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clara_h39's review against another edition
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
5.0
This book is one of the few BookTok books that deserves all of the hype. Genuinely one of the best written contemporary novels I’ve read this year; the author has a beautiful way with words, humor and wit, emotional vulnerability, and the ability to keep me on the edge of my seat reading about politics for gods sake. Henry and Alex and the supporting characters are wonderfully fleshed out; very realistic relationship and sexuality development. A MUST READ!!! And likely will reread time and time again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
itsjayprobaby's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
This is the book I needed to read years ago, back when I was a teenager struggling with my sexuality and gender identity. Now, a couple of months off thirty, this book felt healing.
A queer love story with believable, lovable, complex characters that takes balances just the right mix of drama and heartache and joy and hope.
There is definitely some reliance on predictable romance tropes, but I found it nice to view them from a queer perspective, and smiled and laughed and cried along with Alex and Henry the whole way through.
It's lovely to read a book that provides inclusion to so many without making it feel tokenistic, and where the queer characters get a happy ending.
Is it a literary masterpiece? No. But it's well written all the same, and culturally so important for all the young queer people out there that I can't give it anything less than 5*
A queer love story with believable, lovable, complex characters that takes balances just the right mix of drama and heartache and joy and hope.
There is definitely some reliance on predictable romance tropes, but I found it nice to view them from a queer perspective, and smiled and laughed and cried along with Alex and Henry the whole way through.
It's lovely to read a book that provides inclusion to so many without making it feel tokenistic, and where the queer characters get a happy ending.
Is it a literary masterpiece? No. But it's well written all the same, and culturally so important for all the young queer people out there that I can't give it anything less than 5*
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence
dolphinchick93's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Outing
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Grief
Minor: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
relapsedheretic's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
Few books make me actually laugh out loud. But this one did. And I even learnt a thing or two, which I always love
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Outing, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
abicaro17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
This is terrific! I am always skeptical of popular books because some are terrible but this proves that some are amazing! Alex is the biracial son of the first female president of the US. He hates Henry, Prince of Whales with a passion. When they get into a fight at his brother's wedding, Henry is forced to make nice in public with Alex. As they grow closer and become friends, feelings come to the surface as both boys struggle with being public political figures. I adored the banter and realistic personalities of both boys. I think the political aspect was well handled and the chemistry between both boys was incredible. I am so glad I read this and I can't wait to watch the movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Death of parent, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
kylegray20's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A fun and easy to follow read for the most part. Character development is there, but it could be stronger. Plot felt like a lot of low-hanging fruit, as if anyone could have mapped out how the flow of the book was going to go.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Biphobia, Cancer, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
tmchopra's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Outing
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Religious bigotry and Abandonment
azileotulp's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is the second time I've tried to read this book. The first time I stopped about 100 pages in. While I made it through this time, it was still definitely a struggle to get into it. As a whole, I would say I liked the book, but it has a few issues that are definitely holding it back for me.
First big issue: POV. I genuinely cannot fathom why this book was written in the third person. Don't get me wrong, I can really appreciate a third person book (although I typically prefer first person). In fact, two of my favorite books of all time are in the third person. However, it just did not work in this book. I just feel like third person perspectives in romances don't work for me at all. (Do you know how many times I had to read the words "Alex" and "Henry" on each page because the word "he" couldn't be used?) I think the novel would have worked a lot better and been easier to get into if it had been in the first person. It would be even better if it had been dual POV. I'm not just saying that because I love a good dual POV book, but I think it also would have prevented the book from dragging, which it did in a lot of places.
Second big issue: Characters. My favorite part of romance is falling in love with the characters, which I usually find very easy to do. By the end of this book, I only really loved one character (Henry <3) and liked two others (June and Alex). I don't really hate any of the other characters (except Richards, of course), but I'm just totally neutral on them. I feel like there were just too many of them to be honest. There were multiple instances where the book was discussing certain characters that I had to really rack my brain to try to remember. I feel like this is another reason the first person POV would have worked better for me. I feel like it's a lot easier to love characters when you're inside the mind of someone who does.
Third big issue: Smut. I swear this book has some of the most confusing smut I've ever read. Now, it's not like I actively wanted there to be super graphic smut. I'm really not a huge fan of it in general, so I won't seek out books that contain it, but I also won't avoid it if it's there. My real issue is that it seemed like this book couldn't decide if it wanted to be Young Adult or New Adult, and the smut teeters on the line between those two. It just frustrates me that it was far too explicit to actually be a Young Adult book, but not explicit enough for it to be understandable. It felt like every action that happened was stated so vaguely that I couldn't even imagine the scene. Every time I got to a smut scene, I had to read it at least three times before I could at least kind of form a picture of what was going on, and eventually I just stopped trying.
