Red, White and Royal Blue

Saw an Instagram reel, went to find the movie. Came back to reread the book. And I don't generally read romances but something about the intensity of emotions here blew me away. Give me more of people writing love-letters quoting other people's love letters, please. A little idealistic, perhaps, but sometimes that's why we come to fiction. I hope the author writes a sequel.P.S: The Han and Leia mural should absolutely have been in the movie. (Loved the movie too, but that's a different review)

This was a truly wonderful read, if you need a piece of literature that will make you warm and happy on the inside, I wholeheartedly recommend picking up this book!

The book was really good but the print was a little faulty at pages but the book wasn't damaged.the packaging was quite nice

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I liked every single thing about the story. From the starting to the end the story is very gripping and amazing. Well written and worth reading...

The only qualm I have about this book is that the first chapter wasn’t good.It read like a bad wattpad book and rattled the expectations I had from the hype surrounding the book.And then, it took me on the most fantastic rollercoaster of emotions that left me curled up in my bed, clutching my kindle to my heart. All because of Alex and Henry.This book tugs at your heart, creeping in slowly like a puppy who only wants to be loved and in a matter of minutes, you come to this realization that you will go above and beyond for the puppy.I am not a fan of enemy-to-lover relationships. Not sure why but I’ve never seen a realistic one that I could really buy. But this just knocked that dislike out of the ballpark and turned me into a fan.(From this point on, there are very mild spoilers)I shipped them the second they started bickering. Alex with his stupid ‘I secretly have a crush on you but will pretend to hate you’ remarks and Henry with his ‘I’m supposed to be stoic but you’re so freaking cute’. They made me laugh so hard, especially when they had to pretend to be friends and then when they realized they’d actually become friends. That scene with the turkeys left me gasping for air because it was just so hilarious.The progression of their relationship was so well-done, especially with how they slowly came to a point where they were just comfortable being themselves with each other. And this was all without them even meeting.And when they were going to meet again, I was clutching at my pearls with excitement. When I tell you that this book took me back to when I was a thirteen year old obsessed with reading, it was amazing how, as an adult, it is now rare that I find a gem of a book that leaves me sleepless, unproductive, and unwilling to do anything except reading.My final note: those emails were the DEATH of me. Every chapter in the second half made me emotional and I will die for Henry and Alex. I will die for them.

Page quality is very poor.

“Red, White, and Royal Blue” has been in my TBR since I decided to jump back into reading at the beginning of this year. I've been a sucker for "White House-related” romances since I can remember and this book drew me in like a magnet. But I'm a fantasy junky so I didn't pick up the book until the first trailer for a “RWARB" movie came forth from Amazon Prime.Fast forward two days before the movie comes out. I had just finished reading another fantasy book and after much debate, I decided I wanted to read the book before watching the movie. So I proceeded to do nothing other than work and come home to completely devour this book.By the end of chapter one, I was hooked. This book is unapologetically funny, I've never laughed harder while reading a book, every other page if not every single page. Even the sad or slower pages had me screaming laughter. Casey's comic timing deserves a medal, truly spot on *chef's kiss*.As for her charters, Alex is PERFECT!!! His internal battle over Henry, over his sexuality, over his career, is so painfully real. He's so relatable. His charm and personality which he's built over the years, are clearly built for others, not himself. Henry is DREAMY and also painfully perfectly imperfect. Always wearing a shield his family build so no one sees him for who he truly is. Alex being the only person who's broken the shield, finally seeing him the true Henry, not what the royal crown has created of him. I love how hard yet easy it was for them to learn how to take care of and love each other. Henry's anxiety and ticks, Alex's trauma responses. The plot twists are truly delicious. A bit predictable but in the best way possible.Alex, June, and Nora will forever be one of my comfort trios. How they complete each other. How they protect each other. Each one having a role they play so beautifully it should be a sin. June's relationship with Alex is everything a sibling should aspire to have with their sister or brother. Nora is the kind of best friend everyone wishes they had but is incredibly hard to find in this world. Nora with the emails killed me. Luna and Nora completely sneaked up on me in that chapter but filled my heart with so much joy and love knowing it was Luna, I almost cried.Speaking of which, can we just talk about the diversity of this book? Holy crap! Casey truly didn't hold back. Alexander, named after Alexander Hamilton, the mixed son of the first divorced, Woman President of the United States of America. One of Alex's mentors, Raphael Luna, is an openly gay senator who's also Hispanic. How unapologetically strong Zarah, the president’s Chief of Staff. All these people strong and beautiful and portrayed as they should be. All the mentions of gay, bi, etc characters. Nora, Bea, Liam, etc. Again, Perfect.Is there a little bit of spicy? yes. Is it tasteful? absolutely. I read this book with the audible narrator (which I 1,000% recommend, he's brilliant) and it made the experience 10x better. Nothing was overly explained, They came together and they made love, simple as that. In more words obviously but you get my point. Not really smut, more sensual than sexual. I love smut but this was beautiful and exactly what it needed to be.It's almost impossible to put into words how beautifully rich this book is. In story. In love. Inequality. The way the story unfolds reminds me of aged fine whisky, smooth and rich in flavor. Pacing, like the majority of this book, was spot on as well. I was never bored or trying to look ahead, it was incredibly well-paced so I was just living in the moment. Enjoying every page, paragraph, and sentence. Without much effort at all, this book has become hands down my comfort read of 2023, possibly my comfort book forever.If you decided not to read this whole thing, I understand, it’s a lot. And it’s more for me than it honestly is for you. But, nonetheless, at least read this sentence. Take this one thing with you. It’s worth it, read it. Enjoy it. Devour it. You won’t regret it!

