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A review by ellahaugdahl
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
hopeful
informative
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
first i would really like to say that the romance and tension was amazing and on point. you felt love, hatred and all the other emotions with both henry and alex. on the other hand, the «enemies to lovers» romance was so faint it could have been avoided. spoiler alert, i would have been okay with the royal wedding being their first official meeting. i did not think their previous encounters mattered regarding the plot.
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as a non-american, i have no interest in american politics, and found the election and congress related stuff boring. it was easy to zone out during these moments. related to this, i think the book should have ended earlier, or at least been shortened on the election-stuff at the end. i was happy with the ending i got regarding harry and alex, but i was bored through the last 70 pages where the topics were mostly about the election and politics.
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one major theme i am glad was included in red, white & royal blue was questioning your sexuality. i think it was nicely and realistically portrayed. even though alex was 20 years old when he started questioning, i was happy that he did. mostly because it is so normal not knowing your preferences before trying your options. i got a better insight of how it was for him, and understood how happy he was about his sexuality in the end.
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in the end i give this book 4 out of 6 stars, mostly because the election-stuff, but also because the book didn’t have the best quality. several pages had smudged ink or barely any ink at all - at least the copy i read, and that annoyed me every time it happened. apart for this, i would recommend it to those interested in both forbidden romance and american politics. it is a book on the longer side, but i got through it just fine, and i think you will too :)
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fun fact: after i watched the netflix series young royals, i scrolled through tiktok and saw several comparing it to red, white and royal blue. that was the major reason i read it lol. i absolutely see the resemblance, and can recommend to those who loved that series as well.
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as a non-american, i have no interest in american politics, and found the election and congress related stuff boring. it was easy to zone out during these moments. related to this, i think the book should have ended earlier, or at least been shortened on the election-stuff at the end. i was happy with the ending i got regarding harry and alex, but i was bored through the last 70 pages where the topics were mostly about the election and politics.
-
one major theme i am glad was included in red, white & royal blue was questioning your sexuality. i think it was nicely and realistically portrayed. even though alex was 20 years old when he started questioning, i was happy that he did. mostly because it is so normal not knowing your preferences before trying your options. i got a better insight of how it was for him, and understood how happy he was about his sexuality in the end.
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in the end i give this book 4 out of 6 stars, mostly because the election-stuff, but also because the book didn’t have the best quality. several pages had smudged ink or barely any ink at all - at least the copy i read, and that annoyed me every time it happened. apart for this, i would recommend it to those interested in both forbidden romance and american politics. it is a book on the longer side, but i got through it just fine, and i think you will too :)
-
fun fact: after i watched the netflix series young royals, i scrolled through tiktok and saw several comparing it to red, white and royal blue. that was the major reason i read it lol. i absolutely see the resemblance, and can recommend to those who loved that series as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Colonisation