Oh, this was such a fun read! The Coronation is book 1 in the Tales of Tarsurella–a YA series about the large royal family of a contemporary European kingdom. This first book is pretty hefty at over 400 pages, so I was wondering how the pacing would feel. While it wasn’t super fast moving at the beginning, the story managed to not feel slow to me. I actually read the whole book faster than I’ve read most books in the last few months!
From the first chapter, I became invested in the lives of this royal family and the other characters whose lives intersect theirs, like Hanson and David. There is a large cast, which can be hard to keep track of, but I really enjoyed all the different relationships, especially those between the different siblings. Each royal sibling has a unique personality and storyline, and I truly felt like I was getting a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of a real family. The contrast between the glamorous public life of the royals, and the down-to-earth reality of their private family life was so interesting and fun.
This book has all the Princess Diaries vibes and reminded me of the things I love about Disney and Barbie princess movies. I mean, I’m still a total sucker for anything princess related! But don’t be fooled. Though it reminded me of these things I’ve loved since childhood, this isn’t a cheesy kids book! Livy threw in some major twists that brought everything into the reality of the broken world we live in, adding danger, intrigue, and suspense into the story. I had a feeling something was coming, but I didn’t realize how BIG it was going to be and how deeply it would affect the lives of this cast of characters. So while this is a fun, mostly light-hearted, clean read, it’s not “safe” and void of realistic struggles or conflicts. That fact made me love the book even more and left me wanting to know what the royal family of Tarsurella will face next.
The book is written in an omniscient POV, and there were places where all the head hopping got confusing for me. But I enjoyed the story so much that any imperfections or differences in my personal preferences didn’t matter much to me in the end! I’m really looking forward to catching up on the rest of this series and seeing where Livy takes these characters!
Highly recommended for teens or adults who love a good princess book! 4.5/5 Stars!
