After a disastrous public fiasco, a disgruntled African prince unexpectedly finds love, friendship, and himselfViral video ranting about his country's popular prime minister? Check. Public breakup with said prime minister's son? Check. Ultimate betrayal by his best friend? Check. Despite his best efforts, 17-year-old Jadon, troublemaking prince of the beautiful island kingdom of Îles de la Réverie, feels like he keeps checking all the wrong boxes. Banished to Los Angeles to spend a semester at an elite private school, Jadon is desperate to rehabilitate his image, but he struggles to connect with his new classmates and continues to say and do unprincely things. All his efforts feel pointless until he meets pink-haired classmate Reiss Hayes, an aspiring filmmaker, one of the few other Black students, and someone around whom Jadon finally feels like himself. Reiss tempts Jadon to do the one thing he said he wouldn't: date. Jadon is a likable but unfortunately opaque character: Winters skips or reduces to a single line some critical moments of potential insight into his inner life, flattening his character. As a result, the coming-of-age story and its related themes of Blackness, queerness, otherness, and belonging, although interesting, feel unevenly developed. The romantic and familial relationships, however, are highlights, as is the book's rich racial and sexual diversity. The royal family's reconnection journey is heartwarming, and Jadon's relationship with Reiss features cute moments, healthy communication, and a nice dollop of drama.Black, queer, royal romance wish fulfillment.(Romance. 12-18)

Gr 9 Up— Seventeen-year-old Prince Jadon, of the island nation R&4;verie, is Black, openly gay, and in trouble. Thanks to his former best friend, a video of Jadon drunkenly criticizing R&4;verie's prime minister has gone viral. Protective of his American-born mother, Jadon refuses to explain that the prime minister covertly insulted her. His father declares that Jadon, who is in Los Angeles, cannot come home until he has become the prince his people deserve. As a result, Jadon and his older sister, Crown Princess Annika, settle in a Los Angeles mansion with their security staff, and Jadon enrolls at Willow Wood Academy. There he navigates making friends, falling in love with pink-haired Reiss, and figuring out how to become the prince his father wants him to be. But what about the prince Jadon wants to be? Full of snarky humor and the glitz of royal living, this book also offers heartfelt struggle, heartbreak, and heartwarming romance. Jadon is a sympathetic character, trying to balance duty, privilege, self-expression, future hopes, family, relationships, race, and sexuality. On the downside, while most characters are distinct and interesting, readers may find it hard to remember the numerous students at Willow Wood beyond Reiss. Swearing and mild sexual experiences are consistent with the older teen characters. Reiss, his family, and characters from R&4;verie are Black. VERDICT A welcome, diverse spin on royalty rom-com and coming-of-age tropes.— Rebecca Moore