Hello everyone!
One more week, one more book blog, and this week it's one that just might turn into a favourite of mine.
Of course I say this about every third book, give or take, but that's beside the point.
I stumbled upon it by complete accident, I can't even remember how or why, maybe it was a suggestion on Facebook, or on Goodreads? Anyway, once I DID see it, I was intrigued enough to want to read what the story was about in a few sentences, to decide whether or not it would be worth my time.
I think it took me a grand total of five seconds to get a copy of the book.
That's how it happens sometimes, however, and no one and nothing can change that.
I can also honestly say I was not disappointed.
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston delivered.
I'd never read anything from the author before, nor have I ever actually seen any book with this kind of plot. I'll admit that there probably IS one somewhere, but I just never stumbled upon it like I did with this one.
What's it about, you ask?
Well, it's about what happens when the First Son of the POTUS and the Prince of Wales fall in love in today's day and age.
Intrigued? Read on!
Our book begins with the First Family invited to the royal wedding of the heir to the throne (confusingly enough NOT the prince of Wales, a creative liberty the author seems to have taken but never explained why it's so in the book, considering the heirs have held the title connected to Wales since ... I'd roughly guestimate around the fifteenth century? Maybe even earlier, in the thirteenth?).
ANYWAY that's not the point.
The point is that, A there is a female president, and B the First Son, Alex, is so annoyed by Prince Henry, the groom's brother, that you wouldn't believe it's true unless you read this book.
Like, seriously, he can't stand the guy.
So is it any surprise at all that he ends up drunk and needling said prince at the wedding reception, toppling both of them into the wedding cake?
I know. I covered my face at that one, as well.
With damage control the topic of the hour, the American and British governments come up with a scheme that'll paint the First Son and Prince of Wales as BFFs, which requires Alex to first travel to the UK and spend some "quality time" with Henry, not that either of them want it. They do, however, end up stuck in a broom closet during a hospital visit when there seems to be a shooting (there isn't), talk about Star Wars, and exchange numbers.
From here on out, there begins an amusing exchange via phone. Alex is basically determined to get some sort of reaction out of Henry who, in comparison to the gregarious American, is pretty self-contained.
Don't worry, however, he's coming to the Young Americans Gala, hosted by Alex, his sister June and their friend Nora, the White House Trio, that has been hosted every year on New Year's Eve since the president's inauguration. And this is where things get tricky.
Henry kisses Alex, then hotfoots it out of the country, confusing Alex even further.
He manages to overcome most of his confusion with the help of his friend Nora, who says he's basically not been heterosexual most of his life, but he repressed it. Mostly. And anyway the confusion gives way to anger soon enough over Henry just disappearing.
Not to worry however, there's a new Prime Minister, and POTUS wants to meet him, and Henry's tagging along for the ride.
Alex basically corners Henry, rip-shit pissed, kisses the living daylights out of him, and the two of them begin a clandestine relationship that night while everyone else at the White House is asleep.
This is also where the exchange of emails begins, I believe, but in any event, you get the back and forth between the two throughout the book.
They also find any and all excuses to be together, and there are some notable events which Alex is present for and are connected to the royal family we know (and love) today: there's Wimbledon, and a charity polo match, among others.
It's the royal family. OF COURSE THERE WILL BE POLO.
Ahem.
They're super careful to keep their relationship extra secret, even from the people closest to them, though they, June, Nora, Henry's sister Bea (who has her own issues, like the fact that she was a drug addict and is still basically in recovery, but doing much better now) and Henry's best friend Pez head over to a party and wind up in a karaoke bar where Henry ends up singing Don't Stop Me Now.
Fitting, right?
ANYWAY, they continue sneaking about until the Chief of Staff sort of walks right in on them ... or well, she walks in, and Henry's hiding in the closet before he falls out, and she threatens both of them because the POTUS needs to face a re-election after four years and nothing can mess it up.
But basically nobody prevents anyone from anything.
