Monday 30 June 2014

Review: Royally Lost by Angie Stanton

Royally Lost by Angie Stanton
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: May 6th 2014
My rating: DNF/ 2 stars 


Dragged on a family trip to Europe’s ancient cities, Becca wants nothing more than to go home. Trapped with her emotionally distant father, over-eager stepmother, and a brother who only wants to hook up with European hotties, Becca is miserable. That is until she meets Nikolai, a guy as mysterious as he is handsome. And she unknowingly finds herself with a runaway prince. Nikolai has everything a guy could ask for-he's crown prince, heir to the throne, and girls adore him. But the one thing he doesn't have...is freedom. Staging a coup, he flees his kingdom and goes undercover on his own European tour. When Nikolai and Becca meet, it’s their differences that draw them together. Sparks fly as they share a whirlwind of adventures, all the while dodging his royal guard. But Becca's family vacation ends in a matter of days. Will Nikolai and Becca be forced to say goodbye forever, will his destiny catch up to him, or will they change history forever?

DNF at 29%

Royally Lost gave the vibe of being a fun book filled with adventure and a sweet romance. Instead what I got was insta love and a bunch of control freak parents. Becca was forced on trip around Europe with her dad, step mum and brother, on what was meant to be a chance for the family to get to know one another and spend quality time. Becca can’t stand her step mum and her dad never seems to have time for her, so they begin this trip on the wrong step already. Then we have Becca’s brother who can be useful at times, at pulling Becca out of quality family time, but then he never seems to be spending time with the family in the first place. I did feel for Becca, her boyfriend had dumped her on graduation and everyone knew about it and then she has to spend time with family who clearly didn’t act like one. But if I had the chance to visit Europe and all these gorgeous places, I would definitely be making the most of it, despite who I was forced to hang around with. But Becca didn’t really see it that way, but as a sort of punishment, that is until she meets her dream guy in Nikolai.

Through fate Nikolai and Becca end up at the same places in the Europe at the same time, both have one thing in common to get away from their families and experience some freedom. With Nikolai it’s perfectly understandable, he’s a prince and has a lot of pressure and expectations put on him, so running away and being someone else for the day could be a refreshing thing for him. Of course as soon as he sees Becca, she’s the most beautiful person he’s ever seen. The same goes for Becca without saying. This insta love really wasn’t for me, I know Becca had a bad break up, but Becca was quick to fall for this guy she knew nothing about, at one point when they’d arranged to meet in the next city, she ended up waiting 3 hours for him, before realising that he wouldn’t be turning up! Who waits three hours for someone? And then after that all she could do was pine over him and what could have been.

I really am gutted that I ended up dropping this book really early on, but as the book progressed I was easily able to see that Nikolai and Becca would be characters that wouldn’t be for me. 





31 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh, sorry that this book was a DNF for you, Jasprit! I have this book around and it looks very cute and all. It's too bad that the story is a disappointment. Who would complain instead of exploring the beautiful Europe? ;) Haha, the insta-love part may bug me as well. It's just a bit hard to believe that Becca is the most beautiful person a prince has ever met. :P

Thank you for the honest review, Jasprit! I hope The Darkest Minds is much better! :)

Siiri said...

Oh, so sorry you didn't like this one. I've heard some not so good things and it hurts a little since it seemed like the perfect summer read. Oh shoot!!! Really not in the mood for an insta-love like this :( I totally understand your frustration and DNF-ing. So sorry this wasn't for yoy, hon!

Emma said...

I'm so sorry this didn't work for you, Jasprit. This book reminds me of the film The Prince and Me that I use to watch when I was younger, but I really enjoyed that. That's what made me think of the same premise really. I was looking forward to reading this one soon, I will keep your review in mind and read with caution. Lovely review, Jasprit! :)

Rashika said...

O_O
who waits three hours for someone? That's just really really sad. I mean can you imagine awkwardly standing/sitting somewhere for 3 hours waiting for someone to show up? Yeah... not fun.

Also I am really glad I didn't snag this book off of EW now. It sounds like a nightmare.

I am so sorry you didn't enjoy this more but hey you didn't have to suffer for the whole length of the book so that's good right?

Lovely review, Jasprit!! :)

Rashika @ The Social Potato

Amanda Gray said...

I'd seen some negative reviews for this already and was wondering how this would fare for others, but it looks as though fans of culture and history and sightseeing and anti-fans of instalove, pining and dysfunctional families don't enjoy this, and I fall into that category. It sounds cute, fluffy and light, but it doesn't seem to work, so I'm sorry Jasprit, it's such a shame - lest you dnf'd it rather than suffered it, eh? :)

Melanie said...

Ugh, so many people have DNFed this, and I am so grateful that I skipped this altogether. I detest insta-love and these characters sound so stupid.

