Red, White & Royal Blue
Ratings769
Average rating4
rtc but I'm smiling and crying at the same time and it was so AMAZING and I'm fucking dead
Este libro me ha ganado por doble partida: se ha llevado mi voto electoral y mi apoyo a la Corona.
4.5 Stars. I really enjoyed this book. I'll admit, I watched the movie first (I know, scandalous). I saw this on bookstagram a while ago and thought it was cute but not something I wanted to peruse. Then I started seeing instagram clips of the movie and decided to check it out. I thank Casey McQuiston for writing such an amazing book that inspired one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen.
In terms of the book, I really liked how everything played out and the intimacy is clearly displayed on every page. I think my favorite part of the story would have to be the emails between Henry and Alex because it showed how profound their love for each other is. I know people don't love the political aspect, and I see where they are coming from. Yes, the politics are all idealized and seen from one perspective through rose (or rainbow) colored glasses, but this book isn't meant to replace a Politics 101 textbook. I think the part with Rafael Luna and the disagreement with Alex speaks the most truth; sometimes people get into politics for the right reasons but they end up getting consumed by the power. The only reason I am not giving the book 5 stars is because Chapter 15 to the end (the aftermath of the emails) is too drawn out and I felt the book should have ended earlier.
Also, the chapter lengths are way too long.
I don't have the words to explain how much I enjoyed this book. It was interesting, original, fun, and easy to read. I felt sooooo refreshed after reading it. I thoroughly enjoyed and absorbed every detail of it. I must say that it definitely is one of my favorites now. It's absolutely fantastic.
This was an entertaining and quick read, but I did not enjoy it as much as everyone seems to enjoy and I honestly do not get the hype.
What I liked about the story:
- I liked the romance and how their relationship evolved through the call, texts, emails and secret encounters.
- The book has good supporting characters and friendship representation.
- The author was able to capture characters age accurately.
What I think it could have been done better:
- I hated Alex. He was self-absorbed, narcissistic, mean and sometimes a bit ignorant.
- The story is too focused on America. This could have been balanced by including both POV instead of a third person narrative on Alex side.
- British characters seem to be constructed based on stereotypes.
- America election campaigns seem to be about almost everything except politics, and this book represented that perfectly. Unfortunately, I don't particularly like to read about it as the real campaigns are, sometimes, already more than I can handle.
Overall, this is a nice summer read and I recommend it for YA and NA readers.
I enjoyed this book but it took a long while for me to get into - mostly because I do not enjoy reading about politics that much. That being said, I did really enjoy the book the further I got into it. In particular, I loved the emails that Alex and Henry exchange. I think the politics in particular felt a little too close to home seeing as the US presidential election just concluded, and once the main drama of the book happened, I felt like I was just reading the last chapter knowing exactly what would happen (I didn't mind that too much though). Overall it was an enjoyable read - it had good LGBTQ+ representation, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and the characters were varied and had depth. I think I would've preferred reading this from Henry's perspective more, but again that might just be because I am British myself and feel more interested in Henry's coming out than Alex's because more seemed at stake.
who knew that all I needed to cure my depression* was a book about an alternate universe where a competent, experienced Democratic woman won the 2016 US Presidential election and because of that, the country (and world) was a better place where her bisexual, biracial son could fall in love with the gay Prince of England and everything could turn out BEAUTIFUL and HAPPY and LOVELY
*jk, go to therapy, kids!!!
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Second read: somehow even better than the first time
The kind of fiction I wish was around when I was growing up gay. A romcom tale where the meet-cute and the couple are two gay boys, from very privileged and popular families. It is very saccharine, very predictable, but worth every page.
I loved it. I don't think there's anything I could say that hasn't already been said. It's 5:30am and I couldn't put this book down till I finished it. I just really loved it (and obviously, I cried)
Note: I actually DNFed this book my first try reading it. But I'm so glad I decided to pick it up again.
I have this problem where the more I love a book, the more difficult it is for me to write a meaningful review. The more strongly I feel, the harder I find it to be objective and constructive, and just end up gushing. Sooo... spoiler alert: I LOVED this book.
The dialogue was probably my favorite thing about this book. It hums along like a well-oiled machine and the humor is well-timed, well-tuned, and had me chuckling out loud countless times. Their expressions are “now”, which amused me a lot, though it makes me wonder how well it'll age (well, I hope, because it's a super fun book!). The core characters are charming and compelling, with enough flaws to keep them down-to-earth, and the journey is an incredibly enjoyable ride. The enemies-to-lovers situation is fairly quick, but earned, as the groundwork for the evolution of the relationship, I think, was quite well constructed.
The periphery characters are maybe not the most fleshed out, but they were still distinctive and affable, and I felt a lot of affection for them when they would pop up here and there.
I really especially loved the handling of sexual orientation, and that it wasn't a magical light bulb moment. I feel like McQuiston took great care to make sure that this self discovery made sense, with some very believable reflective interior dialogue and anecdotes from that character's past that served as a very sturdy foundation for their revelation and the relationship that unfolds.
I also really appreciate that, while the relationship itself was between two men, one character's bisexuality wasn't just forgotten once they got together, and was referenced (in a casual and natural manner) many times throughout the book. From reading other comments and reviews, it appears that many Bi folks found this to be respectful and meaningful rep, which I dig.
The alternate history feels kind of weird since it's re-envisioning that last few years rather than capital-H history with some distance to the presence. This isn't a negative at all; I don't know how common recent alternate histories are, but I've not read anything like that before, so I found it kind of surreal. But, in the end, it was something I found to be quite interesting and exciting to read.
Was the climax and resolution kind of over-the-top and not entirely believable? Absolutely, yes. And look, your milage may vary on this one, but I personally feel like this brand of willful optimism and idealism is incredibly important these days, and was so refreshing to read. I love my melancholy, but I think a spoonful of sugar is a healthy thing. RW&RB scratched a similar itch for me that Schitt's Creek did with its portrayal of David and Patrick. Maybe we don't yet live in a world where this story would end like that in real life, but dammit, I wish we did! And if we can't have that in our books, movies, or TV shows, then, I dunno, that's really sad to me.
If you want a zippy, affable, easy-to-read rom-com where the stakes feel really high, but also gives you the warm-n-fuzzies, then, you honestly couldn't do much better than Red, White & Royal Blue. I absolutely adored it!
Red, White & Royal Blue is just too darn cute. It really is. It's sweet and emotional, and I really enjoyed all of it. It's a bit long and a bit cliche, but the story itself is wholesome and heartwarming. Also, I'm pretty sure there was a subtle Firefly reference near the end, which is A+ in my book.
Livro meio coisinho, mas como todes sabemos, os livros de Casey McQuiston s\ao meio irrealistas então está tudo bem
I was surprised by this book.
I didn't really know what to think about it, I had seen very bad and very good reviews. I personally think it's a well written book, and with a good story and plot.
But it's also important to mention that, I, living and being from a monarchy have noticed, and I know things that are clearly only possible in the book. Because yeah, that's not how a monarchy works, (if you've read it, you'll understand me, if you haven't you'll have to read it ;)). (I say this knowing damn well I'm a monarchist, but some things have to be said).
And the last thing is that the fact that names from the actual British Royal Family were used was weird, because the face of that people came to my mind, and I couldn't really imagine those character's appeareance nor personality.
But well, I'll just leave you here my favourite quote: “He wants to set himself on fire, but he can't afford for anyone to see him burn.”
I have to admit curiosity lead me to read this book. I saw it on the NY Times best seller list last year, which isn't common for a romance. Then, after seeing it stay there for a while, I read the description.Son of the US President falls for the Prince of England. Say what???So, initially, I thought, not for me. Not my thing. But, I kept seeing the title and became intrigued. Who wrote it? A man? A woman? I looked up the author who prefers the pronoun they, so my question went unanswered. But, did it matter? As an author myself, I've written from the male and female points of view (though I admit writing from the guy's perspective is harder for me.)Then, I wondered, how different is a guy-on-guy romance from a guy-on-gal romance? I know from seeing my gay friends, that the guys relate way differently from how my husband and I do. There's a roughness they have that I don't share with my spouse. I even remember asking who does what in the relationship. I mean, we don't strictly follow a normal gender roles, but I do the dishes. My husband handles the care maintenance. I asked my gay friend how they divided the labor and he said, “Whoever is better at something handles that task.”So, then, like most books, you need to do a little research about experiences you haven't lived in order to write the book. How did the female-looking author ([a:Casey McQuiston 17949486 Casey McQuiston https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1608160367p2/17949486.jpg]) research the intimate scenes? As a woman, I wouldn't have a clue how guys approach one another, get intimate, and even kiss. And then was the rest of the setting as well. I don't think the author ever lived in the White House or Kensington Palace.Well, it's all there in black and white if you want to know. I think from what I know, the author captured it well—and not just the sex. There's the politics, the royal protocol, and even the ins and outs of “The Residence” aka The White House living quarters. I'll say I learned a lot, again not just about sex. I found it unputdownable, always a positive quality in any book I read. If you're curious, like I was, give it a read.
3.5 stars, I'd say. It was much more thorough and meaningful than the movie. It was much smarter than I thought it was going to be too.
“Sería una mentira, porque no sería él.” It would be a lie, because it wouldn't be him.
what do you mean i can only rate this five stars?