If all the most iconic plot lines from your favorite beloved soap operas were turned into a book (here’s looking at you, General Hospital), it’d have to look something like ROYAL HEIRS ACADEMY. Lindsey Duga keeps the stakes ramped up almost more than the romance in this book about four teens competing to inherit a kingdom. It’s saucy, slightly unhinged, and just ridiculously fun.

"Royal Heirs Academy" is a typical YA royal boarding school story. The book was a mixed bag but a quick, easy read. While some characters and plot points were well-developed, others felt underdeveloped and left me wanting more. The characters are predictable. the plot twists are obvious, and the romance is bland. The pacing was also uneven, with some slow sections that dragged the story down. I wanted to enjoy it more than I did.

I have a lot of thoughts on this book, some good some bad. The bad things are kind of trivial. The author insisted on typing out a characters accents rather than just stating the character had an accent and it was incredibly irritating (ex. “See yerselves out”). What was the purpose. What was the reason. I get he’s Irish now please type normally. The other issue I had was the constant TikTok references. They felt kind of cringy. But whatever, unlike the “yer”s it wasn’t that bad. And it was outweighed by how much I enjoyed everything else in this book. The characters were so intriguing. I genuinely loved Sadie and the love triangle wasn’t too predictable, especially with the status of the books ending. Emmeline was such an interesting character, no matter how much I hated her. And the rivalries? The fight for the throne? Omg it was so interesting. I can’t believe I considered not reading whatever the next book is called.

I need the sequel in my hands right now, please. I wish I had known ahead of time that there would be a little bit of a cliffhanger, but it makes me want to stay in the world even longer.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I absolutely LOVE the premise, and the intrigue of learning who the heir would be.

However, I found the story choppy at times, and so I struggled to stay engaged in that sense.

I do like it, and I would read other books by Duga. But I didn't love it.

Would absolutely love to see this book as a movie or a show! The drama and intrigue was so fun. Great character development for the main characters. Hits on some very real topics. The ending definitely implies there will be more to the story so I am waiting to see this become a series.

The premise of this book was very interesting to me, as I was intrigued by the concept of the boarding school setting for the book, as well as the fact that four of the students would be competing in order to inherit the kingdom of a fictional European country named Ashland. The king of Ashland, King Leander Eldana, has ruled for 50 years without ever appointing an heir to his throne and must now appoint one. The catch is that the prospective heirs (King Leander Eldana's grandchildren) have been raised out of the public eye and have now been invited to attend the prestigious Almus Terra Academy where they will complete against each other for the throne. The book opened a bit slow for me and it took a while for me to really get into the story. I didn't really love any of the characters in the book or connect with them on a deep level. I would say I enjoyed this book but not as much as I would have liked to. The best parts for me were when the heirs arrived at Almus Terra Academy and got to know each other. I just wish the pacing of the novel was a bit better as I believe this is what made me not too excited to keep reading and to finish the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A YA with royals?

Yes, please! Four heirs…three are by blood and one is a commoner. They must battle it out to see who will be the next successor at the most prestigious academy in the world. Scandals, manipulation, and secrets!

I. Love. Royal. DRAMA!

Now we just need the second book ASAP!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

Definitely a fun read! This is on my list to purchase for my library. It felt like Gossip Girl gone royal. Fun read!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: January 7, 2025

This had all the ingredients to be great, but the recipe got mixed up. I struggled to keep interest throughout because there were so many subplots. It picked up, but was honestly just a downer. Everyone in this is pretty awful (and had pretty awful lives up until this point). Almost everyone in this is also so exceptionally cruel that it was difficult to stomach. Very little redemption or resolution for most characters in this. Alaric was the only one I liked and he was just left floating in limbo at the end.

The book is exactly as described, with lots of intrigue, scheming and backstabbing, with a touch of romance. The plot is interesting. But I truly couldn't have cared less about the characters, which made it hard for me to stay interested in the story. Sadie just felt rather unextraordinary, and Titus and Alaric's interest in her baffled me. Emmeline was definitely set up to be the villain in this, but honestly, I probably liked her the best despite her stooping to questionable choices to try to come out on top. Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

THOUGHTS

I don't know. I'm not usually a fan of melodrama, but this book... This book could have benefited from some melodrama. It just fell rather flat. The characters, the competition... I didn't get invested in any of it.


