Review: Prince In Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Published by Disney Hyperion on December 2017
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher

Prince in Disguise centers around tomboy Dylan who is whisked away to Scotland to attend her beautiful older sister’s wedding which is being televised on reality tv.

This is a hard review for me to write because I’m not sure how I feel about the book. On one hand, the book is funny and charming. There are loads of crazy characters and heartwarming moments. I loved the setting (a castle in Scotland!) and while the plot plays out expectantly, there’s enough fun dialog and teen romance (and some angst) to keep me interested. I think fans who love real life fairy tale romances, reality tv with a lot of drama and some crazy over the top characters will really love this book.

But on the other hand, maybe it wasn’t for me. While I enjoyed everything I listed above, something felt a little flat. All of the characters were too contrived, dramatic, characterized. Tomboy Dylan was downright annoying and negative, complaining for most of the first quarter of the book. I wanted to slap her. (Oh, you’re being whisked away to Scotland. For free. For something happy like your sister’s wedding to a Scottish Lord! Boohoo.) Jamie, the cute British boy, was trying too hard. He was too clever, too well read, with obscure literary references that somehow, magically, Dylan got. (Some she didn’t, but it was too unbelieveable for me) Even her best friend, her southern belle sister, her mother were too. Too much. Too dramatic. Too stylized and unreal.

So while I read fast, I didn’t have any deep emotional reaction or investment in the characters. And I wanted to.

That said, it might have been me. While I was in the mood for a romance, I was more interested in maybe something of a deeper, contemporary YA and perhaps this one just had a little too much fluffy.

I will recommend it though to people who I think would enjoy it. It’s a great read for traveling with or reading with your girlfriends. And I’m sure Jamie is swoon worthy. Just didn’t hold my attention.