Review Detail

The concept of The Heir and the Spare was the first thing that caught my attention. I thought that the book sounded very reminiscent of The Princess Diaries, which is one of my favorite series of all time, with it’s elements of royals, Oxford, romance, birthday letters and Evie’s quest to unlock the secrets of her mothers *royal* past. These aspects made The Heir and the Spare for a quick and enjoyable read. The overall plot was very original and there were many elements of The Heir and the Spare that I appreciated. Such as, her mothers birthday letters. Usually in young adult books most main characters don’t have a close relationship with either one of their parents. But with Evie we see how she can’t wait to receive her next letter from her mom or talk on the phone with her dad, which was the best part of the story in my opinion.
Her romance with Prince Edmund wasn’t my favorite. There was a lot of “are we together or are we not” going on for around 3/4 of the book and after a while it got a little bit tiring. Instead of them dating and getting to know each other, which is what I had expected, their relationship became more of an instant attraction with moments of romance. Most of the time they were wondering where they stood with each other in the relationship.
I preferred reading about the adventures that she had with Edmund while learning about her mothers past than reading about their relationship.
Overall, I did enjoy The Heir and the Spare. I did like how towards the end when she discovers more about her mothers past that we could see how difficult it was for her to assimilate to her new life and position. I do wish that this story line had been further developed because it made Evie become a much more in depth character. Other than that I would recommend The Heir and the Spare to any contemporary lover or London enthusiast.