Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

10 reviews

ethuiliel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Outing

Moderate: Biphobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

mxae's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.0

Not my favorite by the author but still very cute. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Violence

justreads93's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

Overall I like this book but I found it to be a very idealistic and simplistic look at politics. It really boils down to Democrats are good guys and Republicans are evil and there isn’t any more nuance than that. I know that this is a YA book so maybe that’s where the oversimplification is coming from? Overall I really like the characters and the story is very sweet but the ending feels a little too sweet and trite to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Violence

chaos_and_chapters's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Outing

Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

2blueshoes's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

Red White and Royal Blue is ostensibly a book about sex leading to falling in love, but if you read it carefully, it becomes obvious it’s really the other way around. Love is there from the very beginning, in a way that makes a story about two teenage boys into something much bigger, more hopeful, and at times more heartbreaking. 

McQuiston somehow manages to gift her readers the same hazy, lovesick binoculars as Alex: somewhere in the distance we know democracies are churning apart, but in this moment all we can think about is Henry, and what stupid thing he’ll say, and the next time they’ll be together. 

There’s so much to enjoy about this book: the imperfect yet lovable cast of characters, the witty banter liberally splashed with millenial-isms, the side splitting e-mail exchanges… the queer historical post scripts. The writing is surprisingly lush and atmospheric for a story that takes place in only a few settings, and mostly indoors. Most of all, it’s unusual to find a gay romance that is both silly and self assured. I loved it for this reason over any other. 

More than anything, this book made me ache for a world that only felt possible in 2016: a world where we believed a mixed race divorced family could live in the White House, where a moral scandal could actually hamper a determined presidential candidate, where an archaic monarchy was not in bed with the Daily Mail, and a year 2020 when we were not in a pandemic. Perhaps McQuinston has written the new romance trope ending we all needed (achievable or not) - where two imperfect characters fall in love, not happily ever after, but in a way where their love might just change the world. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use and Violence

cdoubet's review against another edition

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

taylorsevalia's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Homophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

gailsage_thomps's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Outing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? No

5.0

I've heard so much about this book and was a little worried it couldn't live up to the hype--but oh my gosh, I loved it. This book is everything people keep saying it is, and everything I wanted it to be. I felt so many things while reading this, and I felt so seen. I would really recommend Red, White & Royal Blue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, and Outing

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

readerette's review

emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fun and sweet with a romance that follows typical patterns while avoiding shallow characters, pornographic descriptions, plot armor, and overly dramatic twists (despite the story's backdrop of US and international politics). This is also one of the funniest books I have read in quite some time. It reminds me of Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series without the magic and space opera.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent