Can I give this book 1 million stars? Because I am! This book made me laugh AND cry, and it was the sweetest book ever. I love Jadon and Reiss so very much. They are EVERYTHING! I loved seeing them fall in love, but I also really loved watching Jadon discover himself too. There were so many beautiful moments that made me smile.

Prince of the Palisades drew me in right away. I couldn't put it down, but now that it's over I am so sad! Julian Winters, you really created something special with this book. I'm buying a physical copy of this immediately so I can put it on my favorite shelf.

in the synposis of this book it’s comparable books are young royals and red, white, & royal blue. both media pieces that i’ve consumed and absolutely adore. and while i totally see the comparison to these two titles, unfortunately i did not fall into complete love with prince of the palisades as i had with it’s comp titles.

unfortunately, for me, i felt that the relationship moved quite quickly and felt a bit under developed. i wish we had more of a chance to see jadon and reiss experience each other in their high school life, through theater, through classes before throwing the plot straight back to jadon’s responsibilities as a prince. not just their relationship but also the whole story felt so rushed. and maybe that’s on me for listening to the story on 2.5x speed in one sitting while doing busy work. but i listen to all my books on that that speed and normally i’m not feeling like i’m missing pivotal bonding moments in the romances. but from what we did have, i loved it. i found jadon and reiss to be a lovely little couple and i actually could see them working out in the long term, even with the bumps they had throughout the story.

i never want to say this about a queer romance, especially one by an author of color, but it felt so commercial?? i know it’s a YA book but the conflict and its’ resolution definitely felt a like a bow being tied on a christmas present. it was such a quick and nonchalant ending. i guess i was wishing for more pining? more angst?? who knows.

overall this was sweet and short. i honestly find this like a holiday-adjacent (hallmark if you will?) romance. and i definitely see the place it has and can absolutely appreciate the story for what it brought. still hoping for more of a win from julian winters on a personal level!

Thank you to Viking Books for the advanced copy!
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I really and thoroughly enjoyed this whole book from start to finish. Jadon may be a prince, but he is also a hot-headed mess of a teenager. But wouldn't that be how you describe most teenagers? Sent to America to clean up his image, Jadon is angry and lonely and just hoping to find himself without leaving the constraints of royalty. He's never really been allowed to just be a boy with friends and a close family, so he doesn't know how to cultivate these relationships, but Reiss makes him want to be willing to try.
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This is a coming-of-age tale that looks at some deep topics facing America from an outside perspective. If the goal is neutrality, does that mean that you can never have an opinion, but also how do you step aside if the thing facing judgement is something unchangeable about yourself? Jadon's journey is fraught with tension and complexities, and Reiss is a fascinating character in his own right. I would love a sequel that follows Jadon's sister, Annika, partially to get an update on Jadon a little further down the road, and also to see how she handles the pressures of being the Crown Princess.

Another day, another book I wish I had as a teen. A breath of fresh air. I’m so glad books like this exist for teens today. Incredibly crafted love story with the perfect coming of age backdrop. A little found family sprinkled in and I love how messy Jadon was. Teens do not have it all figured out and they need books like this to remind them of that.

I really enjoyed this! Julian Winters always manages to write really sweet and heartfelt YA books, and this one was no different! Loved how the usual royalty romance tropes were used in here. It didn't do MUCH for me because I feel like I am growing out of YA contemporary romance, but that's more of a 'me' problem than anything with the book. Highly recommend it!!

This is a new to me author and I was not disappointed.

Prince Jadon is openly gay and has to figure out what he wants his royal identity to be. I loved his discovering himself and the love that he found.
Navigating in American is hard already and now he has been sent to the high school in America to figure things out.

This was my first royal read and I really enjoyed it.

Being a fan of RWRB, and having loved As You Walk on By by Julian Winters, I knew I'd eat this one right up - and I was right! Super cute MM romcom and a perfect sweet read to break up all the heavier reads of late.

This book was childish and boring, This premise could havae been so fun but it just lacked the execution with whiney characters. I would love to see this in movie format.

