A Tale of Two Princes

by Eric Geron

Edward Dinnissen leads a charmed life. He’s the Crown Prince of Canada, gets the royal treatment at his exclusive private school, and resides in a ritzy mansion. He thrives off being the perfect prince as he prepares for the Investiture Ceremony on his eighteenth birthday, the final step in his role as heir — and Canada’s future king. But this closeted crown prince has just one tiny he’s unsure how to tell his parents, his beloved country, and his adoring fans that he’s gay.Billy Boone should be happy with the simple life. His family’s ranch is his favorite place in the world, he loves his small town, and his boyfriend is the cutest guy at Little Timber High. So why does it feel like something’s still missing? Maybe it has to do with the fact that this proud-and-out cowboy feels destined for something more...When Edward and Billy meet by chance in New York City, they discover that they are long-lost twins, and their lives are forever changed. Together, will these twin princes — ‘twinces’ — be able to take on high school, coming out, and coronations? Or will this royal reunion quickly become a royal train wreck?

Genres: LGBT, Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Queer, Gay, Audiobook

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2023

About the author

Eric Geron is a #1 New York Times bestselling author.

Reviews

[Gretal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear.

What to even say about this book? Where to begin?

I guess first I must thank Kait for bringing this book to my attention. This was really truly quite the read.

And thank you to all my friends who listened to my live reactions. You made reading this worth it.

And of course, disclaimer, I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, this doesn't change my opinions. All quotes are taken from the arc and subject to change

Alright, now I guess let's begin with the premise: Canada has a monarchy.

That in itself is so much, but the way this was executed.... even worse.

So, why does Canada have a monarchy? How old is it? How does this monarchy work?
All of these are truly fantastic questions, that the book of course does not answer. We are given the backstory that the new King (the Queen of England's eldest son!) and Queen of Canada fled England in a move dubbed "Frexit," "in hopes of escaping the scrutiny of the English press." Because they woke up each morning to "a new disparaging headline... about Mum being a lowly commoner from Canada." (If you were wondering, she's white.) So they were "prepared to leave the Royal Family and relinquish their official titles," but apparently the Canadian prime minister "recognized that Canadian love for the Royal Family was good for business. (Our official merch alone contributes greatly to Canada's bottom line.)"

I don't even know what to say about this. I guess that I thought the cost of a Royal Family could not simply be made up for with an ???official merch line??? Also the fact that the new King of Canada was the Crown Prince of England. It's okay though because he was born on Canadian soil!!

There is a mention later that the king's role is of a checks-and-balances sort to "[make] sure everything is in the best interest of Canada. His role is to provide something called royal assent, which brings parliamentary bills into law. And his rubber-stamping of everything."

Again, why is this necessary though?? Why is there a Canadian monarchy??? It's mentioned in just a throwaway line that they transferred the powers of the governor general over to him, but once again I am asking why?????

This book isn't actually about them though, but their sons: Edward, raised by the King and Queen as Crown Prince of Canada, and Billy, raised in Montana as a cowboy. They end up meeting in New York City (because of course this book about two Canadian princes has to spend most of the page time not in fact in Canada), and this is where the drama comes in.

It turns out that Billy was actually born first and is the true Crown Prince of Canada. (He was raised as a cowboy because his cowparents were in Montreal for a wedding a week before the due date and then the baby decided to show up early and they rushed to the hospital, the same hospital that the King and Queen were at. The Queen was actually pregnant with twins, though they didn't let the press know this. Cowbaby and the older Princebaby both had complications and were rushed off to the NICU for emergency surgery. Unfortunately Cowbaby died, but here was a mixup and the nurses told the Queen that her baby died, and Cowmom was given the Princebaby and raised him in Montana.)

The twins's birthday is coming up, and because they're turning 18, the Crown Prince is supposed to do an Investiture Ceremony. Edward, of course, has been preparing for this his whole life, while Billy has possibly never even been to Canada before. But of course they can't just have Edward be Crown Prince. That wouldn't be right. Must follow tradition!!

So they introduce Billy to the public as the long lost new Crown Prince of Canada, and he ends up coming out as gay. (This is after a bunch of Edward looking disparagingly at Billy and thinking about how "Billy is the straight version of [him].") The Royal Advisor, Gord, is not pleased with this, says "That's why we must have to do everything in our power to assure the line of succession will continue, to promise that the royal lineage won't be snuffed out after only two generations, and to pledge that Billy isn't going to be pushing a gay agenda." (Yes, he is the villain.)

Edward is upset because his crown was just stolen by a guy who "isn't even Canadian" (not exactly incorrect, but also can we talk about how the King himself is hardly Canadian?), and also because he's realizing he could have been out this whole time, and also now that Billy's "coming out makes it feel impossible for me to ever come out, like he's stolen my thunder by coming out first."

There's a bunch of plot with them not getting along that I'm not going to go into the details of because this review is already going to be long enough.

Another thing I really hated about this book was just how many times the word maple was used: one-hundred, ninety-eight (198!) instances. This includes Billy's best friend giving him "a pair of maple leaf tighty-whities" for the Investiture Ceremony. In a turn of events that everyone appreciates I'm sure, this is plot relevant.

So at the Investiture Ceremony, after he's been given the scepter, the crown, etc. Billy's pants rip. In front of everyone. So everyone gets to see the maple leaf underwear.

The Firm then uses this as an excuse to oust Billy from his position as Crown Prince:

The Firm, along with the prime minister, has determined that Prince Billy is not fit to rule and will be stripped of his titles, patronages, security, and funds. Noncompliance will result in the Canadian monarchy as a whole being dissolved. The prime minister has called for a section 41 amendment vote at the House of Commons to push through this change in law so that HRH Prince Edward will be heir to the Crown of Canada.

By this point though Edward has realized that really, Billy deserves the Crown.

There's a plot involving a woman Edward was fake dating, Fi, that results in Edward "hoping Fi will forgive [me] for what I'm about to say" (that he's gay) just a few mere paragraphs after he gets mad at her and breaks up with her for ruining Billy's life via leaking some photos. And then he spends entirely too long agonizing about how bad he feels for "lying" to her. I hate this entire plot line and the way Fi is treated in the story, where she's essentially looked down upon for being ambitious, but also suffers no consequences for her actions that harmed Billy. It seems like the author is trying to portray her as complicated, but he entirely fails.

Anyways, after this all occurs, he sets out to restore public opinion in hopes that will make the parliament change their minds and not take the crown away from Billy. This doesn't exactly work/is abandoned in favor of other plot, when they learn that Gord has been the villain the whole time and is super homophobic. Of course, he was responsible for the sabotage of Billy's suit that resulted in his underwear being shown to everyone and thus the decision to strip him of the crown.

In an unsurprising turn of events, they get a recording of Gord confessing and run over to the House of Commons to stop the vote. They arrive too late, with the House already voting unanimously in favor of changing the line of succession so Edward has the crown back. When they show the King the video of the confession though, he says, "Our royal adviser is to blame for Billy's incident. Therefore, Billy's title will be reconferred." Like it's that easy and the vote didn't matter whatsoever, which frankly doesn't make sense and seems in incredibly poor taste, given Canada's long history of colonialism. Of course this book doesn't want you to actually think about that.

Later in the book, the King issues an Official Communication that in addition to saying press secretaries will undergo proper sensitivity training and a diversity officer will be hired (lmao), says "It took an important vote to change the Succession Law. We thank Billy for his patience as we awaited his confirmation to the line of succession. We have sincerely apologized to him for any upset."

This line of course is incredibly confusing because they're referring to the vote that would have taken the Crown away from Billy, yes??? The vote that did in fact unanimously give the crown to Edward for the few minutes before the King decided to just throw it away???

Anyways.

So the Firm ends up apologizing publicly and privately for this whole thing, which seems incredibly far-fetched, but whatever, not this book's worst offense.

And this is described as a "new age for the monarchy."

So, to return to the topic of the monarchy.

