Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

Red, White & Royal Blue is a breath of fresh air in the current political landscape! Escape for awhile into a slow-burn romance set in a sort of alternate reality where a female democrat with biracial, Mexican children won the 2016 U.S. election. This is a queer, romance between the son of the first female president of the United States and the Prince of England that leans heavily into the world of politics. It follows an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers path and includes really thoughtful handling of bisexuality and a strong emphasis on family relationships and friendships. I thoroughly enjoyed enjoyed it.

Alex Claremont-Diaz is charming and outgoing with political aspirations, and he's definitely straight. Right? Also he HATES Prince Henry, but it a weirdly obsessive sort of way. When an international incident forces them to make nice, their relationship begins to develop into a friendship. And eventually, forces Alex to come to terms with being in denial about his bisexuality, even though it doesn't poll well. The story is told through Alex's perspective and this is a much more fully fleshed novel than I expected having been told it was a romance. It is, but it is a lot more than that. It is about politics and race and sexual identity and being brave enough to face what you really want. I think a lot of people are going to be talking about this one!

I couldn’t wait to read this book and was over the moon to have my wish granted on Netgalley to access an advanced e-proof. I’m a sucker for fiction that involves royalty and when you combine royalty with an “enemy to lovers” storyline I just couldn’t wait to dive in.
Red, White and Royal Blue has mistakenly been described as a Young Adult book, but it is actually a New Adult book. New Adult differs from Young Adult in that the focus is on characters who are of legal age and newly navigating adult life, for example, going to college and finding their feet in the workplace. The New Adult category has a bit of a bad reputation as a category which just allows authors to dramatically sex up a YA book but this is certainly not true of Red, White and Royal Blue.
The LGBT love story of Red, White and Royal Blue was admittedly the main draw for me initially, but the plot of the book has so much more depth to it than that. It has a strong political message, really explores what it’s like to navigate first love and coming out and of course, it’s all set amongst the very glamourous and fascinating background of the White house and the British Royal Family.
Alex and Henry are the most wonderful characters and I was really rooting for them. McQuiston’s writing is so warm and detailed that it was impossible not to get drawn into their budding romance and then relationship. Alex’s cheekiness played off really well against Henry’s staid royal façade but you could really imagine the twinkle in Henry’s eye when he relaxed around Alex and started playing back.
The supporting characters in the gang were equally as brilliant and lovable. June and Nora were fantastic strong female characters and the friendship between them all keep me interested in the plot even when it wasn’t revolving around Alex and Henry’s relationship.
The whole message of the book is one of hope and the sub-plot of the election honestly had me gripped. I came for the romance and stayed for the politics, which I never thought I’d say! If only the real world followed the plot of this book we’d all be in a much better situation…
Red, White and Royal Blue is a fairly long book at 432 pages, but I sped through every page and felt a bit bereft once I was finished. I tend to mainly read a lot of YA because I find the plots tighter than adult books, but I really enjoyed the New Adult mix of the maturity of the characters in this book whilst also having a plot which sped along and was easy to read. I really hope we get to revisit Alex and Henry and the rest of the gang in the future. Even if we don’t get any new books I can see myself rereading Red, White and Royal Blue multiple times.

Thank you to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun, cute and hopeful story. I requested this after hearing rave reviews online. This novel was engaging and effortless to read through. The characters had a strong presence on the page, and had lives outside of the romance.


Characters

I loved Alex and Henry's dynamic, especially since it started out hate-to-love, which is my favourite dynamic. It was nice to see them together for a long period of time. Both characters are well fleshed out throughout the novel, showing complexities past their public image, and making commentary on that public image.

I loved the friends in the this novel, Nora and Pez, and the siblings, June and Bea. They really add to the novel and had interesting dynamics with each other, Alex and Henry.


Plot

I liked how this dealt with the difficulties of Alex and Henry's relationship in their situation. It was a fresh take on the forbidden romance with a prince character.

I will admit I'm not a big fan of politics, and the side-plot of the election wasn't to my personal taste, though that's not a fault of the novel.
I'm not enamored by a prince just because he's a prince either, (I enjoyed Henry for his character and the complexities it put to why the main couple couldn't be together).

