This book didn’t grip me. I just couldn’t get on with it for some reason. Not really sure of its target market either.

Sadly I count find this one anywhere on my kindle , and I looked under the new and old title as well as the authors name.

The first thing I noticed, in chapter one, was a big info dump. It tells you all about the world and the characters. It was a lot to take in all at once. Our main character, Tristan, is the lost prince that the king is looking for. Tristan is like an Aladdin/Robin hood type of character because he takes food from people to feed himself and his friends. This book was not for me. The plot was very simple and there was no real mystery about finding out who the lost prince was because they tell you that in chapter two. These are the reasons why I decided to DNF this book at 10%

A simple, easy to read story that I'd put more at middle grade than young adult. I enjoyed having a male protagonist in a coming of age royal family style story, as this is a genre that often focuses on princesses. I would recommend it to pre teens or early teens, but it doesn't have a plot that's complex enough to grip me as an adult, and when I requested the book it wasn't very clear that this was written for so young an audience.

This was a cute, simple charming story, and it was so nice to read about a male protagonist in a YA story. I thought the story flowed well and who doesn't love a book about royals??

An amazing read for me personally. Lately, I have been reading a lot of fantasy books having the lead of a female character, but, A Peculiar Royal has a male lead character. I had a lot of fun while reading this book.

If you are someone who enjoys a hint of action with a lot of cozy romance with just a beautiful serene aesthetic, well this one is for you. Seventeen-Year-old Tristan is taken from the streets in the rags to the courts of Iscarius one day so suddenly when the kind makes the announcement to find the lost prince. What follows is a lot of drama and Tristan running away from the palace again and again. We also have a cute pet dog and oh my god he is the best-bud ever.

But, there is someone planning to kill the young prince, and his friends from the streets are also mad at him. What will happen when the prince will be getting close to the one who is trying to kill him? and will his friends start talking to him again?

Get to the book right now .

It is a fast-paced light read. I guess if you are having any slumps or just wish to read some light stuff while you are stacking up with horrors and mystery, this will be your perfect buddy. The overall aesthetic of the book is very beautiful. The love story that evolves in the book is slow which I like, it is the best kind of thing I can read in a book.

Talking about the characters, they seem a bit too-perfect sometimes which is not something I really fall for in general cases but I guess it was fine for this one! This fact did not hinder the enjoyment I felt at all!

The writing style is great. An easy read for literally everyone.
The book contains absolutely no mature content or scenes. I'd commend this one for anyone 12+! Read it with your friends, read it together in a book club, well, just give a taste of cozy read to your eyes and warmth to your heart!

This was a cute, simple charming story, it was cozy and flowed well. I love a good book about royals.

A Peculiar Royal is a heartwarming read, perfect for this cozy Christmas time. I would recommend it for middle grade fantasy lovers, specially for those who enjoy "the lost heir" and "orphan" tropes.

The book follows the story of Tristan, a 17 years old boy who lives on the street. I had a feeling that he was younger while I was reading, I pictured him more as 14 years old. In the beginning we see how he and his gang of homeless kids struggle to live off the streets, which made me feel emotional. His companion dog, Nork, was adorable and the perfect sidekick.

Things change when Tristan is discovered by the royal family. Tristan is scared, he is taken to the palace and discovers he is the lost prince. He struggles to adapt, after all, he thinks how could a street-rat be the heir to the throne? It is very heartwarming to see how his grandparents fight to win his love and his trust. The focus is not so much on the plot but more on Tristan's personal growth and how important family is. Overall, a touching and satisfying happy tale!

A relatively easy middle grade story, I didn’t find this really engaging or memorable. The pacing was okay. The characters could have been more developed and consistent. The overall plot was weak and could have used more development as well. Not something I’d go back to or read more of.

Orphaned at a young age, Tristan has grown up on the streets. Now at 17 years old, he learns that he is actually a Prince and heir to the throne. This was a really good, kind of fluffy middle grade read that would be perfect in my school library. I loved watching Tristan grow into his role and becoming part of a family. I think the writing could have been a little better, but for the most part this was a wonderful story that I enjoyed very much.

I can see that there have been edits between the original book and this but it still didn't quite grap me for a few reasons, mostly because I felt there was a lot of inconsistency in the behaviour of the main character, and the plot wasn;t as developed as I would have liked. Admittedly I rarely ever read middle grade, and that could be a factor, as I am used to older characters, but this just wasn't a great read for me.

