Red, White & Royal Blue

Hovering between 4 and 4.5.

If you ever find yourself getting a little jaded at the news cycles and wishing you could just lose yourself for a little while in an AU version of the real world where things are happier, simpler, and not as complicated as they are in real life, this is the book you need to read.

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the First Son of the United States (FSOTUS) and, being in the same age bracket, bears a grudge against Prince Henry, the younger Prince of England, for stealing the media limelight. That is, of course, until accident demands that they act as best friends temporarily to avoid a press disaster for both their countries.

What a delightful trip this was. I rarely get into contemporary romances, but this was certainly one I could get behind. Sure, you probably need to suspend disbelief for some aspects of it, as you probably need to for most romance novels, but at the core of it you're getting the story of two young men exploring the odds of not just being gay but also being gay with each other in the complicated arena of international relations.

The characterisation of Henry and Alex, as well as their relationship, was excellent. We do see layer after layer being peeled away and seeing how they grow from the person they had always thought they were at the beginning to the person they always wanted to be by the end. I'd argue that Henry's growth arc was more obvious in the book though, since we largely get Alex's POV in the narrative.

The side characters were a treat to read as well. They all had distinct personalities and many of them leap off the page at you. It's impossible to imagine this book without the host of side characters making it possible. I think I started shipping Zahra/Shaan as much as, maybe even more than, Henry/Alex from the small glimpses we had of them. Nora/June is a popular ship that I could get behind too.

The plot was okay. Honestly I called most of the plot twists before it happened so I wasn't super blown away by it, but it was still a much more solid plot that did a relatively decent job at working through the fallout and improbability of a publicly homosexual relationship between such public figures as a Prince of England and the First Son of the United States. I wouldn't say it's realistic; I'd say it's optimistic, but that's honestly also nice to read sometimes.

I liked that we kinda saw how the relationship between our main leads grew and developed. Maybe the starting of it was a little sudden, but McQuiston really took her time growing Henry and Alex's feelings for each other and it shows in all the right places. My heart felt squeezed a couple of times while reading this book.

This book focused a lot more on American politics than the inner workings of the British royal family, but it felt very timely and almost prescient with the emphasis on a 2020 Presidential elections. It felt like I couldn't have picked a better time to read this book, tbh.

This is a romance novel that works far, far better than most of the cliched entries of its genre. Fantastic book that reads like a fanfiction of real life, almost, and is such a cute and happy read to lift the spirits.