Ahhh…who doesn’t love a good princess story?!? To me, the fun bit is getting to go to the castle, so for the story to actually be about a royal family living in a castle…well! It’s just a great set up! This is my second time reading The Coronation and I enjoyed it even more than the first! 🙂
There are some *mild* spoilers in this review, but not many. I put the worst offenders down at the bottom 😂 If you want to read a completely spoiler-free review (unless you click view spoiler that is XD ), check out my somewhat-different-somewhat-the-same review on Goodreads!
So first off, the story. It’s a lot of fun! There is a twist partway through that changes the mood quite a bit, but it still ends on a good note for the most part. There are definitely loose ends that I’m looking forward to seeing more of, but Livy ended it really nicely as is. The story hooked me, and I kept reading to find out what was going to happen—even during my second read when I already sort of knew what was going to happen. There are different romances (royalty + unsuspecting tourist, royalty + castle worker, royalty + popstar, and royalty + random person in another country) and it was fun to get to see all the classic types of romances plus some new ones mixed together in the same book.
Next up, the characters! One of my favorite characters is Clark, the lovable father-type cook who most of the children go to when they need help with something. As for the “princes” in the story (aka the heroes), I actually swapped who was my favorite between the first and second read. Last time, it was David the popstar sensation, probably partially because of his amazing song. This time, it was Hanson, the security guard. (Part of why I liked him so much is listed under the spoiler section if you’re interested. All I’ll say right now is “café” 😂) Out of the Royal family, I think either Hope or Chasity was my favorite. Livy also did a good job with giving side characters stories so that they all felt like they were real people and not just there to serve a plot purpose.
The setting! The castle was so much fun. The house was somehow simultaneously cozy and grand. I hope that we get to explore more of Tarsurella in subsequent books because quaint European towns are always the best!!
Random thoughts: Christianity plays a big part in the story, and Livy managed to make it feel pretty natural. A lot of praying, trusting in God, and forgiveness, but she made it more inspiring than preachy. 👏👏
I think I only have two complaints, and they’re not huge. The first is that sometimes there would be some dialogue, and then a sentence explaining what the dialogue was supposed to accomplish, but I already knew what the speaker was trying to get at. So it made the explanation feel a bit redundant. The second is that there were oftentimes commas in place of periods during dialogue tags or dialogue beats. I noticed it a lot more when I was reading the eBook, but once I switched to paperback, I didn’t notice it much at all.
All in all, it was a highly enjoyable read! And Livy, please record David’s song. I want to listen to it 😂
4/5 Stars
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**SPOILER-Y THOUGHTS FOUND BELOW**
I wish that it showed Hanson actually falling for Chasity. I know it skipped ahead by two weeks, but I always like the “this is weird that I’m liking her because I don’t like her” parts of books and I feel like I missed out a bit on that with him. BUT the conversations with Hanson and Chasity on the beach and in the cave were probably my favorite out of the whole book. And don’t get me started on that café in Paris bit. All I can say is that I *really* hope that there’s a café in Paris in a future book!!!
The terrorist attack kind of threw me for a loop because it made the book feel so different. Especially the whole thing with Asher and those awful messages he was sending. That was a bit disturbing.
Also, I like when Millie grabs the phone from Addison and tries to tell Vanessa that Addison loves her 🤣
Out of the couples (Prince Addison & Vanessa, Princess Bridget & Liam, Princess Chasity & Hanson, and Princess Hope & David), I’m definitely most on the Chasity and Hanson team 😂 Oh, and did I mention the café in Paris?
Marissa Adams Books 