Apparently I'm really into boarding school romances recently. This one is great. It has the royalty vs commoner vibe, where they truly are from different world. Rose has to worry about being the heir, which means she can't marry a woman like she would want but she is also 17 and just wants to have fun. But when she has messed up in the past she can't risk it now...or can she. I liked how the story took place. I liked Rose and Danni as characters, even though I wish that there were a few less tens moments. I liked the plot twists as well.

TW: passing of a high school student tragically

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this novel before release!

I have such wavering opinions, honestly. I enjoyed the first 30-40% quite a lot. Although I felt the characters were reading younger YA I still enjoyed learning about them. As time went on I felt as though in moments they read super young YA and other moments they read old YA/NA. The back-and-forth feeling was very jarring and almost felt as though the author couldn’t decide where to place their ages. During the last 25% of the story I felt as though Rose was more of a “mother” to Danni than a girlfriend. There were moments I actually felt myself cringe from how motherly their relationship read.

The side characters were okay but no one I particularly clung onto it. Overtime Molly really began to annoy me and I found her input to be difficult to enjoy or agree. Sadly, I guessed the final reveal pretty quickly but I was still hopeful to enjoy the pay-off. The ending felt very rushed and too perfectly put together for all of the chaos and different storylines that were occurring. I’m not sure if the story should have been longer but instead maybe should have toned down all the different elements continually stacking.

Lastly, the most difficult part of the novel to swallow, was the side-plot of a student’s death. I wish I knew this was a large part of the story before starting as I might have passed reading, but still I tried to see how it fit. After finishing I truly cannot understand why this was included in the story except to make Molly’s storyline more important to Rose’s. I think there could have been multiple ways to explain their strained relationship instead of bringing in a traumatic situation. I experienced a lot of loss of other students during high school but still did not relate to the characters. Instead I was left feeling uncomfortable with how the experience and story was presented and then randomly dropped once Molly and Rose reconnected.

Overall, I believe this novel delivers on its arching themes but the details is where it lost me. If someone is of a younger age and wanting to get into WLW/Sapphic literature for the first time this is something I might think of to recommend in certain circumstances (with warnings for content of course).

THIS BOOK DESTROYED ME IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY - this gave me an insane amount of feelings - I was crying so much and loved every second of it - It gave sapphic Red White and Royal Blue vibes in the best way - I'll read anything Sophie Gonzales but this has to be her best yet

3.5ish stars. This is a nice YA royal romance that feels like a queer, slightly more edgy Princess Diaries.

4⭐️

This was a sweet, quick read. It did feel a bit on the younger side of YA, but since I'm not necessarily the intended age for YA in the first place that was okay for me.

I really liked Danni; she was so far out of her comfort zone in a new country at a new school as a scholarship kid but she still made the most of the situation. I loved watching her deal with her stage fright and how bravely she faced being outed against her will. The way she was willing to walk away from Rose at the start since they could never be together publicly and then how strongly she held on once Rose wouldn't let her was so well done.

Rose's development was also so well done. Being raised as royalty and having to keep everything a secret shaped her personality and I liked watching her slowly open up for Danni. The trauma that Rose and Molly faced in Amsterdam was also an interesting twist and highlights how much therapy can help a person. Rose not being able to trust anyone and since never getting the help she needed after that spring haunted each page. When she was finally able to express that she wasn't okay and that she didn't want to keep the status quo expected of royalty felt like such growth and made me like her even more.

Thanks Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing this ARC to me as well as Wednesday Books for providing a finished copy!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy*

Going into Nobody in Particular, I was excited. This book lived up to the expectations! It was so sweet, so good, and so drama filled.

In a royalty centred book, drama is always going to be one of the main plot points, and man oh man it was in this one! I loved the aspect that it was about a high school aged princess in a boarding school/college and a regular citizen joining in on scholarship.

This was my second Sophie Gonzales book that I finished, and it was delightful. I definitely want to read more from her! Highly recommend this.

Sophie Gonzalez wrote probably my favorite realizing you're bisexual YA book several years ago when she released Perfect on Paper, so I have been anxiously awaiting digging into this sapphic, royal YA romance. I love a good famous person/normal person trope, so seeing bi-sexual Danni thrown into the Bramppath boarding school world in the fictional European country of Henland and watching as she distracts and unthaws Princess Rosemary was riveting, especially considering that Rose is trying to recover from a summer party that left one of her best friends dead and her reputation in the mud. While Rose seems somewhat cold and unfeeling in the beginning and is having major friend difficulties with her best friend Molly, her character development really soars as she grows closer to the quirky, piano genius of Danni, and realizes that pushing away her trauma has just led her to retreat into herself and feel like a trash human. Couple this with hiding from the paparazzi about their relationship and trying to fake date one of her best guy friends for cover and well, this book is a page turner that confronts fame and love of country with being one's authentic self. Can Rose have both? Can Danni be okay with life in the spotlight after years of high school bullying?

Gonzalez always seems to balance banter and swoon with realistic teen situations like parties, alcohol/drugs, and other coming-of-age moments such as depression, grief, and friendship rifts. This one had me in my feels, and I felt like it handled the pressures of royal life vs. the pressures of teen life in a fast-paced, but meaningful way. I did feel like Rose's backstory and slow reveal of the mystery behind her friend's death did make her the more fleshed-out character of the two, which was somewhat disappointing considering the dual perspective of both Danni & Rose.


Mature content (drugs/alcohol/sex that isn't super explicit, but still there) makes this more appropriate for older teens, but it's a must for all high school libraries, and a tamer choice than say Red, White, and Royal Blue. Hand to fans of American Royals or Royal Heirs Academy who would like a sapphic twist on their royal tea.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Publishing for the e-ARC. This one just came out June 3, 2025.

