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ratetheromance 's review for:
Red, White & Royal Blue
by Casey McQuiston
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I know you are going to HATE ME for this, but...(deep breath)...I kind of hated this book.
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Everything about this book: the writing, the pop culture references, the language, the cutesy side characters, the political stuff, the frantic pacing, the romance...it all felt like a bored teen was standing on a street corner, twirling a huge sign that says ZEITGEIST on it, and waving it in the reader's face. None of it felt genuine to me.
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I felt like the that a male could reach the age of 21, having previously made out with a guy friend and also "fooled around" with said guy friend, and never once question his own sexuality seems fairly implausible. Listen, every heterosexual human I know, has at one time or another (especially in their teen years) thought to themselves, "I might be gay. What if I'm gay?" and that was without a late-night hand job from a high school friend of the same gender.
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Also, every single person in these men's lives is 100% supportive except the actual Queen of England? That's just not realistic and it was also a missed opportunity to share what it's REALLY like for a 20-something to come out. There is ALWAYS rejection. At least some. It's what makes coming out so incredibly brave. I work extensively with LGBTQ+ youth and their families, I have two LGBTQ+ kids, and I am a queer woman (who is in a hetero-normative marriage). I *WISH* this book was reality. I wish this many people would support and respect their LGBTQ+ loved one. But it's not reality.
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This book just did nothing for me. It felt forced and contrived. Also, the Oxford comma deserves our respect. Put it in your book title or we can't be friends.
I know you are going to HATE ME for this, but...(deep breath)...I kind of hated this book.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Everything about this book: the writing, the pop culture references, the language, the cutesy side characters, the political stuff, the frantic pacing, the romance...it all felt like a bored teen was standing on a street corner, twirling a huge sign that says ZEITGEIST on it, and waving it in the reader's face. None of it felt genuine to me.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I felt like the that a male could reach the age of 21, having previously made out with a guy friend and also "fooled around" with said guy friend, and never once question his own sexuality seems fairly implausible. Listen, every heterosexual human I know, has at one time or another (especially in their teen years) thought to themselves, "I might be gay. What if I'm gay?" and that was without a late-night hand job from a high school friend of the same gender.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Also, every single person in these men's lives is 100% supportive except the actual Queen of England? That's just not realistic and it was also a missed opportunity to share what it's REALLY like for a 20-something to come out. There is ALWAYS rejection. At least some. It's what makes coming out so incredibly brave. I work extensively with LGBTQ+ youth and their families, I have two LGBTQ+ kids, and I am a queer woman (who is in a hetero-normative marriage). I *WISH* this book was reality. I wish this many people would support and respect their LGBTQ+ loved one. But it's not reality.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This book just did nothing for me. It felt forced and contrived. Also, the Oxford comma deserves our respect. Put it in your book title or we can't be friends.