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By: Alise Morency

Paper Princess is the first book in The Royals series, acclaimed by The New York Times Bestseller young adult fantasy pentalogy by Erin Watt. Paper Princess is a book full of tension, emotion, and plot twists when you least expect it. This book will give you a different perspective on what people go through and different types of human behavior.

Ella wakes up early to find a job. Durand takes her to a bakery that is hiring. The lady introduces herself as Lucy and says she will Ella a shot. Lucy doesn’t normally hire highschooler because they don’t want to do the morning shift. Ella starts that morning and is tired after the morning shift. She changes into her school uniform and heads to school.

Her first couple of classes are easy, in English Easton sits in the back of the room with his friends and ignores Ella. Val sits with Ella during lunch and they talk about the Royal family. Val informs Ella that one of the twins has a girlfriend, Easton is supposedly dating Claire, and Reed only had one girlfriend, Abby, but half the girls at the school have claimed to have slept with him. Then Val says Callum has a trashy girlfriend, which has been going on for a couple of years. Their mom died a while ago from an overdose, she had sleeping pills that interfered with other medication she was taking and her doctor was under investigation for screwing up the prescription. Ella remembers how the Royals look when they talk about their mom, they really loved her. 

Ella walks into her chemistry classroom and the teacher says he is impressed with her previous science grades. Science and math have always come easy for Ella. The teacher informs her that she will be paired up with Easton for the semester because he can learn from her. Ella sits next to Easton and he glares at her, but she says it was his father’s idea. 99% of the class, Easton is scowling at Ella, except for when Ella has to do the work. The bell rings and Ella practically sprints out of class to her locker. She passes Jordan’s group of friends on her way to her locker. She unlocks her locker and a mountain of garbage falls out on her. Everyone starts laughing at her, and she picks up her textbook to head to her next class. She sees Jordan with a smug glint in her eye. She walks up to Jordan and says, “Is that all you’ve got, Carrington? I’m trash? Tsk-tsk. I’m disappointed in your lack of creativity.” Ella walks away before Jordan can respond.

Ella walks out of school at the end of the day and doesn’t see Durand. Val comes up to her and says she would give her a ride home, but she’s pretty sure Ella doesn’t want to get in the same car as Jordan. Jordan comes up to them with her group of friends and tells Ella she smells. Ella says sweetly, she’ll shower twice a day instead of once. Jordan replies that it wouldn’t do any good because it’s the casual smell. Casuals always reek of desperation. Ella says that’s good to know. Jordan got Ella there, that’s pretty much the perfume at the strip club. Then Ella says, “I don’t know what casual means in b*tch, but I’m assuming it’s bad. What I don’t get is why you think I give a rat’s a*s about your opinion of me. The world is really big, Jordan. You throwing trash in my locker or calling me names isn’t going to matter in two years. Hell, it hardly matters today.” Jordan’s mouth hangs open and Val turns into Ella’s should to smother a laugh. She doesn’t know what her comeback would have been because Reed comes to stand behind Ella. Reed asks if they are done and Jordan asks if he wants to go over their English assignment together. Reed says he already did it. Another girl comes up and says hi to Reed. His face softens and says it’s nice to see her. Ella quickly realizes that the girl is Abby. They talk a little bit and it’s clear Reed has moved on and Abby hasn’t. Reed puts a hand on Ella’s shoulder and asks if she is ready to go. She nods and jerks out of his grasp when they are away from people. She asks where Easton and the twins are. He says Easton is driving the twins home. Once they are inside the car, Ella asks if he used her to get away from his ex. He slams his door and says she isn’t his ex. 

On the way home, Ella asks where Durand is and Reed says he needed to talk to her, then asks if she is trying to embarrass his family. Reed says he saw Durand drop Ella off at the bakery and someone at lunch asked him if Callum bought the bakery, which is why she would be working there. Apparently, it implies that the Royals aren’t taking care of Ella. Ella says sarcastically, she’s sorry he got asked an inconvenient question at lunch, but at least he didn’t get hit the face with a tampon. He smirks and Ella loses it. She hits him on the head, then again. She tells him that’s for being an a*shole. She is tired of him and his friends bullying her. He tells her once she tells him what her game is, he will call off the dogs. She says her game is to graduate and go to college. He says he knows she took money from his dad. She didn’t ask for his dad to bring her here. But he says she didn’t fight very hard if she’s here. She says she didn’t fight it very hard because she’s not an idiot. His dad offered her a future and she took it, and if it makes her a gold digger, she guess she is. But at least she didn’t make someone walk two miles in the dark in a strange place. He says she admits that she doesn’t have any shame. She says, “I don’t have a problem admitting I have no shame. Shame and principles are for people who don’t have to worry about the little things, like how much can I buy for a dollar to feed myself all day or do I pay my mom’s medical bills or buy some weed so she can go for an hour without pain. Shame is a luxury.” She tells him he isn’t the only one who lost his mom. He tells her to shut up and she tells it to him back. She leans back into her seat and starts laughing at how ridiculous they sound. Eventually, her laughs turn into sobs, and he tells her to stop crying, she tells him to stop telling her what to do. He shuts up and she pulls herself to gather by the time they get home. As she gets out, he says he wants her to stop working at the bakery, and she says she wants him to grow a heart overnight, but people don’t always get what they want. He says Callum won’t like it. She doesn’t care and she turns to him and says, “Oh, and Reed? Don’t use me as a cover because you don’t want to face up to an ex.” Reed yells at her that she isn’t an ex, and Ella finds that satisfying.