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A review by armandulac
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
5.0
Red, White & Royal Blue was a quick and easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The romance between Alex and Henry felt well developed (at least in comparison to the recent books I've read) and I truly loved them both as characters. I related to Alex's headstrong passion and drive, and Henry's love for queer history (and I love Henry. So Much). Speaking of characters, McQuiston does a wonderful job providing fully fleshed out and interesting characters, particularly in June and Nora. I personally did enjoy the "smut" aspects of the book, but I do think it's important to know they're there before picking this up!
I've seen other reviewers give the political subplots flack for being unrealistic and idealizing the democratic party. I do think that's a perfectly valid and true criticism of this book, but I found myself not minding that aspect. Sometimes, it's nice to escape into an not-real political fantasy that the 2016 election didn't happen and that the democratic party like, actually cares. The British politics was also interesting to me, but as we've seen in recent years it did feel like the bigotry was accurate.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the movie!
I've seen other reviewers give the political subplots flack for being unrealistic and idealizing the democratic party. I do think that's a perfectly valid and true criticism of this book, but I found myself not minding that aspect. Sometimes, it's nice to escape into an not-real political fantasy that the 2016 election didn't happen and that the democratic party like, actually cares. The British politics was also interesting to me, but as we've seen in recent years it did feel like the bigotry was accurate.
Spoiler
In the end, I wish Henry abdicated the throne (or I hope it happens in the near future). I knew their relationship would be exposed to the public, and I love that McQuiston recognized how traumatic that extreme of a privacy break and being outed that publicly would be (as a person that was outed).All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the movie!