Nobody in Particular was a Macmillan Audio pick that I had seen on a few mutuals’, so I was definitely interested in reading it!

If you like sapphic books, boarding schools, royal romance, and realistic teen drama, I recommend this book! Princess Rose of the fictional European country, Henland, and the American scholarship student Danni begin their friendship with some of the best witty banter I’ve read in a teen romance. This book is also given some conflict with Danni’s new friends dealing with a tragedy, and I liked the themes of grief and healing. Rose and Danni are also navigating their queerness, not only with each other, but with themselves and their communities at large.

This book was really enjoyable in that I love a teen story about finding oneself and one’s people. I also do appreciate how these teens struggled with things that a lot of young people actually do, not just in books and movies. The romance was built on banter and mutual trust and was very lovely. Overall, I give this book 4 stars!

I enjoyed the narration too! Imani Jade Powers is someone I’ve listened and enjoyed before, and Gail Shalan was new to me, but great!

I really liked the idea of Nobody in Particular: a royal falling for someone completely outside their world, with all the pressure and secrecy that comes with it. Rose and Danni’s relationship is sweet, and I appreciated how the book showed the stress of being in the public eye while trying to figure out who you are and who you love. It’s also great to see more queer rep in stories like this.
That said, I didn’t completely connect with the characters. Some of the side stories and relationships felt a little underdeveloped, and parts of the plot moved too quickly or didn’t quite land for me. I wanted more depth in certain moments, especially around the bigger emotional conflicts.
Overall, it's a decent read with a lot of heart, just not one that really stuck with me. If you're into royal drama and slow-burn romance, you’ll probably still enjoy it!

I REALLY enjoyed this Royal Sapphic Romance!!

It took me a little while to adjust to the narrators voices, but eventually I was hooked.

I loved the character development, the relationship development, the scandals, and the plot twists!

Highly recommend!!

Nobody in Particular is a heartfelt, cozy queer romance about coming into your identity and finding love along the way. While the overall story might feel familiar in the best way, it is about coming to terms with your sexuality and figuring out who you are. What makes this one shine is the journey of Dani and Rose. I couldn’t help but root for them as they stumbled, grew, and fell for each other.
I especially loved the dual POV. It was so satisfying to see both characters' perspectives, which made their connection feel more genuine and layered. Dani completely stole my heart. I adored her voice and her growth throughout the book.
If you're looking for a soft, affirming love story with real heart, this one is worth picking up. It’s exactly the kind of book that leaves you smiling.

This charming novel blends royal intrigue with the aching sweetness of first love, as Princess Rosemary of Henland and outsider pianist Danni navigate their growing feelings under the scrutiny of tradition and power. With the tension of forbidden romance and the stakes of royal reputation, this book delivers a compelling mix of drama and tenderness.

4.5

Sophie Gonzales’ book? I’M IN! Sophie Gonzales’ book with a lesbian princess? I’M SUPER IN!
This book is amazing! I have no doubt about it but it was even better than I thought it would be. I love it so damn much!
I love Rose and her fragility, I love the way she hides it because she is a princess and she has duties. I love Dani and her insicurities. I love the way the trauma is portrait and I love the love story.
Yea, the subplot of Alfie was like super evident, but that was not the point, so I don’t really care and doesn’t change my mind about this book.
I love it so much!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Book Review
“Nobody In Particular” - Sophie Gonazales
👑 👑 👑 👑 👑
🌶️
“Nobody In Particular” by Sophie Gonzales is a deeply emotional and beautifully written sapphic YA romance that combines the charm of a modern royal fairytale with the rawness of teen reality. This novel follows Dani Blythe who relocates from Colorado with her mom and stepdad to a fictional eastern european catholic country named Henland. She attends her new prestigious Catholic all girls school—Brampith College on a music scholarship for piano. Dani feels completely out of place until she meets Rosemary the countries crowned princess.

Rose is no ordinary classmate. She’s navigating the intense pressure of public life, grief from a recent tragedy, and the suffocating expectations placed on her as royalty. While Danni struggles with performance anxiety and feeling like an outsider, Rose is dealing with her own isolation under constant scrutiny. When the two begin to fall for each other, their bond is heartfelt, complicated, and electric—but secrecy, guilt, and public image threaten to tear them apart.

This book shines not just in its romance but in its rich emotional landscape. Gonzales thoughtfully explores grief, mental health, and the destructive power of image over authenticity.

Ultimately, this is a story about vulnerability, emotional honesty, and choosing your own path. It’s a compelling read with a serious tone but also moments of warmth, humor, and hope. Gonzales delivers not just a swoony queer romance, but a thoughtful exploration of what it means to be seen and loved for exactly who you are.

3.5 stars

CW: underage drinking, recreational drug use, death by overdose (in the past), grief/loss, non-consensual kissing, forced outing

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ALC

I feel like such a hater for this review so to be clear, this is a perfectly enjoyable book. The romance is sweet and believable, the pacing and tension consistently had me invested. The side characters were lovable if occasionally one dimensional. The narrator did an amazing job as both of the main characters, each POV having a distinct sound without sounding too much like she was putting on a voice. Overall, a good time.

