Item: The Prince & The Apocalypse
Author: drizzleandhurricanebooks

Kara McDowell is one of my favorite authors of all times, so obviously when I got the opportunity to read The Prince & The Apocalypse, I screamed. Let’s see if the book met my expectations, shall we?

Review: The Prince & The Apocalypse, Kara McDowell

The Prince & The Apocalypse by Kara McDowell
Published by Wednesday Books on July 11, 2023
Genres: romance, young adult
Format: ARC
Source: NetGalley, Wednesday Books
Buy on Amazon, Bookshop, Blackwell's
Goodreads

An American teen stranded in London is forced to team up with the British crown prince if she wants to make it back home before the end of the world in this delightfully rompy high-stakes rom-com.
Wren Wheeler has flown five thousand miles across the ocean to discover she’s the worst kind of traveler: the kind who just wants to go home. Her senior-year trip to London was supposed to be life-changing, but by the last day, Wren’s perfectly-planned itinerary is in tatters. There's only one item left to check off: breakfast at The World’s End restaurant. The one thing she can still get right.
The restaurant is closed for renovations—of course—but there's a boy there, too. A very cute boy with a posh British accent who looks remarkably like the errant Prince Theo, on the run from the palace and his controlling mother. When Wren helps him escape a pack of tourists, the Prince scribbles down his number and offers her one favor in return. She doesn’t plan to take him up on it—until she gets to the airport and sees cancelled flights and chaos. A comet is approaching Earth, and the world is ending in eight days. Suddenly, that favor could be her only chance to get home to her family before the end of the world.
Wren strikes a bargain with the runaway prince: if she’ll be his bodyguard from London to his family’s compound in Santorini, he can charter her a private jet home in time to say goodbye. Traveling through Europe by boat, train, and accidentally stolen automobile, Wren finds herself drawn to the dryly sarcastic, surprisingly vulnerable Theo. But the Prince has his own agenda, one that could derail both their plans. When life as they know it will be over in days, is it possible to find a happy ending?

I received this book for free from NetGalley, Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS: (click to reveal)

anxiety, panic attacks, ableism, depression, sprained ankle

There are no spoilers in this review.

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I ENJOYED…

☂️

You know how, sometimes, you just need a fun, highly entertaining book to sweep you away for a little while? That’s what The Prince & The Apocalypse was like, for me. Thinking about the world ending and everything surrounding that awful fate is kind of terrifying, yet Kara McDowell turned this into an exciting mix of wanderlust, romance and just,fun. I just had SO much fun reading this, friends.
In this book, we follow Wren, a teenager traveling from the US to London on a school trip…where she accidentally meets Prince Theodore, the eldest Queen’s son. An encounter that makes her miss her flight… and leaves her stranded in a foreign country, on the edge of the end of the world. I absolutely loved this premise, it was original, unique, a fun mix of romance and thrilling adventure. I wasn’t bored once while reading this book and couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. And, of course, if the unlikely duo Wren/Theodore would survive. (Fine, and kiss, as well).
When was such a great main character. Like all of Kara McDowell’s main characters, I found her super relatable. I loved her determination, her love for her family shone through the book and definitely could relate to her need to control everything.
I also really loved Theodore! He’s a bit of a messed-up prince, uncertain of his place in the world and the place he really wants to be, in. He’s also a character dealing with depression, just as well and I found that casual mention so lovely in a book like this one.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the romance. It’s fantastic! If you love a good slow-burning romance, you should really enjoy this one. I adored the banter between these characters and was rooting for them, right from the very beginning.
Oh, the travel. You know traveling is the second best thing to me after (hell, even equal to) reading and this book has it all. I really enjoyed feeling transported in England, in Paris, on the lovely beaches in Greece and had so much fun following the characters’ adventures there.
No spoilers, but that ending messed me up. I hope we’ll get more of it!

OVERALL

☂️

If you’re looking for a highly entertaining YA book with royalty romance, high-end-of-the-world stakes, banter, and a healthy dose of wanderlust, you need to pick up The Prince & The Apocalypse asap. You should love it!!