The Royal Treatment by Lindsey Leavitt

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The Royal Treatment by Lindsey Leavitt
May 3rd 2011; Disney-Hyperion
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

Desi Bascomb's job as a princess substitute has gotten a whole lot more glamorous now that she's advanced to Level 2 within the Facade Agency. Magical make-up, roller-skating celebrities, and the chance to see Prince Karl again are just some of the major perks. Not to mention, she's landed the role of Fairy Queen in her school's production of Midsummer's Night Dream (opposite her best friend's crush. Which is a little weird, but at least he wears a donkey head during their kissing scene). Life should be perfect, but Desi can't seem to shake the feeling that there is more going on with the agency's magic than she's told. Like why is this mind-bending power exclusive to royals? Is it possible that there could be a bigger way to make an impact in both parts of her life? (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

The Royal Treatment is a great follow up to Princess for Hire. In the first book, Desi showed Facade Agency that her unique approach to princess subbing really helped the princesses. She wasn't just a look-alike, act-alike substitute. Rather, she used her MP (magic potential) to feel out what the princesses really wanted and needed and made decisions that they weren't brave enough to make on their own. Unconventional for Facade, but it ended up being enough to promote Desi to Level 2.

This book alternates between Desi's life as a Sub and her real life. In real life, she is trying out for the school play and dealing with the awkwardness of school crushes (her own and her friend's). It is clear that Desi has grown as a person from the first book. Knowing that you can successfully change other people's lives really builds self-confidence. While she is quite comfortable in the Subbing world, she is gradually learning to import that self-confidence into real life. Her biggest problem is that she's 14 and just doesn't have the life experience to really navigate crushes and school drama all that well. But she's getting better. And she realizes that her MP can help even in real life.

Life as a Level 2 sub is both more glamorous and more challenging. I always like reading about the crazy, fancy lives of the princesses. What was most interesting about The Royal Treatment was Facade Agency itself. Desi starts to question whether Facade and its leaders really have her best interests in mind. What exactly is Magic Potential? How powerful is it? Why is Facade so possessive about it? I liked seeing Desi argue out whether it's better to go with the flow of Facade or stick to what feels right to her.

Once again, certain elements of this plot are fairly predictable. Especially the romance element. But that's not a big deal. It's rather fun to see Desi work out what the reader has known for a hundred pages.

Another fun book from Lindsey Leavitt.

Rating: 4 / 5