Prince of the Palisades by Julian Winters is a captivating coming-of-age story that delves into themes of identity, love, and the challenges of growing up. Set against the backdrop of the Palisades, the novel follows a young protagonist as he navigates the complexities of friendship and the pressures of high school. Winters’ writing is vibrant and relatable, capturing the essence of adolescence with humor and sincerity. This heartfelt tale resonates with readers, making it a must-read for fans of contemporary LGBTQ+ literature.

I've got a fondness for brain-smoothing frothy royal romances, and I think this one strikes a good balance between being silly & sweet + also acknowledging that life for a queer Black royal would not be quite the same as it would be for a cishet white royal. Also, I always think that for ~royal romance stories~ it's a better move to make them the royalty of a fictional country than to try to incorporate any real-life monarchy and all its baggage. I hope that Reverie and Genovia have cordial diplomatic relations.

Jadon is the Prince of a small island in Africa. He has been sent to America to clean up his image after a video of him badmouthing the Prime Minister goes viral. In order to return home, he has to prove to his family that he is ready. He is enrolled in a private school, where he meets Reiss, a pink haired movie buff.

This was a super fun and cute story! Jadon went through some huge character development, and I loved watching him grow and realize what he wants. I liked how he had a romance blossom, but also many friendships as well. I thought Reiss and Jadon were very cute together, and I think they were good for one another. I liked how Reiss wasn't afraid to put Jadon in his place, even if he was a Prince. The side characters were a big highlight for me. Future Queen-to-be Annika was such a great character. If we could have a spin off book of her I would pick it up in a heart beat.

This was an absolutely fantastic and adorable book. My first book by Julian Winters but it won't be my last.
I am not a fan of royal romance so I had a little trepidation going into this book, however I feel in love with the main characters within the first couple of chapter and that just kept me reading.
Prince Jadon of Îles de la Rêverie is struggling with what he wants to become and what side he is allowed or can show the world. When he makes a big mistake and is told to stay America until he fixed his image. He enrolls in a private school where he encounters Reiss. Reiss is not very impressed with Jadon at the beginning but as they get to know each other, the feelings start. I loved how their relationship allows Jadon to find out what the truly wants of himself and the world.
This book provides it all, a great story, two main characters with great development through the book, emotions but also a commentary into how society treats young black men and kids. which I highly appreciated.

Did you like elite but more mellow? Did you like books like red white and blue? Well then I think you should give Prince of Palisades a try because it’s like Maxton Hall but with LGBTQ+ and better! This book gave me so much Deja vu and happiness from the first time of being in love. The football reference is always a hot topic or debate. I will read more from this author. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley!

Honestly, this book fully lived up to my expectations. Pitched as a mix between Red, White, & Royal Blue and Young Royals, it hits that specific spot of the reluctant and rebellious royal opposite a slightly more ‘normal’ love interest who is more interested in just living their own life at first, and the shenanigans of growing along the way. It also combines some of my favourite elements of the slightly fantastical royalty in books, just a little bit of worldbuilding as a treat. Also, it does include one of my favourite movies/plays, Clue (1985), which honestly heightened my enjoyment.

This feels like some very classic elements of YA and romance, with more contemporarily significant discussions about queerness and Blackness that the characters and readers face. It’s a fun read with just enough reality, and plenty of queerness. The characters can be a little bit over the top, but I think that might just be that one is a prince and the rest are from Los Angeles. It’s a little cheesy and might have made me want to bang my head against the wall when the characters couldn’t seem to make the right decisions, but it’s also about characters growing, changing, and falling in love with each other, themselves, and the world that they’re living in, and it’s a great YA read to check out.

I'm a sucker for a royal romance and I'm a sucker for Julian Winters, so it's no surprise this caught my eye. I truly loved all the characters and friendships. In the limited time of just one book, so many things were developed and so many characters were allowed to grow more complex than their introductions might have suggested. Jadon and Reiss were absolutely wonderful as well, a lovely little duo of teenage snark and love.

