The Tyrant's Daughter- J.C. Carleson

Title: The Tyrant's Daughter
Author: J.C. Carleson
Source: For review from the provider
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4.5/5









Goodreads Summary:
From a former CIA officer comes the riveting account of a royal Middle Eastern family exiled to the American suburbs. 

When her father is killed in a coup, 15-year-old Laila flees from the war-torn middle east to a life of exile and anonymity in the U.S. Gradually she adjusts to a new school, new friends, and a new culture, but while Laila sees opportunity in her new life, her mother is focused on the past. She’s conspiring with CIA operatives and rebel factions to regain the throne their family lost. Laila can’t bear to stand still as an international crisis takes shape around her, but how can one girl stop a conflict that spans generations? 

Laila flees the country with her mother and her brother to the United States after her father is killed. She has to learn to adapt to a completely different lifestyle than she is used to. Laila has a hard time adjusting at first, her mother keeps acting like they are still rich.

This book is a mixture of a lot of different conflicts currently happening in the world while also throwing in a teenage girl trying to find her place in the world. Leila has a hard time when they move, trying to adjust to living in the United States while also finding out a lot of things about her country and even her own family she was not aware of. Her mother acts like they have never left while Leila is constantly worrying about money.  Her little brother seems to like living in the US, but Leila misses her home even though it is being torn apart.

The plot shows flashes of the protagonist life before they flee the country and after she flees. The novel also shows how she deals with a culture shock of how women dress and even how they are treated. She is torn between following how she would act in her old home and how she acts in her new home. She learns about friendship and love.

This book is spectacular and I am being very vague, but this is a book I knew nothing about before reading it and I absolutely loved going into it blind. This book is very different from any other YA book out there that I have read.  The story line is unique and really opens your eyes to what is happening and what people are going through. I gave this 4.5/5.  I really enjoyed it.