It’s not for me and I had to abandon about a third of the way in. It reads more like a MG book than a YA.

I am a big fan of YA literature and have read a lot of it, past and present, and while obviously themes, plots and characters are going to be simpler, I believe it should be held to the same standards as standard literature. As such, unfortunately this novel, written by a vlogger (with ghosts? it's not clear but that's the usual model), has a good few plot holes, the motivation and characters are not consistent, and it seems that all that grabs the reader is the weirdly erotic thrill of the friendship between the two main characters. It's not clear whether the worlds have magic or not, and I wasn't motivated to find out (stopped reading at 45%)

It should be praised for its inclusivity - the teachers at the school are shown as strong women in a variety of ways (artistic, sporty, etc) and of a range of ethnicities, just as a matter of course rather than to advance the plot; One main character, Ellie, seems to be described as gender-neutral in the now-becoming-infamous half-naked bath scene, and this is to be encouraged, too.

Younger people might find this an exciting read, but it's not really going to be satisfying.

But ultimately there are better books out there about life swaps, being taken out of the everyday and magical schools. Try Diana Wynne Jones, for example.

This book is definitely for the younger fans. It’s a little bit confusing in parts and it isn’t clear whether the princess is in this world or another! A good light read for an older adolescent

I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed the unfolding story of Lottie Pumpkin and Ellie the Princess of Maradova at Rosewood boarding school. Due to a misunderstand Lottie was mistaken for the Princess which meant that the real Princess was able to have a relatively normal life. As the story unfolded I was captivated by the unfolding story never sure what the outcome would be. I will look forward to future books in which will be a great series.

This is an easy read for younger loves of fairytales. If you are looking for a teenage romance/adult plot this isn't for you. But if you are looking for a middle school fairytale about princesses and mistaken identities then this is a perfect read. Middle schoolers will gobble this story up. It has all the elements of a modern day fairytale with Lottie being mistaken for a princess and Ellie swapping places to live normally for awhile.

I really enjoyed this book, but the girls have got to get together in the next book or I'll scream. They are wonderful characters in a wonderful setting, but it feels so much like it could be gay baiting, especially when there are boys thrown into the mix. I really hope the author takes a stance one way or another because this series could be amazing, but not if we're just being set up for disappointment.

I loved Rosewood so much. The school was a really interesting blend of magic fairy-tale school and elite prep school, full of beauty, secrets and pressure. It's a place that I know so many people are going to fall in love with and long to go to.

Lottie and Ellie are great characters. Lottie is so full of dreams, fairy-tales and hopes and Ellie is a beautiful, unique person who I think I could read about forever. The plot is full of suspense, mystery and drama.

I am definitely reading the next book.

Sorry not one for me. This was a book that had an interesting premise and the friendship part was done well. But had way to many YA tropes for me. I think if I were younger I might have enjoyed this but I found myself skipping parts just to get to the end.

Review from Niamh aged:ten This was a good book about a princess who doesn’t like her job. It is full of drama and mysteries that you have to work out as you read it. I would recommend it to anyone who loves exciting books.

As an adult (who loves teenage/young adult stories) I found this book kinda clunky and, not exactly difficult to read, but I didn't feel engaged. I think maybe a younger audience might enjoy this more.

Connie Glynn the YouTuber, noodlerella, has branched out and signed a three book book deal with Penguin Books. The series is called the Rosewood Chronicles is about parties, politics and princesses and documents the life of 14 year old Lottie as she starts at boarding school - Rosewood Hall.

In the first of the series, Undercover Princess, Lottie finds herself sharing a room with a Maradovian Princess, Ellie Wolf. Lottie finds herself playing "Princess" so that Ellie can experience real life as a normal teenager. Drawn into the world of royalty, Lottie faces a world full of intrigue, secrets and betrayal. The forthcoming school ball and the mysterious new boy called Jamie show the reader that the happy ending is not always the one you anticipate or expect.

This is a Young Adult book that treads a fine line between the classic fairy tale princess storylinr and badass 21 Century princess scenario. As the story progresses, it is clear that the authors has managed to combine the two, making a great read, updating the traditional princess story line for the 21 Century.


ARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin in exchange for an honest review.

An easy romp about a princess who doesn't want to be one and an ordinary girl who can't think of anything better. A cross between Shannon Hale and Enid Blyton. Fun!

I have a confession to make, I actually stumbled to this book by pure accident, my hostkid was using the computer with me while I was trying to tame her wild hair into a braid for school, I was browsing to find new ARCs to read but I opened another tab to get on Youtube so she wouldn’t complain about my brushing skills to un-tangle her hair. Out of nowhere when I realised she had asked this book on my account saying she loved the cover.

I read the description and I feel in love with the cover too and I found it interesting that is a series of books. Anyways when I got the ARC naturally I started to read for her too and both of us through bed time got through this book of magic, friendship, discovering where you belong and acceptance.

It wasn’t easy I’m twenty-three and she’s only five even with a mind of almost an eight year old with all her witty and bossy attitude, where I found some things very cliché for her it was pure magic which I do understand it’s a literature for small kids to grow up with the character pretty much like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson where the main characters are young and start getting old by each book.

That’s pretty much it, the first book is an introduction to the characters and there’s a small suspense to find who wants the princess dead and in the end you get your answer but its way more complicated then you think it would be, which leaves the hang to start the second book that I’ll suffer a year or more until I can read it.

Lottie is very simple, very kind, very sad trying to hide it the perfect pleaser girl, the friend that will always put you first but through the book you see her learning to stand for herself and learning that is ok being herself and sometimes not feeling kind all the time. It’s still a working in progress but I have hopes that she will learn that being kind doesn’t mean saying yes to everything and trying to please everyone, the world does not work like that. She gets herself into a mess when people thinks she’s the princess of Maradova.

Then we have Ellie which is the real princess of Maradova, everything that Lottie is Ellie isn’t, not in a mean way. She just wants to be normal, to not have to wear the responsibilities of being the heir of a throne she doesn’t want to be. That makes her very reckless, very bad girl trying to prove everyone wrong that she can do anything she wants and seeking a true friend in Lottie when the girl takes the responsibilities of lying of being the princess so Ellie can have a normal life. The two of them get in lot of troubles but it’s like they are described in the book, two polar opposites that balance each other. I expect to see more of the friendship and the maturity of the two of them in book 2.

Jamie is the last main character and there’s still a lot of mystery around him. You do learn his story in the first book of why he’s with Ellie and why, you still don’t know what is happening between the three of them and part of me is crying of desperation because I feel that the author will make a triangle out of the three of them and that will kill me, I’m so done with love triangle. But still, Jamie is composed, he’s skilled, he’s fearless and he has the best poker face I ever saw in a teenager. I have the feeling where he’s connecting some dots about Ellie and Lottie that I started to have theories of and that I know won’t be confirmed until the end of the series which I’ll need to wait and see if I’m right or not.

The other characters are funny and some of them you can see bonding in the next books but it’s still not sure their role in the story since it doesn’t show as much of them as I’d like, the first book is more of Lottie and Ellie bonding and sharing the responsibilities of the throne one pretending to be the heir and the other one just trying to be a normal girl.

As in for Connie’s writing style I liked so far, she’s promising, she’s eager and she clearly know how to get the readers questioning themselves when she got lots of suspects where you try to find explanations for each of them. I’m excited for book two and I really hope it won’t take long to come out.

Did not finish, didn’t like characters or writing style in first few chapters.

I have to say although my teen days are long forgotten I did enjoy this.
The writing was very young though and confused me about how old the characters were actually meant to be.
A good start to a series although whether I would read more I don't know.

DNF at 50%.

I think this is a major case of 'it's not you, it's me'.

Rosewood Chronicles tells the story of Lottie Pumpkin as she enters the privileged world of boarding schools at Rosewood Hall. Here she meets Ellie Wolf, secret princess of Maradova, and otherwise normal teenage girl. Together the two form a friendship as they fight to keep Ellie's true identity a secret - which might be more difficult than it sounds.

The writing for this was very clunky at best, with the descriptions and plot all over the place. There's no world building - I only have a vague idea of where Rosewood Hall actually is, and beyond that I know nothing of the wider world. Is it suppose to be similar to ours? Where is Maradova? Why does it appear like it's identical to England? The description of things also confused me. I wasn't really able to picture what Rosewood Hall looked like in my mind, although it did seem to have weird hidden passage ways/two way mirrors conveniently placed for eavesdropping?

Ellie and Lottie. That weird bath scene near the beginning where Ellie is half naked? It's just...weird. And not something I would believe many women would do, let alone two fourteen year old girls. It was a bit creepy, and made me feel uncomfortable. In fact, their whole relationship in general was odd. They go from being immediate enemies (based entirely on the state of a bedroom) to extremely close friends in the space of seconds.

I think I gave up around the the time the character of Jamie is introduced - mainly because he was really boring, with no apparent personality and with a really odd backstory. In fact, none of the characters are really described very well and because of this I had no interest in any of them.

This may appeal to a much younger audience, who may be able to overlook these major discrepancies - unfortunately I couldn't.

