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A review by lupetuple
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
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? It's complicated
2.0
I'll give it points in the entertainment department, particularly in the beginning, but it dove into inanity, and not the endearing kind of inanity, not the kind I can excuse or tolerate where it trivializes real-world issues.
It's strange to read, as a Mexican man specifically, so much enthusiasm toward reaching out to vulnerable populations by using one's upbringing and identity, when the United States is and always will be a parasitic empire. It's like a childlike positivity and hope that dresses up the horrors that empire is guilty of; yes, the book makes reference to and admonishes them on the part of both the United States and England, but it's as if redemption is possible, without an entire dissolution of both empires as a whole. It's like "the system just has to be replaced with the Most Diverse War Profiteers and Settler Colonists" essentially.
They really treat these atrocities as fun jokes at times, or like a didactic, let-me-get-on-my-soapbox sort of thing that has no impact because... well, they don't really want to destroy empire, do they? Only rid the legacy, and replace it with something better. But you still have empire! So I don't buy it, guys.
"Why can't you just enjoy the cute gay romcom?" Because this is how homonationalism thrives and tries to justify empire, only with a rainbow flag.
All this aside, a few characters struck me as maddeningly inconsistent, most notably being Alex's mom. June especially paints her as someone who took a utilitarian approach to parenting because of her career in politics, thus the tension within the family, but then whenAlex and Henry's affair is publicized as a sex scandal, she's suddenly super cool and won't dispose of her son and forces a meeting with the royal family, when earlier, she straight up fired him from the campaign when they hadn't even been outed? Huh? There was not a scene leading up to that development to make it believable.
Some characters veered toward racist stereotypes as well, such as Zahra, who McQuiston essentially writes as a mean, violent Black woman. Pez is the exotic Nigerian who is the fun of the party. The characters of color are largely without substance and are defined by those one-dimensional character traits.
Then I thought it descended into ultimate cheese in the endwhen the entire world starts shipping Alex and Henry as Han and Leia from Star Wars, a franchise I've come to loathe, which may be why I couldn't stand the representation.
I had the most fun reading the first half because I'm gay I guess, but I identified it as trash from the start... I stopped feeling entertained after that, when it became a slog of incomprehensible and shallow depictions of (the ever thrilling) US politicking, and doe-eyed repetitive expressions of love.
It's strange to read, as a Mexican man specifically, so much enthusiasm toward reaching out to vulnerable populations by using one's upbringing and identity, when the United States is and always will be a parasitic empire. It's like a childlike positivity and hope that dresses up the horrors that empire is guilty of; yes, the book makes reference to and admonishes them on the part of both the United States and England, but it's as if redemption is possible, without an entire dissolution of both empires as a whole. It's like "the system just has to be replaced with the Most Diverse War Profiteers and Settler Colonists" essentially.
They really treat these atrocities as fun jokes at times, or like a didactic, let-me-get-on-my-soapbox sort of thing that has no impact because... well, they don't really want to destroy empire, do they? Only rid the legacy, and replace it with something better. But you still have empire! So I don't buy it, guys.
"Why can't you just enjoy the cute gay romcom?" Because this is how homonationalism thrives and tries to justify empire, only with a rainbow flag.
All this aside, a few characters struck me as maddeningly inconsistent, most notably being Alex's mom. June especially paints her as someone who took a utilitarian approach to parenting because of her career in politics, thus the tension within the family, but then when
Some characters veered toward racist stereotypes as well, such as Zahra, who McQuiston essentially writes as a mean, violent Black woman. Pez is the exotic Nigerian who is the fun of the party. The characters of color are largely without substance and are defined by those one-dimensional character traits.
Then I thought it descended into ultimate cheese in the end
I had the most fun reading the first half because I'm gay I guess, but I identified it as trash from the start... I stopped feeling entertained after that, when it became a slog of incomprehensible and shallow depictions of (the ever thrilling) US politicking, and doe-eyed repetitive expressions of love.