We start off with Evangeline, Evan, setting her private school on fire. Nice.
Evan also happens to be the illegitimate daughter of the King of England. She has never met her father, but he has been paying for her schooling and sends her gifts. But now, because of her troubles with the law, it was decided that it was time for her to spend time in London and meet her father’s side of the family.
Soon her identity is revealed to the press, and, of course, this is huge news. Evan heads off to a party where she is told she will be safe, but things go wrong here as well. A journalist’s son was killed that night, and Evan was the last one to see him alive. She is now dealing with the pressure of her new identity in the royal family and a murder investigation.
This is a bit of a wild one. Evan has a lot being thrown at her all at once, and she can’t just lie low; every newspaper is talking about her. I did get angry on her behalf when it seemed like people in the royal family and working for the royal family wanted to just throw her under the bus to keep the family from looking bad. I get how someone would want to distance themselves when their public persona is significant, but Evan is family!
The mystery does get complicated, and you have to remember that Evan is a teenager, and she doesn’t have all the facts, so things get a little confusing, and there are some rushes to judgment. I felt that the ending to the mystery was a bit rushed, but still interesting. I will say that this book is part of a series. Something I did not know when I started reading, so the ending had me running to my computer to look it up! I will be ordering the second book for my school!
Random thought: I wonder how someone from the UK would feel about this book? I mean, it’s based on a fictional King of England. I also wondered how the author came up with this fictional king, and with a bit of research (reading other reviews from people who are smarter and pay better attention to details). This alternate timeline goes back to Edward VIII. In this timeline, he does not give up the throne for Wallis Simpson. He marries an aristocratic woman and ascends to the throne. Evan is the great-great-granddaughter of Edward VIII.
I will point out that there is talk of sexual assault, drugs, mental illness, and suicide in this book. I know some readers would like to know that before reading. I will probably let my students know. Some people don’t want to read about these topics. I have students starting in sixth grade, but I think most of the eighth graders will be able to handle these topics.
Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
Literary Coffee 