But my god. Another fucking forced outing in a romance novel. I thought the hardest part of reading this was going to be the grief and loss, as one of the main characters loses a close friend to an overdose just before the book begins, but the outing was worse by far. They were constantly fearing it, in part because Rose is a princess with eyes on her always, and then when it finally happened it was horrible and took over the story.

I have sympathy for the idea that the author wrote this over a decade ago, and pre gay marriage being legal in the U.S. this kind of fear was much realer, and was pretty common in the Queer novels that were published. I understand that this came from a much younger version of the author that was still grappling with her sexuality (according to the authors note at the beginning anyways). But I'm so tired of it. There is a beautiful and scary and real coming out story in here that didn't have to include one of the characters being outed.

I like that in the end Rose chose to come out and support Danni, that she said fuck staying in the closet for the sake of the monarchy! But in my opinion that storyline suffers under the weight of Danni's outing. It would've felt much more earnest if it had been Rose's idea from the beginning.

If the outing won't bother you, by all means read this. Like I said it was otherwise very enjoyable, gripping and well written. I just can't move past this.

Just to begin, I received an audiobook version of this, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I thought that both voice actors deserved their flowers, they had embodied the characters well, gave so much emotion, and had a lovely voice to listen to.

Onto the actual story! To begin, I was drawn to it because of the synopsis and cover art, all beautifully done. The story follows a girl attending boarding school on scholarship; the biggest difference to any boarding schools? Princesses. I thoroughly enjoyed the tension the characters had and how they both would've acted how actual teenagers would've. While they both had beautiful character growth, they were also flawed, like any humans are. The story is taking place in a pivotal time for them where they learn about themselves, learn right from wrong, loyalties, and I believe that Sophie Gonzales captures it well.

I hadn't expected to enjoy the book as much as I did, but I will definitely be checking more of her work out now. I loved the characterization of all characters, they were distinct, had growth, and felt realistic. A beautiful job!

SOPHIE GONZALES IM IN UR WALLS I WANT MORE PLEASE MAAM RESPECTFULLY

—it took me a full ten minutes to calm down after finishing to even attempt to gather my thoughts because WOW


there is literally nothing sweeter than two idiots mutually pining before realizing they’re both equally obsessed with each other and this little boarding school royalty romance has it ALL. the romance was the cutest thing despite it being first love it felt so real and wholesome and genuinely soft. Rose and Danni were hilarious while pining and seeing them together was almost rotting my teeth with how sweet they were id read another 300 pages of them just living life and making each other feel whole again. despite them going though so much emotional turmoil they really would do anything for each other and as a romantic at heart it spoke so much to meeee (don’t ever be the reason danni is in danger rose does not mess around LOL)

ugh I wish I could post my favorite scene but truly every climatic scene they had was my favorite, from the the tension of them becoming friends to their first kiss to their TEXTS to their secret dates to the fallouts the drama of the past to basically everything and the END?? didn’t even know I had any tears left but I cried in so much joy

as for the rest of the book character and plot wise- everything had a purpose which I appreciated!! most of the times things get lost or unanswered and I feel like everything was handled well! the group of friends felt developed, the plot had depth but didn’t take away from the couple and everyone had growth! so 10/10

overall a cute romantic read that i’m so excited to get a physical copy of in a few days once it’s officially out <3

thank you Macmillan Audio for this wonderful ARC you have no idea how grateful I am to be able to get this early edition

——————————————

spoilers*** but author gets a millions bonus points for the fabulous HEA and the even happier epilogue i’m a sucker for the parents accepting their daughter/son in laws yes ma’am

It took me by surprise how much I loved this book! Royals + boarding school + lesbians can be a total hit or miss, especially with YA books these days. However, this one had a lot of depth and addressed some intense topics while still maintaining a lighthearted and hopeful tone. And it depicted a really sweet relationship with a lot of chemistry. Loved it! 4.5 rounded up. I thought the narrator was excellent too.

🌈Queer rep: lesbian main character, bi main character, FF relationship

Boarding school and royalty? What more could you want from a fun, queer, YA romance? Danni is the new girl at boarding school, on scholarship, unsure of herself and her love of piano, and worried about making friends and being an outcast. Thankfully, one girl takes her under her wing, and that girl turns out to be the ex-best friend of Rose, or Princess Rosemary of Henland. But that doesn't stop Danni from getting to know Rose, and the two strike up their own friendship...sort of.

Overall, this was a good blend of cute and serious. There were a lot of characters and friendships to keep up with, so that kind of started the story off a little confusing. But over time, it settles out a bit. There is the topic of overdose and drug use in this book, so keep that in mind if that's a triggering subject. Though I did enjoy this story, for a while I kind of felt like nothing was really happening. I wouldn't say the book is slow, though, necessarily. Maybe a few pacing issues.

In conclusion, liked it! Definitely recommend if you want more royalty and commoner (is that the right term?) romance!

Thank you to Netgalley, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Young Listeners for the e-ARC and e-ALC!

