Book: Red, White & Royal Blue
Author: Casey McQuiston
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 432
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Synopsis:
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.
The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?
“History, huh?”
(it makes sense when you read the book)
This.
Book.
Was.
Fucking.
Spectacular.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for a honest review.
Honestly I can’t pitch this book any better than the fucking blurb.
Do you like queer romances?
Do like hate-to-friends-to-lovers?
Do you like passionate MCs?
Do you enjoy laughing?
Do you love books that revolve around family and friends?
Then you will fucking love RW&RB.
I just—this was great.
I especially loved Alex’s realization that he was bisexual and how he comes out to another character who is also bisexual and how the two of them both realized their orientations at different times (because I sure as hell didn’t know when I was in high school) and it was so fucking wonderful. Thank you Casey!!!
“Straight people, he thinks, probably don’t spend this much time convincing themselves they’re straight.”
^ I felt that.
In this book we get: gay and bi rep via main characters. trans and pan rep via minor characters. multiple people of color rep. and Casey has their characters all talk about how America was built on slavery and England on colonization and both countries are guilty of genocide. WOO! (i mean, not “WOO!” to the genocide and slavery (because those are both bad, obvi), but “WOO!” to calling it out rather than pretending it didn’t happen)
This
is
my
type
of
BOOK!!!
I get the feeling the only people who will be leaving this book one star reviews don’t like queer books or say it has a ‘liberal agenda.’
aka I loved it.
Oh man, and since Alex is my age, all of the pivotal American experiences he mentions…I fucking cackled. I mean…this one dance scene. And yes, any 90s US baby will know what I’m talking about…
Sorry, this review is sort of incoherent. I am just really fucking pumped. I loved the family dynamic and the relationships between siblings and friends and parents and lovers and staff.
I just love Alex and June and Nora and Ellen and Henry and Bea and Pez and Zahra and Shaan and Oscar and SO MANY MORE I JUST. Okay. It has a really solid cast is all I’m saying…lots to work with for movie material.
My only real complaint is that Alex and Henry introduce a new sex act while they both are super drunk and have never discussed doing anything like this sober. before it happened. I mean, the book is a rom-com so no one feels regret or like they were taken advantage of. But as a general statement, being super drunk while introducing a new sexual act puts you in murky consent territory. If they had some previous conversation about being interested in it, or if they hadn’t been drunk, my thoughts would be very different. But again, rom-com so everyone is super happy the next morning.
Yeah, so if you like queer books, mild politics, and enjoy comedies then you’ll love this book.
Content Warnings: emesis, parental death (cancer), suicide joke(s), mentions of drug use/abuse (cocaine, abuse of Adderall), mentions of rehab, panic attacks, mentions of depression, mention of attempted rape (off-page, not super detailed), ableist comments (‘insane’, ‘crazy’. ‘I’ve been stricken deaf’), multiple ‘inbred’ royal jokes
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