I really enjoyed this book. I love books where you are excited to read them. I loved getting to know the characters. I wanted to pick up the book and listen to the incredible narrators. it's told in two pov's: Rose the princess of Henland (a fictional country in Europe) and Dani a scholarship kid in a fancy elite boarding school. luckily she's talented but she has stage fright. she's incredibly empathetic and understands Rose better than anybody. I loved their friendship and turned into a crush into romance. It felt like a mashup of Gossip Girl meets Princess Diaries and sprinkle in some Lesbian romance. a perfect read for pride month.

Such a perfect read for pride month!!

Nobody in Particular is a fun, younger & sapphic version of "Red, White & Royal Blue" & I loved it.

Danni's life has been uprooted to a new country, with new friends as she is enrolled in a boarding school on a music scholarship. She has a history of bullying from her old school & is hesitant with making new friends. She identifies as bisexual, which she believes will only make it harder. She meets a big group of girls and falls into friendship with them easily. She is intimidated to meet the royal princess at her school, who is next in line for succession of the throne. Everything changes when she meets Rose

Rose is the royal princess of Henland, soon to be Queen. She had a recent fallout with her best friend & the media perception of her is at an all time low. All while attempting to navigate with the fact that she is a lesbian while existing as the sole heir of the monarchy - knowing that the people would never accept her this way. The only thing that seems to be able to stop her thoughts in their tracks these days, is Danni.

Danni & Rose's relationship blossoms and its addictive. I fell in love with them instantly. The forbidden love trope had me rooting so hard for them. They're funny & their attraction to each other is so intriguing. Every time I put this book down, I wanted more of them. Watching the two of them navigating coming out to their friends & Rose attempting to stay out of the spotlight and navigate a fake straight relationship to direct the media attention elsewhere - all for it to all end in disaster!!

In the authors note, Sophie talks about how she was worried to release this book because of the similarities between this and Red, White & Royal Blue... but I didnt think they were too similar at all. Obviously, the scandal of a gay royal was the same - but otherwise I feel that this took a completely different take on the concept!

I loved this book. It was so fun, so perfect for pride month.
It was the perfect coming of age queer romance. I am obsessed & still thinking about Danni & Rose

content warnings: outing, drug and alcohol use by minors, death, homophobia, bullying

following a scandal that lost princess rosemary of henland the trust of her country and her best friend, she can’t afford any distractions. unfortunately, a new student at bramppath college seems to be just the distraction she didn’t need. danni is here on a music scholarship, and as she already stands out because of socioeconomic differences, she decides to keep the fact that she’s bi a secret. as she gets closer to rose, though, this secret gets harder to keep, and soon she finds out how hard it is to be in a secret relationship with a princess.

i’m a sucker for royal romances, and with this book being compared to one of my favorite tv shows, young royals, i have to say i was intrigued. i could definitely see the young royals comparisons, though this book didn’t make me want to rip my hair out nearly as much (said with affection). i loved danni and rose so so much, both individually and as a couple. they were both going through a lot, and it was nice to see them grow through their struggles. there was also so much angst, what with rose being expected to marry a man due to her status, and i thought this was handled well. overall, this was a lovely book. i highly recommend this to YA romance readers who enjoy the royal/non-royal relationship dynamic.

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=4.25 | 😘=3 | 🤬=3 | 14/15+

summary: so like Girl 1 is the princess of a small fake Catholic European country and Girl 2 just moved to the small fake European country and they’re at the same boarding school and they start to fall in love but they can never be together bc princesses can’t be gay especially Catholic princesses and Girl 2 is just an Ordinary American Girl so there is class tension so will they be able to be together or no?????????

thoughts: love to see a romance novel with ridiculously high stakes providing external and internal conflicts that don’t rely on miscommunications!! anyway this was good! lots of sapphic yearning and celebrity hijinks and teenager drama and also borderline silly but nevertheless realistic enough stakes that made for an engaging and fun time! and also the character arcs were really meaningful?? and they were able to see each other for who they really are not who they’re pretending to be??? and it’s very emotional alongside being silly and ridiculous actually!!!!! read this! huzzah!! gay rights!!!!

