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lostinthe_pages's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Funny, witty, cute, and light-hearted. A large chunk of the middle drags though and there's some physically cringey scenes. I'd read the whole thing again for the emails though hehe. Also June and Henry are everything! Love the pop culture references, its definitely meant for an ultra specific time and generation, though it sacrifices its timelessness in this way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Outing, Sexual content, and Homophobia
morrxson's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
If I could give this book a lower rating, I would. Where do I even begin with this.
The premise itself is fine. I don’t really have a problem with the idea. The execution, however, is abhorrent. There seems to be a lack of basic understanding for how politics and international relationships actually work in the modern age. While yes, a relationship between the president’s child and a royal member of the family would likely be quite the juicy news for the media (and using presidential servers for this is just a drama waiting to happen), the way it’s blown into this out of proportion drama that everyone cares about is exhausting. Political commentary in this book boils down to: Democrat good, Republican bad, Royal Family good and recognise how terrible they’ve been in history except for the Queen. This isn’t political commentary, it’s making the characters one dimensional and easy to digest. The understanding of politics is baseline at best and often tries to have these mic drop moments that ultimately fall back into black and white thinking about American politics. Yes, it’s a romance novel, but it has a heavy emphasis on politics, too.
The writing is also atrocious. “I fucking love you” and “kind of obsessed” were lines that consistently showed up and just took me out of the book. The constant pop culture references are shoved down your throat and I imagine that most of them, in about ten years time, will be unknown by the next generation of readers. If your book’s humour is that reliant on pop culture, it’s not going to be timeless. It’s going to be dated and confusing. The smut scenes are confusing and poorly written - it doesn’t need to be graphic, but when the reader’s confused on what position they’re in, there’s a problem.
Now onto Alex and Henry themselves: there’s no really strong relationship between the two. It’s a lot of making out and sex, with romantic quotes from questionable historical figures, and eventually getting to a little bit of depth with each character - but even this is a little scratch. But Alex and Henry are NEVER bad people. They’re not flawed - and this runs through the ending of the book. I don’t like using the word Gary Stu often, because protagonists often have to have certain backstories and personalities to make a story work, but Alex is the definition of it. Not to mention how he and his sister blatantly ignore their own privilege as the children of the president to feel more sorry for themselves. It reads like a wattpad story from 2016. Of course when you know that this is based off of that Facebook movie, that makes a bit more sense.
There’s weird stereotyping throughout the book which never sits right, either. It’s also pretty obvious that the author has minimal knowledge about British dialect and culture.
All in all, would I recommend this to anyone? No. If you want a nothing romance that reminds you of 2016 tumblr in all its pretentiousness and fandom culture, then this book is for you. But I’d give it a hard pass and tell you just to watch the movie. It’s less painful, somehow.
The premise itself is fine. I don’t really have a problem with the idea. The execution, however, is abhorrent. There seems to be a lack of basic understanding for how politics and international relationships actually work in the modern age. While yes, a relationship between the president’s child and a royal member of the family would likely be quite the juicy news for the media (and using presidential servers for this is just a drama waiting to happen), the way it’s blown into this out of proportion drama that everyone cares about is exhausting. Political commentary in this book boils down to: Democrat good, Republican bad, Royal Family good and recognise how terrible they’ve been in history except for the Queen. This isn’t political commentary, it’s making the characters one dimensional and easy to digest. The understanding of politics is baseline at best and often tries to have these mic drop moments that ultimately fall back into black and white thinking about American politics. Yes, it’s a romance novel, but it has a heavy emphasis on politics, too.
The writing is also atrocious. “I fucking love you” and “kind of obsessed” were lines that consistently showed up and just took me out of the book. The constant pop culture references are shoved down your throat and I imagine that most of them, in about ten years time, will be unknown by the next generation of readers. If your book’s humour is that reliant on pop culture, it’s not going to be timeless. It’s going to be dated and confusing. The smut scenes are confusing and poorly written - it doesn’t need to be graphic, but when the reader’s confused on what position they’re in, there’s a problem.
Now onto Alex and Henry themselves: there’s no really strong relationship between the two. It’s a lot of making out and sex, with romantic quotes from questionable historical figures, and eventually getting to a little bit of depth with each character - but even this is a little scratch. But Alex and Henry are NEVER bad people. They’re not flawed - and this runs through the ending of the book. I don’t like using the word Gary Stu often, because protagonists often have to have certain backstories and personalities to make a story work, but Alex is the definition of it. Not to mention how he and his sister blatantly ignore their own privilege as the children of the president to feel more sorry for themselves. It reads like a wattpad story from 2016. Of course when you know that this is based off of that Facebook movie, that makes a bit more sense.
There’s weird stereotyping throughout the book which never sits right, either. It’s also pretty obvious that the author has minimal knowledge about British dialect and culture.
All in all, would I recommend this to anyone? No. If you want a nothing romance that reminds you of 2016 tumblr in all its pretentiousness and fandom culture, then this book is for you. But I’d give it a hard pass and tell you just to watch the movie. It’s less painful, somehow.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
brit0817's review against another edition
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content
valerian_honeybee's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Classism, Homophobia, Racism, and Outing
ethuiliel's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing and Sexual content
Moderate: Stalking, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Drug use, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, and Biphobia
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Medical content, Terminal illness, Violence, War, Rape, and Colonisation
maggiegirouard's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
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
5.0
FUCK THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD IT HURTS MY HEART IS SWELLING WITH THE EMOTION OF IT
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Sexism, Addiction, Biphobia, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
matmatmatty's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
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
Loved it! Could not stop!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Outing
Moderate: Sexual assault, Cancer, and Death of parent
lostgwennel's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
i’m about 98% sure the royal family don’t use the word ‘innit’
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism
sakisreads's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
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? No
4.5
THE SMUT I DIDN’T KNOW I NEEDED 🙂↔️
I am often reminded of the quote by Captain Holt in Brooklyn 99 when I read stories like this:
‘Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place’ 🥹
I loved this so much. The only reason why I gave it 4.5 stars is because there are obviously moments where things aren’t believable. But I loved the delight and hope Alex and Henry both signified throughout the book.
Say gay 🏳️🌈
Not so much a spoiler as a NSFW thing; it gets QUITE hot and steamy 😳
I would highly recommend this book! Thank you ✨
I am often reminded of the quote by Captain Holt in Brooklyn 99 when I read stories like this:
‘Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place’ 🥹
I loved this so much. The only reason why I gave it 4.5 stars is because there are obviously moments where things aren’t believable. But I loved the delight and hope Alex and Henry both signified throughout the book.
Say gay 🏳️🌈
I would highly recommend this book! Thank you ✨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
katsventures's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia