite a few other bloggers talking about this book and mainly taking pictures of it, and I didn't know what it was about. But when I got the ARC and read the blurb - it sounded like something that I would love. Because I love when royalty is incorporated into books and this didn't disappoint.

I loved the mystery threaded throughout - I'll admit it wasn't something I was expecting but Glynn manages to pull it off perfectly that I could barely out it down before having to pick it back up again!

As well as that, I found myself slightly obsessed with our two main characters - Ellie and Lottie. I think they were both brilliantly developed characters and I loved the contrast between them, and even though they were two very different people, they instantly became the best of friends and I liked seeing how their friendship developed, even with all the ups and downs thrown in throughout the book.

However, I did feel like this book came to a rushed ending and some of the questions I wanted answers to weren't explained the best they could have been. I'm pretty sure this is the first in a series so I will be definitely picking up the next book to see if there are more answers in the future instalments, but I did enjoy Undercover Princess.

Lottie - a driven, princess-mad orphan - has won a scholarship for the infamous Rosewood School, a posh boarding school where blue bloods, rich kids and royalty intermingle. There she meets Ellie, her new roommate, who has a secret. She is the hidden princess of Maradova - unfortunate to her because she just wants to be a normal teenager. Together, they form a bond as they navigate themselves through the perilous waters that is high school.


To be perfectly honest, I did not get on well at all with The Rosewood Chronicles. I was put off by the cliche plot, thinly drawn characters and mediocre writing. It read very much like a first draft effort from a teenager who had read a few boarding school books and decided to give it a go. I fail to see what was special to prompt publishing, if not for the name of the author. It seems clear to me that the book deal was made on the basis of branding and assured sales. That so much money is being put towards basically what amounts to a vanity project, when it could be going towards more rewarding efforts, is infuriating. If I had known it was a YouTuber book I would never have picked it up in the first place.

But anyways, I requested this one because I was a big fan of The Princess Diaries and there seemed to be some hype behind this new release. I wanted to get ahead of the game and read it for myself, especially as I was in the mood for a cute contemporary to wile away the cold evenings. It definitely had potential and I did enjoy parts of this novel. I appreciated the diversity in terms of the representation of some of the main relationships, particularly for a novel geared towards a younger age group. I think Glynn really has an eye for writing relationships. Unfortunately, I think it was a disservice to her craft to be published so early on in her development.

It is difficult to review this one because I do not like writing negative reviews, and, of course, opinions are subjective. The most infuriating thing is it is not actively awful. It is bland and unimaginative, with wasted potential - and that makes it worse. It is too mediocre to even be a hate read. I am also tired of this increasing mindset of the publishing world towards publishing names instead of voices. It has detrimentally affected the quality of the recent output in YA especially.

Lastly, no fourteen year old girl moving to boarding school for the first time takes with her a Disney nightgown. 🙎💩

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for providing me with a copy to review.

This is my first time reading the author and will be my last.

It’s been a long time since I disliked a book as much as Undercover Princess.

I feel that nothing worked about this book. I definitely won’t read the rest of the series.

Let’s start with the characters. They are all flat, one dimensional cardboard cut-outs with the emotional depth of a scone. It’s been a long time since I came across such boring, insipid characters. Lottie and Ellie were the worst. Seriously. I’ve never been so irritated in my life. They acted like such special snowflakes but just got on my nerve. They were so happy and positive all the time. If something upsetting happened they were like oh well, everything is super fine, let’s have a cookie/cake/biscuit. Argh. They were tedious. I didn’t engage with any character and cared nothing about what happened to them.

Let’s move onto the plot. What little there was. Undercover Princess had absolutely nothing original or interesting about it. The book is riddled with clichés that superior authors know how to avoid with a barge-pole. Nothing remotely interesting happens, just Lottie and Ellie being irritating for MANY, MANY, MANY pages. The book is twee and nauseating and not engaging on any level.

Finally, let’s move onto the actual writing. Which sucked big-time. If I read one more over-used adjective I’d be tempted to punch someone in the face. Everything is explained. Nothing is shown. The writing is stilted and flat (i.e. Jamie did this, Lottie thought that). Adverbs, adverbs everywhere, please God no more. The dialogue is awful. British and American spelling is used inconsistently. Characters over-reacted. Irritating snowflake girls having a temper tantrum does not make drama. What is the deal with Lottie and Ellie. They acted like love interests at times rather than friends (stroking one another, nuzzling each other’s hair, taking the icing from each other’s cheek and licking it). This is glossed over in the book and I just found it creepy.

Oh, and a final word about the quality of the ARC. I never comment on this because I accept that I’m not reading the final version. However, Undercover Princess has editorial comments inserted a random in red text (i.e. change slung to strung). This is not okay and really unprofessional.

This was awful. I literally only finished reading it so that I could increase my feedback ratio on NetGalley.

I’m not onboard with hating on Youtubers for the sake of it, but I genuinely feel that if this person didn’t have a built-in fan base to buy this book it would never have been published. It’s unoriginal, boring, and badly written.

Great fun book. A few holes in the plot but didn't stop my enjoyment of the overall story. Recommended.

An enjoyable story that I would definitely recommend to a young teenager. I must say that Lottie did drive me mad at times and I wanted to shake her and tell her to stick up for herself! I'm hoping that there's more to the series and we get to see Lottie grow as a character!

How a mistake about identity can be made through shyness, which then led to friendship and opportunities which would never have come about otherwise. Two girls sharing a room at boarding school, one there on a scholarship and the other to get a taste of real life before taking on royal duties. A rumour goes round about a princess in school, and without giving away too much of the plot, one girl gets mistaken, wrongly, as the princess, with all the difficulties this entails. A good read, moves along quickly, I enjoyed it.