I loved this so much omg!
This book is about Danni who is just starting out in a new boarding school in a new country and all she's looking for is to be accepted and find friends while she struggles with coming out. Rose is crown princess of the country, next in line for the throne and she is grieving the tragic loss of her friend from only months ago while she harbors a secret that could destroy her chances at becoming the queen. The story follows these two young women as they become close and discover their feelings for each other while navigating grief, societal pressures, and the growth that comes from lessons learned.
It's an absolutely wonderful book. Rose and Danni are my babies. I loved both of them so much and Rose's struggle with showing her emotions really resonated with me as someone who also struggles with that. And Danni's struggle with being accepted while trying to put herself out there was so real especially for her age.
They were both so cute together and I was rooting for their relationship the entire time. I loved how they supported each other through the hard times and how they saw each other, flaws and all. Danni being the only one to notice that Rose would shut down instead of feel bad feelings was beautiful. They were so good together and I love them.
If you want a really cute, fluffy royalty romance that's sapphic, I definitely recommend this one.

Sophie Gonzales is the author I needed when I was a queer teen living in a small town. Nobody in Particular feels like home, and reminds me of some of my favorite movies growing up. I love the world and the characters. The narration style is distinct for both Rose and Danni, and each brings something wonderful to the storytelling. The pace feels right for the emotional timeline of the story. Overall, a beautiful book that represents so many teens who are trying to figure themselves out.

3.5 - I thought this was really cute! I thought this explored some darker topics of growing up in the public eye without being too graphic. I love when YA tackles important topics in a gentler way.

Lovedddddd this one so much! Both Dani and Rose, as well as their growing relationship were a delight. This book was like a warm hug. I also found it so lovely reading the author's letter at the begging. I'm glad Sophie Gonzales never gave up on this story so that we can read it now.

Thank you St Martins and NetGalley for an eARC!

I am not normally one for the romantic idealization of monarchies and royalty and all that, but cannot deny Sophie Gonzales wrote a romance here full of total charmers. There's a ton of stuff we need to suspend our disbelief for throughout—the thing that drove me the most crazy, particularly after a lack of observation and discipline led to a tragedy just before the start of this story, how is it these boarding school kids have all this freedom to like, go give press conferences unobserved? Who is trying to get comments on the record from unaccompanied minors, and why are they not afraid of legal recourse?

A light commoner/royalty YA romance. This one started strong for me and at parts felt long in the middle. I forgot it was YA when I started and I think if I had that framing it would have worked better for me.

3.5 stars but rounding up.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books & Netgalley.

Sophie Gonzales writes the books the world needs!

Nobody in Particular is another excellent story by Sophie Gonzales. Set up as a sapphic Princess Diaries, this story contains multitudes. An American prodigy -joining an exclusive boarding school to start fresh, and the disgraced Princess - working to restore her image in the face of recent scandal. Introduce some perfect angsty romance, and then introduce the classic coming-of-age struggles that feel relatable no matter your background. This story is delectable to read. It is full of heart and so many beautiful things.

Sophie Gonzales does tackle some heavy themes in this novel. There are some strong points about coming out, which is a common theme for some of Gonzales's books, but this one felt harder because one of the coming out stories had to be so public. It had to become a national headline rather than our typical, more contained setting, however, this leap into a national coming out made the stakes that much higher. It added an extra layer to the story that kept me reading late into the night. Along with this coming out story, there is an "outed" storyline as well, which is difficult. For any readers who have been outed in the past, this could be triggering, but I think Gonzales handled it so well. It added suspense, but didn't detract from things. It was also received by a parental figure in such a beautiful way that I almost cried getting through it.

All in all, this book is another genuine homerun from one of my favorite authors. Long-time fans of Sophie Gonzales are destined to love this, and I can't wait to see all the new fans that this story brings as well. Check it out!

