Thursday, March 26, 2020

Book Review: The Coronation by Livy Jarmusch


Prince Addison is only several weeks away from inheriting the Kingdom of Tarsurella. The entire Palace is ablaze with excitement, as the Royal Family prepares for the event of a lifetime. Despite the exciting event which is near at hand, Addison and his younger siblings (all seven of them!) must carry on with their daily activities. 

Addison’s sisters, Princesses Bridget, Chasity, and Hope, have their struggles with being iconic European starlets of a modern day monarchy. The teen heiresses grace magazine covers, smile for photoshoots, and gracefully glide through important interviews–until a certain American popstar arrives on the scene. Kennetic Energy, the wildly popular band from the United States, is chosen to play at Addison’s Coronation. David Carter, the band’s handsome lead singer, fumbles through awkward moments with Princess Hope–in front of the cameras. When an embarrassing rumor sparks that Princess Hope is dating the young fellow, she is determined to get the band fired from their Royal gig. 

Meanwhile, Princess Chasity is dealing with her own fragile affairs of the heart. Her new security guard, Hanson Fletcher, is completely captivating, yet entirely frustrating. She attempts to keep the entrance of her heart firmly protected, while following the wisdom of Proverbs 4:23. But can she be successful in guarding her heart, from her security guard? 

My rating:





I'd just like to start this review out by saying that I am not the intended market for this book. This book just isn't for me. And that's okay, because I know that there are a lot of people that love it—and I'm glad! I really am!

I, however, found it extremely hard to force myself through. Or, at least, for the first couple hundred pages or so. (This book is over 400 pages. Since I have an e-copy, I did not realize this. #overwhelmed) If I'm going to read about a kingdom, with a king and princes and princesses, I'm so used to reading it in a medieval setting with sword fights and archers and daggers, that to read it in a completely modern setting kinda threw me off, haha! 

To be honest, the plot was like reading a cross between a Disney Channel TV show and a Hallmark drama. It . . . wasn't my thing. I'll talk more on the plot in a minute.

But first of all, the writing style wasn't super engaging. I mean, there were times that I got really sucked into the story—but that's more because the plot picked up, rather than the actual writing improving. There were a few typos, which I normally wouldn't mention, but added to some grammatical inconsistencies (or maybe this is just my personal preferences & pet peeves talking, idk), it sometimes drove me nuts.

The crushes. Alllllll the crushes. And flirting. Someone shoot me. (have I mentioned that I'm not the target audience?) When David first came into the picture, it wasn't too bad. I actually liked his character. But his love song? I cringed so hard during the whole thing. And poor Addison! All the ladies trying to hook up with the future king?? Give the guy some slack! And Jillian . . . girl. If you want to be more mature than your 11 years, stop acting like a little girl when it comes to a love song that seems like it was sung just for you. I did enjoy Hanson + Chasity a teensy bit, though, and I appreciated how they went their separate ways without an overly amount of drama.

Speaking of Hanson . . . oh, Hanson. When he was a main character in one of the beginning scenes, I thought we'd see a whole lot more of him than we actually did. I feel like that huge deal with him & his dad at the beginning was supposed to cause a huge amount of suspense, but after a couple hundred pages of barely any more mention, that realllyyyy killed the momentum of what I think was supposed to be something super tense and surprising. (Also, side note—characters miraculously healing from injuries?! One of my pet peeves, y'all. Injured one chapter but nobody notices in the next, and he's not even limping or wincing?!)

Tbh, I think what took the first couple hundred of pages to describe could've happened in the first few chapters. It was like in the middle of the book the huge PLOT TWIST *gasp* was dumped in our laps, and it didn't really even seem to fit with the rest of the book?! It was like reading two different books . . . except not.

Oh, and one more thing—I'm not sure if this was on purpose or if the author was trying to use omniscient POV or what . . . but there was so. Much. Head hopping. I mean, there was like, 5 POVs already, but add to that head hopping in every single scene? It was so confusing at times.

So, just a few random notes I took while reading:

-"David and Clark took huge strides forward, and soon their trot turned into a full-blown gallop." What in the world?! How do people gallop?

-I legit thought that one person was gonna die. But they didn't. So I'm okay.

-The name Lance (one of those names that just kinda gets on my nerves) suddenly isn't so annoying when it refers to a security guard.

-I was ready for the book to end, I thought that it could've been wrapped up nicely, but then I saw that there was 100 pages left (oh, the joys of reading ebooks!). It kiiiinda seemed to drag.

Why is this book three stars instead of two or even one?

-Addison. I a d o r e d Addison. He is just . . . *happy sigh* *Lone Ranger narrator voice* He was a fabulous individual. There just wasn't enough of his POV!

-Millllliiiiieeee! She was so. Stinkin'. Adorable. I loved her character!

-That intense bit I mentioned? While I feel like the suspense could've been built more, I still really enjoyed those scenes. Definitely improved the whole book in my opinion. Even if it did seem like an entirely different plot in and of itself.

-I actually didn't mind Vanessa? She was kinda cool.

-Bridget has issues but I feel for her anyway.

*I received a free e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.


Have you read The Coronation? Did you enjoy it more than I did??

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