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A review by 2blueshoes
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use and Violence