A heart-healing story full of the joy of first love, the fear of not being accepted for who you really are, and the pain of regret, both for your past actions and for the mistakes you might make in the future. It’s not easy being a teenager, whether you’re a transfer student in another country who’s painfully shy because she’s been bullied non-stop for years or whether you’re a crown princess dealing with the death of friend and a plan that doesn’t involve telling anyone your true sexuality, like, ever. Both Danni and Rosemary are dealing with some real issues when they meet, and it’s not like those issues magically vanish when they start falling for one another, but being together makes them both stronger and more confident in what they want their lives to look like.

The media and the way it can be both used and abused plays a big part in this story, and I love that taking charge of the narratives of their own stories was a vital moment for each girl. In the end, all you can do is be true to yourself and hope those you love will continue to love and support you. That’s not saying it’s going to be easy. Not to minimize any risks Danni took, <spoiler>coming out before she was ready, and basically blackmailing the school into not expelling her,</spoiler>, but Rose especially <spoiler>put everything on the line when she finally realized that it wasn’t worth preserving her future as queen if she would be constantly living in fear of being exposed and at risk of being manipulated to protect those she loved</spoiler>.

I also love the varied and complicated friendships in this book. I was afraid at first that Molly was going to turn into some sort of villain when Danni and Rose grew closer, but luckily that is never the case. What Molly and Rosemary went through when Oscar died was horrific and unimaginable, and it’s not surprising that the different ways their grief and shock affected each of them might drive a wedge between the two. Danni coming to their school and becoming friends with each of them (and Eleanor, too!) didn’t necessarily fix what was broken - everything was too messy and painful and misinterpreted to be solved that easily. But the growth they each went through over the course of the school year, whether that was in therapy or having a new person in their lives that they both cared about, brought them to a point where they were each willing to let their walls down and finally talk through that night.

And Molly, Rosemary, Eleanor, and their other friends were so important as friends for Danni, also. For someone who had learned not to trust when people are nice to her, who feared everyone outstretched hand was only there to turn on her, finding friends who not only liked her but had her back unreservedly was life-changing. And of course, it helped that Rose being the princess meant that no one in their school would dare be mean to Danni once it was clear she was Rose’s friend. But I like to think that Danni opening up and being her friendly, kind self to others is what truly made her fit in at her new school. She might have been initially uncomfortable “being perceived” by others, as she put it, but the more she felt secure and comfortable in her friendships and relationships, the more confident she became being at the center of attention.

I love how light and full of love so many of the moments in this book are, and ultimately, it does end in a very hopeful place. But I do want to give a quick content warning of themes that people might find difficult to read - bullying (both online and in person), drug overdose, excessive drinking, forced outing, homophobia. All of these topics are handled with care and thoughtfulness, but they are worth mentioning ahead of time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advance copy of this book for review purposes. This book came out about a week ago, so you can grab it today from your favorite bookstore or library! Also, this is the 6th book I’ve read by Sophie Gonzales and I’ve liked/loved all of them. This might be my new favorite, though.

Thank you NetGalley & the publishers for sending me an ARC of this amazing book. 💕

This was a cute fun time. While I do feel it could be of been about 100 pages less, every time I thought it was a little long, something else kept it going. I was happy everything got tied up very well, and I didn’t see the “ahh haa,” moment coming. I had to remind myself it was a YA novel as there was a lot of drinking and emotions at time, but that’s YA. I will have to keep my eye on this author for more. Happy Pride. 💕

*2.5 stars?*

TW: drug overdose, underage drug use, extensive underage drinking, publicly being outed, homophobia, non-consent (kissing)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review. I really wanted to like this. Maybe my expectations were off? I was kind of hoping, based on the book bio, the this would be Barbie Princess Charm School but make it Lesbian/Bi vibes. Unfortunately this wasn’t even close.

The premise is that Danni, a “nobody in particular” gets a fancy music piano scholarship to attend a boarding school full of the elite and privileged. There she meets Princess Rosemary…and queue the romance plot. Importantly, the characters in this book are between 16-17 years old.

