Truly Madly Royally by Debbie Rigaud

Since Meghan and Harry continue to have the world buzzing, I'm revisiting this 2019 YA release which drew much inspiration from that couple and the royal watching craze.  So here's my in depth book review of Truly Madly Royally.

Truly Madly Royally by Debbie Rigaud is one of those books you pick up when you're looking for a cute romance you can read it one weekend. I'm sure we've all read books or seen movies where an ordinary girl has the chance of becoming a princess. I remember as a young teen reading the Royally Jacked series by Nikki Burnham and The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot and enjoying them.  But despite the premises being a complete fantasy I could never picture myself in one of those stories.  What is it about European royalty that continues to intrigue us?

The Reluctant Royals series by Alyssa Cole was the first time I saw a black woman as the potential queen in a contemporary romance. So last year when I heard a book was being released just in time for summer reading with a black girl lead the inner teen in me squealed. Even better it was by a writer I was familiar with from my days as a young reader as Debbie Rigaud wrote one of the Simon Romantic comedies(loved them) Perfect Shot and the story Double Act for the Kimani Tru anthology Hallway Diaries.

First I want to discuss that cover. I'm not a big fan of covers with real people on them. I just much prefer illustrations to stock imagery. I feel like the girl on the cover looks more racially ambiguous so you can't tell the lead is a black girl right off the bat. She looks like she is biracial and has looks similar to Duchess Meghan. Now we know from watching Meghan's journey for the past few years that racists seethe at a woman with black ancestry finding love with white prince. But at the same time she's also more palatable to some white people because of her lighter complexion and whiter features. The girl on the cover does not look like the girl described in the story and I'd love to see a cover redesign with in unambiguously black girl on the cover because black girls do need to see that representation. I bought a copy of this book for my niece so she could see herself in the story but it would've also been nice if she could see herself in the cover.

This book was very much inspired by the relationship between Meghan and Harry including the inclusion of a the royally coupling of the prince's older brother and a biracial woman that felt very Duchess Meghan and Viscountess Emma inspired.  Zora's mom is a royal watcher who has been keeping up with all the news involving that royal family. It's acknowledged in the story that a lot of black women weren't paying attention to the royally family until someone with black ancestry was included.

Zora is an honors student who was accepted into an elite summer program at a prestigious university. In between taking summer classes she's also very active in her community. In her neighborhood she started an after school program for children which also runs a summer program and includes volunteers who walk the young children home from school. And she is learning about grant writing so she can secure grants to keep the program growing. A chance encounter where their cell phones end up being switched puts Zora into Prince Owen of Landerel's orbit.

The strength of this story is Zora as a character. It's easy to relate to her as she navigates feeling out of place between all the privileged kids at the university while she takes the train back and forth each day. I loved how much her community was behind her. We get to see Zora interact with her family and best friend and the positive interactions are very refreshing. It was nice to read a story featuring a black family that is not dysfunctional. And parents are so often MIA in YA while Zora's were very much present while her new friendship with Owen had the paparazzi stalking her street.  It was especially not to not have a narrative not centered around racism. The conflicts in the story are very real without being overly melodramatic or drawn out.

Owen on the other hand is a little generic. He starts off intriguing but everything about him is very surface level and feels almost too perfect. Owen is a sweetheart who plans cute dates and treats Zora well. What you see is what you get with him and I would've liked to see his family dynamic explored a little more. He really doesn't start getting interesting until a little too late towards the end.

The story felt a little rushed towards the end and I would've liked to see more time dedicated to the royal wedding Zora attended. The Queen was throwing her some animosity that needed to be explored more. I would've liked to see more of Zora in Owen's royal world vs just him in her normal one but instead it felt like the story came to an abrupt halt. The romance is sweet and I recommend this book for younger teens. I think Zora is a great character for girl's to be inspired by.