Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is a standalone LGBT+ romance set in modern age. The book was published 2019 while the audiobook is narrated by Ramon de Ocampo. Since this book is about to get a movie I decided to pick up the book to see what they had to work on so I will mention some of my expectations of the movie as well, but let’s start with the book.
The book follows Alex, the son of the President of United States of America, who is forced after an incident to spend time with the prince of Wales, Henry. Sparks fly, and the two find each other in a peculiar situation as both fear that their relationship might bring ruin to their families.
Alex is the one who wants to save the world, being sassy, social and constantly wanting to learn more about the political world. Henry is a gentleman but distant, constantly being told what to feel and behave while desperately wanting to escape it all. The two of them are the opposite and that always makes for an interesting romance. The problem is perhaps that the two comes across a bit of a stereotype.
The typical liberated American dude and the snobbish British guy. It also has a tendency to glorifying America while dumping on the Imperial Britain. Often without understanding the culture and politics of Great Britain. It’s also very clear that the author has a political leaning as the republicans are depicted as racists homophobes who cheats and does dirty things while the democrats are the saviors of justice.
Now, I found it to be a very small part so I wasn’t that bothered by it, but I do think the movie would do better by trying t remove the political leanings and focus on the romance aspect of the book. I should also mention that a large part of the book is spend on the two of them mailing each other instead of actually interacting so that is also a style choice that might deter people from liking it. It didn’t for me, but I can see some people finding it to be dull or unpersonal.
What I had a problem with is the pacing. The book is over 400 pages long and if you cut down unnecessary plotlines, long conversations that say nothing, then you could easily have cut 100 pages and gotten a better pacing. For example, the couple has their forced reveal and confrontation in the climax. So what’s the problem then? Well, there are two hours left of the audiobook and the storyline has wrapped up. What we are left with is a bunch of forced milking that just feels dry.
For what it is, I would say this book earns itself a 7 out of 10. Your enjoyment of it depends on your ability to shut off your brain and just enjoy a charming and lightheaded story. If you read the more political parts and think about it you might not enjoy it as much as this is very shallow when it comes to culture and research. It’s a guilty pleasure meant to satisfy you for a couple of hours then you move on feeling better about your day. If that is what you are looking for then I would recommend this book to you.
With Kind Regards
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