Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: My Favorite Book of the Year!

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This book is going to be my favorite book of 2019. It's only April, but I can say this with complete certainty.

Red, White & Royal Blue is about Alex Claremont-Diaz, who is the son of the President of the United States. The son of the first female president, who is a democrat from Texas (um, yes please!). Alex has a rivalry with Prince Henry, who is the prince of England. After a public mishap at a royal wedding, the two have to pretend to be friends in order to avoid an international incident, but end up falling in love with one another.

This book is incredibly diverse; Alex is biracial and bisexual, and Henry is gay. There are also a handful of side characters who are also members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Obviously, I ADORED this book. It is a mix of two of my favorite things: politics and royals. It is more political-heavy than royal-heavy, and it's all the better because of it. The side characters are awesome! Alex is a member of the "White House Trio" which includes himself, his sister June, and the Vice President's granddaughter, Nora. And Nora is amazing, by the way. So is Henry's sister, Bea. A lot of the characters have traits that reminded me of some of the characters from the E! show The Royals (RIP), and I just loved it so much. And Alex Claremont-Diaz is hands down my new book boyfriend.

This was the first book I read in April, and it honestly put me in a reading slump for a couple weeks because nothing I picked up measured up to RWRB and I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

This book is a breath of fresh air and a welcome escape from reality, and I really wish Ellen Claremont was the real POTUS. It is also absolutely hilarious, and I was laughing so hard all throughout this book. I also loved the references to political figures in our real world, and y'all will have to tell me if you caught the Bernie Sanders reference! I do want to make clear that this is a (new) Adult book, so teen readers (and parents), be aware of that going in.

This is the book that the world needs more of; it dares to boldly dream of an America that could have and should have been.


Casey McQuiston is a goddamn gem and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

Red, White & Royal Blue comes out May 14th, and you MUST pick up a copy!

XOXO,

Isabella

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