Pulling Princes by Tyne O’Connell Genre: YA Publication date: September 29, 2014 Format: I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Pulling-Princes-Calypso-Chronicles-1/dp/1501003712 Summary: Set near Windsor Castle in a exclusive all girl's boarding school & the nearby fictionalised Eton College - as attended by Princes William & Harry - Pulling Princes is based on the author's own children's antics at boarding school. Calypso is an ordinary American teen, plunged into the extraordinary world of the ancient British Boarding School system with all its mad traditions & customs, surrounded by the daughters of international royalty & rock-stars. But after three years of enduring the Terrible Toffs & Horrible Hon.s' treating her like The American Freak, Calypso Kelly is determined to beat them at their own game by tricking them into believing she's dating a hot Hollywood boy. She may be able to rinse the Eades boys at sabre & dazzle the girls with a poster of her "fake Hollywood boyfriend" - but with the paparazzi lurking behind every hedge, her phone confiscated & the not-so-Honourable Honey O'Hare plotting against her, can Calypso manage to pull it off AND pull the Prince? My Thoughts: First, if you did not see my interview with Tyne a couple of days ago, you can go check it out here: Interview. The inspiration of the book is really cool. It is loosely based on Tyne’s daughter’s experience at boarding school and her way to stay close with her children while they were gone at school.
To be completely honest, while going into the book, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the book. Usually when I start a book, I usually have a vague feeling about if I like it or if it’s on the fence (I know, that’s probably bad but I can’t stop myself from doing that yet). I liked the map at the beginning because it gave me a better idea of the setting and where places are in relation to each other. The glossary of british slang is the back was also useful but was kind of annoying since I was reading it as a e-book so I couldn’t flip back and forth. But overall, it was a good resource. Right off the bat, the main character seemed like a rich stuck up girl that wanted everything to go her way--or at least she was used to everything going her way. I felt like it was one of those characters that realizes something big in her life and how she really shouldn’t be like that and and makes a change in personality by the end but I wasn’t 100% sold on that idea. I liked that fact that we automatically knew Calypso’s feelings of hate towards her roommates and that the story could just continue on from there. I did feel bad for Calypso because instead of having the best of both worlds, she gets the worst of both; accent-wise at least. It doesn’t matter where she’s living, someone is bound to mimic her accent and do an awful job anyway. One thing I have to mention is that both Georgina and Honey (the mean girls at the school) carried around Louis Vuitton pet carriers with pet rabbits. Like who carries around pet rabbits?? Or am I just really behind on trends in England? Not to mention, they carry those furballs in Louis-freaking-Vuitton bags. That’s just crazy. (Excuse me while I calm down from this shock…) Also I was watching a YouTube video of a british beauty guru and I could literally imagine Georgina and Honey talking in that accent and it was just so funny. I totally understood why Calypso was so upset to be in the UK. Just because her mother went to the school and totally loved it, doesn’t exactly mean that her daughter would love the school too. Especially when she could be in Hollywood, enjoying the perks of the Hollywood life. I love the amount of sarcasm just dripping out of the pages. I know from experience that conveying sarcasm in words (and without emojis) is very difficult but I think that the author did an amazing job with that. I can’t decide whether I like the style of the writing or not. I enjoyed the matter-of-factness of it but also that was a little bothersome at times. The amount of detail in the book was also insane. There was so much and you really felt like you were there with them. There were some parts however that I just felt like ‘can you just hurry up and tell me what happened?’ Then of course, Calypso just has to use the fact that she’s American to get away with pretending that she has a super cute boyfriend back in the States. The story only spins off from there and needless to say, things get real crazy as the girls try to blackmail her and the paps are following her around. I don’t want to spoil too much of the book for you, so you should buy the book to read about what happens. I promise, you won’t regret it. That’s about it for this review. I hope you enjoyed it. Overall, I give the book a 7/10 (which rounds up to 4/5 stars). I recommend it to anyone who wants to read about life as an american at a UK boarding school. I have to warn you though, you will be very tempted to read the book in an British accent. I am looking forward to having the chance to read more of the books by Tyne. Again, if you have not seen the interview with her, you can go check it out now here: Interview. Let me know what you think about my review and whether or not you want/or already have read the book. Also, leave me recommendations for more books to read, especially contemporary books! As usual, you can find me on all my social medias, Twitter @BrookeEvans2001 and Instagram @thecozylittlebooknook. I’ll talk to all of y’all soon! ~Brooke
2 Comments
7/8/2016 07:41:32 am
This was a very nice spoiler review of the book. I had to laugh at your comment about reading the book in a British accent. I am a huge Anglophile, so maybe I'll have to check this book out.
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7/8/2016 09:52:00 pm
I'm so glad to see that you enjoyed this review! I hope you take the chance and read the book for yourself as well!
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About me!Brooke's a high schooler who loves to read all sorts of books. She's happy to be able to share all the books she's reading with all of y'all. Archives
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