Alex invites Henry along to a summer escape in Texas with his father (his parents are divorced), and is all but ready to say the big, scary L word, but Henry balks and disappears back to England, which prompts first sulking from Alex, and then he literally chases after Henry like you wouldn't believe, to the eternal amusement (and chagrin) of the staff head honchos who need to make this all happen.
They work out their differences and then go back to their separate countries, but just when you think things MIGHT even slow down, they splatter against an even bigger wall.
Someone leaks that Alex and Henry are an item.
And the entire world comes to a screeching halt.
I think that the situation was handled very well by the author, in terms of how everyone was responding to it and how debilitating this could be for a potential president, considering the current climate about anyone LGBT, and of course, if America is having a field day, can you imagine the conservative British?
But the beauty of these scenes is, for me, the one where Alex walks into the room to find his family, and all of them reach out to hold him when he collapses under the sheer weight of just what he and Henry are facing now, holding him, supporting him, and how his mother, the POTUS, basically says, fuck this shit, you're my son, I'm backing you if you're serious.
I loved it.
Of course there's total radio silence from the UK, to the point where the American Chief of Staff Zahra calls the British Chief of Staff, who incidentally happens to be her fiancé (it's hilarious how THAT happens) to tell him she's going to do unspeakable, painful things to him if he doesn't comply, and that she's flying Alex over to Henry.
They then face the Queen, who'd be more than happy to sweep this all under a rug like it never happened, but an unexpected ally emerges from the shadows: Henry's mother, heir presumptive.
See, Henry doesn't have the support system Alex does, outside his sister Bea, until his mother walks into battle with her mother the Queen, because his older brother is basically coughing up hairballs over the idea that Henry doesn't want to keep things quiet, marry a woman, and just do this all in secret like before.
The second tear-worthy scene comes from the grand square in front of Buckingham Palace, filled with supporters for both Henry and Alex, and scenes from all around the world of people rallying behind them - and a Star Wars-inspired mural followed by the classic Never tell me the odds.
So now the couple is out in the open, and Henry is thinking about relocating to the US to spearhead some charity work for Pez, when we shift from the romantic plot to the political one in this book.
Remember how I kept mentioning re-election?
With POTUS in the running, the hurdles just keep on coming, with a very conservative other candidate, a betrayal from one of their own when he defects to the other side, and eventually Nora's discovery that it was the OTHER candidate who leaked the news about Alex and Henry, the information being supplied by none other than the defector (who was almost sexually assaulted by said other candidate many, many years ago).
Then it's show time as the POTUS gears for battle, and the actual reelection and OHMYGOD YOU GUYS I have never cared about an election as much as I did about this fictional one!
I don't know why I felt the scene was so super intense, but interestingly enough it doesn't come down to Florida, like it usually does in these American elections, but to Texas, Alex's home state, and when it's announced that the state went blue, aka it rallied behind the current POTUS, I swear I had to put the book down because I was crying so much, both from feeling completely overwhelmed from the previous romance and now this new victory on the political front.
The book ends with Henry saying he actually bought a brownstone, and he and Alex go visit the old family home in Texas, the key to which he'd worn around his neck ever since they moved to the White House.
And with that, and knowing that Nora is working for the POTUS now and June is basically going to be writing her speeches, the book comes to a close.
It is a lovely, infuriating, passionate, conflicting, emotionally charged, exhausting standalone, but I honestly LOVED IT. It's been a while since I could get so completely immersed in a story like I did with this one, and I feel like it's such a good representation of how different minorities might feel today when faced with exposure and media attention, not to mention simple existence in the face of years-old adversity and misunderstanding.
And honestly, the simple premise that there is a female POTUS, and the main love interests, both high ranking in today's standards, are the same gender, was enough of a selling point for me.
If you ever have a couple of hours to spare, I highly, highly recommend this book.
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is a game changer. and you won't regret it.
I promise.
xx
*image not mine
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