Billy is set to be future king, but Edward needs a role I guess, so he suggests that he becomes Billy's official royal adviser, you know because the last one turned out to be totally homophobic.

"We can arrange that," Dad says. "It'll be nice to have a royal adviser who isn't trying to oust the Crown Prince through latent homophobia. I like this!"
"Even better-a royal adviser in full support of equal rights." All this time, I was being groomed by someone with inherent bias and homophobia.

A few pages later, there's this gem:

It's truly time for a monarchy that supports all within its walls. A time of progress. A time of inclusion.
And now, the Canadian monarchy will flourish as was first intended, with no one left to set us off course. We're here to stay. If there's any more homophobia, or hate of any kind, we're on it.

This is of course an incredibly idealized and pinkwashed sentiment of what a monarchy is and does.

In the author's letter at the beginning, he says:

I also wanted to shine a light on what homophobia looks like today... This is the true villain in my book, the force actively working to keep the main characters from reaching their happily-ever-afters.

Because homophobia and the monarchy definitely don't operate hand in hand.

With this in mind, I want to discuss this book's disgustingly pro-monarchy sentiment. Repeatedly anti-monarchists and homophobes are put in the same sentence, implying that they are on a similar level of bad (not to say that the anti-monarchists are bad; they absolutely are not. The book just views them that way)
Even though this Canadian monarchy is only 18 years old, and arguably the people of Canada did not and do not want it, this book repeatedly shovels down the reader's throat, how fantastic it is, and how it's for "the good of Canada" that Billy or Edward is the future ruler and doesn't mess this up.

A smaller group of protestors holding antimonarchy signs is exactly what the Royals fear. Gord told me at one of our lessons that the Canadian monarchy continues to be in fine standing, despite the many loud voices of dissent. When Mum and Dad first moved to Canada, there was a movement by the francophone population to abolish the monarchy altogether. Other factions hoped the "silly tradition" would phase out. The majority of Canadians saw the establishment of a new monarchy as a tremendous step backward for the country. But the votes at the time shockingly showed otherwise.

There is one singular time that a monarchy is even implied to be a bad thing: "Interesting how Gord's not going over the British Royals' colonial past, racist present, incest..." This of course is never brought up again, and there is no thinking critically about the Canadian Royals. They are perfect and exactly what Canada needs, what would Canada do without them?

The pro-monarchy sentiment even goes so far as to have Edward view it as a good thing when a group of monarchy fans swarm and pull a teenager with an antimonarchy sign to ground. I wish I were joking.

Something in the crowd catches my eye: a random teenager waves an antimonarchy sign, but then the HeirHeads swarm over him, pulling him to the ground. He disappears underneath the crush of bodies. Leave it up to the fervent fans to wipe out any haters.
Now that I'm looking, I notice there's a small smattering of antimonarchists at this end of the street, and a few antigay protestors parading around and waving signs at the opposite end of the street, both groups drowned out by chanting and yelling HeirHeads.
Hopefully the fans continue their crowd control.

While this book is bad, it could have, to some degree, have been saved if it ended with the abolition of the monarchy, but of course it didn't.

Assorted Other Complaints:

The way the author would scrub a single digit of a serial number off of characters:
Eliza II, Queen of England
Liam, Duke of Cambridge
Caroline, Duchess of Cambridge
Harold, Duke of Sussex
Maitaine, Duchess of Sussex
Ryder Russell and Blaire Ivy

For some reason though the author didn't do this with Lil Nas X or Ariana Grande, who appear in the book as themselves.

It is mentioned that the city of Toronto gives Casa Loma to the King and Queen "as a gift for the new monarchy" because you know, turning a tourist attraction into a private residence for the monarchy really benefits Canada's bottom line. But of course, the merch line must more than make up for it, right?

The Daily Maple
Being set in Canada, of course it had to have its own version of the Daily Mail. The only writer for the Daily Maple is Omar Scooby. Of course it is not explicitly stated that Omar is Muslim, but as that is a name most often used by Muslim families, it does not feel like a far-fetched conclusion. Why couldn't the author have chosen a whiter name to play the role of tabloid writer?

There are no queer women in this book.
In the author's letter, he says:

In drafting A Tale of Two Princes, it was important for me to create something not only for those who are out but also for those who are not out and who are not queer.

Of course I take no issue with the for those who are not out portion. That's fantastic. But the part about those who are not queer is interesting. Going through the queer characters in this book, we have a lot of gay men and then one nonbinary person, who I am not convinced isn't nonbinary solely to save the book from complaints of there being so many gay men and zero (0!) queer women. (Obviously, I am still complaining.) Edward does end up saying "perhaps queer fits better for me" because said aforementioned nonbinary person is his love interest, which basically just reads like he's gay but thinks "gay" as a sexuality is incompatible with liking a nonbinary person, which feels weird.

In any matter, this all makes it seem like the author cares more about writing for straight people than queer women.

Of course, the weirdness surrounding queerness does not stop there. I will lay out the first two sentences of the last chapter without comment because I think they speak for themselves:

It's a perfect last Sunday in June as the rainbow carriage we stand in glides past Stonewall Inn. The crowds cheer, and cops on motorcycles with pride flags flowing off the back drive in front of us.

This scene also mentions that people are holding signs that say #Twinces, and my personal favorite Love Twins. Much like the rest of this book, it's clear the author didn't actually think about the implications of this.


In conclusion, thank you if you made it through this long review, and

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll probably know by now that queer royalty, or any contemporary with famous characters, is my brand.

Picture little me watching Merlin, and you’ll know where it all began. Arthur and Merlin were my everything. They were the first gay ship I ever experienced, and I honestly still love them to this day. I have read hundreds of Murther fanfics, and my favourites are always the modern royalty fics. Hence my obsession with books like A Tale of Two Princes. Arthur, I’m still waiting for you to be resurrected and get your man.

When I heard about this book, I internally screamed. I practically did a back flip, you could have mistaken me for Simone Biles. This book was probably my most anticipated release of 2023, and I am so thankful to have been given an ARC. This was pitched as the Parent Trap meets the Princess Diaries. Early 2000s movies like the Princess Diaries and Wild Child are my everything, and I felt the energy of those incredible films throughout. This book made me feel as warm as I do watching a nostalgic movie from my childhood.

This was beautifully campy. I really enjoyed the writing, which felt very modern. I’m pretty sure there was a reference to were you silent, or were you silenced! Regardless, that part made me giggle, which I found myself doing often while reading this book. The overall tone felt lighthearted, like this was a book you were supposed to have a fun time with, but I appreciated some of the themes that were explored throughout. There was an interesting mix of characters who struggled with their identity, and characters who were openly queer. Edward and Billy were extremely different. Edward, deeply in the closet, resorts to fake relationships and lies to please his parents and the people of Canada, at the cost of his own mental health and freedom. I loved that characters like Pax, who were out and proud, were patient with Edward, encouraging him to come out at his own pace and on his own terms. I find storylines like that empowering, especially as a queer person who had someone try to out me several times. If you know - mind your business.

We should always be encouraging people to take their time, and this book is an excellent reminder of that sentiment. I am such a huge fan of abstract writing. Give me an extract of a newspaper article between chapters and I’ll eat it up. I loved all of the articles, headlines and gossip columns that provided extra context for the story, which really elevated the atmosphere. Another reason I adore books with famous characters is because their experiences are so far removed from my own.

The pressure Billy felt to be the ‘perfect, clean gay’ was incredibly interesting. It speaks to how most queer people modulate and change their gender expression to fit more into heteronormative society. Homophobia can sometimes be so deeply internalised, in ways we do not even realise. The Royals are so monotone, void of any emotion, crafted into an image that is entirely unattainable. This book explores how fully maintaining that facade is impossible. The weight on these characters shoulders is as much due to how vibrantly queer they are as it is their general royal identities. I found those similarities interesting, and it wasn’t something I had thought about before, or even noticed.

