Reviews with content warning for Racism - Vermelho, Branco e Sangue Azul

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Vermelho, Branco e Sangue Azul by Casey McQuiston

415 reviews

rxcklxssbands's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

5.0

a beautifully told romance with characters that are so incredibly easy to connect to. as a queer individual this book resonated with me a lot.

this book has some really heartbreaking moments but the sweet romantic happy ending makes the book feel like a warm hug. very much fits in the angst with a happy ending trope

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jana_aa's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

4.25

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magicshop's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

2.75

Alex looks at him, taking in the whole parcel of him, the centuries of royal blood sitting under an antique Kensington chandelier, and he reaches out to touch his face and looks at his fingers and thinks about holding the Bible at his mother’s inauguration with the same hand.

once again i am defeated by a blonde prince with family issues and a repressive nature. it's laurent of vere all the way down

writing style: 2.5/5
deeply, deeply average, however would be a solid 3-3.5 if the author didn't decide to shamelessly devolve into wattpad-ing the last 3rd of the book... for.... some reason???? like, there are for real some standout paragraphs and lines before that point, then suddenly i'm cringing my way through to the finish line???? casey what in the hell happened

characters: 3.75/5
certainly the best part of the entire thing. side characters are seriously charming (june beloved) and occasionally more interesting than the main boys lmao. alex had decent character development but suffered from being the only pov character. a sprinkle of henry's inner world would've potentially elevated this book into something greater. as it stands henry is still my favorite character, but i can see very clearly in my head how interesting a double pov would've been to read - alex is a very intense person in a very different way from henry (outwardly-focused vs. internally-focused) and the back-and-forth bouncing between their povs would have added room to breathe from alex's potent but often overwhelming way of thinking. as a latine person i also want to add that that particular point of representation didn't really do much for me. i'm not mexican so i'll leave the specifics well enough alone, but occasionally shoving spanish/portuguese into latine characters' speech (with the added, completely unnecessary bonus of making the character repeat themselves in english after - for the benefit of absolutely no one but the assumed white and english-speaking reader) and using their heritage to emphasize political and discriminatory points is... not good enough. i want to see more culture, more differences in behavior, more. make me believe the character is latine, don't just tell me and then make him act white 99% of the time. that's not to say i don't understand the fact that alex grew up in a mostly white-dominated environment and thus adopts the same behavior, or that he's factually half-white and therefore entitled to that same behavior. but given the kind of person alex is, a full-fledged, very leftist, incredibly compassionate do-gooder, i feel like he would have gone out of his way to connect with his mexican background as much as possible. and we saw very little of that.

plot: 2/5
i'm being generous since i acknowledge that i don't have a full understanding of the politics of either the us or britain. the romance carried the story for the most part, and

once that was resolved and the focus shifted entirely to the election

i would've been bored out of my mind if not for how fucking funny the aforementioned wattpad writing was at times. rushed, half-assed, extremely biased and optimistic, not to mention outright irresponsible, depictions of the workings of intra- and inter-country politics. the entire concept of the prince of wales all but openly supporting any single american presidency candidate. the cartoonish villainy of every single republican, who by the way are also complete strategic idiots on top of being unanimously evil. i can accept the romance panning out far more optimistically than it would ever be in real life, we all deserve our escapism (especially queer and other disenfranchised people), but i draw the line at reductive ultraliberal fantasies. just. don't read this book for the plot or the politics 🫡

personal enjoyment: 3.5/5
for all its faults, rwrb did pull me straight out of a months-long reading slump. i read it very fast, for no reason other than mcquiston's writing flows very easily off the page and is really good at being funny when it counts. i can't say i enjoyed the entire ride, or even most of it, but it wasn't exactly bumpy either. more like the train itself was made entirely of partially rotten wood and i never knew when the floor would give out on me. which it did, way too many times.

ending: 2.5/5

mcquiston turned her attention back to alex and henry at the very last minute, which she should never have stopped doing in the first place, and so the very last few pages turned out to be pretty cute and satisfying enough as a wrap-up. i recommend skipping the last 3 or so chapters if you don't want to activate your gag reflex, tho. the line "whoever wins texas wins the election" will haunt my nightmares forever as one of the worst pieces of writing i've ever laid eyes on. etc.

honestly, if you're gonna read this you might as well skip the heavier politics bits for your own mental health, assuming you have any knowledge of how things actually work in the real world at all. i have some affection for this book due to its likable cast and the way it manhandled me straight out of that fat reading slump, but that's rose-colored circumstantial glasses and i fully admit it. rwrb is simply not an outstanding piece of literature, or even a good one, and to be fair, it doesn't have to be - if all you want is escapism and you're willing to overlook everything i mentioned in this review (and probably more i forgot), or it all doesn't bother you the same way it does me, then you'll likely have a good time. sometimes that's more than enough.

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atsuanna's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

I swear to you I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did… I didn’t think it would be a 5 star read BUT BITCH! IT SURE WAS!! This was so ridiculous but I have so much love for this book, but I’m much more eloquent in speaking so I couldn’t even hope to describe everything this book made me feel and everything this book does well </3 This book is everything I needed this year during this arguably shitty time, and it doesn’t shy away from showing that maliciousness we’ve seen but it’s the kind of media that gives you hope about the future we all deserve, It does such a beautiful job of showing such an “impossible” happy ending that we all rightfully deserve, it gives us that Jane Austen romance all queer folks deserve <3 I AM JUST ENAMORED BY THIS BOOK. I WILL BE THINKING OF THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I NEED SLEEP. GOODNIGHT YALL.

“History will remember us”
LIKE HELLO? THIS BRINGS ME TOO MUCH JOY

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cyanr's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

Book was okay. I don’t feel comfortable calling it diverse since it feels very white. I know the main character Alex is half-Mexican, but he’s also half-white. And many of the characters are light skinned Hispanics. This is not a complaint, merely an explanation.

The book itself was cute! I gave it 3 stars because it was really engaging and fast but I couldn’t fully lose myself in the book. It’s very fluffy and plays fast and loose with the rules of reality. I don’t mind that generally, but I felt the book was trying to ground itself in more reality and it wasn’t believable.

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jackbifrost's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

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kingspite618's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

this book does not belong to the genres I'm usually into, but it was nevertheless super enjoyable and inspiring. definitely a must read if you're into romance (especially if you're queer!)

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