Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston BOOK REVIEW
Sunday, May 19, 2019
It has been a hot minute since I last
attempted to post a proper book review because I haven’t been reading for so
long. Alas, the biggest reading slump of my life has ended and for the last
couple of weeks I have been showering myself with amazing books.
Now, let’s talk about Red, White
and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.
If you’re here then two possible
scenarios are happening: either, you’ve already read the book and you
absolutely love it and you want to read other people gush about it too (I feel
you) or you’re interested, and you want to know more about the premise. If
you’re the latter then let me just tell you to drop everything you’re doing and
read this amazing, sweet and funny book.
The premise of Red, White and
Royal Blue is simple. Prince Henry of England is Alex Claremont-Diaz’s self-proclaimed
arch enemy. Alex hates Henry with passion no one comprehends. Because of their
little argument in Henry’s brother’s royal wedding they are both subjected into
a PR stunt wherein they must pretend to be friends.
One of the main troupe of this
books is “enemies- to- lovers”. If you know me personally, then you know how I
basically devour every story with this theme no matter the format. I just love
how two people who are prejudiced grow together and come into terms with their
misconceptions about one another and learn from each other throughout the
journey. This book is the perfect example of how to execute the trope right. It
doesn’t feel toxic. It doesn’t feel forced. It’s has the right amount of
saccharine, spice, and moral.
The dialogue is one of the main
driving force of this. I love how the characters interact with each other. I
like how casual and easy flowing their words are. It never felt forced. The
humor is perfectly done. The author created natural conversation that you feel
like you’ve already had with your sibling or friend.
The characters are great. I
don’t have any character I did not like. The two leads have such powerful
chemistry and voices. They can exist and be great people on their own but also
create such a healthy and wonderful relationship together. The supporting
characters that surrounds Alex are just fabulous people. June, his sister, Nora
his, best friend, Ellen, his mother and also the POTUS, Oscar, his biological
father, their security, Henry’s best friend – I just love reading about them
because they have such distinct and strong personalities.
Not gonna lie, I cried twice
throughout this book. First, when Ellen, was talking to Alex about figuring out
his sexuality and the ramifications of what he was about to do (no spoilers of
course). I cried because I missed my mother so bad. This book reminded me of
how important a mother is to a person. Ellen proved that you can have the best
of both worlds. You can serve your country and be a good mother to your kids.
Second, when Alex was giving a speech. It moved me so much I had to pause for a
moment and just gather myself.
There are political discussions
in this book. Even though you don’t like reading books with details like that,
I still recommend for you to try this one out. It has a powerful message
intertwined in the fluffy romance.
I guess one criticism I have is
that from a certain point in the book I already predicted what was going to
happen and it did. However, it was executed magnificently that you just don’t
mind it.
It also addressed the current
standing of same sex relationships in the U.S. It’s so frustrating and devastating
to know that some are still not supporting the LGBTQIA community. There is so much
history that lies beneath the surface that we have barely scratched. There’s
hate, prejudice and bigotry that prevents the world from acknowledging that
love is love. I hope one day “gay romance” will just be as normal as any other kind
of “romance”.
This is one of my favorite reads
of 2019 so far. It perfectly encapsulated everything I want in a rom-com :
chemistry, healthy relationships, friendship, family, a good message, kickass
dialogue and good amount of star wars discourse.
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