The Royal Games by Jamie Sanders

My edition: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 250
Series: A Game of Crowns and Lies
Genre: Scifi, Dystopia
Published: August 13, 2021
Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:

Once in a generation, the young women of the Unified Territories of Palias are given the opportunity of a lifetime:

The chance to become a princess.

It’s an honor Kaia Luvaryan has no interest in competing for. In the aftermath of the Great War, huge swaths of what was once the United States of America are uninhabitable. Every day is a struggle to survive.

But Kaia doesn’t want to leave her family or her best friend Finn behind—not even for a chance at winning Crown Prince Dominic’s hand in marriage. Life in her home territory of Hilora is hard, but at least it’s hers.

Her life. Her choice.

Until, suddenly, it’s not anymore.

Branded a criminal and sentenced to a punishment that amounts to death, Kaia is given only one way out.

She must compete in the Royal Games… as a spy for the Queen of Palias herself.

Perfect for fans of The Selection and The Hunger Games. Dive into this story of intrigue, danger, romance, and deception!

Review:

In the future, the city of Hilora is ruled by the royal family. The story starts off with our heroine working a job catching rats at a bakery. She wishes she could work as a baker herself but she can’t due to not being authorized to work a government job. Living arrangements aren’t the best. Pre-war buildings (as they are called) are turned into apartment housing. While some people live in these others have to live in plywood boxes on the sidewalk. The city is overcrowded.

My family is luckier than most. We have a two-bedroom apartment from the pre-war days, passed down through five generations.

The story is based in the post-war United States. Life as we know it changed dramatically. Point in case, dogs are no longer man’s best friend and they hunt dogs for meat. I about cried at that. The people don’t leave the city after decades. The war changed much.

It seems that once people were eliminated from the landscape, nature began to thrive again.

While trying to help her family, Kaia is caught. But the Queen makes a deal with her. If she enters the games and becomes a spy, the Queen would help out Kaia’s family. Kaia takes the offer. She has nothing left to lose. She is doing all this for her family.

I expected to see a worn-out face, a tired look in my blue-green eyes. I didn’t know I would look so determined, though. Almost hard. A warrior who can face the world head-on without flinching.

It was a slow start. But it definitely picked up. What sucks the most is that the second book isn’t out yet. I figured it would end where it ended but I didn’t expect how that ending was to come about.

I also got a strong Hunger Game vibes in certain areas. I hope the second book comes out soon. Along with however many books after that. This may be a trilogy. That’s how most of these kinds of series seem to go. I do hope that the second book will come out soon.