The plot itself kept at a good pace with obstacles, twists and turns, while rewarding the reader with plenty of happy moments.


Overall

A relationship that you can feel the chemistry for, friendships that rounds out their lives beyond the relationship, and jobs and responsibilities that thicken the novel. I can see why this could become some people's favourite book, and is one I would recommend picking up if it seems at all up your ally- especially if you enjoy politics and princes!

Red, White, and Royal Blue was such a touching, fun, and romantic story. I didn't read it too fast because I wanted to make it last. I thought it was timely and talked about very important issues in our country. I loved this alternate reality setting because it showed me what it could be if we had a good president in office. The election scenes had me on the edge of my seat! Total nail-biters! Alex and Henry were just incredible and I'm so glad I got to meet them.

[Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review]
-----------------
This book is like a modern fairy tale, where the FSOTUS falls deeply in love with his long time enemy, a British Prince. With this premise as a starting point, I must admit that I started reading with little hope but once the imaginary situation was assumed, the book has turned out to be a quite entertaining reading, with funny dialogues and romantic moments that touch your heart.
It's an enemies to lovers with little mystery in this aspect, since the tension between them is resolved quite soon (and in a satisfactory way, both for them and for us, hehe). We know the story entirely from Alex's POV, which is one of those characters you love or hate. Luckily, I loved him, he has certain things that reminded me of Theo from Leo loves Aries, that optimistic attitude and desire to enjoy life. If Alex is strength and joy, Henry is calm and serenity. His position is much more complicated than Alex's and he approaches his new situation in a different way, a quiet one.
The best moments of the book and those I have enjoyed the most are those that concern the feelings of our main couple. The moments they spend together, as well as their calls and emails are ones of absolute joy, those of reliving the first love with them. The narration is generally fast, the descriptions are quite scarce and although there are sexual sequences, they are not explicit, we are told the sensations and reactions of the characters but not what they're actually doing step by step.
However, I had more problems with other things. Alex's mother is immersed in the electoral campaign of the impending Presidential Elections (yeah, she's the President) and this has great weight in the plot, thus contributing to our attention being dispersed. Since I'm not from the United States, I'm not so familiar with your entire electoral system, but it's something I find very interesting, so I don't mind seeing those ups and downs. The problem for me was that that moments were too extensive. Overall, I thought the book was too long and I would have enjoyed it more with more of Alex and Henry and less of everything else. Of course, this is just my opinion!
In any case, I had fun, I thought it was a pretty good debut and I loved the message it conveys, that another world is possible, a nicer and more incluve one. And if it's with a fairy tale ending, so much better.

