Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia

ContemporaryMystery

Feb 25

Written By taylor shepeard

Title: Mystery Royale

Author: Kaitlyn Cavalancia

Publication Date: January 6, 2025

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Mystery

Sub-Genre: Contemporary

POV: Multi

Series: Standalone

Format: Audiobook

—Narrator(s): James Babson, Emily O’Brien

3.25 ⭐

Pros:
✨Interesting Magical Scenarios
✨Distinct Characters

Cons:
✨Audience Level (Should be middle grade)
✨Flat Characters
✨Lack of Character Growth
✨Poor Craft
✨Needed another round of polishing
✨Trauma as Plot Device
✨Underwhelming / Lackluster Conclusion
✨Abrupt Ending
✨Insta-Love

Synopsis

The only thing sixteen-year-old Mullory Prudence has left of her mom is a warning: "Run if the strange finds you." But mysterious warnings don't pay the bills or help take care of her sick Gran. And they certainly don't make her miserable after-school job any more bearable. When unexpected letters start appearing in …

… peculiar places--sealed in bags of dog food and hidden in the refrigerator--Mullory knows she should avoid them to heed her mother's warning, but her curiosity thinks otherwise. She uncovers an invitation from Stoutmire Estate to compete in a game of Mystery Royale for the chance at a sizable inheritance.
Dizzy with the prospect of billions, Mullory enters the game only to unearth the true prize--the illusionary magical properties of Xavier Stoutmire, a recluse without an heir. A recluse who was expected to keep his magic in the family, especially when there isn't enough for each member. With a prize worth killing for, the game is simple: be the first to solve the mystery--who killed Xavier Stoutmire? One week full of lavish parties dripping with enchantments, in a mansion brimming with clues of the past, and everyone's a suspect. To win, Mullory will need to untangle a twisted family web and decide who she can trust...
Whitaker Stoutmire, the golden boy who's harboring deadly secrets?
Ellison Stoutmire, his closed off twin, who saw something she shouldn't have?
Lyric Stoutmire the youngest sibling, exiled by the family and burning with resentment?
Or Mateo Cruz, the only other outsider whose reserved manner allows him to hide in the shadows... At least at first.
But most of all, Mullory must ask herself, why? Why her? A question most strange, indeed.

*Blurb taken from the StoryGraph

Review

This review may contain spoilers.

Mullory is warned to run when the strange finds her. She was meant to run away from it, and instead, she runs towards it. Right into a deadly game of magical inheritance hosted by the now-deceased Xavier. It’s an inheritance meant for Lyric, the unwanted and unloved grandson of the powerful man.

This felt half developed, and there would have been a quick fix to that problem: Play down the romance, then mark this as middle grade. As a YA, this novel didn’t work. The characters were distinctive due to their caricature quirks, but they were surface level with little-to-no character development. The plot was whimsical, but simple and relied on awe factor resolutions that speak more to a juvenile audience. The villains were cartoonish in nature. Mullory’s mother was little more than an off-screen catalyst who’s reputation loomed larger than the character herself. Even the writing style fell short, using a plethora of cliche phrases, which can help young audiences with comprehension, but that stood out like a glare as is.

This was less about the story, and more about the magic and the adventure. It’s simply too young for the themes needed in a YA novel. We skipped all over the place, chased POVs that depended on character traits more than substance and development, and had an abrupt ending that would have been a spot of wonder for a younger audience, but felt wholly lacking as a YA. No one here acts older than twelve. Not even the adults, at times.

I don’t read middle grade, but this felt like a middle grade novel. A few tweaks and it would have been perfect for that age group. I’m not quite sure why it was nudged into the YA sphere because it simply doesn’t work well here.