We Were Kings by Court Stevens Review

 Merry Christmas Eve Everyone :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.

It's been a pretty crazy week around here, and I'm looking forward to getting to spend the next couple of days with my family celebrating the true reason for the season.

Before I get started on all the Christmas festivities however, I wanted to hop on here and wish you guys all a Merry Christmas, and share one more book review with you all.

Last year I read my first book by Court Stevens, and I honestly didn't enjoy it. You can find that review below:

The June Boys

However, when I read the synopsis of her upcoming release, I was really intrigued and decided to give another one of her books a try.

Keep reading to find out what I ended up thinking about it.

We Were Kings by Court Stevens:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: February 1st, 2022

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Mystery

Synopsis:

Twenty years ago, eighteen-year-old Francis Quick was convicted of murdering her best friend Cora King and sentenced to death. Now the highly debated Accelerated Death Penalty Act passes and gives Frankie thirty final days to live. From the Kings’ own family rises up the one who will challenge the woefully inadequate evidence and potential innocence of Francis Quick.

The at-first reluctant and soon-fiery Nyla and her sidekick (and handsome country island boy), Sam Stack, bring Frankie’s case to the international stage through her YouTube channel Death Daze. They step into fame and a hometown battle that someone’s still willing to kill over. The senator? The philanthropist? The pawn shop owner? Nyla’s own mother?

Best advice: Don’t go to family dinner with the Kings. More people will leave the dining room in body bags than on their own two feet. And as for Francis Quick, she’s a gem . . . even if she’s guilty. 

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

The June Boys was my first experience with a novel by this author, and I really didn't end up enjoying it. However, I typically love a really well done young adult mystery, and the synopsis of this one definitely had me intrigued. I figured I'd give one more of her books a try, and hopefully end up liking this one much more than I did her last.

Unfortunately, this book didn't end up being anything like what I was expecting, and I think I've sadly come to the conclusion that this author is just not for me. I will say that the storyline did pull me in right away, and I honestly ended up reading the majority of the book in one sitting as I was couldn't bring myself to put it down until I figured out what on earth was going on.

However, I thought the characters weren't developed enough, and I kept getting characters confused with one another, and never really did end up thinking that we received enough background information as to why the crimes had all happened in the first place. 

I was also really disappointed in how the big build up for the mystery is the majority of the story, but the ending wraps up so fast that I actually had to go back and reread it twice to make sure I understand what had actually happened. 

I have to agree with other readers that I don't believe Nyla's character is believable at 18 years old, and if you had skipped over the sections where this is mentioned, you'd definitely think the protagonist was at least in her mid twenties. 

Too many plot holes, content I could have done without, a rushed ending, and characters that all blended together kept me from enjoying this one, and I didn't really feel like it lived up to its amazing potential. Nothing about it stood out, and at the end of the day, it felt like a million other young adult mysteries that have also failed to live up to the hype surrounding them.

It's not a book I'll be rereading or recommending, and I think in the future I'll know that this author's books aren't for me.

Final Rating: 2/5.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you all have a lovely Christmas weekend :)