[Since English is not my first languaje, I'm going to paste my Spanish review, the one you can find in my Goodreads page]
------------------
Si me pedís un titular, os diría que este libro es un cuento de hadas moderno con toques de fantasía, ya que no me digáis a mí que, hoy por hoy, no es de fantasía imaginar un romance entre el medio mejicano-medio tejano hijo de la primera Presidenta de los Estados Unidos y un príncipe británico. Vamos, de habernos fumado un porro, Amparo XD.
Con esta premisa como punto de partida, debo reconocer que comencé la lectura con pocas esperanzas, pero, una vez asumida la imaginaria situación, el libro ha resultado ser una lectura bastante entretenida, con diálogos divertidos y momentos románticos de esos que te tocan el corazoncito. Es un enemies to lovers con poco misterio en este aspecto, ya que la tensión entre ambos se resuelve bastante pronto y de modo satisfactorio tanto para ellos como para nosotros, jeje. Conocemos la historia íntegramente desde el punto de vista de Alex, un personaje de esos que arrasan por donde pasa y de los que amas u odias. Por suerte, a mí me ha encantado, tiene ciertas cosas que me recordaban a Theo de Leo loves Aries, esa actitud optimista y esas ganas de disfrutar de la vida (además de no darle demasiadas vueltas a la cabeza a sus recién nacidos gustos sexuales). Si Alex es la fuerza y la alegría, Henry es la calma y la serenidad. Su posición es mucho más complicada que la de Alex y eso le hace tomarse de un modo distinto su relación con él.
Los mejores momentos del libro y los que más he disfrutado son los que incumben a los sentimientos de nuestra pareja. Tanto los momentos que pasan juntos, como sus llamadas y correos electrónicos son momentos de felicidad lectura absoluta, de esos de revivir el primer amor con ellos. La narración es generalmente rápida, las descripciones son bastante escasas y, aunque no se escamotean las secuencias sexuales, sí que no se explicitan, se nos narran las sensaciones y reacciones de los personajes pero no las acciones de sus cuerpos serranos.
Sin embargo, he tenido más problemas con todo lo ajeno a la relación sentimental en sí misma. La madre de Alex está sumergida en la campaña electoral de las inminentes elecciones presidenciales y esto tiene gran importancia en la trama, con lo que contribuye a que nuestra atención se disperse. Como no soy de Estados Unidos, no estoy tan familiarizada con todo su sistema electoral pero no es algo que desconozca, así que no me importa ver esos tejemanejes. El problema es que ocupan demasiado. En general, me ha parecido un libro demasiado extenso para lo que cuenta y habría disfrutado mucho más con más Alex y Henry y menos elecciones.
En cualquier caso, me he divertido, me ha parecido un debut bastante bueno y me ha encantado el mensaje que transmite, esa esperanza de que otro mundo es posible. Y si es con un final de cuento de hadas, mejor que mejor.

Red, White & Royal by Casey McQuiston

Thank you Netgalley and @StMartinPress for this free copy in exchange for my honest review.

This debut novel from McQuiston is a sort of hate-to-love romance between the first son of the first woman president of the United States, Alex, and the Prince of Wales, Prince Henry. It's kind of set in an alternate real world where after Obama's two terms as president, the United States elects a divorced, but re-married mom of two children who are half-Mexican. While at a royal wedding, Alex and Henry get into a brief argument which leads to a public relations disaster. In an attempt to damage control, both sides force the two young men to do a couple of planned outings and photo shoots to show the two really are friends. But as the two get to know each, feelings result!

Things that really worked well. Alex and Henry are just the best, I really enjoyed both of them. I also enjoyed the love letters/emails between the two. The world could use more letters. Finally, it was nice to see a bit more LGBTQIA representation, including both bi-sexual (character identified) and gay main characters. The only thing I would have liked was a bit more on the hate end. I would say they spend maybe 5 percent of the book hating each other and the rest is devoted to their secret relationship.

I cannot wait to see what McQuiston comes up with next. I'm putting in a vote for Nora, June and Pez to get their own book(s).

Pearl clutching factor: 1.5 our of 5 pearls

This whole book was very adorable and cute. I loved the way that both Alex and Henry interacted with each other, and it wasn’t as sexual as I thought it was going to be (which is a good this)

Over all I LOVED this book, and when it officially comes out I will be buying the physical copy and read it again!

Wow! Wasn't expecting this story line, or to get so invested so quickly! I like how the author set up the story as having the leads as enemies and forced to interact due to their political families.

I predict this m/m rom-com will be making an appearance on many summer reading lists. This book was pure fun! A romance between former frenemies Alex, the FSOTUS and Henry, the Prince of Wales that threatens to throw both of their countries into chaos, makes for a funny and surprisingly poignant read. If you need a break from the current political climate, this is the book for you! Bonus points to McQuiston for the fun tidbits of queer history in the epistolary parts of the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the review copy.

This is hands-down the best book I've read this year. Red, White & Royal Blue was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, but I wasn't disappointed at all!

I absolutely fell in love with these characters. Henry and Alex both have very distinct personalities, but somehow they work together. They complete each other. I grew to care about these characters so much that finishing the book made me sad. I was left beginning for more.

At first, I struggled a bit with the pacing. We were getting little moments here and there, and sometimes we were missing the link between certain scenes. However, I quickly adapted and it became evident that these scenes weren't there for nothing. We were building up to something, but I just hadn't seen the bigger picture yet. In the end, I ended up loving the story so much. I simply couldn't put the book down. I became so enthralled with this world and these characters that it left me wishing this was real.

