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A review by mappy
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
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? It's complicated
2.5
Meh. I can see why people love this - it's perfect for escaping into a reality where complex societal structures are snapshotted into a liberal fantasy where the right people are in the right positions of power at the right time, and just happen to fall in love.
I'm far from a literature snob. But! There's disconnect between the way this novel doesn't hold back on political commentary while describing a love story between two very idealised characters. The characters are portrayed as having very palatable flaws but lack any complex belief systems - which is downright unbelievable when reflecting on issues like a character's colonial heritage and position of power as a member of the British Royal family. Instead, we are shown a big, bad matriarch with outdated beliefs who somehow failed to pass even a guilty murmur of those beliefs onto the majority of her very privileged heirs. Huh?
Every character here feels sanitised into black and white, redeemable and irredeemable. You probably won't enjoy this too much if you don't have a similar moral outlook and would be more satisfied to see characters unpicking their problematic beliefs. I think this is primarily an issue here because the hook - First Son falls in love with British Heir - feels quite gimmicky without all of the internal baggage that comes with those positions.
I was also extremely irked by offhand comments about certain issues that deserve more nuance, which don't really develop characters or serve the plot in any way. It made it REALLY hard to kill the author at times.
That said, there is external baggage galore and I think the trials of public scrutiny were interesting to read, if again slightly unbelievable. It's refreshing to see two love Interests who don't waver in the security of their feelings for each other, even when the security of their relationship is at stake, and to feel like the two protagonists are their own people outside of the love story and their other half.
I'm far from a literature snob. But! There's disconnect between the way this novel doesn't hold back on political commentary while describing a love story between two very idealised characters. The characters are portrayed as having very palatable flaws but lack any complex belief systems - which is downright unbelievable when reflecting on issues like a character's colonial heritage and position of power as a member of the British Royal family. Instead, we are shown a big, bad matriarch with outdated beliefs who somehow failed to pass even a guilty murmur of those beliefs onto the majority of her very privileged heirs. Huh?
Every character here feels sanitised into black and white, redeemable and irredeemable. You probably won't enjoy this too much if you don't have a similar moral outlook and would be more satisfied to see characters unpicking their problematic beliefs. I think this is primarily an issue here because the hook - First Son falls in love with British Heir - feels quite gimmicky without all of the internal baggage that comes with those positions.
I was also extremely irked by offhand comments about certain issues that deserve more nuance, which don't really develop characters or serve the plot in any way. It made it REALLY hard to kill the author at times.
That said, there is external baggage galore and I think the trials of public scrutiny were interesting to read, if again slightly unbelievable. It's refreshing to see two love Interests who don't waver in the security of their feelings for each other, even when the security of their relationship is at stake, and to feel like the two protagonists are their own people outside of the love story and their other half.