Danni is an American high school student who transfers to an all-girls boarding school in a fictional European country (Henland) her junior year. Rose is the princess of that fictional country, and still reeling from a scandal that she was involved in last year. Danni is taken under the wing of one of Rose's close friends, and despite Rose's initial thorny welcome (get it 😉), they are attracted to each other. Rose, a closeted lesbian and future leader of her country, has to balance her first love with the expectation that she remain closeted.
This book reminded me how much joy I get from reading queer (especially sapphic) books, and how much I wish there had been YA books like this when I was younger! I adored Danni and Rose, and as always a boarding school setting is a win for me. Read this if you liked RW&RB, or I Kissed Shara Wheeler. Check it out during pride month (or anytime of the year) 🩷💜🩵
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC.
ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mini synopsis: Danni, the new girl, finds herself thrown into an elite boarding school, in a new country, with new friends, ready to start over. Little did she know she’d make a friends right away & one of them happens to be a princess 🤷🏻‍♀️

I just love Sophie Gonzales & her books! While this isn’t my favorite, I love the royals behaving badly vibes & the core friendship group! There’s a lot of heart but into this book that really shines thru! I think my issue was with the relationship, it felt very dramatic very quickly. I get it hassssss to, but I don’t always love that! However, a strong friend group always sucks me in & this had plenty of friendship moments that I just loved! If you’re a fan of Red White & Royal Blue you need to check this out too!

Pick this book up if you like:
❤️elite boarding schools
🧡strong friend groups
💛royal romances - specifically f/f
💚dual POVs
💙slow burn romance & messy relationships
💜friends to lovers/forbidden romance

such a good book! has the trademark sophie gonzales charm, with realistic and flawed characters and character dynamics that just hook you in

A delightful take on a royal romance for queer teens! Nobody in Particular may not be doing anything super new, but it does it well and makes it sapphic.

Gonzales does it again! Gah I love this author!
Nobody in Particular by Sophie Gonzales is another sweet and compelling YA forbidden romance. .
Everything about this book was amazing….. the storyline, the characters, the writing.... everything!
I am a big fan of Sophie Gonzales' work and this one did not disappoint at all. I’m obsessed!
She writes the most relatable and realistic stories ever! And never fails to amaze me each and every time.
I honestly couldn’t get enough. I wanted more!!

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Having read and truly enjoyed Sophie Gonzales's previous books, perhaps my expectations were too high, but if I didn't have higher expectations, I may not have finished this at all. It's not bad, it's just sort of meh. I didn't find any of the characters particularly interesting and I had a hard time caring about anything that was happening. The central love story is the sort of story that is interesting and heartwarming to the two people involved in it, and maybe it should have stayed there.
There was a whole lot of nothing happening to a lot of really filthy rich people and one not-rich person. The characters were not funny or charming or redeeming in any way that justified a few hundred pages of their goings on. There are so many better sapphic romances, better royal romances, and lots of books with better characters that are worth spending your time with.
Which isn't to say it's a terrible book. But it's not great. Pick up a different Sophie Gonzales book and skip this one.

Due to her mother's recent remarriage and her musical talents, teenage Danni has found herself as the newest student at Bramppath College (aka high school) in the fictional European country Henland. While navigating this new world is hard enough, she seems to have met her match in notorious party-girl Rose, who just so happens to also be the country's royal princess. It's a classic set-up for an opposites attract romance, and I only wish the author had chosen to focus more on this central storyline. Unfortunately, far too much of this book spends time on a strange whodunit mystery and societal expectations that are completely unreasonable for those under the age of 18.

While this had a lot of promise, I think it ultimately suffered from trying to fit a much more mature story into the world of YA.

I am offering my honest opinion voluntarily.

This was a cute read, but also very real and heartbreaking to me. It was a typical academic love trope, with a well-written supporting cast and tastefully handled LGBTQ+IA representation. It was disheartening to consider that there are adults and children, as well as young adults, who face these types of concerns on a daily basis.

The main female characters were AMAZING! The banter between them, the realness of the relationship/situationship was just beautiful. I was drawn into the story after the first chapter. Thoroughly appreciating the amount of time that was given to allow the relationship to mature and evolve, it was a very real representation of how messy and uncertain falling in love can be.

THIS WAS A BEAUTIFUL STORY!

Thank you, Netgalley, St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books, and Sophie Gonzales for the ARC of this cute little read!

Beautiful story! I'm a sucker for a forbidden romance, and Gonzales wrote this one well! Her prose and dialogue are both really engaging, and the story is perfectly paced, not too quick like some YA romances.

I loved the premise and first half of this, however sadly I felt the second half half suffered from pacing and too much plot conflicts that weighed down the good moments and made it feel like we fought way too hard for mere crumbs of cute moments.

Sophie Gonzales will forever have a place on my TBR shelf. She knows how to grab my heart from the beginning and keep me entranced to the end. I think this might be one of her heavier books but I appreciate that these topics are being discussed. The characters in this story were so likable and relatable. I am eager anticipating her next one!

The first queer read of Pride Month 2025 goes to @sgonzalesauthor with Nobody in Particular. I read that she has been holding onto this book for years and omg I’m so thankful she put it out!

A sapphic YA where boarding school snobs meet a scholarship receiving down to earth girl and the silly ensues. The drama, the mean girls, the scandals, oh my! It feels like Gossip Girl, if Blair and Jenny had fallen in love. Don’t sleep on this one, because it’s phenomenal. And the good news? It came out yesterday! Go snatch it up and then come talk to me about it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a cute YA sapphic romance. Love comes in all styles. If you enjoy the royals and Gilmore girls this is your vibe.
Fun fast paced read. Anyone who was new somewhere can relate.