Book Reviews/ September 6, 2023October 8, 2023

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston Book Review

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Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Blurb

What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

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 colors shine through? Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn’t always diplomatic.

Sensitive Content

Here is the potentially sensitive content I observed while reading this book:

Alcohol
Bullying
Cancer
Death of a parent
Drug/ Drug use
Emotional Abuse
Grief
Homophobia
Misogyny
Outing
Panic Attacks
Profanity
Racism
Sexual Content
Stalkiing

Ratings

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There are possible **SPOILERS** beyond this point!

Overall Rating

3.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Red, White and Royal Blue was a bit of a slow start for me but at about 30%, I started to really get into the story! I am a huge fan of forbidden love and this pairing doesn’t get more forbidden: US President’s son and the Prince of Wales. It was super cute! I loved how bright and fun Alex is. He’s always got something quick to say and I laughed at his narrative quite a bit. Henry took some time for me to come around to but his story was an interesting look at grief/mental health and also family pressures especially when it comes to being open about his sexuality. Their secret meetings and dates, as well as, the supporting characters kept me interested.

Alex and I were literally on the same page about Henry’s polo outfit! I’m sure there other thoughts but that one is sufficient right now. The emails they exchanged in this story made me love these characters so much. The PS quotes just had me swooning! I love a forbidden romance and theirs is probably as forbidden as it gets! I loved their special meetings and the love that blossomed between them.

But I was bored to tears when Alex and Henry weren’t together. I’m not at all interested in politics enough to enjoy a lot of what makes this book good for many other readers who have recommended this story to me. 😕 Though the romance aspects of this were very enjoyable there is a lot of political content though it doesn’t outweigh the romance plot.

I would recommend this story to others as it was very entertaining. I also would recommend the movie as well! I found it to be more enjoyable than the book in this case. It is definitely worth a read if you’ve been thinking about this story!