Is there romance in Red, White and Royal Blue?

“Is it possible you willfully forgot about the biggest international event of the year because you don’t want to see your arch nemesis?”

First off, in this story, the characters are living in a world where the President of the United States is a democratic woman who was elected after Obama, and her 2020 reelection is quickly approaching. And I just need to take a minute to… *cries forever*! But this book really focuses on two young men, who happen to be very much in the media’s spotlight 24/7, because of the families they were born into. Oh, and one of them happens to be the First Son of the President, and up until this point he thought he was straight, that is until he finally is forced to spend time with his arch nemesis. And I’ll be damned, but this book made me simultaneously believe in love and believe in America.

➽ Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz - The First Son, who is quickly realizing that he is bisexual, but slowly coming out to those he feels safe with. Alex is also biracial (Mexican and white) and (thanks to my beautiful friend Alienor) confirmed to have ADHD!

“Straight people, he thinks, probably don’t spend this much time convincing themselves they’re straight.”

“O, fathers of my bloodline! O, ye kings of olde! Take this crown from me, bury me in my ancestral soil. If only you had known the mighty work of thine loins would be undone by a gay heir who likes it when American boys with chin dimples are mean to him.”

“First, you’ve been, like, Draco Malfoy–level obsessed with Henry for years—do not interrupt me—and since the royal wedding, you’ve gotten his phone number and used it not to set up any appearances but instead to long-distance flirt with him all day every day.”

Like, I absolutely loved the side characters in this book. Also, you all know that I am always here for strong sibling relationships, and this book has that in spades! Alex’s family in general was everything to me; both of his parents being so supportive and always putting him (and his pace) first really meant a lot to me and makes me so soft just thinking about it. Seriously, this book is found family and blood family goals.

The banter and one-liners were perfection. This author completely understands what it is like to speak and text in your twenties, and they have mastered the craft to perfection. I was either cackling like a banshee or clutching my pearls with heart eyes during all of Alex and Henry’s exchanges. Also, since there is an ocean in-between these two, they correspond a lot of the time through emails, all of which added five years to my life.

Speaking of those emails, the romance in this is just truly a tier above the rest! The dynamic that Henry and Alex are forced into, and then the new dynamics they are forced to overcome, makes for something that you can’t help but root for with everything in your soul. Also, they are truly polar opposites with their personalities, but seeing them together truly feels like you are witnessing soulmates interact. I hate to say this but, your OTP could never.

And obviously because of the setup of this novel, this book does not shy away from US politics, and you should for sure know that going in. But the most tears I shed in this book was when Alex talked about what he felt like to be a biracial kid, and how America truly is a melting pot of immigrants and how that is something beautiful, and should be celebrated, not shamed and something that people consider to be a crime.

This is a book about two men, both in their early- twenties, discovering what they want for their lives and for their countries. Both for themselves and together. In a world that is cruelly unaccepting to anyone who isn’t white and straight, or who are just deemed different. They find friendship, they find love, and they find their voices. And to this Filipino American, pansexual, whose grandparents are both immigrants, who a lot of times really struggles to find their own voice, it meant the world to me. I’ll carry this book with me forever and always.

Overall, this book was just everything I’ve ever wanted. Put your library holds and preorders in now, because I know that so many readers are not only going to fall in love with this tale, but it is going to be one of their favorites for the rest of their lives. I promise you, it is truly that good, and this truly feels like a once in a lifetime book. Casey McQuiston has created something that is going to mean so much to so many readers, and this book is going to bring so much joy to our much-needed world. I’m just forever thankful that I was able to escape into it for a little while, while doing everything I can to make my country's 2020 and on just as hopeful.

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The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Content and Trigger Warnings for homophobia (always in a negative light), talk of racism in media, anxiety depiction, talk of cancer (pancreatic) in the past, talk of past loss of a loved one, talk of past drug use, talk of attempted sexual assault (very briefly) in the past from a very minor side character, and (in my opinion) outing. Also, this is a New Adult novel, so there are many sexual scenes throughout this book, even though they are fade to black for the most part!

Buddy Read with Kerri from Kerri The Book Belle! ❤

UPDATE: I got to meet Casey, see them interviewed by Taylor Jenkins Reid, have them sign my book, and they are a confirmed angel! My Vlog ❤

I have definitely said this before, but I don’t know if you’ve really HEARD me. And they say actions speak louder than words, so here I am.

Taking this book, which everyone has hailed as pure joy / cookie-level sweetness / the greatest romance of our generation even though it’s fictional / overall so happiness-bringing it seems like it should be relegated to black market dealings…

Rereading it...and dropping a three point five rating (already gives a Scrooge-like aura of grumpiness) to...two point five. (DON’T HURT ME.)

And generally being so discombobulated and displeased that I have to write a whole new review.

(If you know anything about me, you know I am too lazy to write multiple reviews of one book unless the circumstances are truly life-ending-ly dire. That’s where we’re at.)

This just. Did not do it for me.

Let’s talk about why, in bullet points, so as to hopefully limit my wordiness and therefore limit how mad at me you guys will be (please don’t yell at me I am already heartless and depressed):

- THE ROMANCE: First time I read this, I felt like the human equivalent of a waffle. Sweet and fluffy and, uh, delicious. (I didn’t have a third one.) This time, the plot (which is just romance) never grabbed my attention, and the cheesy love story...grated. (Get it? Because cheese? Come on, now you can’t yell at me. That was too good.)

- THE SMUT: Okay, I’ll admit this is personal preference. I don’t like when there’s too much smut in a book. That’s a me problem, however, and usually I will remedy it by just not reading it. However if I had skipped all explicit scenes in this book, I would only have a pamphlet trying to get me to join the fictional perfect glorified Democratic Party in my hands. (But more on that later.) Anyway, a romance that is 99% either sexting or sex is not convincing or fun for me. Sorry.

- THE CHARACTERS: I love Bex or Bea (I think it’s Bea), and I love Henry’s friend whose name I can’t remember (is it Pez? Or is that just a candy), I love June and Nora so much I would marry them, and also remember their names, which is apparently high praise for me. Henry and Alex, however...I hate very much. They are annoying. Alex is obnoxious and made me feel like either a) a person with a hangover yelling at the still-drunk people to shut up or b) a grumpy old man telling snot-nosed children from the 1950s to get out of his yard. Henry is just boring.

- THE POLITICS: This is, by far, the WORST thing about this book. It’s what got my first read to drop from presumably 5 to 3.5. Single-handedly. And it’s even more gruesome the second time. This is the most idealized, grotesque, good-versus-evil look at politics I have EVER SEEN. In this book, the Democrats are a rainbow-wearing gloriously diverse coalition of kumbaya-singing angels, and everyone else is a villain we won’t talk about. Democrats are 100% motivated purely by the love of Doing The Right Thing, and they have never done anything wrong, ever, in their lives. The American people love them implicitly and will turn historically red states blue just to show them that.

It’s not only sickening, it’s damaging. DO NOT IDEALIZE POLITICIANS. THEY ARE NOT CELEBRITIES. Don’t you think I want to get EMMA + AOC tattooed on my lower back? I do. But I won’t because she is a person who is driven to power, and all of those people have flaws.

In the interest of full transparency, I am a leftist, so I by definition think the Democrats are a little better than the Republicans. But I mostly think that glorifying parties is f*cked up and wrong, and results in things like sainting Pelosi and falling in love with Fauci and generally being unable to hold people accountable for doing their job (which is representing you), and therefore results in corruption and useless politicians and the end of the world.

Dramatic enough for a stopping point?

Bottom line: Before you guys start yelling at me, can anyone refer me to a good dentist? I got a cavity in every tooth from how saccharine this book is.

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reread pre-review

rounding this rating down because the overall political fanfiction vibe is a lot harder to ignore on round 2.

potential updated review to come / was 3.5 stars, might be 3 now

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reread updates

starting the year as i mean to go on: buddy reading with lily

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original review

THIS IS THE CUTEST FLUFFIEST BOOK ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET.

