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A review by annakh16
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I‘m happy to say this (mostly) lives up to the hype.
To get the obvious point out of the way: the politics in this book were incredibly strange. Yesss I know it’s fiction, but for all the escapism, it just became absurd to have the FSOTUS and Prince of England talk about how they were oh-so-upset about the lack of reparations from imperialism and whatnot. And everyone accepting their romance super quickly. And then obviously a happy ending, for them, and the presidency, and the monarchy! Happy days! A romance novel isn’t perhaps the perfect place for an in-depth analysis of these systems, but I do wish it would’ve been more realistic/critical.
The rivals-to-lovers bit at the beginning also felt a bit superimposed. It didn’t really fit their general character how much they supposedly disliked each other (I know this was because of hidden feelings - but it still seemed a bit silly to me).
Those things aside: this book was very funny (partly because of the absurdity, but also genuinely funny) at the same time as sweet. I loved all of their email exchanges, some beautiful lines in there. I also appreciated Bea‘s chat with Alex about what grief feels like - beautifully written.
This was terribly sappy in a good way and I surprised myself by how invested I was. Would recommend as a feel-good book.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer