This book had the author's trademark easy-to-read writing style, but unfortunately it really lacked plot. Like, I was expecting some social commentary on how an elected presidency makes society totally different from a monarchy, but there was no information about the wider American society at all, as far as I could tell. Such a shame - I think the author really missed a trick.
The characters were ok, but didn't really have enough bite to them. They were a bit flat. There was Beatrice, next in line to the throne, a typical, obedient good girl. Nina was the 'edgy' charachter, a bit of a girl next door, but she had a nose ring and was latina, so you know, ticking the diversity box there. Daphne was basically Regina George from Mean Girls. Samantha was a party girl. None of them really grew over the course of the book, none of them had any other aspects to them. Shame, really.
The last few chapters of the book were quite fast-paced and the author was obviously building up to the sequel. I'm kind of interested to see what happens, but at a predicted 320 pages I think I'll read the Wikipedia entry.
3 stars