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A review by charlestayloriii
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.75
TW// incoherent gay rant
My first impression of this book is that it didn't feel "queer" persay but rather like a fanfic for straight women who think guy-on-guy is hot but would lose their ladyboner if a man has a faggy little lisp or puts on anything more feminine than black nail polish. And for gay guys whose fantasies consist of fair skinned straight rugby players that look like they might call them slurs. But I kept reading through my initial trepidations to discover that this book is something even more annoying: neoliberal hogwash.
I will say I didn't hate reading this book. The plot was predictable and basic, the characters were likeable enough but were not particularly complicated. The humor made me roll my eyes but was tolerable, the sex scenes were not bad, but good sexual tension there was not. It is wattpad literature, nothing of note, felt like it was written in a week without much regard for who these characters were outside of general archetypes. Alex (the MC) is fiery, ambitious, and emotionally walled off. He's a handful of traits. He's not a fully realized person. I think a good example of this is the fact that this is a coming out story.
It may seem like a weird thing to take ire with but I think it tells you a lot about who the author is, what they value, and what their readers value.
I don't hate coming out stories I just hate bad ones. And my problem isn't that its a coming out story its the fact that Alex doesn't know he's queer.
I think it's so insanely unbelievable to me that this man would not know (or question if) he was into men before the start of this book. Okay, he had a singular experience in high school that he locked away and yeah yeah everybody's journey is different but he's a very sociable, very attractive international celebrity moving through high profile circles which means sex and drugs. You're telling me not a single man has made a move on him ever in his adult life that made his dick tingle? Ever ever?
You can tell Alex's struggle with his sexuality has less to do with the writer wanting to wrestle with themes of repression, and shame why you feel shame despite the environment you're in being seemingly accepting (especially when your on a global stage). Those themes felt like happenstance. Moreso that they want to pander to a not insignificant portion of their readership that find this type of thing tantalizing. He is in essence a quasi-virgin untouched by man. Adversely the prince is the experience temptress. It's a boring dynamic that the author is relying on because they weren't capable giving us real tension and passion between them. They're so incapable that they have to use other people's real life letters express the longing and desires they have for one another. Its so lazy. Like babe you don't have the words to write this in your own voice? The emotional core of your story needs its own works cited page?
Instead the "tension" comes from the novelty of the situation: 2 men? Together?? Romantically??? And theyre both sons of world leaders???? 🍅🍅🍅🍅
They have no real reason to be together or rather no reason that excites me. They do not make my heart sing. In fact I was rooting against them at certain points in the book purely because I thought them not ending up together would be way more interesting than whatever this book was hurtling towards.
Also the politics...was I expecting the communist manifesto when I picked this up? Absolutely not. I honestly didn't have much of a perception of this book outside of "America's First Son wants to bang an English royal" so i guess thats on me. Still, I couldn't get past the confused, shallow, baby politics of this book (points off for Israel mention). The fact that he feels hopeless bc Luna joins the republican cabinet...like I'm sure your parents have done more controversial things than buddy up with a republican. And in reality the first son would have a lot of platonic and working relationships with conservatives especially if he's pursuing politics. And I know I shouldn't be complaining about realism in a book like this but when your book is bad the criticisms snowball.
EDIT: After further thought this book did not need to make Alex a latino character simply because the author wasn't equipped to deal with the implications of a half latino man not only being the presidents son, but also dating into the notoriously racist white institution that is the British monarchy. You would be forgiven if you forgot Alex and Henry are in an interracial relationship bc apparently the writer did too. Alex couldve easily been a fully white anglo American and nothing would change because Mx. McQuiston was too scared and to add that emotional depth to their character even though it wouldve made their book a lot more interesting to read. Like Homophobia exists in this universe but racism has been solved already? Wrap it up teletubby.
