From the Bookshelf of forever and evermore swifties…

Red, White & Royal Blue

Casey McQuiston

Start date: December 1, 2022

Finish date: January 1, 2023

Why we're reading this: December born which we will be comparing to ours, gorgeous, illicit affairs, London boy and miss american…more
[close] December born which we will be comparing to ours, gorgeous, illicit affairs, London boy and miss americana and the heartbreak prince

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What Members Thought

Apr 03, 2022 lils✨ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2022-books, favorites, lgbtqia

IDK why i’ve put off reading this book for as long as i did, but i’m LIVING for this book. this might be one of the longest reviews i’ve ever written so bear with me because i absolutely ADORED THIS BOOK AND ALEX’S AND HENRY’S RELATIONSHIP!!!! i’m writing this review as i go along, because i simply cannot keep my thoughts to myself and have to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard in this case, so you’ll be going along with me on my journey in a way. i loved how this book features the LGBTQIA+ ...more

59 likes · Like · see review

Jul 09, 2021 nath ø rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Eu adorei, essa casal foi muito lindo e engraçado!! No final tive uma sensação como se tivesse algo a mais pra ser visto, ou algo que eu deveria sentir mas não senti. Não sei, mas super indico!!

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 14, 2021 cecilia (kaz brekker’s version) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I can’t put into words how much this book has made me feel. I loved Alex and Henry’s journey, felt with them and cried with them.
This book is one of the best I’ve ever read and a book rarely makes me feel this much happiness, hope and love at the same time.
I loved it from start to finish and can recommend it to everyone who wants to read about a wonderful love story with great characters and a perfect atmosphere.

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 31, 2022 Samantha rated it really liked it

I loved it!! There was a lot that my innocent eyes did NOT need to read, but I still honestly loved the romance, the chemistry between the characters was amazing and it was a great story.

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Jun 30, 2023 James Cooper rated it really liked it

If you can’t gather by the genre and cover of this book but it’s a gay romance between Alex, the First Son of the (female - something I didn’t know going into this and was happily surprised by) President of the USA, and Henry, Prince of Wales (the Queen’s grandson). Their relationship starts as rivals to friends to lovers and I won’t say anymore plot wise to avoid spoilers.

I liked it, the writing is very readable and bingeable, the plot is engrossing, and the characters are all quite developed. If you can’t gather by the genre and cover of this book but it’s a gay romance between Alex, the First Son of the (female - something I didn’t know going into this and was happily surprised by) President of the USA, and Henry, Prince of Wales (the Queen’s grandson). Their relationship starts as rivals to friends to lovers and I won’t say anymore plot wise to avoid spoilers.

I liked it, the writing is very readable and bingeable, the plot is engrossing, and the characters are all quite developed. The world McQuiaton creates is very liberal and pleasant but still retains its problems - maybe a little too unrealistic but it’s fiction so what can you say? the escapism and heartwarming elements were very enjoyable. The romance was again nice to read, my favourite parts certainly being Alex and Henry getting to know each other on a deeper level, with their email exchanges holding true depth (I kind of wished these were a bigger part). As their relationship was growing and leading to sexual exploration, I wasn’t really that interested as someone who doesn’t like smut/sex scenes but they weren’t as prominent a part as I thought at first and I definitely got more into the book as it went along. I also found the beginning to read a little like YA but with clearly adult themes so it was slightly mismatched but again as it went on it did mature. The long chapters and storyline that drags maybe a bit too long in my opinion was again something I wished was shortened, it seemed like you have to go through a lot to get to the main plot points at times.

I guess my major issue was how when ‘bad’ things happened, there wasn’t really any repercussions. Things were sewn up a little too easily to be believable and in some aspects I feel this does a disservice to queer people’s experiences in some sort of way. The MCs are clearly not like the ordinary person with their wealth, titles, power, and ultimately: privilege so it’s hard to relate to them - again I know it’s fiction and whilst I enjoyed this I would always choose a romance (or any book genre) where the MC is someone I can relate to better - so I didn’t really have much of a connection. Much of the book also rests on the idea of things coming out and the rather big (international) implications they would cause in the real world but the impact isn’t representative of this in this book. It’s also a little idealistic at times too where quite a lot of things (specially within the British Royal family) wouldn’t happen - again it’s fiction and I get the ‘alternative reality’ aspect apples to many but I dunno it’s just hard to see things like anti-colonialism being important to some members of the Royal family.

It may seem like I’ve focused on the negatives and I get that I probably have done in this review but I feel this book has gotten so much hype and praise so maybe I’m evening it out a little bit? Maybe? I dunno. But I DID LIKE IT, it’s a good book and one I would recommend but I do still have my problems - do other queer books deserve the hype more? Yes I do think so. BUT I’m still super happy a book with two queer MCs that are in the ruling organisations of two very influential countries with a whole cast of queer and diverse characters who deal with lots of issues is getting the limelight. A book like this with such great representation and visibility wasn’t the ‘it thing’ to read when I was younger and I wish it was. So yes, I’m very happy about this book’s success and do recommend giving it a read - it’s great for a lighthearted pick-me-up read that can appeal to many. Bring on One Last Stop! ...more

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Apr 30, 2025 stephanie 💌 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: uk, royalty, poli

4.75 ⭐️

this book was written for me.

it has everything i like in books—politics, royals, millennial humor, a fun writing style, mixed media (emails, text messages, social media posts, articles, comments), fun characters, an interesting plot and historical/pop culture references.

tl;dr: i had so much fun!

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