From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

Red, White & Royal Blue

Casey McQuiston

Start date: June 1, 2023

Finish date: June 30, 2023

Discussion: 2023 Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: June 2023 group read for "book with a queer lead"|…more
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What Members Thought

Feb 27, 2020 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I had been curious to read Red, White & Royal Blue, as I heard so many good things about it, so I decided to check out the audio book. At first the narrator's voice didn't fit with the vibe of the story (he sounded like a 1930s baseball announcer), but after a while it grew on me and he did a good job with characterizations and bringing the story to life.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this novel, but I really enjoyed it. It had a Becky Albertalli feel, but racier (as in don't listen when kid ...more

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Jan 25, 2020 Laura rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book made my heart so happy. So happy. Totally predicable storyline but it’s so heartwarming and beautiful that I don’t care that I knew exactly where it was all going. It’s so refreshing to see this sort of story in a same-sex relationship - GIVE ME MORE. MAKE THIS A MOVIE. I love everyone so much - excellent protagonists, surrounded by a loving and smart and quirky supporting cast.

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Sep 25, 2020 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: american-fiction, lgbtqia, fiction, uk, latinx, immigration, romance, north-american-fiction, speculative-alt-history

So, it took me hearing about this book so many times to eventually read it. Why? Because I'm almost the opposite of an Anglophile; it's not that I detest anything about England, it's that it creeps me out how much and how the US literary world seems to obsess over England, particularly in romance and historical fiction, and particularly in a very white way that glosses over the extreme misdeeds in England's history. It's like a too-large part of the US reading public is always using England as e So, it took me hearing about this book so many times to eventually read it. Why? Because I'm almost the opposite of an Anglophile; it's not that I detest anything about England, it's that it creeps me out how much and how the US literary world seems to obsess over England, particularly in romance and historical fiction, and particularly in a very white way that glosses over the extreme misdeeds in England's history. It's like a too-large part of the US reading public is always using England as escapism from, say, the need to think about racism, which I find, as I said, quite creepy. So seeing a English prince, rumored to be modeled on William, with a name very similar to "Harry" - on the cover really did little for me. The title did not help, evocative as it is of US jingoism, or possible US and English jingoism. But after hearing that this book was good in so many places, I finally decided I should read it, and braced myself.

And it was actually a really good romance - I couldn't believe it. It's very US-centric, which is not surprising with an American author, and I would have preferred alternating viewpoints, but I also like that the whole book is from the POV of a Mexican-American character, who happens to be the son of the US' first woman president (there's where the speculative/alt history part comes in). The romance is really well written, with excellent tension between Alex (the First Son) and Henry (the Prince of Wales), and if you're a fan of enemies-to-lovers, this book does that trope really well. It also takes on lots of social issues in a superficial way, which may appeal to some readers.

There were some things I still question, though. McQuiston is a queer woman and I am never sure how ok it is for queer women to write romances from the perspective of queer men (I realize queer men writing queer women and non-binary people is worse). I do think it's more ok since she does write other queer characters, not just men. But some people will say it's not ok at all, and I'd like to think more about this. McQuiston is also not Latinx but is writing a Latinx protagonist, so it's the same type of issue. I don't remember any glaring issues that seemed insensitive, and I would hope she had sensitivity readers, but I do think representation and by whom is worth talking about. ...more

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Feb 10, 2021 Leanne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Guys, I am a sucker for romcoms. I love them as feature length films and I especially love them in them in the form of a novel.

I do not discriminate. It can be more com than rom, or it can be the steamiest of romance with a couple ha-ha moments. I love a meet-cute, I love an enemies-turned-something more, and as I have discovered with this book, I love when the First Son of the United States falls in love with the Prince of Wales over the course of 400 some odd pages.

After I got into it (I was h ...more

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Jan 17, 2021 Becky rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

What a love story for our times! If you want to feel hopeful, read this book.

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May 15, 2020 Jessica rated it really liked it

I started this book thinking it was a young adult novel, and it is not. In fact, it’s not at all what I expected – but I ended up really loving it. It’s a very sweet, very passionate coming of age tale full of hope and exactly the type of escapism I need right now.

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Nov 24, 2020 Julianne Dunn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was the cutest book. I really enjoyed the relationship developed between Alex and Henry and the honest appraisal of the challenges of their future while still maintaining optimism. I love it. SUPER enjoyable.

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