I came for a good time, but ended up finding a lovely book about tolerance, the viciousness of the media, and the price queer people pay daily by simply living authentic lives. If you like campy books that make your heart sing, then I highly recommend reading A Tale of Two Princes!

Thank you so much to El, Harper Insider, Harper630YA & the author, for sending me a proof of this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.

I post about queer books on: Instagram Twitter TikTok

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mingle the vibes and the heavier themes of Kiss & Tell with the wit of Playing the Palace and A Tale of Two Princes is born.

As someone who lives in a country with a monarchy, I’ve always wondered when a Royal family member finally will come out as queer. Our Royal family consists of countless teens. At least one of them should be doubting their sexuality, right? Maybe even their gender. But think of all the attention, the opinions, the sneers. And not just about being queer. About everything. Your appearance, your behavior, and who you’re dating. Just try to deal with that.

This is exactly what A Tale of Two Princes is about. It doesn’t matter if this book is about a fake and absurd Canadian monarchy or about the real British or the real Dutch one. This story is about what happens when people are trying to put you in a box. It’s about growing up with a silver spoon and taking things for granted. It’s about having dreams and suddenly getting all the attention you never had. It’s about suddenly having a brother who turns your life upside down. It’s about wanting to meet everyone’s needs and the feeling of failing instead.

A Tale of Two Princes is humorous, even sarcastic, and ridiculous at times. The princes are far from perfect, and I’m so glad they are. Because no one should be perfect, right? Not even princes. I furrowed my brows at Edward’s actions and wanted to shake Billy up sometimes. But at the same time, I felt their needs and love for their family and friends. Pax made my lips pull up in a smile, and Neel, devious Neel, made me softly chuckle. While Fi was my least favorite, Mack stole the show with her socials.

Read this story if you love a modern fairytale and witty, even hilarious moments covering up heavier themes like coming out, the loss of a parent, and the pressure you feel when you’re constantly watched.

And Eric, did you steal April 30 from my country? That date has been Queens day for decades (now it’s Kings Day on April 27).

I received an ARC from Inkyard Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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[Ditte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this certainly was a book.

I love Young Royals, Red, White & Royal Blue, and have also enjoyed The Parent Trap and Switched at Birth so I thought A Tale of Two Princes would be right up my ally… Not so much. Honestly, this book is a mess. I kept finding myself laughing at moments that weren't meant to be laughed at because I couldn't take anything seriously. The POV shifts between the two princes but neither have a distinctive voice and it was hard to tell them apart.

I had to double and triple check A Tale of Two Princes wasn't a children's book because if it had been, I think it could be really good. However, as soon as you put any actual thought into what's happening and realize it's not all a big parody, A Tale of Two Princes falls apart.

Basically, Canada is a monarchy now and its 17-year-old Crown Prince Edward discovers he has a long lost (presumed dead) twin brother Billy who was technically born first so he becomes the new Crown Prince by default. On the twins' 18th birthday, which is two weeks away, Billy will now officially be crowned Crown Prince at his Investiture Ceremony, but Edward isn't happy about this turn of events so he sets out to sabotage Billy in order to get back the title he's trained for his whole life. Turns out, Edward isn't the only one trying to oust Billy, royal advisor Gord got wind that Billy's gay (so's Edward but he's closeted) and since he's a homophobic POS he manages to use that knowledge to turn public opinion of Billy so he's stripped of his title. Fear not, in the end, the Maple Crown monarchy defeats homophobia and hires a diversity officer so all's well that ends well.

First, Canada has a monarchy now which somehow means the book needs to use the word "maple" in every second sentence.
Why does Canada have a monarchy? Because 17 years prior to the main part of the book, their Prime Minister felt like they should. Why would any country want a monarchy though? That seems far-fetched already. It's even mentioned a few times that the majority of Canadians don't agree and want to abolish it and we're left to wonder the point of the entire setup of the book.
The Royal Family consists of the former prince of England who fled from England to Canada with his Canadian wife to escape the pressures of royal life and the British press. So instead they somehow become the first Canadian Royal Family?? Even though Canada is also still in the Commonwealth. So their role is to stamp some papers and generate good press - they even have a very popular merch line which any good royal family does….

Anyways, the book isn't about the lunacy of how and why Canada's newfound monarchy came to be, it's about Edward and Billy.

Edward is in quite a predicament as he's mere weeks away from being named next in line to the throne, but he hates the pressures that come with it since it means he has to hide who he truly is: gay and a baker. The two seem equally important to keep hidden so as to not cause scandal. Naturally. He's been in prince training his whole life, seemingly indoctrinated into thinking The Maple Crown comes before all alse and he lives by the very important Maple Crown Rules that have been set out for him and his family (such as rule 21 which says "don't cry over spilled syrup")

Once he accidentally finds his twin brother Billy (who's a rancher from Montana) and finds out Billy is now set to be named Crown Prince, Edward realizes that he actually wants the title after all. So obviously he goes and talks to his parents about how absurd it is that they expect their long lost son to immediately be thrust into the spotlight and to take over Edward's life and duties and also, how did they never tell him he was a twin? Lol, nah, he does none of that.

Instead, Billy, his mom, his sister (a 13 year-old vlogger, because of course) and Billy's bff Pax (a 17-year-old aspiring fashion designer) all move into the royal residence. Here, the King and Queen refer to themselves as his mother and father right away, assume Edward is good with everything that's happening, and Billy starts his 2 week prince training because why not?
Pax, a teenager, suddenly gets their own fashion show and is also designing outfits for the royal family for the big Investiture Ceremony which will be watched by billions of people. Oh and they fall in love with Edward though Edward has been nothing but cruel to Pax's lifelong bff, but it's okay because Pax has been obsessed with Edward for years. Plus, Billy, who's just discovered his family isn't his biological family and who also has to deal with princely duties, the press, and leaving his home, accidentally misses Pax's fashion show so Pax cries in Edward's arms and they're now in love.

Anyways, Edward and his friends "prank" (more like cruelly bully) Billy so he'll be stripped of his title and Edward can get back his life. This leads to Billy finding out his mom has known his real identity for years (her and the Queen gave birth at the same time in the same hospital, some babies got swapped, one died, and they assumed it was one of the twin princes when really it was Billy's mom's son) but has kept it secret and also has blackmailed the Canadian royal family. Nbd, he forgives her, let's just move on. Edward realizes maybe he's been a bit out of line and then rages at his fake girlfriend when she still thinks they should keep up their "pranks" and everyone continues to not get therapy.

The press aka The Daily Maple (which employs a single journalist but seems to be the biggest gossipy news outlet in Canada) continues to write about all the scandals Billy causes such as not remembering the correct hockey terms and him being gay, both are near unacceptable. Nothing about how the Royal Family lied about having had another child, or about how traumatizing it must be for this child to suddenly discover who he is. I digress.

At the Investiture Ceremony, Billy's pants literally rip on stage and he's left in his maple leaf underwear… That's a thing that happens. That again, had it been a children's book, would've been super funny.

Billy's been trying really hard to "do it for Canada" (he's not even Canadian but okay) and go by "Maple Crown Rule 2: Royal blood is thicker than maple syrup", and following all the traditions we're being told are so absolutely crucial (what traditions??? This monarchy has existed for 17 years!) because the monarchy is dissolved if Billy steps down. No pressure though. However, after this incident, public opinion shifts and everyone agrees there's going to be a parliamentary vote to give Edward back the title of Crown Prince. So Billy leaves to go back to Montana to which the King and Queen say bye, we'll miss you, and fail to give him a number or address to get in touch with them and off he goes. Oh well, they all gave it their best shot.

After Billy's left, Edward changes his mind yet again and now decides he doesn't want to be Crown Prince and that Billy deserves it. Also he misses Pax because supposedly they're in love despite their lack of interactions and chemistry. So Edward breaks up with the girlfriend his parents have been pressuring him to get enagaged to, flies to Montana and convinces Billy to come back with him.