This made me...blush? And I famously cannot blush. One time my high school English teacher overheard me saying I didn’t do the assigned reading and he called me out in front of the whole class, and I, like a tiny badass (pretending my heart wasn’t pounding and I wasn’t more nervous than I’ve ever been), was like “Yeah, I’m not trying to hide anything. I didn’t do the reading.” And he, taken aback, went, “...You’re not even blushing.”

So, to recap: me, a school-obsessed profoundly shy 15-year-old being called out in front of all her very cool peers by her scary old man teacher = no blushing.

The sheer adorableness of this book = Blush City, population me.

CASEY MCQUISTON IS A STAR.

This book has:
- amazing banter
- the best side characters
- fantastic friendships
- so much humor (I laughed! At a book! When does that HAPPEN!)
- tons of angst (actually too much angst sometimes - I got a little tired of this book towards the end)
- a great meet cute (except not actually a meeting. A re-meet-cute? Can I coin a term?)
- the best idea for a forbidden / enemies-to-lovers romance EVER!!! No exaggeration.

So, in short, Casey McQuiston is, after just one book, a complete auto-buy author for me.

However.

This was not a perfect book. And in truth it made me cringe many times.

Like, yes, on the one hand everyone is right and this is the cutest, fluffiest, most fun read of all time.

On the other hand...I do not want my politics to be cute-fluffy-fun. I do not want them to be revisionist history where the current administration is absurdly well motivated and diverse and perfect and there is no corruption or back-hallway negotiation at all. It’s not realistic and to be honest, it makes me cringe.

If I wanted an idealized-to-the-point-of-unbelievability fictional American president, I’d watch the West Wing and ignore the bigoted parts.

I also think the scene with the Queen of England was Cringe Central. Again, not realistic, just completely good politics versus completely bad politics depending on which better serves the plot.

This just felt...very juvenile. And I’m not saying that romance novels need to have the best ever take on politics. I’m not even saying that I was reading this book FOR the politics.

All I’m saying is...I care about politics and seeing it idealized and completely unrealistic took me out of the story??

(Can I say the word politics more.)

Anyway. Even that was not enough to take away from this book so much for it to be a negative rating or an unenjoyable read.

But...it was a takeaway. (SORRY.)

Bottom line: Casey McQuiston give me your next book immediately please, and also thank you for not writing it about politics. (OKAY I’M DONE USING THE WORD POLITICS NOW.)

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original pre-review

nothing but respect for MY (alternate reality where the fictional president from this book is the actual) president

review to come / 3.5 stars

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tbr review

i'm a simple girl. i see a bajillion five star reviews of a contemporary, i read that contemporary

Ok, so please don't hate me, I'm fragile.

But also, in all seriousness, I didn't like this book. I know, I know, how dare I?

Well, let me explain to you in detail just how I dare. Beware of the long review!

A few months ago, everyone was getting ARCs for this book and absolutely everyone was loving it and giving it five stars. Obviously, I was pretty hyped up for this one, as you can imagine. I knew I had to read it, and I knew, just knew, that I was going to love the crap out of it! It was looking to be one of my favorites of 2019!

Except, that's not really how it all went down.

I mean, don't get me wrong! It didn't absolutely suck, nor was it the worst book I've ever read. It was nice. It had its cute moments. I actually laughed at some parts. I just wanted more. I wanted a cuteness overload. I wanted to fall head over heels into this story, I wanted to love these charcters, I wanted this to be a five-star read!

It wasn't. Obviously.

I've been reading a bucket load of contemporary romances lately and it's all in the hope that I'll find something to make this cold little heart of mine melt! I want something akin to The Hating Game, a book that killed me, revived me, and killed me again, twice over because that's how many times I read it in the span of 24 hours.

But, alas, my search for such a book has proven futile as no other contemporary romance will do. And I'm so, very sorry to say, but Red, White & Royal Blue didn't even come close.

Now to the review!

Maybe this book is heavily overhyped or maybe I'm just a miserable, heartless girl. Both are possible, but either way, I had a lot of problems with this book and I'm not gonna pretend otherwise.

No, there is no one thing that makes me think the book sucks. There is no one major flaw that I can point out and blame for my rating. If anything, my issues are a series of small things that will surely be overlooked, or even praised by the masses when the book is released.

For starters, this book felt to me like it was trying way too hard at times.

If this book were PG it would undoubtedly be turned into a Disney Channel movie, down to the unrealistically happy ending where we all pretend the world is made of rainbows, cotton candy, and unicorn farts.

And, honestly, I wouldn't necessarily mind that. I love happy endings. If the book had been only about romance, it would have been fine. But, the book insisted on shoving politics down my throat and the overidealized ending seemed forced, disingenuous, and so utterly predictable! It also felt like the author was trying to force a political view on us.

The world the book shows is what ours would look like through rose-colored glasses. It's a world where the female president of the United States is a white, Texan democrat. Where leaked personal emails have no impact on presidential elections. Where a royal prince believes empires are the literal devil, despite benefiting from the monarchy in every single way possible. Where First Son of the U.S. and the British Prince would go everywhere without anyone taking a picture and being surrounded by a million bodyguards. Also, their affair wouldn't have any global consequences that would impact international relationships not just between the U.S. and the U.K, but with every other country as well.

It's also a world where people who don't buy into this PC world are demonized for their beliefs. Where if you aren't on board with the particular brand of politics that the author is selling, then you might as well be the devil incarnate.

In the end, there are no consequences to anything. It made all the obstacles between the romance seem weak and insubstantial. The author put so much focus on the laughable politics that I couldn't help but roll my eyes. She tried to tackle racism, international relationships, homophobia, complicated family drama, equality, imperialism, and just about every other social issue currently being talked about, all while also trying to deliver a good romance.

And it didn't work!

The politics in this book seemed so forced! And so unnecessary. They made the book drag on for ages. Seriously though, there was no need for this book to end up being 432 pages long! That's just uncalled for.

So yes, maybe I am heartless. I'm willing to accept that now.

Those things I mentioned are ones that a lot of people are undoubtedly gonna find cute. People are gonna argue that 'the book doesn't have to be realistic!' and I agree. It's just so insanely unbelievable and so politically forced that I could help but be incredibly annoyed by it.

Sorry. But also, I'm not sorry.

This was supposed to be a cute, romance about two adorable gay boys falling in love! Not a book about idealized political views. If it had been only a romance novel, I would have liked it more, although honestly, not by much.

I liked some of the dialogue. I laughed sometimes. It was cute. But sometimes the characters felt off to me. Like they were trying so hard to be relatable and likable that they broke their established characteristics. Also, the very premise of the book is enemies to lovers and it’s not really even that

In the end, this book just wasn't for me, I think. Many of you will love it. I'm sure of it. I just couldn't love it how I wanted. There were too many subplots, too many social issues trying to become part of the main story. I think a book that did this better was The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. And not to be that person that compares all the gay books, but I think that one was better at weaving everything in there in ways relevant to the plot and showing realistic consequences of the character's choices.

I went into this book expecting one thing. I got something else instead, and in the end, I think that's the real problem. If I'm honest, all the issue I mentioned are things that in a book I enjoyed, I might have overlooked. Sadly, this wasn't that book. Hopefully, you all have better luck with it and please be respectful of my opinion. My issue with the book has nothing to do with the LGBTQ+ aspect, it has to do with the overall execution.

Also, just a warning, this book is NOT, Young Adult. It contains explicit sexual content!

