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A review by roxnn2000
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
4.0
Overall, an enjoyable read that I had a hard time putting down.
Summary:
Alex is the beloved First Son of the United States after his mother won the election. Instantly he is thrown into the spotlight and it doesn't bother him one bit. What does bother him is dealing with the Prince of Wales, Henry. That guy has always annoyed him and he just hasn't understood why. After an interaction with Henry leads to bad press, it is decided that enough is enough and the world is going to believe that Alex and Henry are the best of friends. Alex forces on a smile to get through the public appearances with the prince only to start to realize that there is more to Henry than what meets the eye. As the two start to become closer than ever before, Alex learns that there is more to himself than he ever thought and going public with that change in him could ruin everything. But who ever said that love was easy?
Review:
Overall, I loved this story. I found it funny and heartwarming in parts even if there is a lot of moments where I felt things were not realistic.
Alex was both fun and annoying at times. There were moments when he acted appropriately for a young man with plans to become the youngest Senator in history and there were others when he acted like he was younger than he actually was.
Most of the characters acted this way actually. I was confused on whether this book was a book meant for adults or for a YA audience solely based on the way characters acted. It was like the book knew that too and had to remind the audience that these were adults, not older teens, cause it constantly kept mentioning ages or career paths or college courses to hammer in the point that these were twenty-somethings. There were points even when other older characters would tell Alex "you wouldn't understand until you are older" and Alex would react like a 16-year-old would react to that statement, when he's 22. I found it unbelievable that they wouldn't being them into the loop at times because they were "too young". It would have made more sense to have those characters lie straight up then say that he "would understand someday" based on his age.
I did love the initial interactions between Henry and Alex. The fact that the two of them were forced to pretend to be best friends all along was kind of funny. It was also nice to see the two of them actually become friends, even if it seems like it happened way too quickly. I liked that they opened up and talked to each other about all sorts of things and it wasn't all just fluffy nonsense. I would have liked to see more of Alex figuring out his feelings and working through it. He went from believing he was straight to realizing he was bisexual and entering into a relationship with Henry all within the span of a few chapters. In addition, the relationship was rather perfect most of the time, with the two rarely disagreeing after they got together. Maybe because the relationship was still in it's "honeymoon phase" but I felt that the two could have been more realistic about things. Couples fight on occasion, but these two only fought about whether or not they could be together for political reasons. Still, I think that the two of them were rather sweet throughout the book.
The side characters were great too. The only major issue I had was a times I would get confused on who was who because there were so many of them. A few I was able to distinguish like June, Alex's sister, and Pez, Henry's best friend, but most of the others got mixed up at times in my head. It would be a bit jarring at times cause I would be reading thinking that this character was this person only to remember moments later that no it was this person instead.
The storyline was fun a lot of the time, but there was a lot of stuff that was unbelievable. First was a lot of the political things going on. It made it seem like Democrats were the "good guys" who helped the less fortunate and were for the people and almost villainized the Republican party as those who deal in back-room dealings and shady practices to win elections. I'm not saying that there aren't those methods being used to win elections, but I am saying that it is more likely that both parties are involved in them. It is also true that there are politicians who do want to do good things for the people from both parties. I understand that we are seeing this story unfold within an election for a Democrat nominee for president, so it makes sense that the Republican candidate would be painted in a negative light.
Overall, I liked this story a lot. It read like a YA novel but meant for adults and I was here for that. It would be jarring at times when characters would act their age in one moment followed by them acting like an older 16-18 year old teen in others but I still enjoyed the story. I would read it again.
Summary:
Alex is the beloved First Son of the United States after his mother won the election. Instantly he is thrown into the spotlight and it doesn't bother him one bit. What does bother him is dealing with the Prince of Wales, Henry. That guy has always annoyed him and he just hasn't understood why. After an interaction with Henry leads to bad press, it is decided that enough is enough and the world is going to believe that Alex and Henry are the best of friends. Alex forces on a smile to get through the public appearances with the prince only to start to realize that there is more to Henry than what meets the eye. As the two start to become closer than ever before, Alex learns that there is more to himself than he ever thought and going public with that change in him could ruin everything. But who ever said that love was easy?
Review:
Overall, I loved this story. I found it funny and heartwarming in parts even if there is a lot of moments where I felt things were not realistic.
Alex was both fun and annoying at times. There were moments when he acted appropriately for a young man with plans to become the youngest Senator in history and there were others when he acted like he was younger than he actually was.
Most of the characters acted this way actually. I was confused on whether this book was a book meant for adults or for a YA audience solely based on the way characters acted. It was like the book knew that too and had to remind the audience that these were adults, not older teens, cause it constantly kept mentioning ages or career paths or college courses to hammer in the point that these were twenty-somethings. There were points even when other older characters would tell Alex "you wouldn't understand until you are older" and Alex would react like a 16-year-old would react to that statement, when he's 22. I found it unbelievable that they wouldn't being them into the loop at times because they were "too young". It would have made more sense to have those characters lie straight up then say that he "would understand someday" based on his age.
I did love the initial interactions between Henry and Alex. The fact that the two of them were forced to pretend to be best friends all along was kind of funny. It was also nice to see the two of them actually become friends, even if it seems like it happened way too quickly. I liked that they opened up and talked to each other about all sorts of things and it wasn't all just fluffy nonsense. I would have liked to see more of Alex figuring out his feelings and working through it. He went from believing he was straight to realizing he was bisexual and entering into a relationship with Henry all within the span of a few chapters. In addition, the relationship was rather perfect most of the time, with the two rarely disagreeing after they got together. Maybe because the relationship was still in it's "honeymoon phase" but I felt that the two could have been more realistic about things. Couples fight on occasion, but these two only fought about whether or not they could be together for political reasons. Still, I think that the two of them were rather sweet throughout the book.
The side characters were great too. The only major issue I had was a times I would get confused on who was who because there were so many of them. A few I was able to distinguish like June, Alex's sister, and Pez, Henry's best friend, but most of the others got mixed up at times in my head. It would be a bit jarring at times cause I would be reading thinking that this character was this person only to remember moments later that no it was this person instead.
The storyline was fun a lot of the time, but there was a lot of stuff that was unbelievable. First was a lot of the political things going on. It made it seem like Democrats were the "good guys" who helped the less fortunate and were for the people and almost villainized the Republican party as those who deal in back-room dealings and shady practices to win elections. I'm not saying that there aren't those methods being used to win elections, but I am saying that it is more likely that both parties are involved in them. It is also true that there are politicians who do want to do good things for the people from both parties. I understand that we are seeing this story unfold within an election for a Democrat nominee for president, so it makes sense that the Republican candidate would be painted in a negative light.
Overall, I liked this story a lot. It read like a YA novel but meant for adults and I was here for that. It would be jarring at times when characters would act their age in one moment followed by them acting like an older 16-18 year old teen in others but I still enjoyed the story. I would read it again.