After Edward's ex (another teenager) hacks into the Royal Family's computers (as you do) they realize Gord, the homophobic royal advisor was behind the sabotage all along (except the stuff Edward did of course) and are caught red-handed snooping through his office trying to find evidence. Fortunately, Gord the Villain is nice enough to explain his plans, motivations, and what steps he's taken to oust Billy to these pesky kids which just so happens to be recorded on video and uploaded to the internet for all to see.

The twins burst into parliament just as the vote has happened and Billy's title has been taken away and given to Edward (they were late because of the picnic Edward decided to go on earlier even though he said time was of the essence but that's neither here nor there.) However, the King sees the video and declares that Billy is once again Crown Prince because Gord had lied. Division of power what now? Nah, never mind that. No bureacracy exists if you just decide you're the one who makes the rules, much easier.

Oh joy, all is good, it's a "new age for the monarchy" and the sentences "We’re here to stay. If there’s any more homophobia, or hate of any kind, we’re on it" are said shortly before the epilogue where Edward and Billy are on a Pride float going past Stonewall.

So yeah… I think the premise of the book is really interesting but would've worked so much better as a full on parody or a children's book. Or maybe a tone shift midway through to make it less predictable.

As is, this book just comes off as, well, not great.

Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC

[Liralen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two boys: One is first in line for the Canadian throne, and the other is first in line to take over the family ranch in Montana. But they're in for some upheaval, because it turns out that the Montana cowboy is actually the twin of the Canadian prince...the older twin.

Now...I think this was going for something along the lines of American Royals, but with gay twins as the leads. And I'm here for that! But it landed somewhere closer to The Princess Problem, and I'm...less here for that.

Billy: I'm not sure about it either. I'm supposed to be crown prince? And I only have about two weeks to prepare? I don't think I'm qualified.

Edward: Certainly not. It's...interesting...that I have a new brother and all, but a glorified maple ranch hand? And one who's older than I am?

The king: Now, now. Just because we didn't know your brother existed until now doesn't mean that he isn't far more important than you are. Run along.

Edward: Wait...but...I've been training my whole maple life for this.

The queen: We know, dear. But didn't you hear your father? You're just the maple spare now. You don't matter.

Pax: Oh my goddddddd honey! We're going to New York! I'm sooooo glad you get to take your bestie along!

Billy: Wait, New York? I thought I was a prince of Canada. We're not going to, like Ottawa? Or Toronto?

The king: Of course not. Why the maple would we spend time there? As Canadian royals, we conduct our business from New York. Obviously. We don't actually know anything about Canada.

Edward: We do know about hockey, Nanaimo bars, and French! And maple syrup, of course.

Billy: Uh, okay, I guess. Hey, it's not going to be a big problem if I don't get everything exactly right, is it? Since I'm new and all.

The king: All we care about is what the maple tabloids are saying. If you can't please the tabloids—

The queen: —the monarchy will fall, and it will be all your fault.

The king: But we're sure you're up to the task of learning fluent French, acing a PhD-level exam on the history of our maple monarchy, memorizing the names and statistics of every member of Canada's seven national hockey teams, maintaining a 4.0, and putting in at least 80 hours of volunteering and charitable events.

The queen: You have two weeks to get all that done. Your brother will help, since he has nothing better to do now. He might not even try to stab you in the back! And don't forget to smile for the cameras—oh. Not like that, dear. Smile like you mean it.

Pax: It's okay, honey! I am an authentic ray of maple sunshine and I can teach you everything you need to know about smiling with authenticity!

Edward: I swoon for that authenticity. I'm okay with giving up the maple crown if I can bask in that glow.

Billy: What's with all the maple? It can't just be the maple syrup.

Edward: It's our national symbol, obviously. And one of the only things we know about our country. And the word appears approximately 213 times in the book, so it seemed important to get it into this review about as many times.

Here are the other 202 uses: maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple crown maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple leaf maple maple maple maple maple maple butter maple maple maple maple maple maple maple syrup maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple print maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple online maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple underwear maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple bacon maple maple maple maple maple maple tree maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple sugar maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple maple

[Claire ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof. This book is pretty risible.

What I thought I was getting: a gay Parent Trap where the Crown Prince of Canada swaps places with a Montana cowboy who happens to be his long-lost twin.

What I got: nation immediately finds out there is a secret twin, crown prince gets booted for Montana cowboy and then sabotages his brother at every opportunity because he's petty. Everyone gets mad for no reason.

There's very little of this book that I enjoyed, honestly. I was hooked at the beginning, but like I said, my expectations for the story were very different, and even though I continued with an open mind, the enjoyment did not blossom from there. I'd go so far as to say my idea is much better.

The story goes that a branch of the British royal family broke off to establish an arm of the monarchy in Canada, dubbed 'the Maple Crown'. Don't worry, you will not be given the opportunity to forget that Canada = maple leaves/ syrup, as the narration reminds you almost EVERY page.

Literally, Geron putting maple references in the book:


The new royals birthed twins, but due to a mix-up at he hospital, Prince Billy ended up in the hands of Connie Boone, and was raised in Montana with no knowledge as to his true birth. Meanwhile Edward was raised as Crown Prince to the Canadian throne.

Both boys accidentally bump into each other at a Museum exhibit-turned Julliard audition. Edward then exploits his status by blackmailing the Julliard admissions office for Billy's details, hoping to use his uncanny lookalike to swap places with him for a few events. The plan unravels when the king unexpectedly arrives, and recognises Billy's birthmark – and the son he thought had died in hospital.

I only just managed to suspend my disbelief at something so absurd – that the hospital housing the royal family could just go "whoops! Mixed up the prince with some podunk kid" to enable the swap. Somehow I'm also supposed to believe that, when Billy's true identity is revealed, the entire royal family will upend everything they've worked on for eighteen years – i.e. Edward's eventual path to the throne – to give the Canadian crown to some nobody cowboy from backwater America. Not only is Edward's title as heir unceremoniously stripped from him, but Billy is expected to take his place in every event leading up to, and including, his Investiture, the ceremony that solidifies his right to the throne.

They don't discuss it with Edward. They don't keep it a secret so they can formally process and consider what to do next. They announce it to the world, and Edward is kicked to the wayside. Granted, it is very difficult to feel sorry for him when he is such a smug asshole. Never mind blackmailing Julliard, he does his very best to sabotage Billy's success, like giving bad advice which Billy naively accepts, changing his speech cards, sending embarrassing photos to the press. Even after he realises his errors and turncoats, the damage is done, and I can't really feel sorry for him when his best friend Neel condemns his actions and leaves. Billy meanwhile is so vanilla as a character. He's nice, likes violin and misses his dad, and that's it. Perfect self-insert material when all this fame, power and money is suddenly and unjustifiably thrust upon him. He also accepts his crown with a shrug and adjusts remarkably well to his new life. By the end, Edward decides Billy is totally deserving of the crown and fights to get it back on his head – but we as readers just don't see how, because Billy's personality is as bland as white bread, as is the level of his devotion to the Canadian throne.

I tell you what though, I see it runs in the family: no characters were flatter than the king and queen of Canada themselves, Frederick and Daphnée. Billy comes back into their lives: they smile and say, "yay!". Rumours are aflutter about Edward and his frenemy Sophia's potential secret love life: they clap their hands and say, "neat!". Billy comes out as gay to the entire nation: "don't worry!". Edward interrupts a parliament meeting to insist that Billy gets the crown: "okay, cool!". They were two meatbags of NOTHING.

Ironic considering the persistant melodrama is what makes this book almost unbearable, but at the very least obnoxious. Billy's sister Mack and best friend Pax don't offer him any grace for what should be an adjustment period – they get mad when Billy misses some event he wanted to do with them... because he was doing Crown Prince things. Sorry, but that's literally his title? That's what he has to do now?? Likewise Edward and Billy's relationship ping-pongs so often you can't tell whether they like or hate each other at any point. During the period of Edward's sabotage, he has a bonding moment with Billy... then still decides to push him up shit creek without a paddle.



Do you like this guy or not???