This book has made it to my list of all-time favorites and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy. Everyone should read it!

I absolutely adored this book! Laugh out loud funny, interesting characters, and fascinating locations. Feels very much in the same vein as The Royal We, which I also loved. I will read anything else McQuiston writes after this- such a joy to read. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this AEC!

Super adorably cute and unebelievably big hearted, Red White and Royal Blue turns the trope of enemies into friends into something much deeper... making me feel a renewed sense of hope and optimism that has been dormant since 2016.

This book is a queer romance, centered around Alex, a bisexual, bicultural ‘first son of the US’ and Henry, the gay Prince of Wales. All of the side characters are thoroughly and lovingly developed, including Alex’s sister June and her best friend (and granddaughter of the VP), Nora. I would love to read more from their POV and get so much more of this world that shows us the possibility of a female President and a nation that welcomes rather than rejects.

McQuiston easily demonstrates why romance is a genre to be taken seriously, with excellent banter and wonderfully descriptive writing. She delivers a compelling story that addresses real issues that we all read on the news every day and actively making it into her own form of resistance (with lots of gay sex).

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review - pick this up when it hits shelves in May!

How much do I love this book? Oh, let me count the ways.

Alex is one snarky, snarky boy. I love it. He is full of humour, and yes angst and I do enjoy his character quite a lot. He is not flawless, in fact he is never even thought of as infallible and there were a few moments I was horridly embarrassed for him.

Henry. Oh loveable, secretly nerdy Henry ❤ He is so awkward. It is so amazing, and he’s funny, and a bit tragic.

This book is good. It’s liberal, angry, and seeking justice even as it weaves a romantic tale around our two lovely main characters.

It’s mushy at times, heart-wrenching at others, but through it all I just felt good whilst I was reading it. I was also reluctant to leave it behind, wanting to slow my pace almost as much as I was desperate to get to the end.

I cannot express, in any form of language, how much I fucking loved this book!
I knew from the get go I was going to love this, how could I possibly not, but even then this book managed to surpass my expectations.

Something I original compared to a Tumblr AU like synopsis was just that and yet also so much more! It was a story of love and diversity and how witty banter is always the catalyst for a great and epic romance.

I was taken by surprise by the amount of representation in this book: Trans character, bisexual/gay/pan characters, biracial Mexican characters, a fucking female president! All talked about so casually and openly that it made me so happy to read. That's what I want and need more of in all future books I read.

The story in itself caused me severe anxiety because I was rooting for these two from the get go! Everything was going so well and they were so adorable and yet I was only 30% of the way through the book. My reading this in 2 nights may be down to me needing to know if Alex and Henry lived happily ever after.

The side characters in this book were phenomenally written. Each had their own well rounded personality and back story that fit with the story perfectly and all interacted really well. Besides from the tooth-rotting and heart-warming love story, the interactions between all the characters in general was probably my favourite thing.

The main characters themselves were so loveable and super easy to root for. They, again, had so much personality and heart to them, but also just the right amount of angst to make the story even more interesting and cause me to get an ulcer.

There was so many times I found myself getting sucked into this story and completely forgetting it was a work of fiction, this caused me to be very sad when I was pulled back into reality.

I was so incredibly excited when I was accepted for an ARC and I can now die happily knowing that I got to read and experience this book. Although I'd also really like to keep on breathing and be able to recommend this book to anyone and everyone I ever come across

This book is a delight. So full of hope and love, it was exactly what I was hoping it would be. It depicts a country/world that is inclusive and open-minded and hopeful. I wanted to curl up and live in that world. It's impossible not to fall in love with Alex and Henry.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC for me in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun read! It was exactly the kind of book I've been looking for. Big on humor and dialogue, sweet, and pretty light on the heavy stuff. A fun little escape into a world with a female president and a son who falls in love with the Prince of Wales. It's a rather exciting world to jump into, especially right now.