I do wish that Rêverie and the monarchy had been fleshed out a little more. The story taking place away from the country was important to Jadon's growth, but it sometimes felt a little more like generic rich teen shenanigans than the royalty angle. Still, there's more than enough of princely agonizing and titles themed banter that I was still satisfied.

Unsurprisingly, this is yet another hit from Julian Winters and I can't wait to see where he goes next!

Introduction
Jadon, prince of one of the many monarchies that populate fictionland, has been caught on camera drunk and belligerent. As punishment, he's sent to America until he can become a 'real' prince.

Plot Summary
Jadon's country has a strict policy of neutrality in all international issues, and he and his sister, the Crown Princess, are the children of the first outsider to marry into the royal family since their liberation from Britain. As one of very few Black or gay princes in the world, and one of the only ones who fits both labels, Jadon is constantly under the worlds' gaze as they watch for him to do something wrong.

Characters
Jadon is our main character, a well meaning but stifled figure who's grown up in the public eye. Reiss and the other friends he makes in America are pretty typical teens. Jadon's sister Annika and guard Ajani are both amazing, struggling in different ways with who they are and who they want to be. There's a lot going on here!

Writing Style
Fast paced and quippy banter keeps this story moving right along.

Themes and Messages
Jadon has to learn to be himself, not what people want him to be, and to stand up for what he believes in whether it's royal policy or not. It's tough for anyone to do, let alone someone so in the public eye, and he works hard at it.

Personal Connection
It's a very interesting read and a great look at how the stresses and strains on teens can upset them. I enjoyed it a lot.

Further Reading/Viewing
Red, White and Royal Blue is an obvious next read. The Prince and the Dressmaker is a graphic novel from the commoner's point of view in this kind of romance. Finally, The Rules of Royalty, due to release in December 2024, has a similar plotline; a boy who's just discovered he's a prince is tutored in the ways of royalty by another prince...

Prince of the Palisades is a fun, new YA romcom that gives you Princess Diaries vibes if you squint hard enough. I enjoyed the character growth, tender moments and romance. I thought the prince and his love interest had great chemistry and communication. I only wish there were maybe just a few less side characters so that we could get to know some of them on deeper levels.


Overall, this was a really cute and fun read about a young prince and his efforts to come into himself, without the weight of his family name and what his father wants holding him down.

Another gem from Julian Winters!

Joining the emerging trend of romcoms involving LGBTQ+ royalty, Winters has produced a sweet novel. Set in Santa Monica, California, the story follows two boys who meet at an exclusive private school. One is aloof and totally "riz", while the other is a disgraced prince. When the 17-year-old prince makes a mistake by criticizing a high government official during a drunken tirade, his father, the king, declares that he must not return to their beloved island homeland until he can repair the damage.

As a prince in exile, the young man is being schooled on good public relations as well as academics at Willow Wood Academy. He notices Reiss, and vice versa. From there, their story unfolds, filled with attraction, dating, and occasional misunderstandings. It helps that the prince's mother is American, so he is not entirely socially unaware. Additionally, the secondary characters, such as his sister who is the heir to the throne, are fully developed.

The sweet A plot is complemented by a B plot involving palace intrigue, keeping the pages turning. Overall, this is a successful novel that belongs on YA shelves.
Full disclosure: I received this ARC from netgalley and Viking in exchange for an unbiased review.

Prince of the Palisades is a book I've been highly anticipating all year. I wasn’t sure what to expect but was hoping for a feel-good contemporary romance. I’ve been reading mostly fantasy lately, so this was a lovely change of pace! I’m a huge fan of queer modern royalty romance books and will pretty much read any of them. The premise sounded wonderful, and I was really excited to dive into Prince of the Palisades. If the synopsis isn’t enough to entice you, I’m sure the beautiful cover will!

I liked Annika, the future Queen and Jadon’s sister, more than the main characters, and would have honestly enjoyed reading the book from her perspective. She was very level-headed and always had a good perspective to offer Jadon. I always love when royal books have inserts from the media and news articles sensationalising the romance and plot. I wish the mystery around Jadon’s secret man was more important to the story and that the media’s involvement in the plot took more importance. However, I really enjoyed the moments where Jadon took control of his life and rejected the media's expectations. Those moments made him more endearing.

