From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Red, White & Royal Blue

Casey McQuiston

Start date: September 1, 2020

Finish date: October 1, 2020

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Why we're reading this: This will be our September 2020 read!
[close] This will be our September 2020 read!

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Book of the Month Club

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What Members Thought

Aug 20, 2019 Grace rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mm-romance, queer-themes, mm-poc-mc, mm-smut

3.5 rounded down.

This is one of those books that's generally very enjoyable, interesting, and well-written, but with enough little bothersome things that it's hard for me to really determine how I felt about it. It's also difficult to gauge my feels because it was SO hyped, so I can't really determine if my quibbles feel more intense due to the high expectations, and whether I might have actually enjoyed this more if I hadn't gone into it with everybody and their mother saying it was the greates 3.5 rounded down.

This is one of those books that's generally very enjoyable, interesting, and well-written, but with enough little bothersome things that it's hard for me to really determine how I felt about it. It's also difficult to gauge my feels because it was SO hyped, so I can't really determine if my quibbles feel more intense due to the high expectations, and whether I might have actually enjoyed this more if I hadn't gone into it with everybody and their mother saying it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

First off, I did think the writing was good, and I really enjoyed the characters. The blurb had me worried that the set-up would feel super contrived, but I thought it worked well, and the generally build of feels and the relationship between Henry and Alex was well-paced and lovely. I appreciated the side-characters, especially the women, and generally thought the relationships and inter-personal dynamics between all of the characters felt really authentic and well-rounded.

But.

1. It was too long. Clearly I'm in the minority here, but I was skimming at the 2/3 mark because I was frankly a bit bored. It felt like the author was trying to do a little too much with the romance and the political sub-plots, but I think a lot of that could have been tightened up.

2. Again, clearly in the minority here, but I really struggled with immersing myself in the story due to the strange setting of the fic. It's basically supposed to be occurring right now in the USA, and there are a lot of references to real people/places/events etc. but so many of the events and reactions felt so unrealistic that it just kept throwing me out of the story. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the stuff would be great if it were real! But it felt... IDK, it felt a little off to me how there wasn't a clear distinction between fiction and reality, in this way that felt like it was perhaps unintentionally minimizing the very real risks/issues that are present in our current culture. It made me feel like a lot of people reading this book would not be able to really make the distinction that WE ARE NOT THERE YET and perhaps not be as engaged as they should be in getting us there? IDK, I'm just not super interested in books that feel like they're painting history (or the present) with rose-colored glasses, and that's what this felt like to me, just a bit, which is maybe unfair, but *shrugs*

3. Related to 1 &2 above, I just felt that the political side-plot got a little ridiculous and wind-y at times. Not that I felt that stuff couldn't happen, but just that I didn't really care all that much? And I didn't feel like the author always did a great job interweaving the plot and romance bits. It felt that they were often two separate threads that the author sort of occasionally smushed together. This might not have been as bothersome if A. the book hadn't been so long and B. if I wasn't already feeling a bit meh about point #2.

4. I was actually and legitimately pretty disappointed by the lack of switching. I honestly thought the way the author did the sex scenes--not overly explicit, but not fade to black--was really well done and I was super appreciative of a mainstream queer book *not* having to fade to black, and that the physical and sexual aspect of a relationship between young, sexually active men was not downplayed. BUT I have no idea why the author decided not to include switching (which, full disclosure, I skimmed a lot of the last 1/3 of the book, it's possible I missed it, though I don't think I did, and IF I did, it would have been a super brief reference) given that they did have penetrative sex a number of times throughout the book. Especially because who topped felt, to me, like it was reinforcing a number of stereotypes, particularly the fact that the partner that identified as bisexual was always topping, and the partner that identified as gay was always bottoming. As somebody who identifies as bi and who is particularly sensitive to bi rep and the portrayal of bisexuals in media, I was pretty disappointed, and I actually was pretty surprised as I felt switching would have been super easy to include and would not have needed to be a big thing (which adds to my feeling of reinforcing stereotypes)

So. Ugh. I don't know. I feel like a bit of a curmudgeon. I legit wanted to like this more, and thought I'd round this review up, but I realized as I was writing this review, that ultimately, the feeling the book left me with was one of disappointment, even though I did enjoy reading it! And I do think a lo of that disappointment was the over-hype, which set my expectations perhaps higher than was realistically fair. Glad I read it, will likely read more by this author, but wasn't blown away. :/ ...more

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Jun 18, 2019 Ije the Devourer of Books rated it liked it

This is a charming story and there were parts of it I really loved. I loved the quirkiness of the characters and the imaginative writing. Each character was just quite vivid and they came alive in my imagination.

I found the political aspects of the story to be really slow and boring and so on the whole it wasn't a great read for me. At 40% I was ready to give up and I was wondering about all the raving reviews and what people had seen that I hadn't. Then the pace of the story changed and at 60% ...more

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Aug 24, 2023 Anna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book! I have to say that it has some of the longest chapters I’ve ever seen in a book. I must admit that I didn’t feel like the writing droned on and on, it’s just what it is.
The writing is crisp and thoughtful and very realistic. I’m going to throw out there that a sequel would be very, very welcome.
Very highly recommended. Happy reading!!!

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May 20, 2019 Lois rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgtb, 2019_releases

Re-read december 2023; still an entertaining read. Would give it 3.5-4 stars today.

"EXPLORING YOUR SEXUALITY: HEALTHY, BUT DOES IT HAVE TO BE WITH THE PRINCE OF ENGLAND?"

I liked it for writing an alternate history instead of the Rein of the Idiots.
But this was more than just that. More than some kind of alternate Prince Harry fan-fiction. This was a well written story with laughter and tears that gave a somewhat unrealistic view upon a better world. ...more

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Jun 01, 2019 Lakerkat rated it it was ok

I couldn’t wait for this book to be available to borrow on Overdrive! A few chapters in and things started to fall flat.

Too much politics - and I’m a political junkie.

Over the top and trying too hard to be the West Wing - instead I got Jackie Collins writes Washington DC vibes.

One dimensional characters - except maybe Alex.

Negative dimensions in character for the Brits - they have rearranged real life royal names and that’s about it.

Not much romance and fade to black sex - gotta keep that mains ...more

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May 22, 2019 ΛNNΞ rated it it was ok

This book was so not for me ... but I can see how for the right demographic, this might be a fun read. It was probably one of my most anticipated book of 2019 ... given all the early effusively gushy reviews that were posted on Goodreads.

I was disappointed by the writing, the MCs, mostly by annoying dialogue and the sometimes juvenile writing. This book was a little young for me and I was bored a lot ... irritated a lot ... this book felt long and I was not that invested in with the story or ei ...more

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Nov 18, 2019 Dana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: new-adult, lgbt

So I have wanted to read/listen to this book for some time, but I didn't get it right away for some random reason. I do wish I had listened to it sooner, but on the other hand, it was such a great book that experiencing it for the first time at any time is the perfect time. There is some sexual content, but seeing as the characters are at the age they are leaving college, I think it's completely appropriate. It does not have as much content as your typical mm romance though. There are definitely ...more

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