Because I was unable to finish this, I have not rated it on my goodreads feed as normal - although the review itself will be posted.

I really enjoyed the twisting plots and turns of the story line. Slow to start and then I couldn't put it down, even had a sneaky read at my desk to try and finish it. Lottie is an unpredictable character who just makes you feel good. She's not perfect and makes mistakes but strives to be kind, strong and unstoppable.
My only disappointment was I didn't realise it was the first of a series so I have to wait ages to find out what happens to Jamie, Lottie and Ellie.!

This has a great premise and shows some real promise but while it's an easy read it's not quite working yet.

I did really, really love the idea of this story, a girl who loves fairytales and princesses gets into an exclusive boarding school where she gets the chance to live her dream by impersonating a real princess but the execution doesn't quite work.

Firstly, it reads very young. I know it has been classed as YA but I read a lot of YA and this felt closer to middle grade to me. The main characters are supposed to be 14 but despite it occasionally going much more grown up main character Lottie felt a lot younger.

I have to admit I was expecting something a bit sharper and more contemporary. I love books set in boarding schools so was hoping for something a little more Harry Potter with fun and feasts, friendships and some properly mean kids, bullying teachers etc. Instead everyone is nice and helpful and despite a couple of minor conflicts there's just no spark.

The story itself is pretty superficial and full of holes. It is a mystery and the first in a series so it is expected that there will be some gaps, twists and questions raised so that there's something to look forward to but I found myself pondering pretty basic stuff that I think really should have been answered or at least acknowledged. When the story begins for example, Lottie lives with her not very nice stepmother following the death of her mother but there is absolutely no mention of her father. I spent a lot of this book wondering about this. If she has a stepmother, she must have had a father. Where is he? Who is he? Why do they only talk about her mother and not even ask about him? It's all very weird.

The rest of the story was just very predictable and a bit too twee for me. The characters are stereotypical but aren't defined or strong enough to leave any kind of lasting impression. I had a bit of a tendency to forget who was who but it didn't really matter as many of them were interchangeable.

Main character Charlotte Pumpkin kind of bugged me. I was really happy when someone finally called her out for being naive as that is an understatement. At times she seems about 6 years old the way she goes on about princesses, Prince charming and magic. I'm a big fan of fairytales but she seemed to be bordering on delusional at times. I did understand why she was so obsessed, we're told enough times, but I'm afraid I'm not buying that a 14 year old would be so silly..

The relationships between the characters are also a little on the strange side. I honestly couldn't figure out what was going on. Are Ellie and Lottie supposed to be friends or more. There's an awful lot of stroking palms, shivers and blushing for just friends but then Lottie also has two or three other potential love interests and it seemed like there was something else going on between Ellie and Saskia. I don't mind a little romantic intrigue but firstly they're 14 and secondly it was just too confusing.

The writing itself is ok for the most part, a little bit clunky and overly dramatic in places but not terrible. There was however just a real lack of tension and emotion and a little too much tell instead of show.

As far as I understand there will be about five books in the series so there's definite room for growth.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A story set in a boarding school for high attaining pupils from aristocratic families with many who wish to remain incognito. It centres on a poor bursary pupil joining the school who finds herself with a strange and enigmatic roommate with who after some misunderstanding becomes her bosom friend. Moreover a rumour is set in motion that suggests that she is an undercover princess that in spite of all her attempts to dissuade gathers pace until all the students think that she must be. The mystery of why and how the story was started becomes a baffling mystery that seems unsolvable. There are enough mysteries, plots and hair raising events that maintains interest to the last page leaving the reader to speculate as to what happens next when the school year ends. What will the next year bring???.

Undercover Princess is the first book in the Rosewood Chronicles series by Connie Glynn.

Like many little girls Lottie Pumpkin dreams of being a princess, she attends a sophisticated boarding school in England and she lives by the rules of being a princess that she learnt from her mother. While at boarding school she swaps roles with her room mate who is an actual princess, but princess life comes with assassins and secret plots. This is a mystery/adventure book with likeable well developed characters and a fascinating, mysterious school with secret tunnels and beautiful gardens.

Perfect for fans of Enid Blyton or Robin Stevens Murder most unladylike mystery's. Would recommend.

This is a good 3.5 star contemporary read, with a nice little mystery element. By the end I was thoroughly enjoying the relationship between the three main characters, and I liked the way the mystery played out while still leaving stuff for the remainder of the series.
At first I was convinced I wouldn’t finish it, the first couple of chapters weren’t really for me, but it turned around pretty quickly and just continued to grow on me as I read. A cute and easy read!
I think I will be looking out the follow up to see what happens next, as there are still quite a few things unknown