![]() ![]() I just don’t enjoy reading long exchanges in an epistolary format, and there’s a lot of that here (including a podcast). My only caveat to that is a personal one, in that so much of their relationship takes place via text message and email and I have a pet peeve about that. If you extracted the romance alone from the story, it would’ve been an A+, hands down. It felt realistically like young love – all uncertainty and newness and excitement. The boys falling for each other is stellar, and I’d recommend the book to anyone just for their relationship. Henry is almost the opposite in that he’s cautious and thinks his fate is predetermined by birth, but longs for relationships with anyone who can deeply understand him. Alex comes off as someone young and probably reckless who isn’t sure where he wants to be, but he’s very rooted to the people in his life. Really, the whole cast of the book is fantastic. ![]() Alex and Henry are both adorable, well-rounded characters that I loved. Now, once the romance sparked, it was lovely. I do wonder if the whole book will feel terribly dated in a very short time. It gave the story a weird feel of both existing exactly in our current time, and also being eerily so not our current political climate (politics plays a large part in the story) that I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. The humor, cultural references, and general style of dialogue between Alex, his sister June, and friend Nora is like someone was screaming ‘We’re youths!!!’ and the humor was at times funny and at others just plain forced. I don’t think I’d be wrong to say this book is very ‘millennial’. At the same time, I had to adjust some to the voice. Alex and Henry spend ages on opposite sides of the Atlantic, with only tiny interactions, and I was impatient for the romance to start. If you look at the page count, maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise because it’s pretty long for a romantic comedy. I was incredibly excited for it based on the premise, but it’s a slow starter. To be honest, the book almost lost me in the setup. Red, White, & Royal Blue advertises itself as an enemies-to-lovers romance, but really the flares of annoyance between Alex and Henry burn out fast, and soon they’re texting late at night and getting to know each other as people, not just political figureheads. ![]() The idea is that they’ll pretend to be friends, show up to some events together, get photographed, and it will smooth over any ruffles. Unfortunately, he has a bad run in with His Royal Highness, Prince Henry of Wales (yes, not Harry) at a royal wedding and now needs to do damage control for the sake of US/UK international relations. who has made a name for himself as part of his mom’s political team. In this more dayglow world, Claremont’s son Alex Claremont-Diaz is an up-and-comer in D.C. The story takes place in what is essentially an alternate universe where the 2016 election was won by a Texas democrat named Ellen Claremont, and across the pond an entirely different royal family is ruling England (but Brexit is still a thing). While McQuiston’s début has a lot of charm going for it, and was a pleasure to read at times, I can’t say it’s a perfect book. There are already legions of fans to gush about how amazing Red, White, & Royal Blue is, and dissenting from that opinion always seems a little uncomfortable, but I must. Reviewing a book with this much hype and buzz pre-release almost makes me want to… not. ![]()
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