Royal Heirs Academy

Gr 9 Up–Gossip Girl meets Katharine McGee’s American Royals in this YA boarding school novel that follows four students to an elite boarding school after they find out they are all competing to rule the small country of Ashland. In alternating POV chapters, readers meet three grandchildren of the ruling king (Titus, Alaric, and Emmeline) and one commoner (Sadie) who are all competing for the throne as they deal with grueling class loads, teenage hormones, and the expectations of an awaiting nation. The romantic inclinations of the teens, especially centered around Sadie, and the projects of a school training future world leaders dominate the novel, while the fight for the throne mostly manifests in family drama and threats of blackmail. Though nearly 400 pages, the pacing and stakes of the novel are slower than one might want in a throne-battle YA, but the unfurling romantic entanglements provide ample fodder for readers of the genre. Each character is well delineated, and Duga has clearly created a developed world within the castle walls that invites readers to feel like they are a part of all the drama.