First things first: I haven’t seen the movie. I’m dying to, but I don’t have Amazon Prime Video. I saw the trailer and several other promotional clips for the movie, so based on that, it looks to me like the film tracks the book pretty faithfully.I read the ebook the other night. I had planned to read a few chapters, then sleep, and resume reading the next day. The book would not allow me that luxury.I’m not going to go through this enemies to lovers romance in minute detail. For that, you need to do what you should already have done or have on your “To Do” List: Read the book. Whether you’ve seen the movie or are planning to see it (or not), if you enjoy a good romantic comedy, you owe it to yourself to READ THIS BOOK!The story unfolds at a perfect “can’t stop reading” pace. The meeting at the Royal Wedding – featured prominently in the trailer for the movie – is a classic bit in the book. The scene reminds me of old-time slapstick humor – think Marx brothers or Red Skelton or Lucy (if you’re my age or love old TV), but with a definite modern twist to it.The American half of the central couple goes from clueless and confused to hopelessly in love over the course of the book. It’s around 400 pages, which is huge for a romance novel, but it moves so fast you don’t feel like you’re reading “War and Peace” or “Moby Dick.” There are all kinds of sly references to current political situations, without being overtly political. You don’t feel a sense of politicization so much as a feeling of “nice touch, pointing out that craziness.”Yes, there is a definite sense of craziness; there’s a Presidential election going on in America, and Alex, the “first son” who falls for the heir to the British throne, wants to help his mother get re-elected as the first woman president. Meanwhile, across the pond, Henry, the English half of the central couple, has to deal with his “gram” the Queen, here named Mary. She’s a traditionalist in her 80s who wants Henry to find a “suitable” woman to marry and “produce heirs” as is his duty to the Crown. Some job description, huh?There’s the bones of the story. At first Alex and Henry seem to hate each other…. Then they don’t.I’m giving this book five stars, and I'd give it more if I could.

4 stars 2.5 spiceSo I started reading this because the film came out. It was on my radar before but I didn't really think to read it until I realised the film came out and I hadn't read the book so with a little peer pressure I read it and these are my thoughts.The plotThis book starts off with Alex the first son of the USA ( the presidents son if you didint know) and Henry the Prince of England who have this rivalry thing going on. So this is an enemies to lovers trope however if you read it then you know this doenst really last long. Anyway after a public scandle these two have to fake being best friends which leads to them eventually becoming more than friends.... you know.Now my thoughts. I loved the relationship in this is was so sweet exactly what I wanted and some of the scenes in this book had me tearing up and their timeline was also perfect. The individual characters as well just amazing. With all of that this book is written in third person so it can be quite hard to follow along with and understand what's going on and when there's dialogue who's speaking. I also didn't really like the politics in this book. The politics to relationship ratio is like 40:60 so it isn't the entire book but still takes up a good chunk. Now ✨️the spice✨️ if you could call it that. I've read quite a lot of spice in books and I can say this is the strangest spice I've ever read becuse it's more descriptive than graphic and since it's written in third person you don't really get a sence on what they're feeling and thinking.Overall I really enjoyed this book and when I watched the film and realised how people felt when they watched Harry Potter slightly disappointed excited and confused.