PROS
Ruthless Ladies: Though the characters mostly fell flat in this book, I can at least appreciate that these ladies--the princess Emmeline in particular--were the most ruthless royal competitors. Much more so than their male counterparts. They pulled no punches, and they looked good doing it. It's nice to have a preppy (literal) princess slip so easily into this no-nonsense, no-mercy role.

Messy Relationships: If there was one element this book really did get right, it was the interpersonal drama. These relationships are messy. There are love triangles that aren't love triangles because they don't know each other that well--but they see some romantic potential. There's squabbling. There's in-fighting. It all feels very high school... just like it should. They're teenagers, after all. And I loved that.

Unequal Odds: Plots that revolve around contemporary royalty tend to be pretty escapist, and that's also the case here. But this book makes a pointed effort of exposing class inequality, even among the "elite" students at this boarding school. Our world isn't a meritocracy, no matter how much we pretend otherwise. The best of the best still get trumped by the wealthy, and that's just the way it is. And that sucks, which this book acknowledges. And that shouldn't be the case, which this book acknowledges. And Lindsey Duga does a really good job of weaving this thread of inequality into the escapist plot itself without either point clashing--which is a great accomplishment.


CONS
"Transformative" End: I don't want to spoil anything. That's not what I do here. So I'll tiptoe around this criticism. There's one character who snaps at the end, who has a rapid transformation into their real, hardened self. And... that just didn't work for me. It didn't make sense. It wasn't earned. It felt lazy and cheap, and I was disappointed. It fell so flat.

Identity Crisis: Above everything else, this book suffers from a sort of identity crisis. Did it want to be a competition book? That's how it set itself up, but the competition was nonexistent. Did it want to be a fluffy contemporary royal story? Well, it didn't quite reach "fluff" status. Did it want to be a social commentary? It wasn't serious enough for that. Did it want to be a romance? The romantic interests didn't really exceed anything but "interest" status. It wanted to be a lot of things, I think, and it failed to deliver on pretty much every front. Was it a bad book? No, but I didn't really enjoy reading it. It didn't lean into any of its aspects enough to really hook me.

A... Contest?: This book pitches itself as a contest for the throne, but... there is no contest. Oh, they keep saying these kids are being "tested," but if you're looking for criteria, for challenges, for goals and achievements, well, this book has none. There's no way of judging how anybody's doing, or even what they're supposed to do. So I found it pretty impossible to get invested in any of these characters, because what was I supposed to root for? Nobody knew what was going on. Were there rankings? Were they going up or down? Everything was a shot in the dark, so nothing meant anything. And that doesn't make for a very fun read.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/10
Those who loved Cale Dietrich's The Rules of Royalty will like diving into this new facet of royal life. Those who enjoyed Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries will like following along with these royals-in-training.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of this novel. 3.5ish/5 stars.

I'm a sucker for like....royalty novels and this combines that with a competition and also exposing of how corrupt governments are. I also like the political elements of this novel and how the heirs use their scheming and actually awful methods to gain favor and be named heir. I also like how all four of the heirs in competition are vastly different from each other, but I do think Alaric and Emmeline are lacking the "what am I doing this for" factor like Sadie and Titus have....but yet all of them except Alaric made some really, really, really corrupt decisions by the end of the novel. Also....can we have novels without forced romances in them??

Also....when is book 2? I do think some of it was like ?!?!?! but I also binged this on a snow day and when it ended I was like :o oh no because holy heck my heart.

This is a good YA dark academia book that pits four teenagers against each other to become the heir to the King’s throne. Three of them are the royal grandchildren of the King who were sent away & raised by guardians out of the public eye. The fourth is a teenager that won a scholarship to the elite academy they are all sent to that is infamous for breeding the world’s next generation of leaders – and liars.

Titus has always known his heritage & is suffering under the enormous pressure of ruthless parents who will do anything to put him on the throne. He comes off as arrogant & cunning but also hides a boy that just wants his parent’s love & acceptance. Alaric grew up in foster care & basically raised himself. He is a hardened & brutal “man of the streets” but has a softer side for anyone bullied & those less fortunate. Emmeline grew up rich, but alone & neglected. She just wants love & attention from her family. Sadie doesn’t know why she was chosen, but she’s intent on taking advantage of the opportunity.