**I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

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This book is going to avoid rightful criticism because it’s a “fun, fluffy” romance novel and “isn’t supposed to be that serious.” There’s no denying that a lighthearted story about two men falling in love is sorely missing on mainstream shelves, but we need to ask ourselves why this is the book that got picked for the “Nicholas Sparks treatment”--the $16.99 retail price, the mainstream publisher, all of the things most modern romance novels don’t get, particularly ones with LGBTQ characters. I mean, seriously, can you think of one contemporary author outside of YA who has gotten famous writing LGBTQ romance novels? What about fiction in general? I know, me neither. It’s depressing as hell. So why this book? It’s not because it’s actually good. That much is for damn sure.
I have a theory. We’ll get to that in a bit.
Red, White, and Royal Blue follows Alex Claremont-Diaz, a Mexican-American kid whose mom was elected president in 2016. We’re supposed to conceive of this book as a sort of gay Chasing Liberty meets Parks and Recreation: a heartfelt, optimistic, unfailingly patriotic romp where the stars are, yeah, two hot dudes, but they’re carried on the broad, benevolent shoulders of Lady Liberty.
President Ellen Claremont is a white, Southern, centrist Democrat--because, sure, this is an alternate universe, but let’s not go wild--with two children, wannabe journalist June and politics-obsessed Alex. Alex’s arch nemesis for about 5 percent of the book is Prince Henry of Wales, and then he’s his secret boyfriend for the next 90 percent. At the end, they’re outed by Ellen’s political rival, which results in him soundly losing the election against her and turning Texas blue.
CM writes in the acknowledgements that this book started as a fun project and, after the course of the actual 2016 election, became a sort of therapeutic, wish-fulfilling exercise. I get that; I wrote fanfiction about Pete Wentz being my boyfriend in the 6th grade, so why not a President!Hillary AU? I don’t begrudge her that. My issue is that someone else picked up this book and thought it was a good idea to publish it.
There are so many little things that make this book bad: the fact that Alex and Henry are “arch rivals” for literally about ten pages until they’re kissing, and then there’s no plot for a hundred pages; this whole minor plotline where the First Family gets caught with a private email server that reads like a smug joke (“maybe this would matter in some OTHER America, but not this one!”); Alex wearing a red white and blue Gucci bomber jacket instead of a suit as if it’s some world-ending transgression; when the First Family and two of the royal siblings go to a gay bar in West Hollywood and no other patrons post any photos or sell any quotes to gossip magazines...I could honestly go on forever. These are the stupid things we’re not supposed to criticize because this is a “fun” book, so I won’t.
How about instead, we talk about when Henry says “I’d rather be waterboarded...Your country could probably arrange that,” and we’re supposed to see that as a cute zinger. Or when Ellen says “My UN ambassador...said something idiotic about Israel, so now I have to call Netanyahu and personally apologize.” And then we move on to pizza and beer. The problem with this book isn’t just that it’s overly precious and poorly paced; the problem is that it is trying to be both Veep and House of Cards. It exists in a world where we are to believe that a prince “refusing the crown’s money” (as if he isn’t steeped in it, as if he doesn’t benefit from it every minute he’s alive) is somehow the apex of morality. It exists in an America where email servers don’t matter in an election. It exists in a Britain where a prince would say “One does not foster a lifelong love of Star Wars without knowing an ‘empire’ isn’t a good thing.” These cutesy one-liners and feel-good plotlines do nothing to contend with the imperial violence they’re hinting at, violence from which Alex and Henry both benefit. Okay, so Ellen chats with Netanyahu and June wants to be bffs with Ronan Farrow. Following these fun details to their logical conclusion, I can only assume that Ellen orders drone strikes in the Middle East and Henry’s grandmother is a violent racist. If I were supposed to be having a good time reading, that notion would certainly jerk me out of it quickly. The point this book misses is that it doesn’t matter how liberal the President is—the system is still a gruesome, ever-grinding machine. This book isn’t absolved from that reality, not when it makes glib references to war criminals and WikiLeaks.
If this book had leaned harder into its Disney Channel inclinations, this would be a much different review. My Date With the President’s Daughter and What a Girl Wants and The Princess Diaries, all members of the canon to which this book belongs, were successful (to varying degrees) because the idea of the President or the Queen were distant, hazy fantasies rather than political and imperial figures. If Will Friedle had leveraged his relationship with President Richmond’s daughter to pass stricter gun legislation, the movie would have approximated the tone of this book. It’s a jarring, unwieldy juxtaposition.
Even if we leave all of the politics out of it, there isn’t much to redeem here. The sex scenes are jarring; in a break with modern romance conventions, CM describes the undressing and kissing in vivid, pages-long detail, then quickly skirts past sex. It reads like Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson fanfiction written by someone who gets all of the angst but none of the mechanics. And this brings us to my theory: why this goddamn book?
Others have described this phenomenon in more depth--these thoughts aren’t mine alone. And I want to note before we get into it that I know CM isn’t straight. But when we look at who gets famous writing about young men falling in love with one another, we’re certainly not looking at a room full of men. By and large, the people who write this stuff are, as far as the publishing world and audiences at large perceive them, white women writing for a white woman audience. Regardless of their intentions and the complexities of their personal identities, that’s the lens through which their books are marketed and purchased. Publishers see the success of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and they want more of the same--big on the pining and handsome young guys, light on the details of men having sex with each other. This book isn’t coming out because it’s a beautiful tale of gay love despite challenging circumstances. It’s coming out because some suits saw dollar signs.
So, let’s review: this book is painfully unaware of how painfully unaware it is; it’s an ice cream truck driving through an apocalyptic wasteland. Sure, ice cream rules, but are we just gonna ignore how utterly useless it is in the current landscape? And isn’t it a little offensive that it’s blaring “God Bless America”as it goes? Shouldn’t we feel a little miffed that someone thought to send us ice cream when we really need a damn life raft? There are many ways this book could have been a hell of a lot worse, but it’s not the story you deserve.

I get that a lot of people loved this, and I can see why. It has its charms and I’m sure that, for a lot of people, it was a fun escape. I can respect that. But I am clearly not the intended audience for this. It’s a diatribe of smug, naive American exceptionalism against a stereotyped, sterilised, Anglocentric image of the UK that masquerades as anti-monarchist but ultimately worships the royal family as an institution. The author clearly knows nothing about how the UK works (“Prime Minister of England”) or about its culture (people in the streets waving “the Union Jack” and Alex wanting to "scream at this stupid country" while he's standing in the middle of a fucking NHS hospital ward) yet this book presents itself as some kind of authority on contemporary issues. Our supposedly woke prince makes a tasteless joke about waterboarding and fawns over famed coloniser James I while no actual current issues are touched upon in any substantial way. It only chews and chews on stupid irrelevant quips about the monarchy’s bloody history, as if the UK is trapped in some kind of time slip preventing it from progressing beyond the 17th century - as if anyone here could possibly give a white-hot daily shite about some dead king while there are actual real things happening.

What real things? Brexit, maybe, or poor and injured people dying on Universal Credit, or Scottish separatism, or the revolving door at parliament, or the Grenfell Tower atrocity, or systemic transphobia, or rising anti-immigrant sentiment, or Trident, or cackling Tories looking to peddle the NHS for a fast quid, or the verging extinction of multiple native species of wildlife. To boot, it touts the crown as some kind of political body, which it isn’t (simultaneously ignoring the fact that the monarch is actually a religious leader as supreme governor of the Church of England). This book wants to be patted on the back for being “current” without actually knowing anything about anything. I can't believe I bought this (with my CONTACTLESS Visa card, no less!).

Similarly, the main character is a rude, judgemental, insufferable arsehole and the narrative tickles him under the chin for it. He is not only ignorant but also outwardly cruel, all of his “humour” being at the expense of others and usually behind their backs. His claim about wanting to make the world a better place made me laugh out loud.

The central relationship had some cute moments but was highly unrealistic and dysfunctional. Let me tell you something: a person who invites you into their bed, in your most vulnerable state, and then proceeds to say things like “fuck you, you’re insufferable, you’re the worst, I hate you, you’re a bastard” is not worth your time. It’s disrespectful and for me personally it was very uncomfortable to read.

The “good vs. evil” dichotomy of American politics, particularly the glorification of two-party politics, also left a horrible taste in my mouth. I am not against heavy critiques of reprehensible Republican policies - far, far from it - but ignoring the historical corruption also present amongst the Democratic party and presenting them as some kind of untouchable, perfectly woke force for good is utterly disingenuous. If you’re going to talk about politics, at least do it honestly. I'm never ever going to be interested in narratives of good vs. evil, and in this political climate, especially when you're barging into foreign politics and using the names and brands of real political parties, this "rose-tinted" outlook is totally unhelpful and foolish. To put the cherry on the top, there is a lot of shallow talk about how terrible empire is as a concept (fair enough, and absolutely true) but with no self awareness whatsoever. The fact that America also has an empire is quickly handwaved. Apparently crimes against humanity are only bad when other people do them.

