Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

39 reviews

jasmineslibraryy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

i'm so glad i've FINALLY gotten around to reading this book!

i thought it was adorable. alex & henry are adorable. i also adore the women of this book so much. june, nora, bea all truly deserve the world. 

i do wish this book was faster in the beginning. it feels like it started off slow and then picked up a lot of speed towards the end instead of having one even pace. i also think rafael luna did not deserve forgiveness. i do not like him. i sympathize with his backstory but good lord i wish alex and his family didn't forgive him. it didn't make any sense to me.

overall, i would recommend this book mostly for the romance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

lambclown's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Outing

Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

I wanted to read something lighthearted and cheesy, and this was just that. not much else to it lol

strixy16's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Outing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer and Abandonment

akvolcano's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is not the review this book deserves-if you want a lovely, sweet queer love book to read, this is for you! Absolutely the fluff I needed in my life.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

rubyduller's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Abandonment

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Outing

Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, and Racism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is my first book from Casey and I must say, it didn't disappoint. I love Alex's smart mouth and the fact that he was named after Hamilton was awesome (I'm a big fan of the musical.) The enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and royal tropes were neatly done. Henry was charming and interesting. Every character from Alex's side was amazing. I'm so sad about Raf's experience. I can truly say that the world today is more open-minded about queer people today more than ever. I also love that there was a "we against the world" type of feeling. Damn, the monarch was cruel at the least, but I'm happy that most of Henry's family members were supportive of him. Oh, Zahra, my girl, you are my spirit animal❤️ Btw, I was surprised a bit that this was spicy; I devoured every bit nonetheless. Overall, I love that this is about family, friendship, and love. I'll read all your books, Casey, that's for sure✨ P. S. I'm super excited to see the movie adaptation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

katyfayyyx's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Make America Gay Again! 🌈

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Outing

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

cultbyproxy's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“Seventy-eight percent probability of latent bisexual tendencies”

I read this book in just over 4 straight (hehe) hours and absolutely did not regret a single minute. From the second we were introduced to Alex and Henry and thrown into their world of politics, diplomacy and rivalry, there was no doubt in my mind that it was going to be a fun ride. 

The pacing of the book felt rather rushed to me, with no room for actual tension to build and the characters establishing a friendship/relationship rather quickly (so much for slow-burn enemies to lovers); however outside of that, and the very graphic sexual content — am I turning into a prude? what happened to my wattpad era self? — there was so much to love about this book. The camaraderie between the White House Trio — Alex, Nora and June — brought the perfect amount of comedic relief that had me outwardly laughing, and enough deep meaningful conversations to have me crying, and internally screaming at the characters to get their shit together and release themselves from the shackles of familial obligation! 

“That kind of love is rare, even if it was a complete disaster.” He sucks his teeth, considering. “Sometimes you just jump and hope it’s not a cliff.”

The conversations around sexuality and self exploration between all the characters in the midst of a fiery presidential election campaign allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of them, but also ourselves as a society (particularly those had between Alex and Nora, his father Oscar, and his mentor Rafael Luna). The comparisons between American and British culture, politics and history brought about many laughs and the integration of literature and historical love letters via email exchanges between Alex and Henry left my heart souring. Overall, I am glad the movie adaptation trailer convinced me to immediately start reading. 

I have closed this book with one simple takeaway. A concept that has changed history, changed lives and keeps me hopeful for all of us little queer hopefuls…

“Love is indomitable.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing and Abandonment

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Stalking

illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

After the last book I low key hated I kinda needed something to fix my reading mood so I grabbed this (lol reading this while the coronation of a new british king was happening was lowkey funny). It's lighthearted fun. I don't feel i will be obsessed with it like the others. Will not think it to be top 10 best lgbt books or anything. The comparisons to Young Royals now feel a bit insulting to young royals since I feel like they've been handling the topic better. Like it's clearly a book that's written in reaction to 2016 election. If it was straight I would call it trashy romance book but of course because it's gay that's a level that elevates it.  I enjoyed it a lot but just don't consider it some great quality of writing.
In any case it did it's job. It did what it was supposed to do

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism