From the Bookshelf of Addicted to YA…

Red, White & Royal Blue

Casey McQuiston

Start date: January 1, 2022

Finish date: January 31, 2022

Discussion: Stand Alone

Why we're reading this: Won the poll for then stand alone BOTM
[close] Won the poll for then stand alone BOTM

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Stand Alone

* Stand Alone- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
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* Stand Alone- Better Than Revenge
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What Members Thought

May 31, 2022 Danielle rated it really liked it

Shelves: e-book-reads, audiobooks, 2022-4-5-stars, 2022-may-read, 2022-may-scribd-reads, 2022-audiobook-read, 2022-read, 2022-scribd-reads, 2023-4-5-stars, 2023-ebook

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 4.5 stars

The romance between Henry and Alex was so freaking good. It was was sweet. It was touching. It was emotional. It was passionate. It gave me so many feels as they went through ups and downs along the way.

Admittedly I was at first disappointed by how their relationship played out and became sexual early than I thought. I wanted a more slow burn. I wanted them to develop their friendship first and became deeper over the course of time. I loved those first bonding moments as friends as the 4.5 stars

The romance between Henry and Alex was so freaking good. It was was sweet. It was touching. It was emotional. It was passionate. It gave me so many feels as they went through ups and downs along the way.

Admittedly I was at first disappointed by how their relationship played out and became sexual early than I thought. I wanted a more slow burn. I wanted them to develop their friendship first and became deeper over the course of time. I loved those first bonding moments as friends as they got to know each other. The text messaging and the banter was what I was living for. I was hoping that was the trajectory of where heading, however it did skip a bunch of time so those moments weren’t shown as I would have liked. Then they decided to have thing casual fling type of thing, which I am not a fan of in romance in general. For awhile that seemed to be all their relationship was about so I was a little iffy about whether I was going to like this romance or not.

However, things shifted once Alex realized he was in love with Henry. I think the real turning point for me was when Alex nearly confessed his feeling to Henry, and Henry ran away only to have Alex chase him and confront him. Once that happened I got all the feels after that. It was just everything. To finally see that level of depth between them was amazing. Even though, they were hiding it from the public, I felt like it was less of secret thing between them and more into a deeply loving relationship, which I loved so much. I was rooting for them all the way.

What they went through with the pain and separation was just so heartbreaking and angsty that it nearly broke me. I was so afraid for the last third and what was going to keep them apart. I was not ready for it even though I knew it was coming, and I wanted them together and cheered whenever they were together.

There were quite a few steamy scenes without being overly explicit but getting the point of what was happening. I loved that as passion flowed on the pages. It was interesting to see Alex explore his sexuality with Henry for the first time. He was learning what made Henry tick and bring him pleasure. To see Alex experience the pleasure at the hands of Henry was just beautiful. I wouldn’t have mind it to be explicitly done, but I thought the way it was done was really well done.

I liked a lot of the side characters of June, Nora, Bea, etc. and just how supportive of both Henry and Alex not only as a couple but individually. There were just some great moments as Alex had heart to hearts with some them. I loved it so much.

Even though this was a big part of the conflict keeping them apart, I wasn’t a fan of the political storyline. I get that Henry was the Prince and Alex was the President’s son so politics were going to play some part of it, but it was heavier than I was wanting it to. I would have preferred more romance over the politics. It just wasn’t the most fun thing to read about.

Aside from that I did truly adored this story, which was about love, passion and self discovery all under the microscope of the public eye. I loved there was a bit of forbiddeness to it. I liked how Henry and Alex got to know each other and developed a great friendship with one another. They understood each other in a way no else could being they were both political figures. I loved those small and tender moments while having conversations. The affection between them was really stinking cute and adorable. The passion and connection between them was great. It was just good old epic love story with even greater. It was amazing journey to go on with Alex and Henry.

Updated as of reread on 8/19/23: more a book vs. movie review than anything else.

The main reason that I wanted to reread this was because the movie just came out and there were things in the movie that I didn’t remember was in the book. I have to say that those moments were in the book after all, and the movie did a great job of translating those scenes onto the screen. What I was more surprised with were the moments that weren’t in the book but in the movie that made the romance ten times better in my mind because were such special and iconic moments between Henry and Alex like them exchanging Momentos with each other, Alex’s speech, which did happen in the book, but it was different and more impactful in the movie I thought, there was the moment that Alex came to London after the scandal that a bit of a different tone to it the book, their first time scene, there was them going in the crowd, etc. The movie tended more to focus on the romance while the book was the romance and political having more of balanced plot lines. I liked the more romance heavy stuff in the book than the political stuff. In the book, it just felt on the long side more this go around than when I read it the first time, but I still enjoyed the book the second time around, but I was surprised what was in the movie vs. book, and I really liked the changes they had because it just added a lot more meaning to the romance, and I rarely say that with changes in book adaptations. So, I think I got to reread just so I could refresh my memory. ...more

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Feb 23, 2021 Katie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fiction, romance, other-people-s-recommendations, borrowed-from-library, american-authors, gift, rereads, audiobook, 2021

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it also felt so good to be represented, not in a tragic, sad coming out story, (I’m looking at you, The Happiest Season.) but in a joyful romantic comedy. I’ve devoured rom-coms since I was a kid, and for the first time, I really saw a LGBTQ+ couple represented. This book felt like a love letter to the LGBTQ+ community.

One of my favorite parts of reading is when you get so engrossed in a book, you really are absorbed into the story. You stay up late reading, ...more

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May 10, 2024 Mary Holm rated it it was amazing

Probably one of the most romantic books I've ever read. Smart and well plotted, it delivers high stakes and high emotion. In creating a love affair between a president's son and a prince, McQuiston gives us a charming romance, with potentially world-changing consequences.

The book is also an alternate history, imagining what the world could have been like if the other candidate had won the 2016 presidential election.

It's loads of fun, and if you like romance, you'll love this book. ...more

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May 17, 2020 Pam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a heart wrenching political romance book, filled with a smattering of LGBTQIA+ representatives.

The love and yearning is totally relatable. The heartbreak, I can feel it like I’m going through it!

Parts of this book were fun, parts of this book felt like they were added to make it less of a romance novel and for that I deducted a star; I don’t need filler so when I’m skipping literal pages to get to the “good” or “relatable” parts, it’s not a good sign.

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