Aside from all of this, there are some fun moments, but only if you have a high tolerance for cheesiness. The writing is mostly serviceable, but there are also sentences like this: “They grew up made to talk about their feelings a lot”. Jesus christ.

It’s a no from me.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

My three S letter words summarize my feelings about this book: SPECTACULAR, SPLENDID, SPECIAL!

No need to attend an auction! I’m shaken, I’m smiling, my feelings are everywhere and my mind already flew to the moon! It’s another five gazillion stars and I think so far, one of my best romance readings of 2019!

I cried my eyes out and exceeded my sighing record with 428 sighs! At least 200 times I hit my forehead for waiting too long to read this powerful, emotional, lovely story.

I loved challenging, poignant, sincere story-telling and of course the characterization is so good than I expected. I don’t know which hero I loved the most. But I think Alex stole my heart from the first pages.

Let’s meet with our lovely heroes:

Alex Claremont Diaz, Filipino-American first son of the US (Amen to that!) and Henry the Prince of the United Kingdom. At first they barely tolerate each other, exchanging a few ugly words and then they realize they’re acting immature because they created a real PR fiasco at the royal wedding. So they need to form a fake friendship ASAP for the sake of political balances between the countries. And of course as you can imagine, their pretending relationship turned into something special, something even melting the heart of the cruelest bitch (a.k.a : me! Even you’re not human, coming from an outer planet, you still feel deeply for this beautiful couple and shed some tears!!!)

What I like about this book: This is not only an amazing, heartbreaking and tear jerker romance between Alex and Henry, there are amazing supporting characters you could easily relate with them. It is impossible to want to cuddle Nora and not admire her so much. And we shouldn’t forget Bea, Pez and June.

This book is about siblings, family dynamics, bounding devoted friendship, diversity, freedom of thought, diaspora politics, searching for your true identity and path in your life. It’s effective, poignant, heartbreaking, compelling, genuine and honest!

It’s about two boys in twenties, discovering their expectations from the life, love and doing something best for the benefits of their own countries which is a quiet burden for their unique, flawless, real relationship because we live in a word full of stereotyped, judgmental thoughts affect to express our real opinions, honest thoughts.

Especially Alex’s great struggle for expressing himself, finding his place in the world as a pansexual young man, coming from immigrated Filipino family is the most meaningful, effective and crucial part of the book which hurt my heart deeply.

Well done Casey McQuiston! The author honestly knows how to create a soul brushing, heart stealing harmony! It was fantastic debut journey! Cannot wait to read more from the author’s work!

Stand back with the pitchforks.

The award for the most over hyped,biggest book disappointment of the year,so far,goes to this book.

Firstly,let's address the fact that this book had over 2000 ratings/reviews before it was made available to buy.What on earth is all that about? Surely that many review copies weren't available? BUT, it certainly worked....I've never been so interested in reading something.I mean I've lost count of this appearing on my feed with so many glowing reviews .And that's ok,each to their own.We all have different tastes but when a book gets such positively you'd be forgiven for expecting something pretty damn special,wouldn't you?

For me,this book isn't anything special at all.It's mediocre.

-the characters are flat,uninspired,and quite frankly boring.Alex at least had something about him but Henry was like a cardboard cut out.

-the writing was all over the place and juvenile at times.The story jumped from scene to scene with no flow to the story.I lost count of how many times I had to go back and read certain scenes.

-the British stereotyping just annoyed me.It was like the Author googled 'all things British' and decided to include them regardless of whether they worked.Granted,if you aren't British this probably wouldn't be an issue.But I am.And it was.

-the sex scenes,

Firstly let me say I don't always need graphic sex scenes,in fact some of the best romance books I've read haven't had many at all.But what on earth happened here.They would start off with lots of kissing,hands in hair,a bit of desperation and then nothing.Literally.It was over and you were kind of told they'd had sex.Most of the time I had no idea what they'd actually been up to.And,as a result,I felt zero connection or chemistry between them.I didn't get them as lovers at all.They just came across as best friends for me.

-I know it's fiction but it's got to be believable.And this wasn't.I mean these two would float about in restaurants,stay in hotels where no one recognized them! This would absolutely not happen with a member of the royal family or with the FSOTUS I'm guessing Where were the bodyguards or paparazzi?

-enemies to lovers? No it wasn't.They disliked each other for ridiculous reasons quite frankly.

-a lot of people have mentioned the politics....thankfully I gave up before that got too bad.

However, I also think it’s a very idealistic book, which wouldn’t really be a problem if the plot didn’t revolve around political figures. Members of the royal family being vehemently anti-colonial was a bit of a stretch, and seemed like a strange thing to include. The whole tension of the story relies on risks and fear of repercussions, but there are literally never any negative consequences to anything. Events that would cause international crises are treated as minor inconveniences, a bit too instantly resolved. I think this does a disservice to the real struggles and trauma so many people around the world endure, especially those who don’t have the immense privilege of the main characters. While it’s cool to read about a beautifully liberal world (I wish it was really like this!), it felt a little forced because the book tried to tackle literally every single social injustice it could.

Basically, I’m torn between thinking it was really awesome to see so much representation and enjoying the love story, whilst also simultaneously feeling that it was quite predictable because nothing ever really goes wrong for very long. However, definitely read this if you want a pick-me-up and a bit of hope in this strange time.

New week, New BookTube Video - all about the best (and worst) literary couples

The Blow-by-Blow Reactions

~ picks up book ~

Oh? This looks cute...

~ 20 pages later ~

F*CK. I'll die for this ship.

~ Last pages ~

No book will ever be the same.

~ p.s. ~

Am I the only one who picked up on the audiobook'scconstant mispronunciation of David Bowie's name??

It's Boh-wie, not Bah-wie. Evidence.

YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

Re-read 5/24/19: *cries in gay* Alex & Henry forever and ever (and ever and ever and ever).

Original read 2/21/19: It may only be February but I’m calling it now: this will be my #1 favorite book of the year. Possibly even of all time???? This is all I’ve ever wanted in a QUEER AS FUCK romance and my heart is soaring. Alex & Henry are the OTP of my dreams and I will never, ever be over them. Casey McQuiston is a national treasure and needs to be protected at all costs bc I want to read their queer romances for the rest of my life. God fucking bless America. Also: I would DIE for Nora

DNF @ 30% 

Hey, did you know that this book is actually a love triangle? It's not just a love story between Alex and Henry. It's a love story between Alex and Henry and everyone on Tumblr.I have not read a book that wallows in its own sense of self-importance since, well, ever. This book won a Goodreads Choice Award. I had assumed it would be good because of that. But then again, SJM books also win GCAs and we know how I feel about those.

RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE (where's the Oxford comma? I hate this book already) is a romance between the son of POTUS and the son of the royal family. If you would think that means serious political issues are going to be discussed-- HA! Think again. Instead it's falling into $75,000 wedding cakes and trading pop culture references about Harry Potter and Star Wars.

RW&RB is a book that wants to let you know it's really, really hip. All of these references are going to mean nothing in ten years, but right now everyone is just nodding their heads and saying, "Yes, so topical!" When really, it's about as topical as a hemorrhoid cream. It reads like fanfic. I wouldn't be surprised if this started out as fanfic, but even if it didn't, it has that vibe. That vaguely fetishistic vibe that some books about gay men have that really bothers me, because it feels like they rely on stereotypes and head cannons and less about creating actual, realistic characters who are having an actual, realistic romance.

Henry and Alex are both SO IMMATURE. They have zero common sense, zero social savvy. Considering that they're both children of major heads of state, you would think that there would actually be some intelligence and grace somewhere in there, but no. Their "charm" consists of sarcastic grade school insults that we're supposed to believe is witty banter, and we're supposed to relate to them because they watch TV shows and read books that appeal to the 18-39 demographic, eat ice creams in the middle of the night, and use emojis! OMG THIS CHARACTER IS SO ME, A MILLENNIAL, AGE 18-39! I FEEL SEEN!