The romance was the main focus of the story, but I felt that the relationships between Jadon and his family were more developed. They were definitely cute together, but I did feel that their chemistry was lacking at times. I enjoyed Reiss and his hair and laughed at the Frank Ocean comparison. Reiss offered a sense of normalcy that was missing from Jadon’s life, and I’m inclined to think that was what he found most appealing about his love interest.

This will be a great read for fans of royal romance books like Red, White, & Royal Blue. I’m looking forward to reading more books by the author in the future! Thank you to Penguin for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

In Prince of the Palisades, the dubbed “rebellious” Prince Jadon of Îles de la Rêverie is sent to America to rehab his image after a viral breakup. Romance isn’t on the agenda, but orchestrated photo ops and high-society appearances are. However, an unexpected fling with a film-obsessed American student changes everything.

With the help of his sharp-tongued royal guard, his brilliant sister who’s next in line for the throne, and a quirky royal liaison, Jadon is determined to prove he’s more than a royal disaster. If he fails, he may never return home. But as he falls for this unassuming boy, Jadon begins to realise that being a true leader might just mean being himself. Can he win over his country and his heart?

Winters has a talent for banter and this book proved that all over again. Jadon’s sarcastic humour is contagious and the way he and Reiss go back and forth made for excellent comedic relief. All the side characters (and there are quite a few to keep track of) also had their own unique brand of humour which was fun to see play out in group settings. Reiss and Jadon also have some sweet and wholesome romantic moments that are sure to make readers swoon. Reiss, meanwhile, also shines bright as a boy with many talents who has his own goals to pursue and doesn’t compromise his personality for anyone or anything, which I really appreciated.

Beyond fun banter and romance, this book also delves deeper into important cultural issues. From the things Jadon tries to keep from his parents that he has overheard from people in power (and that basically acted as a catalyst for his exile) all the way to dealing with the expectations placed on him at a young age not only by his parents but by the world at large, Winters doesn’t shy away from exposing some systematic issues in the real world.

And while I didn’t vibe with the caricaturistic, somewhat one-dimensional characterisation of Jadon’s parents and the villains in the story and the way they did a 180 at the end of the book without a real catalyst, I was still glad to see that some of them got what was coming to them.

The parts that I struggled with in this book were the pacing and the repetition when it came to some facts like the way Jadon struggles with the media’s attention and the pressures of being a teenage public figure. Here, the story often reverted to telling rather than showing, which grew tedious especially after the first few inner monologues. A few more scenes where the impact and consequences on Jadon were shown rather than told to the reader would have been appreciated. It’s such an important part of his identity and what drives his actions and as such, I was a tad disappointed in how it was addressed – yet the way it was resolved made up for it in small parts. Similarly, the pacing sometimes dragged because of the way readers were told what was going on instead of shown more clearly. This, for example, happens often when it comes to Jadon and Reiss’s conversations where things stay on a surface level (for example them bonding over their love for shoes but then deeper talks being swept into one or two sentences recounting what happens off page). Nevertheless, once they get closer, you can’t help but root for them.

All that being said, I think that this book is going to take readers on a wonderful journey. If you’re someone who loved The Royals, Young Royals or Red, White and Royal Blue, you’re sure to fall hard for this queer, black, strongheaded and wholesome dork of a prince.

Finally, one thing that made me smile throughout this book was how Winters managed to incorporate his friends into the story. From small hints like Reverie (the book title of Ryan La Sala’s novel) to more overt references like a character named Garza Villa, these small nods to real-life people made me smile. It’s such a sweet way to pay homage to your writer friends that serves as a little boost of happiness to the readers who have also revelled in stories from them.

Fun, flirty and as fierce as its main character, Prince of the Palisades is the queer YA romance to escape to this summer, perfect for fans of Jason June and Johnny Garza Villa.