[Book Review] Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through?

Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn't always diplomatic.

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"Thinking about history makes me wonder how I'll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. History huh? Bet we could make some."

This is maybe the best romance book I've ever read. I don't read a lot of romance books, so maybe that isn't as impressive as it sounds but I am still so impressed by this debut. I loved it so much and I need a copy of it for my collection so I can re-read it as much as I can. 

Alex and Henry are such great characters. They are both so strong, intelligent, and funny characters that I loved reading about. We are mostly following Alex in this third person present tense writing style that makes the reader really get in his head while also being able to get a bigger picture than we would have if it was in first person. Alex is such a passionate and emotional character that I wanted to root for immediately. He speaks his heart and is effortlessly charming, it makes sense that he wants to be in politics like both of his parents. His romance with Henry is done so well. It starts off with them being enemies. Alex has harbored a lot of bitterness towards Henry because of a past interaction they've had and Henry has responded to Alex's attitude by being cold back. Once their friendship starts to form, and then later on their relationship, the reader watches both Alex and Henry see themselves as the people they actually are versus the built up awful person in their heads. Their relationship is everything you want in a romance book. It's romantic, steamy, and a little bit of bickering. They have chemistry on the page so quickly that you can't help but love them from the beginning of their new friendship. 

"'Here,' Alex says, moving his own hips, 'watch me.'

With a grave gulp of champagne, Henry says, 'I am.'"

I really love Alex's sibling relationship with his older sister, June. They're so supportive of each other while also bickering like any siblings would. There is a layer of their dynamic that is touched on but not deeply explored, which is that June will do absolutely anything to protect her little brother and to be there for him. Even if that means deviating her plans and dreams. It's something I bet a lot of older siblings can relate to while reading. I also liked their dynamic with their best friend, Nora, but she isn't in as much of the story for me to feel like I really got to know her. The parts of her we did get I admit I liked a lot though. 

I loved June and Alex's mom, who was the POTUS! She was also super witty and funny, but my favorite part of her character was that every time there was an issue she was a mother to her kids first. And supported them despite what it meant for her political career. Often their mom is described as a bit of a workaholic, June even accuses Alex of "being like their mom" when he works too late and forgets their dinner plans. So to see the President put her kids before her career was something  I really loved to see. I also really loved their dad's reaction to Alex coming out. We do not get a lot of page time with their dad, but from what we got of him I thought he was pretty great. 

"If there's any legacy for me on this bloody earth, I want it to be true."

Red, White, and Royal Blue is probably one of the funniest books I've read. There are a few specific moments (dancing to Get Low, the group texts) along with the overall dialogue between Alex and Henry that had be laughing out loud and smiling like a goon. If I wasn't laughing, I was probably crying. First, seeing how America could have been if the 2016 elections went differently was a hard thing to read about. Sure, Alex's America isn't perfect by any means, there is still homophobia, racism, corrupt politicians, etc. but it at least seemed a little more hopeful than the reality we have been stuck with the last few years. Second, there is a lot of really emotional moments when it comes to both Alex and Henry coming out to not only their loved ones but the way it comes out to the entire world. Being gay and a Prince of England or even a person of power in general is a topic that is so specific and something not a lot of people can relate to, but I can believe that even with that gay readers will read this and understand Henry. It's incredibly heartbreaking. And seeing Alex not only come to terms with his bisexuality with himself, but then having to tell his family and not knowing how they'd react. It was a lot to read and it made me really emotional. Also, watching these two sweet men considering just pushing down this part of their identities and pretending they're someone they're not for their family was hard to read about. 

There are incredibly small issues (if you can call them that) I had with this book. One being that the timeline was a bit hard to follow. It was hard to figure out how much time had gone by and it got a little confusing. Sometimes it had been weeks, other times months. And then by the end of the book they've been together for like 8-9 months or something. The other issue I personally had was that in the beginning we are told that Alex and Henry are enemies, and that is gone pretty quickly. They have the altercation at the wedding, and then become okay with each other after the damage control weekend they're forced to endure. And then after that they're texting and calling each other. On one hand, I liked that we got more page time of them being friendly to each other but on the other hand it didn't feel like enemies-to-lovers. I felt like it was obvious Alex was angry at Henry but also obviously into him, where Henry wasn't sure what to make of Alex. I think if we got more page time of them as "enemies" it would have made Alex's anger towards him make more sense. 

"I don't know who YOU think you're kidding you Hufflepuff-ass bitch." 

The writing was so well done. I am surprised and impressed that this is a debut novel and I absolutely will be reading anything else Casey McQuiston in the future. Between the heartfelt romance that feels epic and passionate without being incredibly over the top, the characters, and the feeling of hope this book sends to the reader I am absolutely in love. The dialogue between the gang (Henry, Alex, June, Bea, and Nora) feels authentic to how 20 year olds talk presently. It didn't feel fake or even like the author was trying too hard. Even the article comments the reader is given when we are given a glimpse of how the public is reacting to certain things feels like real comments that would have been made. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It feels more than just a romance book, even if the romance is the biggest aspect of the story. It deserves all of the hype that has been surrounding it since the beginning of this year. I have read a lot of super hyped romance books in the last year and I've been meh about them or disliked them entirely. So I am really happy that Red, White, and Royal Blue lived up to the hype. I already want to re-read it. 

"But the truth is, also, simply this: love is indomitable."

 

Thanks for reading!