The enemies to lovers trope was executed so well. I loved how Henry and Alex went from being cold to each other, to gradually talking daily, so slowly that Alex didn't even realize what was happening. Those early conversations were excellent. Especially the night that Alex called Henry while he was eating Jaffa Cakes and watching The Great British Bakeoff. That conversation is what had me, I think. I felt that spark between the two of them and needed them to be together.

The two of them together was just magical. Their deep conversations had me swooning, and I'm not an easy swooner. There was just something about their eloquence and expression to each other that really got me.

At first, I wasn't sure I liked Alex. He was a big mouth and rather obnoxious, but as he figured himself out and realized his love for Henry, things got better. He has pretty good character development.

For me though, it was all about Henry. The sweet, stoic, gay Prince. He held himself well against Alex during those "enemies" days and really brought Alex back down to Earth. I would love to read this book from Henry's POV. To get inside his mind and explore how he was navigating everything with Alex.

Overall, I really loved this book. It was funny, sweet, and beautifully Queer with very few cringe moments (and even those were slight cringes). My only issue was the chapters were rather lengthy. There were many chapters where it cuts to a new scene and got confusing. It felt like there should have been a chapter break.

I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK - from the m/m relationship, to the relative mentioning of politics, I could not put this story down and will be recommending it to everyone I know when it comes out!!

This book. This book! Adorable, heartfelt, hilarious, wrenching, and ultimately so satisfying. Henry and Alex are so great together, and the drama of their unexpected relationship is only heightened by international relations and a fraught presidential election.

I’ll say it: I think this book is going to be a huge hit this year, so read it as soon as you can.

So listen America...we messed up. Politically, we are a straight up mess right now and it's heartbreaking to turn on the T.V everyday. But imagine a world where it wasn't. Imagine a world where instead of messing up the entirety of our country by electing someone who is basically a two-bit dimwitted super-villain, we elected a strong self-made mother from the heart of Texas. This book has the power to transport you, however brief it may be, to an alternate timeline where America did just that. It's this incredible escape that I didn't know I needed. A fun, yet tragic break, because it breaks my heart to remember it's not real. The book will make jokes or poke fun imagining their versions of worst-case scenarios, which just happen to be our reality and I just about fell apart.
Beyond that, lets imagine an powerhouse first family duo that just about had me dying with laughs. Our protagonist, Alex (who is perfect, I die) is Half-Mexican, full on bisexual, and 100% idiot. I related to him a lot because the only difference there is that I'm full Mexican. You couldn't ask for a more sympathetic, hilarious, and completely amazing character to follow. He made me laugh, cry, and I really did feel everything he felt. This book just has a way of drawing you in to all the characters. I loved his love of history all his passion and his incapability of chilling.
His love story is fun, tender, and 100% heartfelt. I'm not kidding, I felt it. In my heat. And yes, it hurt. Henry is the perfect pair to Alex. Their Enemies-to-Friends-to-Lovers is one for the ages! You'll swoon over their emails, laugh at their antics, and angst right along side them. It's truly one of the best written romances I've read in a long while. It's so rare to fins characters with this level of chemistry written into them. Paired along with hilarious side characters you actually are engaged with, a well paced story that takes you everywhere, and just some of the best darn dialogue (plus flawless pop culture references that convince me the author is cool), and you've got a book you'll be gushing about for a good long while. Just like Me!!!!

This was a thoroughly charming queer romance between an imagined British prince and American First Son. Genuinely delightful - about a third of the way in I starte gloating over how much there was left to go, glad that so much stretched ahead of me. We're primarily in Alex's head, as FSOTUS, and the author is clearly much more familiar with American idiom, politics, and conventions - all of which figure heavily. A couple of errors about British royal protocol, power, and language, but there's a pleasant move throughout the novel away from British stereotypes, and Prince Henry, who begins as fairly cardboard, becomes fully human. The romance is wonderful from the word 'go'; from enemies to forced friends to real friends to lovers. It stays tense until the final few chapters, but the progress feels very real and earned, and also modern - McQuiston interpolates texts, emails, and group chats in a way that's not intrusive and that makes sense. I could imagine it making a great movie!