Meg’s back at the White House, doing what she does and loves best: playing tennis. Security has let up a bit since the incident with her mother and her relationships are mostly back to normal. Prom is quickly approaching, and Josh will be her date. Back in Massachusetts Beth is going with her newest guy. Meg’s biggest hurdles seem to be choosing a college – her parents want Harvard and she wants the lower key, skiing-friendly Williams College – senioritis, and finding a way to play tennis competitively. But a dark fate waits for her just around the corner. This time Meg’s the target and her life will unquestionably never be the same again.
Well wow. I thought what Meg experienced with her mother’s shooting in White House Autumn was pretty rough. But this is nothing compared to that trauma. Meg’s cruelly ripped from her normalized life that she is just beginning to enjoy again into the hands of criminal masterminds for the majority of the book. At one point it was so raw and unfiltered that I couldn’t go on, the outlook was too grim and the suffering too painful. Like Meg I seemed to see no end to it. Her reactions – ranging from bravery to terror, resourcefulness to despair – were frighteningly real. When I came back I had the hope necessary to see her through this. But it was almost equally painful to see Meg on the other side, forced to heal and deal whilst refusing everyone and confiding in no one. If the heart of The President’s Daughter was the nuanced relationship between Meg and her mother, Long Live the Queen is about Meg and Beth, her feisty, independent best friend from back home. She has this magical power for reaching obstinate, bottled up Meg. I relished their scenes together. Their humor complements each other nicely and adds an accompanying lightheartedness to the heftier discussions and revelations. Because I am already such a fan of both Meg and Beth I only fell in love with them deeper, especially Beth. There is light at the end of the tunnel and I can’t imagine having to wait seventeen years for the next book, Long May She Reign. I’m incredibly fortunate to have it sitting on my shelf, waiting patiently to be read. Funny enough I have this need to know how and where Meg goes from here.
Reading Order
The President’s Daughter – my review
White House Autumn – my review
Long Live the Queen
Long May She Reign
Second Opinions
See Michelle Read Review
I couldn’t believe it when I heard she wrote a fourth. I was ecstatic. And when I read it–WOW. That is all I have to say.
Happy you’re making your way through the series. This one really is the hardest to read.
That’s a relief. Wow is good. Can’t wait to finish it.
17 years for the fourth book?! Okay, I’m feeling pretty lucky because I don’t have to wait that long for it. Looks like I need to prepare myself before I read this one, seems like Meg will go through A LOT.
Yes she sure does. But it’s so compelling and well done. The series does get better with each book.
Man, this book was tough wasn’t it? Those scenes with the kidnapper were so incredibly raw I have no idea how EEW was able to write them in the first place. But I’m glad she did because it is just so amazing. And oh man, just get ready for book 4. It’s a doozy.
This is such an intense book. Nothing is easy for Meg. She’s incredibly brave. I liked the portrayal of the chief kidnapper, how they had the same sense of humor and how Meg both hated/feared him and kinda liked him (although like isn’t the right word – maybe understood is better). I liked that the aftermath was so rocky. That Meg didn’t just gleefully come back to life. We saw the mental aftereffects.
Have you read the 4th one yet? It was hard to see Meg be such a jerk to everyone even if you understood it. As much as the book was hard to take, I like that White didn’t sugarcoat anything. Although I wish Meg wasn’t so attracted to jerks.
You’re right, the kidnapper is excellently drawn to be very gray.
I haven’t read the fourth one yet. I haven’t been in the mood for something heavy lately, but I hope to soonish.