I did actually like Pax, the unapologetically outrageous femme nonbinary fashion designer – and who crushes on Edward from the very beginning. Scenes where they were together made the book, and Edward, a bit more bearable. I just like the idea of the upstanding, aloof prince paired with a flamboyantly queer stan.

They could not save the book, however. Even skim-reading my brain couldn't stay focused on what was going on. Nothing that happens is even remotely realistic – even if you clap your hands and accept, no strings attached, that Canada would instate a monarchy, you then try to focus on what is grounded in realism: the characters, their relationships, the drama... but no one ever reacts appropriately to anything. They fly off the handle at the slightest provocation or make no attempt to process the circumstances before moving on. That, and the tedious, overwrought writing style, which insisted on padding out what should be quick dialogue exchanges with incessant bodily movements, made A TALE OF TWO PRINCES infuriating to read.

WILL I READ MORE BY THIS AUTHOR? Not likely.

LAST REVIEW

[Emily✨]

Apparently this about the reunion of long-lost twin brothers-- one of whom is a closeted crown prince (of Canada??) and the other an out-and-proud Montana cowboy.... I need this.

[Sherwood Smith]

A fun, and sometimes funny, m/m romance that I ended up wanting to like more than I did.

I really enjoyed the characters, but the frenetic pacing with the constant one-liners stayed on the same emotional note a tad too long, making the story seem longer than it was. Splitting it up over many days helped, also, the utterly delightful Pax. Much as I liked their royal highnesses, I ended up wishing it was their (meaning Pax's) story, the focus on them.

[Kalob Dàniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s giving princess switch vibes and then moved to "you've changed, how dare" before it ended with the Scooby gang saving the day.

I really enjoyed the character arcs of both twins and side characters. The queer rep was amazing! And I loved the queer identity discovery and the romance of the one twin and the other twin's bff (shhh, no spoilers). It tickled my heart 🥹

I listened to the audio as I read along and I thought it was good. I’m just a little confused why each narrator had a different accent for Edward's bff? Kinda threw things off for me. Is he Canadian/American or British? We'll never know I guess. It was weird.

The homophobia was not the move, but it def made sense for the plot and was worth the pain it caused me. Oof. The justice in the end was really well done! Like I said, the Scooby gang saved the day lol I’m so glad that old bat got what was coming to them. Good riddance.

But yeah, overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was so different from other YA. Just when I thought I knew the next move, things went a different way. I was hooked, I was on the edge of my seat, I was all the way tuned. It was kinda cool to see a king and queen situation for a new country, Canada. Sure a monarchy has it’s…disadvantages (to say the least), but it’s fiction so it’s cool lol. We stan queer princes!

[Kinsey Breland .: avid_midnight_reader :. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find it kind of fascinating that as soon as the King and Queen found Billy and realized that their oldest son was still alive, they automatically decided that he was going to be the next king simply because he was the twin that was born first. These twins were seventeen by that point. Edward had been raised in the Royal environment his whole life, while they knew nothing about Billy.

Honestly, it kind of felt like the King and Queen didn’t give Billy much of a choice. When they learned that their oldest son was alive, they pretty much said he was going to be the next King. If they had learned about Billy’s existence a couple of years ago, then yeah, I can easily see him being able to take it over no problem, but they only gave him a few weeks to learn everything he needed to know before being appointed in. At that point, he could still have moved into the castle with them and lived as a prince, but putting all that pressure on him on such short notice just didn’t seem fair.

It was also just one thing after another for Edward. First, he learns that he has an identical twin that he was never told about. Second, said twin is older than him, so he is actually the next in line for the crown. And then, after Billy blurts out that he is gay and is completely accepted by his parents, he realizes he could have been out the whole time.

[Emily Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Tale of Two Princes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 1/10/23
Author: Eric Geron
Publisher: Inkyard Press
GR: 3.47

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Inkyard Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: I loved the premise of this story. A hospital mix-up leads to two princes on opposite sides of the world and accidentally meet when both are in New York. Getting the prince ready for the ceremony turns out to be much more challenging than initially thought. This book covers an array of issues, character growth, and just an easy read. This story explores how royals could maintain the facade, homophobia, how intrusive the media can be, and how much family matters.

The overall tone is portrayed as light hearted. I loved the societal issues this book tackles. The story is narrated in a dual POV by both Billie and Edward. There are splashes of media excerpts, which I enjoyed. Billie from Montana is strong, family-oriented, and secure in his sexuality. Edward from Canada, is quite the opposite, not secure in his sexuality, starts with being selfish, but has a lot of character growth. My favorite supporting character has to be Pax, he is fun, lighthearted, doesn’t take life too seriously, and is the life of the party. The characters were developed well with depth, witty banter, and creatively built up. The author placed a note at the beginning of the book, which I appreciated. The author’s writing style was clean, humorous, engaging, and intriguing.

Overall, this was a light, fun read. While some of the premises in this book may seem far fetched, that is not what the story impresses, it more about not being put in a box and how perception image does not always match up, and lastly, it is about following your dreams, always. I recommend picking up this lovely story.

[Jungian.Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

We mostly follow Edward and Billy who are twins that were separated at birth (I have to say that the way they got separated was a bit unclear to me. you are telling me that a member of the royal family birth and one child dies and there was no investigation which lead to confusion - i was so confused). Edward is the beloved crown prince of Canada, he loves being the crown prince and being loved by the country, attending one of the best private school and living the life of luxury but the one thing that he is grappling with is the fact that he is gay and he cannot tell anyone.

Then there is Billy who is a happy little gay, enjoying his life in a small-town, living on a ranch with his mother and a cute boyfriend. I have got to say that he has everything going for him, the only thing is he wants to go to Julliard. So when he is invited for an interview audition, he flies to New York. There, he is mistaken for Edward because they look alike and he ends up missing his audition (I have to say that this part confused me; are you tell me that in this time of social media; he looked so much like the beloved prince of Canada and no one at his school told him or even made a fuss about it - I am not buying that).

Edward and Billy end up meeting and this lead to a Edward asking Billy to pretend to be him for a night. This is when everything takes a turn. From Billy being introduced to the public and taken over Edward's role, to Edward pranking Billy, to a shameful 'coronation', it was definitely a rollercoaster.

I enjoyed reading Edward grapple with his emotions and what he really wanted. He wanted to be crown prince because he had sacrificed so much of himself for it but at the same time he wanted to give it all up to be happy. It was fun to read.

I binged this book in one night because it allowed me to turn my brain off and just enjoy the ride. I mean, if I got stuck on the mechanics of why there is a Canadian royal family, I might not have gotten past it and enjoy reading about the relationship between the two brothers. I couldn't seem to get a better picture as to why we have a Canadian royal family other than the British press being so horrid that they had to flee England and create an adjunct royalty in Canada.

I will be honest, since the book itself is less about the King and Queen, I was able to put this need for over dissection at the back of my mind. I cannot even count the amount of times the word 'Maple' was in the book; I know it is set in Canada! Anyways there are so many cringe things about this book but I really loved reading the relationship between the two brothers; from the petty things to the questionable things that they did.

[Kassy Nicholson · Rating 2 out of 5]

UPDATE: The more I think about it, the more problems I find. Downgrading my initial assessment. It's not the worst book I've ever read, but...

Lots of mixed feelings about this. Kind of still digesting it. Overall, I think I enjoyed it but with some caveats.

Caveat #1: Edward. I really liked him in the first few chapters. Then I really disliked him. Then kind of liked him again? But was very annoyed with some of his choices.

Caveat #2: Neil. He's totally on board with Edward's sabotage, then suddenly isn't, and then just disappears for most of the novel? Also, one of the audiobook narrators gave him an English accent and the other one didn't, leading me to momentarily wonder if there were two different characters named Neil? Which honestly would have made more sense, given how hot and cold he blew.