The female characters in this book, as others have pointed out, are all interchangeable. They are all basically stand-ins for the female audience, fawning over these two male characters, SHIPPING THEM SO HARD, and basically acting as the soulless Karen pod people they are, who all evolved from a single spore that bloomed out of a Harry/Draco fic on FF.net circa 2004.

I. Hated. This. Book.

I hate being pandered to, and I hate books that masquerade as intellectual and witty when they are, in fact, rather dull and unexceptional. If you want to read a good m-m romance that explores politics and fame while also being a provoking and incredibly romantic love story, read THE GRAVITY OF US (it's #ownvoices!). If you want to read vaguely fanficcy trash that at least doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is (i.e. vaguely fanficcy trash), read THE CAPTIVE PRINCE (warning: triggers abound). But if you want to read the "I'm vegan because I read the title of an article about free radicals in People magazine, and get all of my news from BuzzFeed articles and The Young Turks" version of an m-m love story, by all means, pick this up. #Bye

1 star

First of all: If you want to read my full and uncensored review with all the quotes and my personal trademark rambling you can do it here! And now to the considerably shortened goodreads review! (word limits *shakes head*)

This sentence, this book, the topics that are tackled, the honest and blunt way they are dealt with and approached?! This was everything!!! I love this book so much, I can’t even put it into words. <333 Well, I loved it and some little, tiny, infinitesimal part of me might haven even hated it for being so perfect! Because the way subjects are approached in here? Gods, I wish everyone would be as open minded as the characters in this book.

That sentence at the beginning of my review? It hit close to home, it pains me to read it, yet I still love the fact that Casey McQuiston wrote it down on paper! That she had the guts to give this particular kind of feeling her own voice and words. How many people who are forced to be in the closet have felt like that? How many children were afraid to come out to their parents? How many still didn’t do it and never will, because they know exactly what their parents might say? How they will react… How many of us have felt alone and were weighted down by the truth?

This book, this supposedly romantic comedy, it touched me in a way books rarely do. It ripped out my heart, it made me laugh, it stomped all over my feelings, it smacked me across the face, it forced me to confront me with myself and it gave me something I didn’t even know I was missing: It gave me hope.

Hope that there is a better world out there.
Hope that one day people will accept others the way they are.
Hope that people can change.
Hope that we’re all equal and that our actions count more than our outward appearance.
Hope that our future in this world is worth fighting for.

So if you decide to read this book, enjoy it! Laugh and cry, appreciate the politics and scheming, adore Henry and Alex for being the way they are, fall in love, enjoy their freedom and youth, but most of all find yourself in those pages and try to keep this feeling even after you closed the book. ;-)

The characters:

Alex:

”Alex’s image is all charisma and genius and smirking wit, thoughtful interviews and the cover of GQ at eighteen; Henry’s is placid smiles and gentle chivalry and generic charity appearances, a perfectly blank Prince Charming canvas. Henry’s role, Alex thinks, is much easier to play.”

I didn’t like Alex at the beginning of the book! I know this might come as a shock but I really felt like he was sitting on his high horse and didn’t even bother to think about how other people felt. Or in this particular case how Henry felt. In his mind he gave him a role and never even looked beyond the horizon. But then the accident with the cake happened and Alex was forced to spend some time with Henry and he finally realized what a dumbass he actually was. I loved how Alex realized that he likes him and I adored him for being so unapologetic about his bisexuality. He just accepted it as a part of himself, he wondered about it, he explored it but he never felt bad about being who he truly was! And this was amazing! I wish there would be more bi representations like that; I wish that everyone would be as cool about being bi as Alex was. As his friends and family were! It was a huge part of him but it didn’t define him or is actions. This was so wholesome and such a nice way to deal with your own sexuality. Then again Alex is a very confident and brazen character so to deal with it like that fit him perfectly. XD

”It’s unpredictable and it’s intoxicating and it’s fun, because Alex has never met a challenge he didn’t love, and he – well, Henry is a challenge, head to toe, beginning to end.”

”He shouldn’t feel wronged deep in his gut. But that everyone seems enamored, when the only difference between the lie and the truth that would burn up Fox News is the gender involved … well, it fucking stings.”

”Sería una mentira, porque no sería él.” It would be a lie, because it wouldn’t be him.

Henry:

”Hmm,” Henry says, making a show of thinking hard. “I always liked Luke. He’s brave and good, and he’s the strongest Jedi of them all. I think Luke is proof that it doesn’t matter where you come from or who your family is – you can always be great if you’re true to yourself.”

I FREAKING LOVED, LOVED, LOVED and LOVED, Henry! *lol* This boy is adorable and kind and sweet and gentle and everything anyone will ever need! <333 I mean he’s a Warsie and Potterhead!!! He ships Lupin with Sirius and he loves to watch Bake Off because it’s so soothing??!! Where the freaking hell is my Prince Henry!!??? *lol* I definitely need this fluffy biscuit Prince in my life! Like yesterday! XD But there’s also a wild side to Henry, a defiant one and boy did I ever live for those little snippets of his personality! I adored his character arc so much! I mean at the beginning of the book he was the shy and reserved prince and by the end of it he eventually found his own voice and shouted his innermost thoughts into the world. Still, it was so sad that his father died when he was so young and I felt Henry’s grief like it was my own. T_T I could understand why his mother decided to withdraw from the world, but I was really glad that she accepted her son the way he was and fought for him in the end. =)

”A curious thing about grief is the way it takes your entire life, all those foundational years that made you who you are, and makes them so painful to look back upon because of the absence there, that suddenly they’re inaccessible. You must invent an entirely new system.”

”What are we even defending here, Philip? What kind of legacy? What kind of family, that says, we’ll take the murder, we’ll take the raping and pillaging and the colonizing, we’ll scrub it up nice and neat in a museum, but oh no, you’re a bloody poof? That’s beyond our sense of decorum! I’ve bloody well had it. I’ve sat about long enough letting you and Gran and the weight of the damned world keep me pinned, and I’m finished. I don’t care. You can take your legacy and your decorum and you can shove it up your fucking arse, Philip. I’m done.”

”I’ve been gay as a maypole since the day I came out of Mum, Philip.”

Nora:

”Numbers on me being into dudes?”
That pulls Nora up short, before she cocks her head to the side and says. “Seventy-eight percent probability of latent bisexual tendencies. One hundred percent probability this is not a hypothetical question.”

I loved Nora’s analytical mind and her conversations with Alex. It was obvious they were great friends and knew each other better than anyone else. XD And don’t kill me for this but: WHAT EXACTLY WAS GOING ON WITH NORA AND JUNE???!!! There was something there, right? I didn’t imagine this unresolved sexual tension, did I? *lol* Want to hear my thoughts on it? I think there was some sort of threesome going on the night they celebrated at the karaoke bar. Pez, Nora AND June! All three of them, feel me? *wriggles eyebrows* Unfortunately this is a mystery that was neither tackled nor resolved so my imagination will have to continue to run wild and I’ll blame it all on Casey McQuiston! *lol* ;-P

Alex’s parents:

”How many times do I have to tell y’all not to discuss your murder plots in front of a sitting president?” their mother interrupts. “Plausible deniability. Come on.”

Haha! This sentence instantly made me love the President! XD She was such a cool woman and Alex was so lucky to have her as his mum! It was amazing how she could be all business but at the same time always watched out for her kids. They were her first priority no matter how important her job was and she would have done anything to make them happy. Yes, she had a lot of responsibility and tried to perform damage control, but that was mostly due to her feelings for her son. She didn’t want Alex to get hurt and she wanted to protect him. I mean she was a public figure and we all know how those games are played. Well and as it turned out, Richards played very dirty indeed. >_< Also can we appreciate how Alex’s dad reacted to him being bi and loving Henry? I wish more parents would say words like that to their queer kids! Because it’s true, it’s not different when it’s your own kid, you still love your child and want the best for it. (At least it should be that way!!!) You want it to be happy, right? See, that’s exactly what I meant when I said this book gave me hope. =)

His dad slaps him on the bicep with the spoon, leaving a splatter of crema and cheese behind. “Have a little more faith in your old man than that, eh? A little appreciation for the patron saint of gender-neutral bathrooms in California? Little shit.”
“Okay, okay, sorry!” Alex says, laughing. “I just know it’s different when it’s your own kid.”
His dad laughs too, rubbing a hand over his goatee. “It’s really not. Not to me, anyway. I see you.”