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the First Son of the United States, and he hates Henry, His Royal Highness, the Prince of England. They hate each other so much that they ruin a Royal Wedding. But neither the President or the Monarchy want bad press, so Alex and Henry are forced to pretend to be friends. They don’t have to pretend for long. They do, however, have to pretend they’re nothing more. Honestly, this is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read, it’s a beautiful story, it’s amazing representation for the LGBTQ+ community, it discusses serious topics like racism and sexism and homophobia and addiction and grief, it has everything and I am a different person now that I’ve read it. My favourite character is Alex Claremont-Diaz and my least favourite character is Jeffery Richards. I recommend this book because it’s one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. It captures a lot of the queer experience while simultaneously discussing other societal issues and representing a lot of marginalised groups and it means so much to me that this book does that. I couldn’t choose a favourite quote so here’s two: ‘But the first time I saw you. Rio. I took that down to the gardens. I pressed it into the leaves of a silver maple and recited it to the Waterloo Vase. It didn’t fit in any rooms.’ & ‘But I’ve kissed your mouth, that corner, that place it goes, so many times now. I’ve memorised it. Topography on the map of you, a world I’m still charting. I know it. I added it to the key. Here: inches to miles. I can multiply it out, read your latitude and longitude. Recite your coordinates like la rosaria.’

Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston an overall rating of 4.5/5. It was a really cute queer narrative. You’ll be led to believe it’s an enemies to fake friends to lovers but the reality is so much better cause we’re reminded yet again that men are dumb and communication is truly key b/c turns out that Alex and Henry are down bad for each since the beginning. The Prince of England and The First Son of The Untied states enter a secret love affair after they’re forced to pretend to be friends as a result of an altercation and need to show the world that they in fact don’t hate each other. Through their time together Alex comes to the conclusion that Henry is not that bad and is quite layered and although he still thinks he’s perfect there’s more to him than the image he’s built and so romance ensues. The book offers political commentary, Queer character diversity, conversations on race power dynamics, political controversies, abuse of power, political drama, and contemporary references. It reads like a fanfic and i don’t think that’s a bad thing but also y’all need to remember it’s fiction b/c the characters can be eccentric and chaotic at times and I think some of those aspects make them love able but unrealistic. The writing style makes it and easy read keeping the reader entertained and makes you want to keep reading. The romance aspect of it was so cute, grossly from flying to London to confess your love to incognito meet ups or the use of romantic letters and e-mails that really should not be had on a government server, to scenes of intamacy. The spicy scenes I think were tame but also I think a person perception of Queer sex might make that debatable. I honestly found myself laughing and giggling at times and full disclosure thinking awww that’s so cute I hate loveI do have criticism but not in a cancel the author way. The political commentary at times was cringe b/c valid commentary but it seemed out of place, awkward, and very your preaching to the choir. The politics aspect of it was iffy in general. Alex talks about nepotism but then dude walks into any senators office and is an analyst for his moms campaign like can’t criticize the system and then benefit from it. I liked that McQuiston had diverse characters however it seemed like we were reminded at awkward times that Alex was Mexican or mixed race and some narrative were promoted that could be harmful well they are . POC people trying to take over government like yes it’s true but keep it down low they’ll figure it out Jk. But that’s an actual conservative narrative and it helps promote gerrymandering. Also the awkward use of Spanish at awkward times like it didn’t fit the setting or context. This isn’t a criticism of was Alex Latin enough it’s more of like if you’re gonna do it at least have someone take a glance maybe more than one. Also intersectionality is a thing so consider that. But overall I really did love it and it was cute.