Red, White & Royal Blue: Gush
"History, huh?" Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
So, normally my reviews are pretty structured, but I'm still riding on this book's high that I just want to squeal over it. So that's what I'm gonna do.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Picture it: the 2016 Presidential election, and a Democrat Texan woman wins the race. And now, four years later, her 21-year-old son Alex is practically American royalty. There's only one problem--he has qualms with actual royalty. Following an incident at his brother's wedding, His Royal Highness Prince Henry of England has to make nice with Alex, despite them having beef with each other since the 2016 Rio Olympics. As they have to smile pretty for the cameras that are now proclaiming them as BFF's, Alex and Henry realize that there is more to the other than meets the eye, and soon they're caught up in a whirlwind romance that could very well destroy any and all political relations the two powerhouse countries have with one another.
Listen. You all know I don't like romance. It's quite literally my least favorite genre. But this book destroyed me. I knew what I was getting into when I bought this book, because it's kind of hard not to when nearly every booktuber has been raving about it since ARCs were released (I really wish I was able to get my hands on one). As soon as I heard the words "queer political romance," I was sold.
So, I snagged a discounted copy at my local Half-Price Books (bless them), and settled down to read. And holy hecking heck, was this a story. I finished it in about six hours, never once putting it down. I was literally walking from room to room in my house, barely avoiding furniture because my nose was glued to this book. I laughed, I cried, I screamed in frustration and fear for Alex and Henry.
First, let's talk about the humor. From page three, I laughed out loud. To give you context, I do believe the last time I laughed out loud at a book (non-audio, because I definitely can't control my emotions as well when I listen to books) was when I read A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab for the first time, and that was because Rhy's humor had caught me off guard. But for a good third of this book, I was laughing enough to actually make my eyes water a bit. Seriously. My roommate thought I was dying. Alex's petty narcissism and Henry's unrelenting sass gave me some of the wittiest banter I have ever read.
Now, the romance. Oh, the romance. Since I haven't read a lot of romance books, especially adult romance books, I know that my judgement might be a little skewed, but this was the sexiest book I have ever read, and by far the most romantic. The kind of relationship that Alex and Henry have is the kind that I wish I could find. I know that a lot of people were concerned about a book depicting a m/m relationship was being written by someone other than a gay man, but Casey McQuiston does identify as non-binary, and I know that that had actually helped a lot of people make the decision to buy their book. But putting that aside, just the writing was done so beautifully, I could really feel the love and passion that Alex and Henry had for each other while reading. By the end of the book, I was in tears because they were just so pure. Pure smol beans.
And yes, I can say that, because I'm older than the both of them.
Wait, no. Henry has a few months on me. But months. Based on the timeline, Henry was born March of 1997, and Alex was born March of 1998. For context, I was born in October of '97. So yeah, I am officially older than the fictitious FSOTUS, and just barely younger than the fictitious heir to the English throne. How's that for a reality check? Now, I can confidently say that they're both leagues more mature than I am, because 1) they were written by someone older than 21, and 2) they had to learn to grow up super fast. Alex's mother had been in the political spotlight since he was a little boy, and Henry, well, he's the freaking prince of England.
Before I go, I want to talk about one thing, and that is the "scandal" when news of Henry and Alex's relationship broke the internet. I really hate that we live in this kind of society, but this was super realistic. Even for people who aren't constantly in the spotlight, having something like this come to light could potentially ruin a person if they aren't prepared for it. Having seen many a sex scandal come across my news feed, I wish all people handled it the way these boys did. And the love and support that immediately followed them? Crocodile tears, no joke. As a bisexual woman myself, when I entered my first relationship with a girl I was terrified of what my conservative, slightly-backwoods family would think should they ever find out. I mean, my situation was completely different because actually they didn't find out, but I cannot imagine having to tell my family, let alone the whole world, that I was dating a woman because some asshat decided to post all of our interactions online for everyone to peruse.
Also, Texas being blue for the first time since Jimmy Carter! Oh, how a girl can dream.
Basically, I think everyone should pick up this book. It was masterfully crafted and will leave you feeling all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside. We need this kind of story in today's world, especially since America is apparently going through some serious time travel and getting stuck in 1950 in some states (can you tell I'm salty).
As a parting gift, here is my Twitter thread under the hashtag #AllyEmReadsRedWhiteAndRoyalBlue
Until next time!