”Diaz, you insane, hopeless romantic little shit,” says the voice of the President of the United States, muffled in the bed. “It had better be forever. Be safe.”

”I am your mother. I was your mother before I was ever the president, and I’ll be your mother long after, to the day they put me in the ground and beyond this earth. You are my child. So, if you’re serious about this, I’ll back your play.”

The relationships & ships:

”Let’s get it over with.”
“I’d rather be waterboarded,” Henry says, smiling back. The camera snaps nearby. His eyes are big and soft and blue, and he desperately needs to be punched in one of them. “Your country could probably arrange that.”
Alex throws his head back and laughs handsomely, loud and false. “Go fuck yourself.”
“Hardly enough time,” Henry says.”

I could have quoted the entire book, I swear!!! There were so many amazing quotes, countless sweet and tender moments, about a thousand ways they told each other that they are in love. <3 Easy banter, sassy retorts, just everything you could possibly wish for. One of my personal highlights was the Turkey Gate though. *lol* And their e-mails, hell, their e-mails killed me! T_T I loved how they swore so much in their normal conversations but wrote so beautiful messages to each other. And considering that to write a message takes time and that you think long and hard what to write this was very realistic too. They were utterly, truly and madly in love and you could read it in every line! I felt so sorry for them though. It must have been so tough to be exposed like that and to deal with the press and consequences. Alone the fact that Richards leaked their relationship and didn’t even give a damn about their feelings. They were outed by others and it was NOT their own decision! And this is wrong!!! If you decide to out yourself it’s a personal thing, it’s something you decide, something that should be in your hands! You should be able to decide when you come out to your family, your friends or the world. If you never want to come out that’s okay too, but it is YOUR DECISION to make and no one should take this away from you! GRRR!! *grizzly bear mode* I guess you can already tell that this is a very important and touchy subject for me. XD But I feel about this strongly, because not everyone is ready to come out and for many people to take this step means to give up the life they are used to. Not everyone is as understanding as Alex’s family and not everyone accepts a person the way it is… Anyway, those two are sharing the first place with Baz and Simon now. *LOL* Because I love both of those m/m couples so much and can’t decide which one is the better OTP! XD Their level of cuteness is just off the charts!! <333

Henry’s whole face grimaces in frustration, his eyes casting skyward like they’re searching for help from an uncaring universe. “Christ, you are as thick as it gets,” he says, and he grabs Alex’s face in both hands and kisses him.

”Should I tell you that when we’re apart, your body comes back to me in dreams? That when I sleep, I see you, the dip of your waist, the freckle above your hip, and when I wake up in the morning, it feels like I’ve just been with you, the phantom touch of your hand on the back of my neck flesh and not imagined? That I can feel your skin against mine, and it makes every bone in my body ache? That, for a few moments, I can hold my breath and be back there with you, in a dream, in a thousand rooms, nowhere at all?”

”but I’ve kissed your mouth, that corner, that place it goes, so many times now. i’ve memorized it. Topography on the map of you, a world i’m still charting. i know it. i added it to the key. here: inches to miles. i can multiply it out, read your latitude and longitude. recite your coordinates like la rosaria.”

Conclusion:

“Red, White & Royal Blue” was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I wasn’t disappointed! This book was everything I wanted it to be and it made me so, so happy! McQuiston tackled a lot of serious topics and they varied from loss and depression up to homophobia and political schemes. This book was an amazing composition about love, hate, ignorance and prejudices. Some might say it’s a modern fairy tale and I’m inclined to agree. What made this book truly outstanding is its final message though: You are perfect just the way you are! You are beautiful and you are allowed to love yourself! Or to say it with Alex’s words:

”Take everything you want and know you deserve to have it.”
___________________________________

Four damn good reasons to read this book:

1.) It’s still pride month and it’s about time I finally read a LGBTQ+ book!
2.) I’ve been dying to read this for months!
3.) After all those dystopian science fiction books I really need a fluffy break! >_<
4.) I just can’t seem to be able to say no to this girl! XD I'm sure she's very happy now. *lol*

Full review on my Blog: The Dacian She-Wolf 🐺
BONUS: At the end, there are 10 quotes proving that Zahra is the ultimate mood !!

Red, White & Royal Blue is not exactly my type of reading. I mean, I had doubts I’d possibly like this kind of fiction, and the synopsis didn’t quite help me in that area. But you guys (yeah, you, the ones who read it and fell in obsession with it) made me want to give it a try with your exuberance.

AND I BLOODY LOVED IT.

Really, after the first chapter I was like girl, keep reading, why the hell you stopped?

It made me feel excruciatingly giggly.

What made it super pleasant for me is the twist of the political reality – the United States actually has a female president, which is a determined lady from Texas and she has two amazing children who happen to be half Mexican. How cool is that though?

On the other hand, I found a bit of time and event inaccuracy in this that actually disturbs my OCD and keeps me awake at night.
At first, I thought the action was happening by the end of 2019 and then some mumbo-jumbo happens and we’re in the middle of 2020 somehow and no one but absolutely no one gives a shit about the fact that the 2020 Olympics are happening then.

Anyway, those are details that would probably be discussed by me with a shrink in a private session of why am I like this. Let me show you instead another positive thing about this book that I really loved.

These characters, man. These characters are EVERYTHING, I swear.

They all are so sweet and so witty and so lovely and they make you feel so warm and welcome. They’re just a bunch of nutters. It’s like you have everything you need in a handful of persons:

- Strong mums who love their children and help them and support them no matter what;
- Equally amazing father figures with whom I’d actually enjoy having a beer;
- Fabulously beautiful and intelligent and daring girls who are the world’s best sisters and can easily be your best friends (and I mean all of them, June, Bea, Nora);
- Two terribly sweet boys who are so pure and so dirty and so completely mad at the same time I’ll personally unleash hell for them if that’s what’ll make them feel safe;

(Also, teeny-tiny thingy here: I TOTALLY COULD FEEL HENRY IS A PIECES AND ALEX IS AN ARIES. I could feel it in my bones, I swear. Henry is as slightly introverted and as prone to extreme mood swings and as puppy-lovable like every Pieces I know and Alex is as stubborn and as passionate and ready to take over the world, making plans, being the centre of every event, burying himself in thousands of projects as every single Aries I know. Jesus, this is disturbingly accurate.)

- The ultimate eccentric best friend who is like that one person you’d love to spend time with and know he’s going to force you to have a good time and you’ll love it aka Pez;
- A gay Latino Skittles-eating guardian angel aka Rafael Luna (even his name is full of essence);
- Zahra – the biggest fucking mood in the entire Universe;

All of the characters are part of this amazing feeling you get while reading the book, it’s something cosy and familiar and warm.

The love in this book is real and is tear-dropping. But still, let me warn you about some aspects.

There are loads of hook-ups and sexy-scenes in there, some more detailed, some not-so, but you still get the picture. Dead-ass serious now, to me, they are a bit cringe. But not because of a boy loving another boy. God no. To me, scenes like that, with an explicit type of content, are cringe as hell in general. No matter in which -sexuality suffix they end.

So. This was a lit book. I loved it. Even more than I thought. And while reading it, I didn’t care who fell in love with whom and everything. I actually forgot about all these stereotypes and labels the society tries to push down our throats. For moments on, there was just me, witnessing a love story unfolding. And this was fucking amazing because, being from a socially and mentally constipated country, I don’t get to see acts of freedom like that. Which scream at me with love.