Caveat #3: Lady Sophia. She's pretty terrible, but we're suddenly supposed to like her at the end? And she's definitely a social climber and a schemer, but we're supposed to believe she was genuinely in love with Edward? And she didn't find it at all odd that she definitely thought he was going to propose, but he had never even kissed her and pulled away any time she even tried to hold his hand?

Caveat #4: Billy. He's just too sweet and too dumb to be believed. Also, he loves Montana and the ranch and doesn't want to leave it to go to Julliard, but suddenly he's all in on being a Canadian prince and never going back to the ranch again? And then suddenly the ranch is a super important last connection to his dad again? And also he wants to go to Julliard AND be crown prince? Also, he has no personality.

Caveat #5: The incident at the investiture ceremony seems silly and like it wouldn't actually cause the scandal that it's made out to be.

Caveat #6: Everything is wrapped up a little too neatly at the end. Honestly, Queen Granny would never, ever in a million years release that statement at the end.

Caveat #7: It's about 150 pages too long.

So basically, it was kind of a fun premise, but it suffered from uneven characterization, and it couldn't quite figure out whether it wanted to be a romance or realistic fiction. It was too long to be a romance, and one of the two main characters didn't end up in a relationship. But the tone was too light and the ending too neat to be entirely realistic. Also, the whole Canadian monarchy thing was weird (and the pro-royal agenda far more disturbing than any "pro-gay agenda") and didn't really make sense, especially since almost the whole book is set in New York City.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

They wanted an honest review, and they are getting one. This book is a complete 180 from the previous M/M romance ARC I reviewed here. This book was a massive letdown and an utter trainwreck. The driving force behind me requesting this book was because I wanted to see how the hell he was going to explain the existence of a Canadian monarchy and also how he was going to explain how a working royal in the 1980/90s could a) be pregnant with twins without ANYONE knowing and then b) somehow lose one of those twins, ALSO without anyone knowing. It didn't take long at all in the book to realise that the author a) didn't bother researching how constitutional (modern) monarchies actually work or b) understand anything about Canadian culture and politics beyond stereotypes and news headlines. It's so over the top and just saturated with tropes and stereotypes and just not the best writing that I could not move beyond how annoyed I was to bring myself to care beyond the introduction of both main characters. I set the book down at the end of chapter 2 and decided I have too much else to read and I needed to move on.

There was absolutely potential here, the author had a great idea but took it in the wrong direction. It just comes off as a cheap knock-off of Red, White, and Royal Blue with the trappings of The Man in the Iron Mask. If this had been written and marketed as a parody it would have been a brilliant coup of a novel, but it's trying to be serious and earnest and that's where it goes wrong for me. If the author had pulled a Princess Diaries and created his own country it would have made much more sense than what we've got here, then the monarchy could have behaved however he wanted, but that's not what we got and at a certain point you have to question the editorial decisions as much as the authorial ones.

I will say that the characters on their own merits seem like very interesting people but that's not enough to make up for all of the other faults. Every book has its reader and every reader has their book, sadly this book and I just were not meant to be, clearly.

[Jonathon McKenney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost unreadably bad.

[Christie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

2 stars for Pax and Pax only.

Well, this was certainly a book that I read.

As a Canadian-American with an unabashed love of fairy tale-style queer stories, this sounded like it was written for me. But, look, there are only so many Canada puns I can stand before I start to crack like the Rideau Canal in the first good spring thaw. I knew this book was asking me to suspend belief for a while, but there is only so much belief suspending you can do before you have to set the phone down and ask yourself, "Okay but why?"

Edward, Crown Prince of Canada, is living a life of luxury in New York City while he finishes his schooling and awaits his Investiture Ceremony. Everything is great, aside from the fact that he can't tell anyone that he's gay because of the absolute scandal it would cause for the Canadian and British Royal Families. Meanwhile, Billy is living his best life in Montana, out and proud and cowboy-chic with his loving mother and sister and jock-boyfriend. But when they meet by accident in New York City and discover that they are identical twins separated at birth, their lives will change forever.

I don't want to spoil the book; other reviews do an excellent job of discussing the details of why A Tale of Two Princes is so utterly baffling. Can you stand to read the word maple 200 times? Will you willingly read a book about the Royal Family of Canada that is set almost exclusively in New York City? Are you content with one lead who is utterly bratty and intolerable while the other has about as much personality as wallpaper paste? Or explanations for the existence of a Canadian Monarchy and switched-at-birth twin babies that are about the equivalent of "because" and a hand wave? This is a book!

Also a disappointing lack of mention of Tulip Festivals. Or Beaver Tails.

[Spiri Skye · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had a penny for every lil nas x reference I’d have two

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shades of literary influence as far back as William Shakespeare and Mark Twain are evident in A Tale of Two Princes, but Eric Geron (pronounced "jur-on") created a debut YA novel all his own. Seventeen-year-old Edward Dinnissen occupies a world in which Canada has its own royal family, and Edward is the Crown Prince. As his team of advisors prepares him to be formally designated heir to his father's throne, Edward has a secret he must keep: he's gay. If the tabloids found out, he would be removed as Crown Prince and the Canadian monarchy might be dissolved. A lifetime of staying closeted will be difficult, but Edward has trained since birth to sacrifice for the throne.

Living in cowboy Montana in the United States, seventeen-year-old Billy Boone seems as different from Edward as a teen can get. But Billy is gay, too, with a future pledged to caretaking the family ranch in honor of his father, who died a few years ago. No one notices Billy’s resemblance to Prince Edward, but a happenstance meeting in New York City leads to the revelation that they are identical twins separated at birth. Edward's seventeen years of prep to become heir to the Canadian crown is shoved aside as Billy, the eldest twin, is pushed into that role to the shock of himself, his mother, and thirteen-year-old sister Mack. Does Billy have any desire to be a royal? How must Edward feel about all this?

"Don't cater to the hater."

—A Tale of Two Princes, P. 407

Billy's boyfriend Dustin is unhappy, but Billy's nonbinary best friend, Pax Andrews, is thrilled. A fashion designer, Pax embraces the opportunity to design outfits for Billy to strut during ceremonial events. Meanwhile, Edward and his fake girlfriend Sofia (called Fi) plot to sabotage Billy...but could Edward really do that to his long-lost brother? Billy can scarcely keep up with the demands of royal advisor Gord Lauzon, who trained Edward from early childhood. The twin princes have a lot to figure out and soon, or the course of their lives will be permanently set by royal policy makers instead of themselves.

The ending ties together too neatly, coming across like indulgent social fantasy, and the story is long and meanders, but I like A Tale of Two Princes. The characters are fun to spend time with; you won't find much bitterness or scolding in these pages. I can't bring myself to rate the book two and a half stars, but Eric Geron's sophisticated word selection is a pleasure, and Billy's emotional stakes are easy to feel. I also enjoy the nod to Geron's picture book Poultrygeist on page four hundred twenty-two. A reader could do plenty worse than A Tale of Two Princes.

[Mercedes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was in all honesty a hot mess.

First, I hated Edward. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about him. When the time comes for his redemption it feels very shallow and quick.

Second, Billy is too goody goody but also a little dumb. Billy is very forgiving of absolutely everyone. He never gets mad , not even when he discovers he has been fucked over by his mom, best friend, brother, and new parents. But Billy is kind of also heartless. He drops his boyfriend like it was nothing. Cold Billy, very cold!

Billy’s parents are not really that. So you find your long lost son after 17 years and just jet off to do something else the next day? Billy spends a
Lot of time agonizing about his relationship with the dad he grew up with and the new one., the king. Why? The royal parents barely make an effort to establish a relationship with him but he had to drop everything to meet what they expected Of him.

Connie and Mack ( I will add Pax here too) were all fucking freeloaders. I can see why mom wanted to stay with Billy to help in the transition. But little sister and Pax only use Billy to get what they wanted. And yes Mack is beyond annoying and too many great unlikely things happen to Pax in the course of two weeks. Then we also find out Connie has been betraying Billy for a very long time. She honestly never grovels the way Billy deserved.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone as I don’t want anyone to go thru the level of frustration I just experienced.