Lovely review! <33

Amber said...

Great review, Jasprit. I felt the same way.

Anonymous said...

I had to DNF this one as well, Jasprit. I wanted something really cute out of the book, but the main character and the insta-love really grated on my nerves. I pretty much stopped reading it when she met Nikolai. It's a shame because this could have been a cute read similar to The Princess Diaries.
I'm sorry this wasn't a hit with you, Jasprit.
Lovely review!

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

Oh, that's such a shame, Jasprit! I love that you share your reasoning for these DNFs though...I find it really helpful. I think that this one had the opportunity to soar, but instead because riddled with cliches, which is unfortunate :/

Shane @ItchingforBooks said...

Yikes! Sorry it didn't work out for you. This one has been on my TBR for some time now and I've been curious about it. Seems quite a few mixed reviews are running around. Thanks for the honest thoughts.

Jenny said...

I'm with you Jasprit - the word "forced" would not exist in the same sentence for me as "trip to Europe". No one would have to pull my arm to get me to go! Yes, a difficult family could make it tricky, but I can't imagine not making the most of things despite them. Too bad this one just didn't work, I hate it when that happens. Hopefully your next read is epic!

Lea (YA Book Queen) said...

Insta love is always frustrating. That's a shame! Thanks for your honest thoughts :)

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

I have yet to read a positive review for this one. No one is thrilled with the insta love and the unrealistic story. I am not getting this one for sure! Hugs! Thanks for your comment :)

Mary @ BookSwarm said...

*sigh* I'm with you. I actually finished this book, though I skimmed pretty much the entire last half. So much promise, dust in the wind.

Tanja - Tanychy said...

I have seen this one around and like you I expected it to be adventurous and fun but yeah insta-love and control freak parents usually ruin the reading for you. I don't know what's worse to have invisible parents or control freaks. Sorry this one was a disappointment. Great review, Jasprit :))

Mel@Thedailyprophecy said...

Haha, that is the only thing I've read about this book so far. My blogging friend already raged about this on one of our book clubs. It sounds horrible!

Keertana said...

I felt the same way about this one, Jasprit! I despised the insta-love, the characters never stood out, and the romance overtook what could have been an interesting growth arc. Wonderful review, dear, and trust me, you're lucky you gave up on this early!

Unknown said...

This does seem to have a fun premise. I'm wondering how a younger reader would feel about it? Sorry it didn't work out for you, Jasprit!

Tina@NotYetRead said...

Who complains about a trip to Europe. I was fortunate enough to get to go quite a bit, and would still give up a finger... Insta love is a big turn off for me as well. Especially in the sense that they think each other the most attractive creature they've ever seen, were they raised in isolation or something?

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Sorry you didn't like this one - for what you read. I think these characters would really annoy me too.

BookOwl93 said...

I'm disappointed that Royally Lost wasn't as good as it sounds and looks like. I've actually been contemplating getting my own copy soon, but now I'm rethinking that decision. I don't always mind insta-love, but there's also times where I'm just not in for it at a certain reading period. And that might be happening now so if I do decide to read this book it will have to be put on hold. Thanks for being honest! :D

Jasprit said...

Thanks Hilda, I know I would be dying to go to Europe! I've read a bit of The Darkest Minds and I like it so far! :)

Jasprit said...

Yes I know how much we both loved The Princess Diaries, so having something similar to that would have been amazing, oh well :(

Jasprit said...

Thanks Jenny, I know I couldn't imagine forced and Europe in the same sentence!

Jasprit said...

I'm glad to know I didn't miss out on much Mary

Jasprit said...

hahah I think so Tina!

brandileigh2003 said...

Aw man, insta love and the controlling aspect is not cool.

Wendy Darling said...

Oh man, this sounds super tedious--what a disappointment after that fun cover and premise! I'm sorry you were let down by this, Jasprit, but it sounds like you were right to DNF it. Life's too short and all that.

On another note, I get really irritated when romances are so annoying that you can't even finish them. I have pretty realistic expectations when it comes to the genre, so when you find one that is so dull or bad that you can't even get to the end, it makes me really stabby.

Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

Monique Morris said...

That really sucks considering I've heard so many good things about this book. I hate instalove! Plus, waiting for someone you just met for THREE hours! THREE!!! That's freaking disappointing and depressing. One hour is the most I'd be willing to wait for someone I just met......and that's being really generous. I probably wouldn't make it to an hour.

Lauren @ Love is not a triangle said...

UGH. I still feel angry thinking about this book. I only made it to 15% when they go to McDonalds, but I was already so annoyed at Becca that there was no saving her. Sorry this didn't work for you either. But I completely understand.

Joy said...

I almost picked this up yesterday. Good thing I didn't, or I'll end up probably ranting about this book.

Thanks for your honesty, Jas.

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