Review | Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston ★★★★★

“Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some.”

A beautiful and funny debut about love, friendship and politics

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This book is truly fantastic. Red, white & royal blue had been on my wish list for a while. I had already heard countless good things about the book. I can now finally confirm that all the great things you have heard about this story are true. I have to smile spontaneously when I think of Red, White & Royal, and Alex and Henry. There are so many words I know, but none of them can describe exactly how wonderful, sincere and beautiful I find this story.

Synopsis
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. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

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. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you? 

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This cover is fun, but simple. The baby pink color of the cover makes the book stand out and you want to pull it off the shelf.

Well, I’m not very good at writing reviews on books that I think are absolutely fantastic. Usually there is something that I don’t like and then I can explain it extensively. With Red, White & Royal Blue, there isn’t really anything I didn’t like. The only thing I could possibly say is that the chapters are very long. This can be a bit tricky for people (like myself) who read late at night and don’t want to put the book down until the chapter is finished. Furthermore, I really cannot say anything negative about Red, White & Royal Blue.

I would give my life for Henry, Alex, Nora, June and Bea. What fun and realistic characters! McQuiston makes sure you learn everything about these characters. Throughout the book you will learn interesting facts about Henry and Alex, which makes you kind of befriend them. After 10 pages you start caring about Alex and June and you are curious about what will happen to them next.

“That’s the choice. I love him, with all that, because of all that. On purpose. I love him on purpose.”

McQuiston’s writing style is really enjoyable to follow. In the book there are about 15 chapters which isn’t a lot for a 400-page book. But the author keeps the reader’s attention by showing the text messages and emails Alex and Henry exchange. This only makes the story even smoother. There are also so many different storylines in Red, White and Royal Blue. The main storyline, of course, is the First Son and the Prince of Wales

Not only is the book very well constructed and does it have really fun characters, the book is also very important. There aren’t many well-known books in which the main character is gay or bi. The most famous example is Love, Simon (which is also a great book by the way) but otherwise I cannot really name another book. There needs to be more literature for people from the LGBTQ + community. Don’t get me wrong, the representation in books has gotten much better in the last ten years. There is usually at least one character in a book that is not straight, but that person is almost never the main character. I am glad this book has become so popular, because it is well deserved!

Would I recommend the book?
Yes, without a doubt! I am also looking forward to Casey McQuiston’s next book “One Last Stop”.

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Trigger warnings
Addiction, alcohol, anxiety, blackmail, cancer (mentioned), death (parental, mentioned), drug abuse (mentioned), forced outing, grief, homophobia, invasion/violation of privacy, neglect (parental), panic attack, politics, racism, sexual abuse, sexual harassment (mentioned), sexually explicit scenes
Representation
Characters of color (half Mexican), m/m romance, gay character, bisexual character, trans background character
Genre
Contemporary, New Adult, LGBTQ+
Publication date
May 14, 2019
Publisher
St. Martin’s Griffin
About the author
Casey McQuiston grew up in the swamps of Southern Louisiana, where she cultivated an love for biscuits and stories with big, beating hearts. She lives in the mountains of Northern Colorado, with a collection of jean jackets and her poodle mix, Pepper.