I unfortunately had to DNF this at ~27%. I wanted to like this so much, but I just was too bored and not connecting with any of the characters. I’m not sure if it was because this was an audiobook or not. The narrators didn’t do anything off putting, but so I wouldn’t say it was them, but maybe because there wasn’t anything going on plot wise I needed more from the characters? Was it just that the characters weren’t giving me anything, or was it that the narrators weren’t inflecting enough or putting enough personality in? I genuinely don’t know. But if I’m going to get this far into a book and nothing is really going on for me plot wise, I at least need the characters to have something for me to root for. Either in their dialogue, or their inner narration, or their actions. I didn’t really feel like this had anything going on. Maybe I’m just too old for these characters?

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I feel like the only queer to not have watched Young Royals. I know it’s 💅🏻 and it takes place at a boarding school, but beyond that… nothing. So when someone say that something is very YR, I’m lost. I go with what I know… y’know?

What I do know is that I love a Sophie Gonzales book. She writes queer kids that are going through it so well. It’s almost like she’s dealt with the trauma and pain of growing up in a world that is out to get you. There really is nothing like queer trauma and “straight” hate.

In Nobody in Particular, we find ourselves in the small fictional country of Henland where our MC Danni has just moved. When her mother gets married, they gain citizenship through her new stepfather and she applies for a music scholarship to a very exclusive and prestigious all girls boarding school. While it was just a long-shot application, she obviously gets in. There would be no story if she didn’t.

This is where she meets the ex-best friend of Princess Rosemary of Henland (Rose for short) and in turn the princess herself. Their circle of friends is tight knit and where she was an outcast back in the US, she makes friends quickly. But with the notoriety of spending time with royals also comes with everyone being in your business.

Rose and Danni start crushing on eachother, but neither knows the other’s sexuality. Danni is bisexual, but not out to anyone and Rose is a lesbian, but the royal family does not allow for her to be anything but the proper princess and successor they expect her to be. So they have to balance a budding relationship with being very secretive. That is until someone sees something they shouldn’t have.

I honestly hate stories where kids get outed. It hurts knowing that there is a situation where anyone has to deal with doing something they aren’t ready for. That being said, the author definitely makes it feel like everyone was fine in the end. I just know how detrimental it could be for some people that are put in the same situation, so I will always raise my hackles when it happens… even on page.

This definitely made me want to read more royalty x commoner books and maybe to finally start young royals. But while I say that now, I know my TBW is so long and always growing, so it probably won’t happen for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my gifted eALC

Thank you to Sophie Gonzales, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. ♡

₊˚⊹⋆ first thoughts: this seems like its going to be such a cute and angsty story and i cannot wait to dive in!

₊˚⊹⋆ final thoughts: i was so right. this is such a beautiful coming-of-age love story and honestly made me realize i need more royalty love stories in my tbr asap! i believe all the characters were pretty complex, even the side characters had some substance to them. i would love to see this story brought to life at some point, because it definitely has the potential. i really ate this up even though it may fall on the younger end of the young adult spectrum. super cute read and i definitely wanna look at more of sophia's work!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me an early copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I really loved this coming of age YA romance with a royal twist. Danni is new to Henland, and new to Bramppath College, but she has caught the eye of her new country’s princess (and future Queen) Rose.

There are themes of trying to fit in, coming out, teenage shenanigans, and friendship, all with the backdrop of keeping a *gay* relationship secret from the public eye, as Rose has a very public position.

I loved the absolute cuteness of the friendship that develops between these two, and then the feelings that develop there.

There’s also drama with the press and secrets that keep the story very engaging.

As far as age range for this one, I think it would be appropriate enough my 12 year old daughter, and that she would enjoy it. (But do be aware that there are mentions of drug use/overdose, as well as inferences to *sex*.)

Audiobook notes: Both narrators were just so great, and they both worked very well together. It was dual POV, but at times it sounded almost like it was duet because their voices worked so well together. Definitely recommend the audio.

What this book is giving:
✅ YA Sapphic Royal Romance
✅ Dual POV
✅ Fictional Country
✅ Princess
✅ Newcomer to the country
✅ Boarding School
✅ Coming of age

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ / 5
🌶️ / 5

I enjoyed this. I love the royal romance trope and I'm glad we finally got a good Sapphic version of that. I really liked the main characters and how they both dealt with their past traumas and how it brought them closer. This is definitely a solid addition to the ya romance genre.

Danni moves from America to an elite boarding school on a music scholarship, soon she befriends and falls for the future queen of Henland. Princess Rosemary is juggling a lot; her duties to the country, her media image, and her failing friendship.

The audiobook is well produced and the 2 POVS are well done. The narrators have a slightly different speed so I had to switch the speed back and forth.

With positive messaging about identity, consent, and family, this book makes a lovely addition to the young adult literary canon.

3.75/5

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for access to an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

a fun twist on a popular story! a must read if youre a lover of royalty romaces! the characters and their strugles were beautifuly written so that their journeys felt so real and had me wanting to know more from the very beginning.

*Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for early copy for review*

I love a Sapphic princess love story. Both of the girls had past struggles they had to overcome and I loved the journey they took to do that. This book also dealt with being a secret couple and how that would effect both sides. Also the stumbling around of figuring out if the person you like not only likes you, but is also so queer. Wonderful job!