Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is the favourite book of my friend Milou (@pumpkinspicebooks), she is absolutely obsessed with it and recommended it to me. Since I don't read romance often I figured it was time to give this a go and it was such a fun and lovely book that pictures a realistic (even though fictional) relationship in our modern world. The two main characters are Alex, the First Son of the First Female President of the United States, and Henry, Prince of England. Both live in two completely different worlds and are forced to become friends are a public stunt. Their relationship becomes so much more than just friends and it made me so happy to see their love for each other grow and take shape.
The writing style and the pace of the book were very good. I flew through the pages and enjoyed the story. I really liked the email McQuiston added to the story, me with my literature-nerd glasses on devoured all quotes and things related to books. When I discovered that Henry had a degree in English literature I liked it even more. It sometimes had cliché moments but it never felt over the top. It just added to their love story and made me giggle from time to time (or for real laugh out loud).
I am used to relationships being drawn out, I didn't expect to see their first kiss happening so soon, but it was so good. I felt as surprised while reading it as Alex was and the moments after were just so well written. McQuiston shows the modern problems of social media and royalty being forced to 'fit' into their roles. As I am growing older and seeing more of the world around me, we are slowly evolving our mindsets. So many people from my generation are more including, more open, with this I mean that I see many of my generation fight racism, transphobia, homophobia and so many more things for all of us to be equal, as it should be. People are expressing themselves in the way they want to, not caring about the opinions of others. McQuiston also expresses this in her book. She makes Prince Henry stand up to his grandmother (the Queen) and come out for who he really is. McQuiston makes her characters an example for people dealing with these struggles and giving them someone to relate to. The love she creates between her characters is so wholesome and I enjoyed reading every moment of it.
The fact that every character had their own personality made this book so good. Not a single character fell flat, all had their own motives and their own passions. Now, I may not agree with how Alex's mother makes Powerpoints to discuss serious problems, but that's just who she is. During the book we see Alex grow as a person, he evolves and becomes a better version of himself while being with Henry. He finally takes to time to figure himself out, his feelings, his future goals and his sexuality.
This book was just so wholesome and lovely, I enjoyed every single page of it and would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to read a good romance. It just felt so real and I definitely recognised some of their struggles that I have gone through in my one relationship. I hope you all enjoyed reading this post. Since university started I have been busier than before but I am very motivated to keep this posting schedule up! I hope to see you in the next one.
Keep reading,
Julia
Interested in Read, White and Royal Blue? You can buy it here. (This is an affiliate link, without extra costs for you I earn a small commission on your purchase)
Comments