Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

3 reviews

kappafrog's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really loved this book. The writing was great, the cast of characters sparkled off the page, and the mysteries were really fun with a slow build to unraveling them all. I loved the steamy romance. This book made me feel more confident as a queer woman. It made it easier to imagine a community and I loved the found family. I was totally absorbed while I was reading it and while I had a few quibbles, overall I found it a wonderful world to escape into with a fresh and fun concept.

Edit: dropping my review from 4.5 to 4. When the excitement of being in the story has worn off I have a few more criticisms of some of the racial dynamics in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Classism, Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Grief, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death of parent, Blood, Vomit, and Misogyny

captainoliimar's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gun violence, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Medical trauma, Stalking, Racism, Misogyny, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Classism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Infidelity, and Sexism

Minor: Genocide, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Deportation

keats_the_listener's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

In 2020, I have set myself the challenge of Reading all of the 2019 Good Read Choice Award winners. This is my attempt to broaden the variety of books I read, particularly in different genres since I largely read only Non-Fiction, Fantasy/SciFi, and Mystery Novels.

Red, White, and Royal Blue is my first step into this challenge for myself, since it won best Romance Novel and Best Debut Novel. Before reading this book I have read only a few romance novels, and most were split genre (for example [b:A Natural History of Dragons|12974372|A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1)|Marie Brennan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1359770409l/12974372._SX50_.jpg|18132937] or [b:Curtsies & Conspiracies|15723286|Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School, #2)|Gail Carriger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1359660588l/15723286._SY75_.jpg|21398040]), or books I listed to with Rachel.

Reading the book, I went in with high expectations because I had a lot of friends and colleagues who have highly recommended it, and it lived up to expectations. There is a certain level of fairy tale to the novel Spoilera presidential race coming down to Texas, but it is the same type of fantasy that people who enjoyed the West Wing got to indulge in watching that show. As a poli-sci nerd, I found the politics of it entertaining, and the two protagonists were engaging well written characters. 

As someone who does not often read romance, it was a book that I would revisit and think it is well deserving of its awards and accolades.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Medical trauma