Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

29 reviews

lunep's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Alcohol, Addiction, Mental illness, Cursing, Drug use, Cancer, Outing, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual content, Gaslighting, Grief, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Racism

Minor: Colonisation, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Stalking, Sexual assault, Classism, Biphobia, Incest, Genocide, and Slavery

jasmineslibraryy's review

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

Minor: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Rape

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: Sexual content, Outing, and Panic attacks/disorders

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

Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, and Abandonment

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

strixy16's review

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: Alcohol, Cursing, Outing, and Sexual content

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

Minor: Abandonment and Cancer

akvolcano's review

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

rubyduller's review

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

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: Sexual content, Outing, and Homophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Racism, and Biphobia

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

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

Spoiler

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: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Homophobia

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

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

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

cultbyproxy's review

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: Homophobia, Biphobia, and Death of parent

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