top of page
unqualifiedreader

Book Review: Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston



Synopsis: When his mother became President of the United States, 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 an 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 the family and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable 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 presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises 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 colors shine through?, how will history remember you?


Shannon's Review: 5/5 stars

So, I decided to give this book a shot for two reasons, one: it has been all over instagram and two: romance books are my thing. I was a little skeptical at first due to the fact that is a male/male romance, however, I am so glad I picked it up. This book is amazing for many reasons, first of all it is laugh out loud funny. So many times while reading this book, I found my self laughing aloud and my husband looking at me like I was crazy. The banter between the two main characters is hysterical.

In terms of characters both main characters are very likable. When first starting the book, I was unsure if I was going to like either main character. I feel this is due to the book following the "enemies to lovers" trope, because when the characters are enemies they tend to look at each other negatively, giving the reader a negative impression. However, as the story progressed I fell in love with both Alex and Henry.

I really liked that this book went beyond the bounds of a stereotypical couple and contained characters that many can relate to. Beyond the obvious of it being a homosexual couple. Alex is bi-racial, Mexican and American. His mother is the President of the United Staes, who was divorced and remarried before taking office. So, not only do we see a female president, we also see a blended family (step-parents).

Lastly, the romance in this book is so sweet! The characters while they start of enemies really do fall for one another and frequently express their feelings through writing. The correspondence between the two melted my heart and made me love them even more.


Sarah's Review: 5/5 stars


I am seriously concerned that it took me so long to read this book. This is easily going to be one of my favorite reads for 2020. Please bear with me, as this review is going to be a constant stream of gushing in appreciation.


We made a post a couple weeks ago about our favorite vs least favorite romance tropes. In that post I said that enemies to lovers is my least favorite trope, and that's where I shot myself in the proverbial foot. Casey Mcquiston did this trope justice! She executed it perfectly, and I am now a devoted Mcquiston fan. I cannot wait to see what she writes next.


Let's talk Alex and Henry. I am so in love with both of them. There just aren't words. I'm really struggling here to come up with coherent thoughts to show how much I loved this book. Not only did we have strong lead characters (Henry and Alex), we had the best secondary characters I have had the pleasure to read about. Nora, June, Bea, and Pez where so supportive and each had different characteristics, but I felt they were well developed. Even the tertiary characters were well written. Once again struggling for words.


The diversity in this book was incredible, and well rounded. I don't need to go into detail here. Overall, Mcquiston knocked it out of the park.

15 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Kommentare


Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page