The four interact with each other much as you’d expect, with suspicion & wariness. Some try to form an alliance, others try a fake romance, yet others use revenge & spite to get what they want. Each heir is both likeable & unlikeable on their journey to the throne, fitting nicely into their stereotypes. The book is fast paced with interesting side characters that provide levity & a respite from the competition. However, the author doesn’t go far enough below the surface of the heirs’ development as I’d like, & some plot points were not fully fleshed out. Those are my hangups, tho. You should check this one out yourself.

Thank you @NetGalley @christyottavianobooks & @linzduga for the complimentary e-copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

I will not be finishing this book as there was language that I did not appreciate and the story was getting nowhere fast.

I love when books have fun with their premise and deliver in full, and Royal Heirs Academy definitely did.

Four teens. One throne. Alaric, Emmeline, Titus, and Sadie were all accepted into Almus Terra Academy; a school that is known for teaching the world's next generation of leaders. All four have just found out that they are in the running for the throne of Ashland. Alaric, Emmeline, and Titus are in the running as the grandchildren of King Leander; but Sadie is chosen for her abilities and special circumstances. Throughout the book, there are secrets, betrayals, a love triangle, blackmail, royal drama, and so much more. And the ending is a twist you'll never see coming.

I absolutely loved this book! I'm always found boarding school dynamics so interesting, and the stakes of this school made it even more dynamic. I think the concept for this book made it very unique. The fact that Alaric, Emmeline, and Titus were all sent out into the world without knowing their actual identities (for the most part) was both a sad and interesting plotpoint. I also felt very connected with Sadie for the whole novel because she got completely thrown into this competition, and it turns her entire world upside down. I mean, she goes THROUGH IT in this book, but she is such a badass that she ends up becoming stronger with every hardship thrown her way. The secrets and mysteries in this book were also so good and well thought out. And the ending! I could not even believe it.

<spoiler> I mean Emmeline really deserved that karma because she was so horrible the entire book and I was so glad that it all bit her in the ass. And when Sadie was able to get the heir apparent title through blackmailing the king, I was so proud. When she said she had nothing to lose, it really broke my heart, especially after Titus royally screwed her over. I'm hoping she can get with Alaric because he is so much better. Plus he has broken boy energy and I definitely feel like she could fix him.</spoiler>

I definitely recommend this book if you love boarding school vibes, secrets, betrayals, love triangles, and royal drama!

OMG. Read this.

Found family. Academic Rivals. Royals who didn't know they were royals. ROYAL COMPETITION. Parent issues. Family guilt. LOVE TRIANGLE.

Its all here.

I'll start with the girls. Sadie, not royal but competing on scholarship to maybe rule if she wins. Tragic family events that made her doubt who she is and if she has what it takes. Emmeline, raised with no contact to actual family but was taught the ways of the wealthy with the best clothes and school money could buy but no idea who her parents were.

The boys. Titus, raised knowing (by his parents secret calls) everything but never knowing the love of his parents. The only thing they care is that he win. Not about him. Starts out not being a character I loved with his snobby self but let me tell I loved him by the end. This poor boy! He has been through it and I am definitely rooting for him. Alaric, I am completely obsessed with. Raised knowing nothing, in and out of foster care, eventually raised by himself. Mom passed away as a child and a father who loathes him. OMG I am his biggest fan. All in.

This book though, what?!?!? So, so good. And the ending I never saw coming. SIGN ME UP FOR NEXT SEMESTER.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

When I first started reading this novel, I really liked it. I enjoyed the concept, but as I kept reading it fell a little flat for me. The plot was very slow, and a lot of what happened was being told instead of shown, which made it hard for me to connect with any of the characters, or even route for them to become heir. I really wanted to like Sadie, but I didn't. Even her relationship with Titus or potential relationship with Alaric left me bored. I didn't feel a connection with her character and Alaric, or her character and Titus. There wasn't much development shown with their characters to make the relationships believable. I wish there had been more chapters with Emmeline and Titus, as I found there stories to be the most interesting. I did like the ending, so if there is another book, I might read it to see what happens. But overall this was just okay and not super memorable.

I think my main issue was I was unable to connect with any of the characters. Because of that I didn’t find it as enjoyable as I hoped. Usually anything with royalty is something I love. With that said, if you love books with angst filled rich teenagers and young heirs trying to outdo one another to become the chosen ruler, then this is probably a book you will love. Sadly, it wasn’t for me.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.