TLDR:
Book needed more sex appeal/tension
Basic characters, basic plot lines. Queer eye for the straight guy type pandering. *A lot* of telling not showing
Points off for: Israel mention, Harry Potter mentions, (bisexual) Hamilton mention, neoliberalism
My first impression of this book is that it didn't feel "queer" persay but rather like a fanfic for straight women who think guy-on-guy is hot but would lose their ladyboner if a man has a faggy little lisp or puts on anything more feminine than black nail polish. And for gay guys whose fantasies consist of fair skinned straight rugby players that look like they might call them slurs. But I kept reading through my initial trepidations to discover that this book is something even more annoying: neoliberal hogwash.
I will say I didn't hate reading this book. The plot was predictable and basic, the characters were likeable enough but were not particularly complicated. The humor made me roll my eyes but was tolerable, the sex scenes were not bad, but good sexual tension there was not. It is wattpad literature, nothing of note, felt like it was written in a week without much regard for who these characters were outside of general archetypes. Alex (the MC) is fiery, ambitious, and emotionally walled off. He's a handful of traits. He's not a fully realized person. I think a good example of this is the fact that this is a coming out story.
It may seem like a weird thing to take ire with but I think it tells you a lot about who the author is, what they value, and what their readers value.
I don't hate coming out stories I just hate bad ones. And my problem isn't that its a coming out story its the fact that Alex doesn't know he's queer.
I think it's so insanely unbelievable to me that this man would not know (or question if) he was into men before the start of this book. Okay, he had a singular experience in high school that he locked away and yeah yeah everybody's journey is different but he's a very sociable, very attractive international celebrity moving through high profile circles which means sex and drugs. You're telling me not a single man has made a move on him ever in his adult life that made his dick tingle? Ever ever?
You can tell Alex's struggle with his sexuality has less to do with the writer wanting to wrestle with themes of repression, and shame why you feel shame despite the environment you're in being seemingly accepting (especially when your on a global stage). Those themes felt like happenstance. Moreso that they want to pander to a not insignificant portion of their readership that find this type of thing tantalizing. He is in essence a quasi-virgin untouched by man. Adversely the prince is the experience temptress. It's a boring dynamic that the author is relying on because they weren't capable giving us real tension and passion between them. They're so incapable that they have to use other people's real life letters express the longing and desires they have for one another. Its so lazy. Like babe you don't have the words to write this in your own voice? The emotional core of your story needs its own works cited page?
Instead the "tension" comes from the novelty of the situation: 2 men? Together?? Romantically??? And theyre both sons of world leaders???? 🍅🍅🍅🍅
They have no real reason to be together or rather no reason that excites me. They do not make my heart sing. In fact I was rooting against them at certain points in the book purely because I thought them not ending up together would be way more interesting than whatever this book was hurtling towards.
Also the politics...was I expecting the communist manifesto when I picked this up? Absolutely not. I honestly didn't have much of a perception of this book outside of "America's First Son wants to bang an English royal" so i guess thats on me. Still, I couldn't get past the confused, shallow, baby politics of this book (points off for Israel mention). The fact that he feels hopeless bc Luna joins the republican cabinet...like I'm sure your parents have done more controversial things than buddy up with a republican. And in reality the first son would have a lot of platonic and working relationships with conservatives especially if he's pursuing politics. And I know I shouldn't be complaining about realism in a book like this but when your book is bad the criticisms snowball.
EDIT: After further thought this book did not need to make Alex a latino character simply because the author wasn't equipped to deal with the implications of a half latino man not only being the presidents son, but also dating into the notoriously racist white institution that is the British monarchy. You would be forgiven if you forgot Alex and Henry are in an interracial relationship bc apparently the writer did too. Alex couldve easily been a fully white anglo American and nothing would change because Mx. McQuiston was too scared and to add that emotional depth to their character even though it wouldve made their book a lot more interesting to read. Like Homophobia exists in this universe but racism has been solved already? Wrap it up teletubby.
TLDR:
Book needed more sex appeal/tension
Basic characters, basic plot lines. Queer eye for the straight guy type pandering. *A lot* of telling not showing
Points off for: Israel mention, Harry Potter mentions, (bisexual) Hamilton mention, neoliberalism
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia