Red, White & Royal Blue
Author: Casey McQuiston
Trope: Slow Burn, Forced Proximity, Opposites Attract, Enemies to Lovers
Point of view: Single, First person
Relationship: MM
Type of series: Standalone
In a nutshell: When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius - his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colours shine through?
What I thought: My personal goal for this year is to diversify my TBR list and read stories that are outside my go-to comforts. (You know, while still staying within my much loved contemporary romance and PNR sphere.) So keeping with that aim I started looking for more LGBTQIA books that still sit within my chosen genre, and found the highly rated and recommended Red White & Royal Blue.
This book. What can I say. I've tried to write my thoughts on this book three times now and I just can't do it justice. But here goes - and yes I know this isn't a polished review but purely my big feel thoughts on this story.
This book takes you on a heart filled and heart wrenching journey via Alex (the President's son) and his hate to love relationship with Henry (Prince of England).
I found the first few chapters challenging, not connecting to the main character Alex whose point of view the story is told from, but I persevered and was worth it as the story developed into one of the best tales of friendship, love and hope I had read.
Hope, yes that's the feeling I was overwhelmingly left with after closing this book.
The conscientious handling of Alex's bi awakening and relationship development with Henry who is closeted gay to the world is thoughtful and unrushed, leading us to the defining question of the book “Do you feel forever about him?” and what the answer is worth to them.
The world Casey McQuiston has created is a beautiful place. Would this story play out the same way if it was reality, I would hope so but chances are it wouldn't. But that's what this story ultimately is - an overwhelming feeling of hope that one day hopefully soon, the world could be like this. My heart is full, you should read it.