“I thought, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen, and I had better keep it a safe distance away from me. I thought, if someone like you ever loved me, it would set me on fire. And then I was a careless fool, and I fell in love with you anyway (…). And then, inexplicably, you had the absolute audacity to love me back. Can you believe it?”

As usual, the day guard at the Dirksen Building glares at him as he slides through security. She’s certain he was the one who vandalized the sign outside one particular senator’s office to read BITCH MCCONNELL, but she’ll never prove it.

For those of you wondering if I’m joking about the premise of this book, I am completely not. It’s escapism to a world where American politics are at their normal level of messed up, but. You know. The election went in a different direction. (The popular vote direction, just like, by the way.)

It’s a book about the importance of loving in a world very very desperate to tear down love. The use of historical love letters… OOF. Radclyffe Hall to Evguenia Souline, Alexander Hamilton to John Laurens, Eleanor Roosevelt to Lorena Hickock, Michelangelo to Tommaso Cavalieri, Wilfred Owen to Siegfried Sassoon, Jean Cocteaua to Jean Marais. I will say it: the Vita-Sackville-West-to-Virginia-Woolf letter is absolutely one of my favorite pieces of writing of all time and makes me cry daily. And the line “history, huh?” got me.

And it’s a book about love as a choice. The line “On purpose. I love him on purpose.” has reached an almost memetic level on Tumblr and Twitter, but I get it. There are so many narratives, especially in queer lit, about love as something choiceless. But the thing is love is always a choice. And when you find the right person, it’s a good one.

It helps that the cast of characters is just really excellent. Alex and Henry are both really well-written characters, but Alex’s narration is genuinely incredibly hilarious. I laugh easily, but I’ve found that writing good humor can be kind of hard, and this worked for me. Nora and June are each good side characters. I also really appreciated characters like Bea, Pez, and Zahra, who show up briefly but make an impact anyway.

But. that is why this is objectively ridiculous romance novel resonated with me harder than 90% of the books I’ve read this year, as a lesbian who is almost definitely going to major in history or polisci (or both, I have another year). It’s about the tenderness and also about the weight of expressing love and also about how both our global context and our community history unite and bind us as queer people.

I’m done. Time to scream, with spoilers.

some lines and moments from this book I will be thinking about a lot:

➽“So, if he and Nora occasionally get drunk in hotel rooms together watching The West Wing and making loud moaning noises at the wall for the benefit of nosy tabloids, he can’t be blamed, really. They’re simply turning an undesirable situation into their own personal entertainment.”
➽I only started writing these down in the second half but Alex’s bi crisis… i get it. i really do
➽I don’t know
➽“It’s a week. The polls aren’t great, Paul Ryan is getting sanctimonious about the second amendment,”
➽the tenderness of the phone call scene
➽the bar scene like god that’s friendship babes!
➽“I’m going for like depressed lesbian poet who met a hot yoga instructor at a speakeasy who got her super into meditation and pottery and now she’s starting a new life as a high powered businesswoman selling her own line of hand-thrown fruit bowls”
➽“I thought you just got into international politics or something” “well, technically,”
➽“her son’s fucking quarter life NATO sexual crisis”
➽the PowerPoint presentation had me CRYING
➽“the phrase see attached bibliography is the single sexiest thing you have ever written to me” like I’m sorry what a fucking mood
➽“American politics: truly fascinating” “you wanna talk, Henry VIII?”
➽when Henry swan-dives into a lake and inwardly Alex is like he’s so gorgeous and outwardly Alex is like “do you have to be so goddamn extra”
➽actually that entire lake scene is just like... so romantic I’m out here wanting a wife
➽the forty seven texts ending up being 46 from June and one from Nora asking where she left her shoes
➽”consciously? subconsciously, in total detail?” is just such a relatable statement
➽the Prince consort road
➽“Take a picture with me with the sign!”
➽“The top list of reasons to love you goes brain, then dick, then imminent status as a revolutionary gay icon”
➽the sheer amount of times Alex threatens to physically fight someone
➽sometimes it’s for Henry’s honor but most of the time it’s not
➽“lmaooooooooooo wait look at page 22 of the emails alex is such a hoe”
➽everything Zahra does in this entire book
➽also everything Bea does in this entire book
➽Henry’s speech to Philip aka one of the single most legendary things I’ve ever read
➽“plus, we banged it out last night”
➽Henry’s mom really came in and saved their asses like that she did that and she did it for us (the gays)
➽history, huh?
➽that fucking TWEET about DC dykes on bikes chasing down the westboro baptist church
➽“Sufia, am I allowed to say that?” “literally, when has that ever stopped you?”
➽Amy and her wife!!!!!!!! at the parade!!
➽this doesn’t really have to do with the book but please Texas. please become a swing state faster. I know you’re on your way but it would be really kind and generous of you to go blue in 2020. please

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To be honest, I wasn't expecting to love Red, White & Royal Blue. I mean, this is Casey McQuiston's first book, and it's written in present tense (ugh), but love it I did. I loved it HARD.

Red, White & Royal Blue was everything I was looking for and more.

My reading experience was simply me laughing, crying, or swooning in a continuous cycle. Sometimes all three at once. It's been a long, long time since I've wanted to melt into a puddle of goo on the floor because the romance!!! Holy god, this story was the romancey-romance of your dreams.

I'm a sucker for a few things in a romance book, and this story has nearly all of them. We get a sexual awakening (can I get a halleloo?!), an enemies-to-lovers (with all the glorious damn, your face, bruising kissing that I could dream up), witty banter for daaaaaaaaaaays, and a romance with a literal (okay, fictional... but still) PRINCE OF MOTHER FORKING ENGLAND. Did Casey McQuiston worm her way into my brain and pull out my deepest fantasies?!?!?!

I wanted to take a nap inside these pages. I took pictures and screenshots of my Kindle of the uber-romantic email exchange to swoon over later. I cried and laughed like a lunatic on my couch, huddled in a prison of tea and reading of my own making. I fell asleep with the imprint of my Kindle on my face at 3 am.

Even though I don't like reading about politics or political games, even though present tense makes me feel itchy (did I mention that yet??), and even though the sex scenes are suggestive but still fade-to black I wanted to read this book FOREVER.

The dialogue is something I will remember for a long time. The humor was absolutely everything and elevated this book from good to unbelievably amazing. The feelings were so intense I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest.

Red, White & Royal Blue is worth all the hype and more. It's worth your time and your money, and it's worth it to read something so fun and heartfelt and rare that it made it's way on to my elusive favorites list. With literally thousands of romances under my belt, this one still stands out.

And nothing will matter but just we two, we two longing loves at last come together.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

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For a glimpse on my current situation:
i'm sporting sweatpants, haven't cooked for more than 24 hours, hair's an absolute mess, feel like screaming how gay i am out the window, and completely abandoned my responsibilities.
my horoscope did not prepare me for this.

When this book is published, and readers pick it up for the first time, I'm going to be sitting and watching all the emotions unfurl and all the fan;art,fiction,girling commence. And while I sit and watch, I'm going to be so jealous of everyone that has the luxury of reading this for the first time.

It's equal parts funny and loving and clever and tragic. I made a note on my kindle at page 3 stating "this is it," because that's how much I could feel the energy of a fucking brilliant book in my hands. The camaraderie and friendship combined with rebellion and sexy banter is almost too good to be in one novel. This is quite possibly the easiest five stars I have ever given.

"So, you can hate the heir to the throne all you want, write mean poems about him in your diary, but the minute you see a camera, you act like the sun shines out of his dick, and you make it convincing.”
“Have you met Henry?” Alex says. “How am I supposed to do that? He has the personality of a cabbage.”

In more ways than one, the story behind Alex and Henry's relationship is magic. There is quite a lot of politics involved, quite a lot of drunkedness and quite a lot of soft moments that make you clutch your kindle slightly tighter.

"But he thinks about Henry, and, oh. He thinks about Henry, and something twists in his chest, like a stretch he’s been avoiding for too long."