[Barby chapterbychapter_books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historia de dos príncipes tenía una premisa prometedora, aunque en mi opinión la ejecución quedó un poco floja.

Edward y Billy son gemelos que, tras una confusión hospitalaria, fueron separados al nacer. Edward, el menor por apenas un minuto, terminó en la familia real de Canadá (sí, en este libro Canadá tiene monarquía), mientras que Billy creció en una granja en Montana.

Cuando Billy viaja a Nueva York para una audición en Juilliard, lo confunden con Edward y a partir de ahí la verdad sale a la luz.

La historia funciona como un retelling de El príncipe y el mendigo, pero con un giro queer: ambos gemelos son gays, aunque uno lo vive abiertamente y el otro, por cuestiones políticas, debe ocultarlo. El tema de la homofobia no es el eje principal, pero sí se pone el foco en la aceptación y las etiquetas, algo que me pareció muy bien trabajado. También destaco la diversidad en cuanto a representación de minorías, lo cual suma un punto positivo.

Ahora bien, la trama en sí deja varios huecos. La manera en que son separados, cómo se revela la verdad y el “caos” que el autor utiliza para impulsar la narración generan más preguntas que respuestas. Además, gran parte de la historia ni siquiera transcurre en Canadá, lo que debilita el argumento ligado a la corona y a romper ciertos estándares.

En cuanto a los personajes, me parecieron correctos, aunque no logré conectar realmente con ellos. Billy tiene un desarrollo mucho más sólido, mientras que los capítulos de Edward fueron los que menos disfruté. Los secundarios cumplen su papel, aunque varias relaciones se sienten demasiado instantáneas.

En conclusión, es un libro que puede resultar entretenido si buscan una lectura ligera y diversa, pero no esperen demasiada profundidad en la trama.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun and loved the characters and the humour. The plot is entertaining even if there's not a lot of surprises.
The story kept my attention alive, I laughed a lot and rooted for the characters.
A compelling and entertaining story.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

[Vinsci Fernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would love to write a review once HarperCollins decides to come to the table and negotiate with the HC Union.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

& I knew there was something fishy going on. The ending was sort of predictable but was still a fairly good listen

[Maddie · Rating 1 out of 5]

i feel horrible about how mean this review is going to be so eric geron, if by some chance you're reading this, please turn back now, it's nothing personal, i promise.

...

i almost cried several times while reading this book, and not in the good way. i've never wanted to DNF a book so badly, and only my stubborn completionist side of me allowed me to get through it. i visibly and audibly reacted to events in this book because they were so stupid and unbelievable that i physically could not stop myself. i was sat on the tube rolling my eyes so hard it hurt. how did this absolute DRIVEL ever get through the publishing process?? this reads like a 13 year old's first time writing RWRB fanfiction (which i say as a fic reader and a RWRB fan) and i don't understand how an editor let this shit get through to publication. basically none of this book makes sense. the characters are all about as deep as a puddle, they all seem like they hate each other, and they spend the entire book making rash decisions based off inane epiphanies.

can we first address the elephant in the room: CANADIAN MONARCHY???? listen. there's inventing-a-fictional-monarchy-for-plot-reasons and then there's fuck-you-i-just-wanted-to-write-about-princes; this reads like a DCOM movie and not in a good way, which actually makes sense when you realise that eric geron has written the Descendants novels. this is like what a 13 year old thinks the monarchy does, there's so much talk about "deserving the crown" with zero actual implications of what that would entail. apparently the responsibilities of the crown are so tiring and tedious bc you have to remember the royal rules and learn the history of the country you literally rule :( how terribly taxing, poor you. this is completely ignoring the fact that putting a random 18 year old from montana on the canadian throne after one month's training is absolute INSANITY, particularly when you've been grooming edward for this role his whole life. tradition is just soooo important that we MUST put this stranger on the throne, oh well! have to bring his whole family (and best friend????) with him too i guess!! WHY WAS PAX ALLOWED TO COME?? IS THAT LEGAL?? THEYRE A MINOR. YOU CAN'T JUST WHISK A CHILD AWAY TO NYC?? YOU'RE NOT EVEN IN CHARGE OF NEW YORK???? WHY DOES THIS WHOLE BOOK ABOUT THE CANADIAN MONARCHY TAKE PLACE IN NYC?????

i'm sorry for shouting, it's just unbelievable to me how much shit this book got away with. and yes ofc in a royal book there's going to be some degree of pro-royalist sentiment but the amount of bootlicking in this book is insane. ZERO critical analysis of what it would mean to establish a monarchy in modern canada less than TWENTY YEARS AGO, particularly when the book itself admits that the people vocally did not want or need a monarchy. listen i don't need all my fun YA fantasy adjacent books to be super politically accurate or anything but it sure would be nice to have a plot that seemed like it was thought about for even a five minutes longer. i know so little about the legalese and the monarchy rules but even i know the fucking government DOES NOT WORK LIKE THIS. like at least fucking TRY to make this make sense?? you can't just vote on something in parliament and then do a takesies-backsies two minutes later. i'm sorry also i cannot BELIEVE you would write something as horrible and stupid as this book in which billy gets pulled off the throne for a WARDROBE MALFUNCTION in a world where harry and meghan's story actually happened. i'm far from a royalist but the shitshow that meghan was put through by the british tabloids was absolutely VILE, being subject to so much racist vitriol and death threats, and THIS is the fun spin off you come up with? a shallow white gay take on how homophobia is the real villain, actually, as though centuries of royal colonialism hasn't contributed at all to the oppression of queer and poc people, and that these are things that could ever go hand in hand! literally at the end of the book when they're celebrating pride in NYC, billy's reflecting on the events and feeling happy that he's surrounded by rainbows and COPS ON MOTORBIKES around STONEWALL....hello???? absolutely zero self-awareness for what pride actually means and celebrates. it's insensitive at best and offensively ignorant at worst. i hate the way that edward's constant griping about being closeted came out as "i can't stay closeted anymore, it's lying!" like bitch! you have a very good reason to stay closeted! i understand wanting to portray the pain of being closeted, but it's a horrible message to send that the sometimes necessary decision to stay closeted as an act of self-preservation makes you a liar.

this book is the epitome of rainbow capitalism and pro-monarchy sentiment sprinkled in, it's only interested in the aesthetics of queerness, and homophobia is seemingly nothing more than "i don't like you bc you're gay :(" instead of yknow, a deeply pervasive and insidious culture? everything is so sanitised and unbelievable that i actually think i'm homophobic now, i would be homophobic too if my options for king of Canada was EDWARD OR BILLY.

ok and those are only my issues with the ideology with the book, we haven't even gotten into the plot issues. I cannot stress this enough: this book is 450 pages of everybody gaslighting Billy. ALL ANYONE DOES IS LIE TO THAT BOY. if you were looking for parent trap hijinks from long lost twins, you are not going to find that here because Edward spends 75% of the book hating and sabotaging Billy. he only mostly stops doing this after one 30 minute conversation with him where he's like "hey maybe my brother isn't such a bad person even though he's never done anything bad to me on purpose". it's insane how many decisions characters make in this book because they have one quick conversation with someone that makes them realise that they've misjudged them all along. basically, every plot twist in this book is just a revelation that yet another person has lied to Billy. WHICH IS INSANE. GET A NEW SCHTICK.

