Book Review: ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ by Casey McQuiston
Red, White & Royal Blue was released on May 14th, 2019. This was Casey McQuiston’s first novel and it was the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance and Best Debut Novel in 2019.
McQuiston showed promise with her exploration of queer characters in her first novel. She was able to ground Alex and Henry in the real world with a high-profile status and make their romance relatable.
Her second novel One Last Stop is our Book of the Month and we will cover it in the last two weeks of June.
Synopsis:
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the “White House Trio”. International socialite duties do have downsides — namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince.
***SPOILERS BELOW***
Quotes
“Straight people, he thinks, probably don’t spend this much time convincing themselves they’re straight.”
“Maybe there’s more than one dream for you, or more than one way to get there.”
“If Alex’s head is a storm, Henry is the place lightning hits ground.”
“Should I tell you that when we’re apart, your body comes back to me in dreams? That when I sleep, I see you, the dip of your waist, the freckle above your hip, and when I wake up in the morning, it feels like I’ve just been with you, the phantom touch of your hand on the back of my neck fresh and not imagined? That I can feel your skin against mine, and it makes every bone in my body ache? That, for a few moments, I can hold my breath and be back there with you, in a dream, in a thousand rooms, nowhere at all?”
“Tho I long for the actual sunlight contact between us I miss you like a home. Shine back honey & think of me.”
“Sometimes you just jump and hope it’s not a cliff.”
“At cruising altitude, he takes the chain off his neck and slides the ring on next to the old house key. They clink together gently as he tucks them both under his shirt, two homes side by side.”
Themes
Honour, Pride & Legacy
Social Media & Privacy
Sexual Identity & Status
Characters
Alex Claremont-Diaz: The President’s son and the main protagonist. He has an interest in politics and has a strong start in his early twenties. His political career gets complicated once he falls in love with a man for the first time, Prince Henry of Wales.
Prince Henry: The Prince of England and Alex’s romantic interest. He is closeted and has a duty to his royal legacy. Henry is miserable because he doesn’t get to be himself. He has to go on fake dates to keep up the facade. Henry has always had a thing for Alex, so when the “fake friendship” turns into something serious, he’s overjoyed.
June Claremont-Diaz: The President’s daughter and Alex’s sister. June wants to be a writer and a journalist. She does struggle with that career path because of her political ties to the President. June fully supports Alex and always wants him to be honest with her about everything.
Nora Holleran: She is considered a data genius and a crucial part of this story. She is brilliant, and obsessive, especially in her work crunching numbers for the Claremont administration. She is intuitive and knows the truth about any situation.
Ellen Claremont: She is the first female President of the United States and Alex and June’s mother. She is always serious and very driven, but she is also playful and loving with her kids. Ellen is up for re-election, a factor in Alex and Henry’s romance.
Oscar Diaz: He is a US senator and Alex and June’s father. Ellen and Oscar do not see eye to eye, but he is still a devoted father who loves his children. Alex and his father have a lot in common, and that’s why they get along so well.
Review
Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue explores the universal language of love. Sometimes love can be patient, it can be unrequited for years, and sometimes it can be based on a friendship. The relationship between Alex and Henry stems from hatred, but is hatred the root of it? McQuiston details who these two are as individuals and how they work against each other on the grand scale of the world forum.
How is Alex and Henry’s relationship in Red, White & Royal Blue?
Alex Claremont-Diaz has this anger in him that he can’t quite explain. Perhaps he has repressed his feelings towards his sexuality, and he can’t quite understand how he feels the way he does about Henry. It was almost as if he had a personal vendetta against him after meeting at the Olympics for the first time. On the other hand, Henry, who has a much higher status in the monarchy, has perfected the facade of a straight royal to upkeep the family legacy. McQuiston, without bluntly expressing their toxic repression because of their environment, has it seeped into their personality.
Is Red, White & Royal Blue Worth the Read?
This debut novel is fun to read because of the lingo used and the freedom with which these high-status teens express themselves. From saucy emails to sweet text messages, you will instantly fall in love with Alex and Henry. A natural progression of events led them to understand each other. More importantly, be themselves. Seeing that Alex fell harder because of his tough exterior shows that everyone with armour can be stripped down by the person they trust. Then, in turn, with the assertiveness of Alex behind him, Henry was able to express what he wanted moving forward to his Royal family.
Life can be hard (and exhausting), but anything is possible with the right people around you to support you. Alex and Henry become a strong couple, and their good qualities, which they grow to admire, eventually become part of each other. That is why they feel strong enough to conquer anything. McQuiston wrote a heartfelt coming-out story on a grand scale that anyone can resonate with. Everyone wants to be whisked away to another city or a different country, and reading this, it is like you're living vicariously through the intimacy of these characters and their privacy. Even though they are exposed to the reader, it still feels intimate and safe within the character's mind, and that’s why it’s effective.
What did you think about Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston? Did it give you all the feels? Let us know in the comments below or join our discord today!
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