Those are the main things I would say hold the book back. There are definitely others,like the lack of resolution for June's storyline with either Pez or Nora and the very dumb reason Alex hated Henry but none of them were as bad as the three I listed above. But of course, I didn't hate this book: I gave it a 3.5. (Anything higher than a 3 is a book I consider to be at least okay.) So, what did it have going for it that made up for the previously mentioned issues?
First big strength: Humor. This is actually one of the funniest romances I've ever read. Other romance books usually get an exhale out of me, but very rarely an actual laugh. This book made me genuinely laugh twice. That might not sound like a lot to other people, but it definitely is for me. I feel like the characters played off of each other really well, and there were just a lot of scenarios that led to some really funny moments.My favorite moment is after Alex comes out to his mom (which includes telling her about him and Henry) and she makes a whole presentation about it. I actually died.
Second big strength: The last quarter. So, you know how I said this book was really hard to get into? That includes a lot of the middle section unfortunately. However, when there were about 100 pages left, theouting storyline really caught my attention. It had me really questioning how the emails got out. Did Rafael actually betray Alex? How would Ellen deal with the aftermath? How would Queen Mary? It was totally captivating and made up for a lot of the boredom I felt during the rest of the book.
Overall, this definitely isn't one of the best books I've read. It's not even close. That being said, it's very charming in a lot of ways and I can definitely see why so many people love it. If you think you can get past the issues I talked about, then this could very well be a great book for you.
First big issue: POV. I genuinely cannot fathom why this book was written in the third person. Don't get me wrong, I can really appreciate a third person book (although I typically prefer first person). In fact, two of my favorite books of all time are in the third person. However, it just did not work in this book. I just feel like third person perspectives in romances don't work for me at all. (Do you know how many times I had to read the words "Alex" and "Henry" on each page because the word "he" couldn't be used?) I think the novel would have worked a lot better and been easier to get into if it had been in the first person. It would be even better if it had been dual POV. I'm not just saying that because I love a good dual POV book, but I think it also would have prevented the book from dragging, which it did in a lot of places.
Second big issue: Characters. My favorite part of romance is falling in love with the characters, which I usually find very easy to do. By the end of this book, I only really loved one character (Henry <3) and liked two others (June and Alex). I don't really hate any of the other characters (except Richards, of course), but I'm just totally neutral on them. I feel like there were just too many of them to be honest. There were multiple instances where the book was discussing certain characters that I had to really rack my brain to try to remember. I feel like this is another reason the first person POV would have worked better for me. I feel like it's a lot easier to love characters when you're inside the mind of someone who does.
Third big issue: Smut. I swear this book has some of the most confusing smut I've ever read. Now, it's not like I actively wanted there to be super graphic smut. I'm really not a huge fan of it in general, so I won't seek out books that contain it, but I also won't avoid it if it's there. My real issue is that it seemed like this book couldn't decide if it wanted to be Young Adult or New Adult, and the smut teeters on the line between those two. It just frustrates me that it was far too explicit to actually be a Young Adult book, but not explicit enough for it to be understandable. It felt like every action that happened was stated so vaguely that I couldn't even imagine the scene. Every time I got to a smut scene, I had to read it at least three times before I could at least kind of form a picture of what was going on, and eventually I just stopped trying.
Those are the main things I would say hold the book back. There are definitely others,
First big strength: Humor. This is actually one of the funniest romances I've ever read. Other romance books usually get an exhale out of me, but very rarely an actual laugh. This book made me genuinely laugh twice. That might not sound like a lot to other people, but it definitely is for me. I feel like the characters played off of each other really well, and there were just a lot of scenarios that led to some really funny moments.
Second big strength: The last quarter. So, you know how I said this book was really hard to get into? That includes a lot of the middle section unfortunately. However, when there were about 100 pages left, the
Overall, this definitely isn't one of the best books I've read. It's not even close. That being said, it's very charming in a lot of ways and I can definitely see why so many people love it. If you think you can get past the issues I talked about, then this could very well be a great book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
maggiegirouard's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
FUCK THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD IT HURTS MY HEART IS SWELLING WITH THE EMOTION OF IT
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing
Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment
fierygecko's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
This book made me laugh and cry more than I expected it would. The characters are lovable and very real. The relationships they have with each other feel equally as real. The book starts off as a hilarious slice-of-life and very quickly becomes an emotional romantic rollercoaster with a healthy side of red-string-on-a-corkboard politics. Both moods of the story are fantastic. The only thing I didn’t love about this book was how long the chapters were; rarely was I able to read an entire chapter in one sitting. But the story flows well enough that it doesn’t really matter. I honestly just had a really great time reading this book. I went in with no expectations and before I was finished I knew it was getting five stars. Even just for Alex’s incredibly judgy metaphors about European politics and Henry’s equally creative clapbacks about American government in the first few chapters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual assault and War