Book Review #41: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Hello Dear Reader!

I know it’s been a really long time since I’ve written a book review. I think I took on more than I thought this semester, and it’s hitting me really hard. But have no fear! Welcome to my first book review in a few months, and I’m hoping to be able to allot more time to reading before the end of the year.

This time, I’ve got a traditionally published LGBTQ+ book for you, and it was actually recommended to me by a lovely friend of mine that I’m gonna call Cozie. She lent me a paperback copy of this book, and I absolutely loved it! But, before I get into it, here’s the back-cover summary: (from Goodreads)

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

That’s all for this back-cover summary!

Usually, I would say on to the review, but I am going to mention this review is going to be structured differently just because there are so many things about it that interlock. Instead of following the usual character, setting, story, things I didn’t like, then general summary, I’ll just be letting this flow from my fingertips without much thought.

Now, on to the review!

This story revolves around Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of the first female president of the United States, and his enemies-to-lovers romance with none other than Prince Henry of Britain. That alone should be very telling of the kind of drama this story gets into, but it’s actually quite light-hearted for the majority of the book. But, before I get into that, minor characters include Alex’s social media savvy and aspiring journalist sister June, absolute genius friend Nora, a secretary who doesn’t like to play named Zahra, a hard-working mother who’s also president of the U.S.A. Ellen, and a lot more.

Like, a lot more.

So many more that I probably won’t be mentioning any of the minor characters from this point on, because then this book review will be too long.

Anyway! Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is first and foremost a romantic comedy! The enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Alex and Henry was so entertaining to read. From them ruining Henry’s older brother’s wedding cake to the very end of the book, we see them progress slowly but surely in their relationship. Is there drama? Yes, but it feels like just the right amount of drama to me personally. Are there times where you want to scream at them for being annoying and making things more complicated? Yes, but not to the point where it’s unbearably so.

There are a few things about this book where I can see some people having a problem with, so let’s get into those.

With this book, I can’t talk about the romance without talking about the politics, and this is where things get a little… ehhhh. I don’t want to talk about this much because it’s a very touchy subject, but the political climate and the image surrounding the royal family seem very idealized and is based off on a lot of generalizations and stereotypes that make one party look like it’s made up of heroes and the other look like it’s made up of villains. If you’re someone who reads a book just to enjoy it and get away from the real world like me, you probably won’t mind this, but if you’re someone who tends to make connections between the themes of a book and the real world, then you probably won’t like this part of the book. ESPECIALLY if you follow politics really closely.

Another thing people may have a problem with is the humor in this book. There are some jokes and scenes that made me laugh out loud, which I absolutely love, but there were others that didn’t land for me. These others that didn’t land may be seen as rude or offensive depending on the person reading it, and Red, White & Royal Blue has quite a few of them.

There is also pretty strong sexual language in this book that may make people feel pretty uncomfortable. There are also quite the number of sexual scenes in this book. Were they graphic? No, but out of all the steamy ones I’ve read, this book definitely takes the cake when it comes to the sheer number of them. I think this book is viewed as a Young Adult novel, at least on Goodreads, but it is very much a New Adult novel with all the sexual content in it. So, long story short, if you don’t like a lot of steam in your sauna, then this book might not be for you.

Finally, I can also see people viewing the main characters as pretty annoying, which I find pretty funny because I’m pretty sure college-aged people (who aren’t me) typically act like how said college-aged characters do. Even I act like they do sometimes, but pretty rarely. I can even see how some people will view certain minor characters as stereotypes of groups of people they’re supposed to represent instead of fully-fleshed out characters.

All-in-all, every single aspect of this book is all up to the readers’ preferences. I also think it’s important to note that the author wrote this book in reaction to the results of the 2016 election, which I think helps explain why certain parties and people are framed the way they are.

Personally, I enjoyed this book. While it wasn’t the type of book I’d normally read, it was a very nice breath of fresh air, and it definitely got a few laughs out of me. Would I have liked it better without the parts of the story revolving around the presidential election? Yes, but I still found the story enjoyable overall.

So, Red, White, & Royal Blue rating:

4/5 and recommend for those of you who don’t mind romantic comedies steeped in politics. I know I say it like it’s a bad thing, but I am well aware that politics can be a very touchy subject depending on who you’re talking to. So, if you follow politics pretty heavily and would not appreciate generalizations and stereotypes being used, you probably won’t enjoy this book. If you’re like me and don’t have any problem separating fiction from reality, you probably won’t mind the politics as much. Still, if you want to try it, I recommend!

Thanks for reading!