After really enjoying The Hating Game, I was in the mood for another light, fun read. I decided to continue chipping away at the StoryGraph Onboarding Challenge, as I knew that I had something perfect on that list. One of the prompts asked me to read a book that one of the challenge hosts, Tam or Nadia, had read and reviewed. I scrolled through Tam's reviews until I found a book that she enjoyed and that I was curious about. That turned out to be Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue. This new adult romance was highly publicized when it was released last year, and every review I've seen for it so far has been extremely positive. This isn't a novel that I would normally pick up on my own, but this challenge gave me a good reason to satisfy my curiosity and give it a try.
The plot follows Alex Claremont-Diaz, college student and first son of the United States. As the novel begins, his mother has been president for the past three years and he's been living an exciting and fairly glamorous life in the White House. He gets along with nearly everybody, but he harbors a strong dislike for Prince Henry, one of the current royal siblings of England. They interact with each other occasionally at various official functions, and even though they are of similar age, Alex finds Henry to be stiff and unfriendly. They've had a mildly antagonistic relationship for years and whenever both are in the same room, they generally avoid each other.
That arrangement comes crashing down, however, when an accident at a royal wedding causes the pair to tumble into the cake. They make a complete spectacle of themselves, and soon the tabloids are bursting with stories about how the pair are feuding. In an effort to repair American/British relations, both governments force the boys to start spending time together in the public eye, to give the impression that they are actually good friends.
After a few of these orchestrated outings, Alex begins to realize that he doesn't actually hate Henry as much as he thought. Not only that, but as he gets to know him better, he realizes that he has romantic feelings for him - feelings that Henry returns. Before long, the boys are carrying on a secret relationship. However, it isn't easy to be gay when you are both sons of world leaders, and worries about family image and reelection campaigns threaten their happiness. The boys must try to find a way to balance the demands and expectations of their families with their feelings, or break things off forever.
This was a very cute little read, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought that McQuiston did a nice job giving both Alex and Henry different, well-developed personalities. Each had their own issues to deal with and unique problems to overcome. They had hobbies and interests outside of each other. This wasn't just a story about the struggles of being gay, it was also a story about family relationships, politics, and self-discovery. Throughout the story, Alex is grappling with his own political ambitions and decisions regarding his career path. Henry is struggling mightily with the death of his father and the emotional absence of his mother. I liked the fact that there was a lot of detail in this novel that went beyond the romance.
Of course, the romance is the main focus of the novel, and I thought that was pretty well done too. Watching Alex and Henry come to realize their feelings for each other was sweet and engaging. I'm starting to like the "hate to love" trope more and more these days, and this was a great example of it. Once the pair was together, I was always rooting for them to find ways to stay that way, despite their difficult circumstances. There were several steamy scenes throughout the novel as well, which were nicely descriptive without being overly graphic. This was my first experience with a new adult romance, and I thought it was nicely done.
Red, White & Royal Blue ended up being a really fun reading experience. It was an emotional and sweet read that managed to remain pretty light throughout despite its sometimes-serious subject matter. It was also nice to escape into a world where a democratic, strong woman won the 2016 election, but that's beside the point here. Much like the last romance I read for this challenge, It's not the sort of book I would pick up on my own. However, after having such a good time with it, I'm thinking that I may need to expand my reading horizons a little more and give more romances a try. It was nice to have the chance to read outside of my usual tastes for a while.
Total Books Read in 2020: 67
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