So, normally my reviews are pretty structured, but I'm still riding on this book's high that I just want to squeal over it. So that's what I'm gonna do.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Picture it: the 2016 Presidential election, and a Democrat Texan woman wins the race. And now, four years later, her 21-year-old son Alex is practically American royalty. There's only one problem--he has qualms with actual royalty. Following an incident at his brother's wedding, His Royal Highness Prince Henry of England has to make nice with Alex, despite them having beef with each other since the 2016 Rio Olympics. As they have to smile pretty for the cameras that are now proclaiming them as BFF's, Alex and Henry realize that there is more to the other than meets the eye, and soon they're caught up in a whirlwind romance that could very well destroy any and all political relations the two powerhouse countries have with one another.
Listen. You all know I don't like romance. It's quite literally my least favorite genre. But this book destroyed me. I knew what I was getting into when I bought this book, because it's kind of hard not to when nearly every booktuber has been raving about it since ARCs were released (I really wish I was able to get my hands on one). As soon as I heard the words "queer political romance," I was sold.
So, I snagged a discounted copy at my local Half-Price Books (bless them), and settled down to read. And holy hecking heck, was this a story. I finished it in about six hours, never once putting it down. I was literally walking from room to room in my house, barely avoiding furniture because my nose was glued to this book. I laughed, I cried, I screamed in frustration and fear for Alex and Henry.
First, let's talk about the humor. From page three, I laughed out loud. To give you context, I do believe the last time I laughed out loud at a book (non-audio, because I definitely can't control my emotions as well when I listen to books) was when I read A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab for the first time, and that was because Rhy's humor had caught me off guard. But for a good third of this book, I was laughing enough to actually make my eyes water a bit. Seriously. My roommate thought I was dying. Alex's petty narcissism and Henry's unrelenting sass gave me some of the wittiest banter I have ever read.
Now, the romance. Oh, the romance. Since I haven't read a lot of romance books, especially adult romance books, I know that my judgement might be a little skewed, but this was the sexiest book I have ever read, and by far the most romantic. The kind of relationship that Alex and Henry have is the kind that I wish I could find. I know that a lot of people were concerned about a book depicting a m/m relationship was being written by someone other than a gay man, but Casey McQuiston does identify as non-binary, and I know that that had actually helped a lot of people make the decision to buy their book. But putting that aside, just the writing was done so beautifully, I could really feel the love and passion that Alex and Henry had for each other while reading. By the end of the book, I was in tears because they were just so pure. Pure smol beans.
And yes, I can say that, because I'm older than the both of them.
Wait, no. Henry has a few months on me. But months. Based on the timeline, Henry was born March of 1997, and Alex was born March of 1998. For context, I was born in October of '97. So yeah, I am officially older than the fictitious FSOTUS, and just barely younger than the fictitious heir to the English throne. How's that for a reality check? Now, I can confidently say that they're both leagues more mature than I am, because 1) they were written by someone older than 21, and 2) they had to learn to grow up super fast. Alex's mother had been in the political spotlight since he was a little boy, and Henry, well, he's the freaking prince of England.
Before I go, I want to talk about one thing, and that is the "scandal" when news of Henry and Alex's relationship broke the internet. I really hate that we live in this kind of society, but this was super realistic. Even for people who aren't constantly in the spotlight, having something like this come to light could potentially ruin a person if they aren't prepared for it. Having seen many a sex scandal come across my news feed, I wish all people handled it the way these boys did. And the love and support that immediately followed them? Crocodile tears, no joke. As a bisexual woman myself, when I entered my first relationship with a girl I was terrified of what my conservative, slightly-backwoods family would think should they ever find out. I mean, my situation was completely different because actually they didn't find out, but I cannot imagine having to tell my family, let alone the whole world, that I was dating a woman because some asshat decided to post all of our interactions online for everyone to peruse.
Also, Texas being blue for the first time since Jimmy Carter! Oh, how a girl can dream.
Basically, I think everyone should pick up this book. It was masterfully crafted and will leave you feeling all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside. We need this kind of story in today's world, especially since America is apparently going through some serious time travel and getting stuck in 1950 in some states (can you tell I'm salty).
As a parting gift, here is my Twitter thread under the hashtag #AllyEmReadsRedWhiteAndRoyalBlue
Until next time!
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