The characters are flat, the plot makes no sense, things just happen. it's like one of those Wattpad novels that get updated every week based on what the readers want in the comments, ZERO foresight for future book events. we just meander from one plot point to another. oh my god, and don't even get me started on Sofia. clearly she was supposed to be a complex villain/anti-hero? but that is NOT what happened. edward flips so quickly back and forth between "she's my nemesis" to "i feel so horrible about lying to my friend :(" and you canNOT have it both ways. you either feel bad about deliberately deceiving her into thinking you are actually dating, or you tell her that you're fake dating and she remains your nemesis/necessary ally. instead you have this weird middle ground where edward tells sofia that they're fake dating, sofia falls for him for real (WHY? HE SUCKS??), and then when edward tells her he's gay she accuses him of stringing her along. why would she EVER do that??? she's supposed to be smart??? she also never faces any consequences for sending billy's personal info to the tabloids which is a HUGE breach of trust and would actually be a massive fucking scandal, and instead it's just "sorry i did that, i was jealous" and "no worries i forgive you." sorry WHAT?

i can't keep going on about this, we'll be here all day bc there was nothing good or redeeming about this book at all. go read gretal's review, it's much more well-thought out and coherent than this was.

in conclusion: this book made me sad, it made me homophobic, it made me wish i had read literally anything else.

[rowan ✫ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

RTC

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love the queer rom com genre. However, as a queer Canadian, I found this book frustrating, bordering on offensive. The notion that Canadians would welcome our own monarchy is ridiculous. The majority of Canadians would like to do away with the current monarchy situation!

Members of the 2SLGBTQIA community tend to care about other social justice issues (they're all connected!) and you'd be hard-pressed to find a queer Canadian who would so readily celebrate continued colonization and imperialism. The ongoing colonization of indigenous land and the oppression of indigenous people in our country is dire. We find out seemingly every week about another mass unmarked grave of school children at the sites of Residential Schools.

Aside from the premise irking me, I found the writing relied too much on two-dimensional Canadian stereotypes. The word "maple" has never been said so many times in print before! And the writing tended more toward "telling" rather than "showing" how the protagonist was feeling.

I really wanted to love this! Of course, I love the journey of a gay teen royal finding love and courage to be himself. This one just didn't work for me.

[Bevany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun ya book about twin princes from different worlds. The young prince of Canada is tired overworked and oh yeah in the closet. Meanwhile in Montana Billy is gtting ready for his big interview with Juliard in hopes of becoming a student and leaving farm life behind. But when these two unexpectedly crash into each other the truth is revealed. Twins separated at birth by an awful mistake. Billy is actually the crown prince and must take over royal duties. With the help of his family and best friend he gets to work. However not wanting to be jouseted from the crown his brother tries to ruin Billy with the help of his friends. Love laughter and embarrassment ensue as both boys go on a journey of love and self discovery to find what is really important and who to trust.
I enjoyed and appreciated the language and respect given to the LGBT community while showing some difficulties faced for those in and out of the closet.
I suggest this book to LGBT readers and those looking for a fun and cute royal romance book.

[Westveil Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was granted eARC access to A Tale of Two Princes by Eric Geron courtesy of HarperCollins Canada as part of my participation in the HCC Influencers program. Thank you, as always, for these amazing reading opportunities! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Edward is the heir apparent to the throne of Canada (yes, Canada!) currently serving a year-long grounding quietly tucked away at a high-class school in NYC. Billy is the eldest child and only son of a widowed farmer from Montana, and although he knows he can't ever really leave Montana and the farm, he wants to audition for Julliard, just for the experience. When the two cross paths in NYC, no one can help but notice their distinctly similar appearances. Identical, in fact. Like long-lost twins...

Where do I start with this one? I'm honestly so torn on how to rate it. On the one hand, this is a marginally predictable mashup of The Prince and the Pauper, The Parent Trap, and Gossip Girl, and I have a bone to pick with the author about maple-everything (I'll circle back to that.) On the other hand, the last third of this book had me in tears, in a complicated but overall positive way, and the human rights wishes this book has for Canada, the monarchy, etc. are fantastic and truly deserve attention.

This book is told in alternating first-person perspectives between our two princes, Edward and Billy. Other key characters along for the ride are Billy's mother, his rising social media star of a younger sister Mack, and his non-binary fashion designer diamond-in-the-rough best friend Pax. In Edward's corner, we have their parents, King Frederick and Queen Daphnee, best friend Neel, suspected girlfriend Fi, and royal advisor Gord. If you can keep a cast of 10 and 2 perspectives straight then you're all good, this book is easy reading and it really flew by.

Each character is distinct, well-rounded, and mostly given just as much page time as I felt they deserve. I think Neel could have used some more spotlight, as he's the Pax of camp Edward, but other than that I think we get to know everyone well enough. Edward and Billy are both very alike and very different, as one might expect from identical twins raised apart, and I didn't have any trouble distinguishing between the two and following along with perspective flips. The discovery of a long-lost older twin puts Edward's succession status in question, and this leads to teenage angst-filled sibling rivalry that is absolutely boiling under pressure. I can see how some readers might side with Billy and hate Edward for it, but I empathized with both boys in different ways, and it was really interesting to see the two of them go through so much emotional growth and this book unfolds.

This book is absolutely full of positive LGBTQIA+ representation and sincere wishes for equality of human rights in all levels of society. In this alternate timeline present-day Canada which hosts and celebrates a home-grown branch of the Commonwealth monarchy, homophobia and traditionalism are huge barriers for a gay prince to overcome. It's not really a secret to anyone with open eyes that the monarchy in the real world doesn't have any prominent "out" members anywhere near the line of succession, and it would be a huge scandal if one were to raise their voice. This book dares to challenge that, and I love it. As a non-binary person, I also adore the handling and spotlight of a prominent supporting character who exclusively uses they/them pronouns and has some clever suggestions for less gendered lingo.

Now, let's get back to that bone I mentioned earlier. First, both as a Canadian and as someone who studied Canadian and British history at the university level, it took at least half the book to stop being pulled back to reality by the cognitive dissonance of the idea that Canada wanted and celebrates a home-grown branch of the monarchy, rather than wishing the whole thing was simply abolished. While I personally have no problem with maintaining the mostly figurative role the monarchy plays in Canada's government and culture, I would be a fool not to acknowledge that there is a huge portion of the population that does not support the monarchy and cried out that the passing of the crown to HRM King Charles III would have been an ideal time to back out of that particular tradition. There are some comments here and there in the book that acknowledge Quebec doesn't support it, but to pretend that only Quebec doesn't support it is far too optimistic.

Now let's move on the maple. Not everything needs to be maple! It doesn't need to be a term of endearment, it doesn't need to be a curse word, it doesn't need to be the flavour of everything edible at all times, and I sincerely down "The Maple Crown" is what we'd go with if adopting a Canadian royal family won the popular vote to begin with. Take it from a nearly 35-year-old Canadian who has lived in multiple provinces: most of us don't like maple THAT much! Maybe Quebec does, they do harvest it, but not the majority of the rest of us. For most people, it's just the type of syrup we put on our pancakes. You hear about maple-everything because it's sold in our tourist traps and we do, admittedly, freeze it onto sticks in the snow like a lollipop on special occasions. I guess in short what I'm trying to say is that as a Canadian reader, I can tell the author is not Canadian, and while I'm flattered on behalf of Canada for the positive attention, it doesn't ring true to the experience of being Canadian and the maple thing seriously felt like a tired joke by the second chapter.

I thought I was done with maple, but really? The farm boy from Montana just happens to love putting maple in odd things? Is it supposed to literally flow in his veins because he's actually Canadian? Okay, I'm done now.

Overall, A Tale of Two Princes is a charming, heart-wrenching, pride-flag-waving royal adventure that's definitely worth a read. This is my first encounter with Eric Geron's work but it won't be my last, that's for sure!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

**I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Ooof this book was waaaaaay too long. Even while reading on a kindle, I felt like it took forever to finish and kept dragging on so bad. I didn't like a single character in this book. There's two POVs alternating between each brother. However, if there's no additions of french expressions from Edward, I wouldn't have been able to tell either of these two characters apart. The acts of sabotage or "almost sabotage" just felt childish for someone who wanted to be the future King of Canada. All the characters seemed super childish, even for teenagers.

Also, the whole fact that Billy's mom's child died and didn't realize it was so awful. I wish they had gone the adoption route without realizing that the child they adopted was a royal sibling. So not only did Billy's mom lose her child she carried and birthed, but then Billy's father (in all ways but biologically) dies too when Billy is a young teenager.