Review: Heir, Apparently by Kara McDowell
Thank you to the author and publisher for my copy. All thoughts are my own!
I have been a fan of Kara McDowell since her debut novel and the first book in this duet was one of my favorite books of 2023. I have had this ARC for so long and wanted to save it for the perfect time to dive back into this world, especially after that wild cliffhanger. I enjoyed this book but it didn’t have the same magic as the first book. I still found it entertaining and enjoyable, but I didn’t love it the same way I did the first.
Synopsis:
“Freshman year is stressful enough without accidentally being married to the King of England. Of course, Wren Wheeler can’t tell her Northwestern classmates about that; after surviving a narrowly-averted apocalypse over the summer, everyone’s had enough excitement for one lifetime. Wren knows she needs to move on from Theo, but she can’t forget the look in his eyes when he left her on that island in Greece—and also, he took her dog.
When an ill-fated attempt to rescue Comet the Apocalypse Dog turns into a chemistry-fueled reunion with Theo that’s caught by the paparazzi, Wren finds herself under the royal spotlight. Suddenly, she’s a problem for “the firm” to solve, and in order to be protected from the rabid press, she’ll have to fly back to London with Theo. Along for the ride are Naomi and Brooke, as well as Theo's siblings, including Henry, the brother he's spent his life being compared to. But because the universe can’t let these two maybe-newlyweds have one conversation in peace, their plane goes down over the Atlantic, crashing on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere.
Stranded with no sign of rescue, the group will have to band together against poisonous animals, catastrophic injuries, a brotherly rivalry, and an ill-timed volcano if they’re going to make it out alive. And, scariest of all, Wren and Theo will have to face their feelings for one another and decide what they want their futures to look like—and if that future will be heartbreak, or happily ever after.” —NetGalley
What I Liked:
The Action—This book is fast paced with lots of action and detail, making it a really fun and entertaining read.
The Concept—I still love the concept of the original book and I kind of missed the stakes when a comet was barling toward Earth!
What Didn’t Work For Me:
The Pacing—Something just felt a little off in regards to how the plot moved forward. Act III was particularly jumpy.
The Ending—I don’t know what I wanted, but I didn’t love this ending! Maybe it needed an epilogue to really feel like the story had resolution but so much happened without sufficient explanation in the end for me.
Character Authenticity: 4/5 Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Content Warnings:
blood, plane crash, death of a parent, injury