My biggest problem with how this was written is the use of the character Oscar. Oscar was part of the core characters’ friend group, and we find out pretty early on that he died of a drug overdose prior to the start of the book. Despite how this event impacted Princess Rose publicly, it seems disrespectful to refer to this as a ‘scandal’ in the book’s bio. This death to me was used as a plot device and was brought up only when needed to get some kind of emotional reaction out of the characters or the audience. I thought this needed more thought and attention. His death is the driving reason for Rose being closed off at the beginning. I don’t know something about this was just off.

Second, is the fact the this is a YA about teenagers, and we needed it to “fade to black” more than it did. There was too much foreplay included in the writing for this age, and it made me uncomfortable. Personally, I don’t think anything more than kissing should be happening “on page” when we’re talking about 16-17 year olds. Anything beyond that should be implied.

I think this author unfortunately took on more than they could handle with this. We had a great opportunity here to examine underage alcohol use and drug abuse. And the way this is treated differently with regard to class. This was all really glossed over with a bandaid. The ending was too rushed - everything wrapped up too conveniently for the problems our characters were faced with.

I think the description and marketing of this book is misleading. I wanted more academia atmosphere, more music focus, less “copy paste” and superficial dialogue. What started as a good idea didn’t work in execution for me. I don’t think this was necessarily me being “too old to enjoy this kind of book” because there are many others in this genre and age range I have enjoyed. I just wanted a cute lesbian/bi high school royal romance, and unfortunately this wasn’t it.

Such a beautiful story! I genuinely really enjoyed reading this book and loved the characters. I also loved the progression between Rose and Danni’s relationship and how they made each other better people. The epilogue left me wanting to read more about them further along in the future, and how Rose and Danni handle becoming queens!

3.5-4⭐ A boarding school, secret royal romance but make it sapphic. Nobody in Particular is a cute YA romance, but an even better coming-of-age story, giving Young Royals x The Prince and Me x a little Princess Diaries vibes.

The romance between Danni and Rose was sweet, if a little rushed, but the character and relationship development between all of the friends is really what stood out for me. Gonzales tackles a lot of the heavier experiences of growing up, and does it well and, mixed with some teenage drama, in a way that feels authentic. Despite some of the topics dealt with, though, the characters felt a little on the younger side of YA at times and I think I would've liked them to be a little older -- but, I also think I would've loved a story like this as a teenager and not had that issue.

CW: underage drug and alcohol use, death from overdose, outing, homophobia, bullying

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for an advance review copy!

Nobody in Particular was easily a five-star read for me. I love the sapphic representation and the fact that it is YA added as a cherry on top. When I was growing up, there weren't that many sapphic books out there, especially YA ones. I'm really happy this book was written and made into existence. It was a quick read, and I really enjoyed it.

While this had a darker subplot than I was expecting, I really liked how it was handled and the messaging behind it. Overall, Nobody in Particular was a fun summer read that I really enjoyed.

Sophie Gonzales always delivered the cutest sapphic romances. I always think a royal romance is fun, and I loved seeing the author's take on it. It isn't my favorite of her work, but it was still a solid read. The characters did read a bit young for me, but it was balanced well with some deeper topics. Definitely one to check out this summer!

This book meant so much to me. I’m still in shock by how completely enamoured I am with it! If you like good communication, real everyday dilemmas, teenage years struggles, growth, found family, tension, jokes that make you crack up, moments that make you tear up, this is the book for you. I mean, it quite literally has EVERYTHING i love in a book.

Nobody in Particular was giving Heartstopper meets the Euphoria and I was eating it up. I loved so many characters. Rose, Danni, Molly, Danni’s mom, etc.

As I read this book, it felt as thought I was experiencing all this discovery, love, internal struggles and fear alongside Danni and Rose. The way the story was written captured my whole undying attention and left me feeling as if I was watching everything unfold before my own eyes.

Did I cry? Of course, but what book truly leaves its mark on my soul if I haven’t cried?

Yes! YES! YEEEEEEEES!

This book has so much heart in it! Seeing the romance develope between Danni and Rose was so special. Seeing them both blossom and become more themselves because of the relationship was amazing.

Set in a European boarding school, the friendships felt true and realistic. This cast of characters felt like they could walk off the page.