This was an enemies to lovers romance with so much more going for it. A beautiful feeling arose throughout the book as I saw the family and the omnipresent feeling of hope through friends. Nora gave me life and made me swoon. June was someone we all need in our life, alongside Pez. Bea was the softest cinnamon role in the whole bakery and when they were all together, my heart started singing.

“Alexander, babes,” Pez says when he picks up. “How lovely for you to give your auntie Pezza a ring on this magnificent Sunday morning.” He’s smiling from what looks like the passenger seat of a luxury car, wearing a cartoonishly large sunhat and a striped pashmina."

I wish I could go up to every one that will ever have doubts about reading this book and beg them to give it a chance. Sometimes, I'm skeptical about picking up new authors - especially, when they are debuting with a genre that means so much to me. Yet, here I am, falling incredibly in love with everything this book is and will continue to be in my life.

“Never tell me the odds."

He already has years of experience working on various campaigns and is quite a successful schmoozer. Along with his sister and best friend, they navigate the D.C. social scene like it's their job; and it kind of is.

I love anything political in books, so right from the start, I'm digging the vibe.

It quickly becomes obvious that Alex has some growing up to do. As he should, he's in his early-20s, y'all, give the boy a break!

He parties a little too hard, hooks up with randoms, who are then forced to sign NDAs and feuds with foreign dignitaries.

#relatable

Alex's biggest rival is Prince Henry of the United Kingdom. Henry is all sorts of swoony, exuding Prince Charming vibes, yet Alex sees him as a total bore and his number one enemy.

When an embarrassing incident, involving both Alex and Henry, occurs at a royal wedding, the boys are forced to pretend to be friends in order to save face.

Alex would rather do pretty much anything else.

Unfortunately, his wants are inconsequential at this point. Thus begins the relationship that will melt you; mind, body and soul.

If you are reading this, I am sure you already know what this book involves. It has received a lot of hype and for good reason.

A mainstream title, a humorous and steamy New Adult romance, featuring a male/male, enemies-to-lovers relationship?

This is basically the book the world has been waiting for.

And let's be honest, it's a book the world needs.

I personally was swept away from the very first pages. It is so fun. Pure fun on the page, but also thoughtful in its presentation.

I truly feel this is ground-breaking and we will all be talking about it for years to come.

McQuiston did such a great job of making this so contemporary and natural. It never felt forced.

The dialogue was believable and the storyline provided a lot of food for thought.

I have heard a few people mention that it is too optimistic?

To me, I didn't really think so. It is a happy story overall, but our characters have struggles just like real people.

Alex and Henry both grapple with their sexuality and what that means in terms of their lives, their family's responses, the world's response; they really struggled with that.

There's no question, they had hard decisions to make, just like in real life.

As far as the overall outcome, I think we needed a book like this. (view spoiler)[Shouldn't we be striving for a world like this?

Where this could be a reality? Where the majority of the people would stand on the side of what is right instead of hiding behind the curtains of tradition? (hide spoiler)]

Besides the blatant stereotyping of the British royal family, Red, White and Royal Blue (notably lacking the Oxford comma) is a mess of random pop culture references, melodramatic speeches, and philosophical conversations. It tries to tackle issues related to social justice while still maintaining the feel of a fluffy rom-com, and fails on most fronts. (And why were Henry and Alex enemies to start with? It makes no sense.)

This would have been better if it were simply a romance novel, without all the extra stuff thrown in (sexism, racism, politics, etc.). Not to say that these things aren't important or shouldn't be addressed. It's just that I came for a fluffy romance, not a weighty discussion of relevant issues. In other words, this novel tried to do too much.

Also, the instalove was pretty bad. This is supposed to be enemies to lovers?? But where though. Where is the mutual pining? The seemingly unrequited love? Alex trying to balance his feelings for Henry with his work life? Some realistic struggles, please.

I'll admit, the random pop culture references were hilarious at times. But in ten years, no one will care about Nora's Gucci sunglasses or Miley Cyrus's marriage. They may seem relevant now, but they won't be in the future. They'll be antiquated very soon.

This is the definition of a guilty pleasure read, and it's not quality literature. I binged the second half of it in a day, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

2 stars

Alex, the First Son, has one arch-nemesis: Prince Henry of England, the Crown’s golden boy. After their long-held feud escalates to a disaster at the Royal Wedding, the two are forced to fake a friendship in the spotlight to smooth international relations, and it’s going to be absolutely terrible. After all, Alex hates Henry! … doesn’t he?

“And you are good. Most things are awful most of the time, but you’re good.”

“The turkeys are not going to Jurassic Park you. You’re not the bloke from Seinfeld. You’re Jeff Goldblum.”

“You have so much in you, it’s almost impossible to match it. But he’s your match, dumbass.”

It’s nothing like kissing anyone he’s ever kissed in his life. It feels as steady and huge as the ground under their feet, as encompassing as every part of him, as likely to knock the wind out of his lungs.

Whatever, fine. Henry is annoyingly attractive. That’s always been a thing, objectively. It’s fine.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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I'd initially held off on requesting this book until early reviews hit Goodreads because:

1.) Royal*anything* usually bores me to tears.

2.) So do books involving politics of any shape or form.

But this story was a delicious mix of drama, angst, excitement and, most importantly, hope.

I loved both First Son Alex and HRH Prince Henry right from the get go, as they first snarked their way into my heart, then as feelings began to develop, gave me enough banter to keep me laughing every few pages.

[Mexican-American Alex:]

I also found the side characters to be a delight, from First Daughter June to Second Daughter Nora to Princess Beatrice to Alex's parents and friends. They were all worthy of their places in the story, only adding to my level of interest.

As the story began, Alex's intense dislike for "HRH Prince Dickhead" wasn't really addressed in-depth; however, once their first meeting was detailed out, I have to admit that I didn't care much for Henry, either.

Then after they were forced to spend time together as pretend BFF's, trying to undo damage to international relations at a Royal wedding, Henry's staunch façade began to slip and we got to see glimpses of the boy behind the unfeeling, arrogant mask. And I *loved* him from there on out.

[Prince Henry:]

This was basically your "boy is enamored of boy, finally meets boy, get slighted by boy, hates boy, then they work through their shit, eventually falling madly in love" story and it totally worked for me.

Yes, there was lots of political speak, with Alex's mother being POTUS, and Henry's grandmother being the Queen of England, but it never got to be too much, as humor, feelings, and just... *realness* permeated the pages.

There was also a ton of political intrigue, with an unexpected act of betrayal, which I felt made the book more than less interesting for me. That was a big ole' shock and a departure from my norm, let me tell you.

For all of you Steam Queens out there, while the sex scenes were not entirely fade to black, they were definitely more *emotive* than descriptive or explicit. If I'm remembering correctly, I don't think the book even contained the words 'penis' or 'dick', other than when Alex would adoringly call Henry a dickhead. I was actually fine with the lack of traditional heat, though.

I did have a few niggles, Firstly, at 432 (reported) pages, the story felt suuuuuper long, although I never found myself bored. At times, the pacing felt a bit on the slow side, but the humor did its job in keeping me engaged.

Secondly, PRESENT TENSE. Ugh. ‘Nuff said.

Lastly, OMMFG, Henry's propensity to imitate Carl Lewis, pulling a runner and ghosting Alex on more than one occasion, nearly drove me to goddamn drink. True story.

But Alex wasn't one to be ignored, fortunately, so if a bitch needed read, he was the right man for the job, always pulling these two adorable dumbasses back onto The Road to True Love, capitalized, because it's 'a thing' .

I'm extremely happy that I stepped out of my usual comfort zone and gave this book a chance, and would rate it at around 4.75 stars for the humor and feels.

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My ARC copy of the book was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair, unbiased review.

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i do think this would have been a 5 star read for me if it had been told in first person and from henrys POV. i think that would have made the writing much more relatable and not as forced, like it seemed to be at times. and it would have also saved me from all the dull american politics. i get enough of that IRL that i dont need it polluting such a nice and fluffy story. i would have much rather read about the royal family instead. i think those changes would have made this a much more perfect story for me personally.

but all in all, i think this is deserving of all the hype its currently getting!

↠ 4 stars