An easy and fun read, some great characters and an interesting story, plenty will definitely enjoy this. I know I did.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I have mixed feelings about this book however I would like to acknowledge the fact that the team behind this book has taken criticism on board and has changed the marketing from YA to Middle Grade. This is a set in the right direction for sure however I do think there are still some minor issues with it.
Do I think that it works better in the Middle-Grade genre however multiple factors still don't completely add up for me. The main character's age for one seems pretty inconsistent in terms of his behaviour. A lot of the time he acts a lot younger than his age (supposedly seventeen) especially considering he had to survive on the streets and would have had to grow up fast. That being said I understand considering the plot of the book his age is appropriate and making him younger would cause more clashes. So it's definitely hard for me to process that and in that respect, the change of genre seems like a quick fix. One critique that I have read multiple times is also the appearance of his stutter and heightened anxiety. I disagree with this completely and I am glad the author included it within the book. It is perfectly understandable that Tristan's anxiety would increase in a new situation and with the added responsibility brought on by court life, so these critiques seem unfair and sometimes devalidating. It is great in my opinion that a child or young teen with a stutter or anxiety could see someone like them do great things and be told by people around them that their supposed weaknesses can be used as an advantage. It is such a good message.
Tristans character did have a lot of growth and I also enjoyed the other range of characters that we had. Are they all as developed or layered as they could have been but considering once again the audience has been changed I see nothing wrong with that.
The writing was quite basic in my opinion and nothing to really write home about, it did pull me out of the story at the beginning but once I got used to it I really sped through the novel. For this reason, I can again see a younger audience finding it more accessible. The pacing was also pretty good in my opinion.
The plot however was very basic, there were the classic troupes and I would have liked to seen some more conflict to increase the suspense or intrigue. I totally get that it is a coming of age story and a good one at that but unfortunately for a book like this to stand out it needs to be more unique to capture people's interests.
Overall not a bad book and will definitely be enjoyable for a lot of people, but not particularly memorable for me, unfortunately.
Rated:2.5 Stars

I read the book, it’s more middle grade than ya, and I’m happy they changed it in the subscription of this book.

It’s an easy read, an bit to simple for me as an adult, but it means the group it is focused on should have an easy and fun time reading this book.

The world building could have been an bit more and deeper, but for this book it’s okay.

Have fun

I waited too long to read the E-ARC of this, I am still interested in the story & will probably order the finished copy to read.

A peculiar royal
By Alonna Williams’
May contain spoilers
I love these kind of books anything two with kings and queen and a prince I’m in. The story was brilliant well written and easy two follow I read this book in two days I couldn’t put it down I was so additive it was a great read that I enjoyed so much.
Tristan is a street rat he lived on the streets for 15 years his body was marked with the sign of a prince he didn’t know he was a prince he stole and beg for food most of his life he also had a dog that went everywhere with him. Till one day he had a command two the palace he was scared he didn’t want two go he knew he stole from the king and was hopping they never found out. The king and queen told him they wanted him two be prince of his city that it was his duty they told him how his mother and father died and they fought he died in till someone saw him in the market with his mark on him. He agreed two stay in the palace after a while he learnt two read write play piano visit a ball he met princess Alliona who he started two fall in love with. He met august the knight who taught him everything and when every wear with him and protected him from certain people.
He loved the palace life he help the homeless with food he visit the town with his friends and asked his friend two the palace for dinner everyone in the end started two like him.and he had is coronation and it was lovely. I loved how Tristan had his happy life from being poor two be rich has a prince he was caring kind give two the homeless food enjoyed spending time with his grandparents king and queen learnt knew things as well. I loved this book it’s worth a read I enjoyed learning about the palace about his parents how they died and how he survived and he learnt how two steal and beg for food for fifteen years on the street he was a nice character after. I gave this book five stars .

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I had a good time reading this. I look forward to more from the author.

I think this book was a good middle grade read. The plot was interesting, and made me want to know how the story ends. I didn't love the writing style, but I do think it is a book my students would enjoy.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book, however unfortunately I was unable to download it before the title was archived.

"A Peculiar Royal" by Alonna Williams starts out strongly, with the reader being thrust into Tristan's life as a street rat. The first few chapters are all about his life on the streets, and the found family he's surrounded himself with, and the relationships he's grown up with.
Once he's found to be the prince, the tone of the novel changes considerably. With a focus on Tristan's education and shenanigans around the palace, the novel becomes much lighter, almost reading as a middle grade novel rather than YA.
In fact, this is the main problem of the novel. Everything from the characters to the plot are strangely exaggerated. It's something that's usually found in middle grade novels, and it works really well, but it comes off as cartoonish when in a YA setting. I should note that I place it as a YA book because the main character, Tristan, is 17 and the depictions of violence (however minute). Tristan's mannerisms correspond to characters between the ages of 11-14, while violence that draws blood is something generally reserved for older audiences.

However, this doesn't extend to the writing. Williams' uses a 3rd person POV and omniscient narrator, which allows her to jump from character to character mid chapter or sometimes mid conversation. Not only do we get the thoughts of the main characters, but the POV shifts to secondary and even background characters, given the readers a much fuller view of a scene than many other books. More generally, the writing was good. Being easy to read combined with the dynamic plot, made the book fast to get through. It never bored me, and I finished it within a few days.

A Peculiar Royal could be a fantastic Middle Grade book, but it loses out being labelled as Young Adult. I recommend this shift in mentality as I enjoyed it more that way.

Actual star rating: 2.5/5