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A review by inkgraveyard
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
5.0
Hashtag but their emails!!!!!!
I read this book first a few years ago, and as a gay policy wonk, I adored it.
I decided to reread it for the sake of watching the movie soon, and I loved it even more. Being able to separate myself further from the timeline of this book, I think, was beneficial. There is still much anxiety and terror with my thoughts of the real world late 2019 through the election of 2020, but this is such a beautiful escapist fantasy.
Indulge me, if you will, in recognizing all the things that would have had to go right for this alternative world to happen --- no COVID, to begin, but every single state would've had to be 20 points bluer in the 2016 election. Though, I suspect a world where Ellen Claremont is the Democratic option would realistically allow for such high DEM numbers.
I loved imagining this world. It brought me joy in a way that politics so rarely can these days. It brings a glimmer of hope for what America (and England) may one day be. I chose to ignore the heartache that comes with what we have in our system now for the sake of the heartache that comes with a well-written romance novel.
Alex and Henry are darling together, of course, but the characters surrounding them are so strong and well thought out. Except the vice president, who I don't believe says even a single word in the book (though I may have just completely missed it, due to aforementioned lack of fleshing out), but so the vice presidency goes.
Finally, I must thank the author for the truth that is spoken throughout the book about the loss of a parent. I do not find many fiction books that discuss that grief - even if as a background story - as well as this book does. It isn't at the forefront of the story, but the loss of Henry's father clearly changed him as a person. Losing a parent changes you as a person.
One of my all time favorite quotes on grief came from Bea, and I continue to send my gratefulness to Casey McQuinston for putting the heartbreak and the reaction to such sorrow into words. This quote, to finish this long review:
"So, imagine we're all born with a set of feelings. Some are broader or deeper than others, but for everyone, there's that ground floor, a bottom crust of the pie. That's the maximum depth of feeling you've ever experienced. And then the worst thing happens to you. The very worst thing that could have happened. The thing you had nightmares about as a child, and you thought, it's all right because that thing will happen to me when I'm older and wiser, and I'll have felt so many feelings by then that this one worst feeling, the worst possible feeling won't seem so terrible.
"But it happens to you when you're young. It happens when your brain isn't even fully done cooking - when you barely experienced anything, really. The worst thing is one of the first big things that ever happens to you in your life. It happens to you, and it goes all the way down to the bottom of what you know how to feel, and it rips it open and carves out this chasm down below to make room. Because you were so young, and because it was one of the first big things to happen in your life, you'll always carry it inside you. Every time something terrible happens to you from then on it doesn't just stop at the bottom - it goes all the way down."
I read this book first a few years ago, and as a gay policy wonk, I adored it.
I decided to reread it for the sake of watching the movie soon, and I loved it even more. Being able to separate myself further from the timeline of this book, I think, was beneficial. There is still much anxiety and terror with my thoughts of the real world late 2019 through the election of 2020, but this is such a beautiful escapist fantasy.
Indulge me, if you will, in recognizing all the things that would have had to go right for this alternative world to happen --- no COVID, to begin, but every single state would've had to be 20 points bluer in the 2016 election. Though, I suspect a world where Ellen Claremont is the Democratic option would realistically allow for such high DEM numbers.
I loved imagining this world. It brought me joy in a way that politics so rarely can these days. It brings a glimmer of hope for what America (and England) may one day be. I chose to ignore the heartache that comes with what we have in our system now for the sake of the heartache that comes with a well-written romance novel.
Alex and Henry are darling together, of course, but the characters surrounding them are so strong and well thought out. Except the vice president, who I don't believe says even a single word in the book (though I may have just completely missed it, due to aforementioned lack of fleshing out), but so the vice presidency goes.
Finally, I must thank the author for the truth that is spoken throughout the book about the loss of a parent. I do not find many fiction books that discuss that grief - even if as a background story - as well as this book does. It isn't at the forefront of the story, but the loss of Henry's father clearly changed him as a person. Losing a parent changes you as a person.
One of my all time favorite quotes on grief came from Bea, and I continue to send my gratefulness to Casey McQuinston for putting the heartbreak and the reaction to such sorrow into words. This quote, to finish this long review:
"So, imagine we're all born with a set of feelings. Some are broader or deeper than others, but for everyone, there's that ground floor, a bottom crust of the pie. That's the maximum depth of feeling you've ever experienced. And then the worst thing happens to you. The very worst thing that could have happened. The thing you had nightmares about as a child, and you thought, it's all right because that thing will happen to me when I'm older and wiser, and I'll have felt so many feelings by then that this one worst feeling, the worst possible feeling won't seem so terrible.
"But it happens to you when you're young. It happens when your brain isn't even fully done cooking - when you barely experienced anything, really. The worst thing is one of the first big things that ever happens to you in your life. It happens to you, and it goes all the way down to the bottom of what you know how to feel, and it rips it open and carves out this chasm down below to make room. Because you were so young, and because it was one of the first big things to happen in your life, you'll always carry it inside you. Every time something terrible happens to you from then on it doesn't just stop at the bottom - it goes all the way down."