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This is the best book I'll read in 2019. Actually, this will go down as one of the best books I've read.
Ever.
I'll be perfectly clear. The cover is what initially drew me to the story. Illustrated covers are my new favorite trend in the romance community, and I am more apt to pick up a book when I'm attracted to the cover. Unfair? Maybe. But it’s pure fact. And how about that tagline…
“What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales” 
Come on! How can you read that and not want to know more? I sure did, but I had no idea what I was in for. This book gets all of the stars! All of them. For a reader who rarely takes a chance on a new author, I don't think my life would have been the same if I had not read this brilliant, charming, stunning love story. Alex could have come across as your stereotypical pompous ass who is the son of a rich politician. And he kind of was… but he was also remarkable, sincere, and perfectly snarky. In short, Alex was pretty incredible. He comes with his sister June, his best friend/sometimes plus one, Nora, and his amazing mother, who happens to be President of the United States. They are all as much an integral part of the story as Alex and Henry. Nora and June are not written as boring side characters. They bring so much additional depth and emotion to a story that is already brimming with it. All of the people we meet in this story are important.
Then there is Henry. Poor, sweet, tortured soul Henry. My heart ached for the life he was handed that didn't exactly fit in with his sexuality. It's not easy being in line for the throne, and at the same time, gay. They sort of frown at that sort of thing. But Henry is who he is, and who he is, is simply extraordinary. Alex and Henry go from mortal enemies to ‘can't live without you’ lovers, and the transition is wonderful to watch. They fall in love over emails and text messages, sharing their deepest thoughts and wildest dreams. I'm fairly certain that I've highlighted over half the passages in the book, and as I re-read them, I find myself falling deeper in love with this story. The writing was engaging and well researched. It fit perfectly into our current political climate, and the politics were as important as the love story surrounding it.
There really is no way for a review to do this story justice. I could on for another five hundred words about how spectacular it is. But you just have to read it. I want to read this book again. For the first time. Over and over and over again. You have not read a truly exemplary love story until you've read Red, White, and Royal Blue.

Alex is First Son of the United States and Henry is the Prince of Wales. Living on opposite sides of the Atlantic means they don’t see each other often, but over the years they’ve managed to have some memorable and tense run-ins. Alex doesn’t quite understand his fascination with Henry, but he knows that Henry wants nothing to do with him. When the two are forced to meet again at a royal wedding, drunk and irritated Alex accidentally pushes Henry, who then grabs onto Alex, sending both men tumbling down a grand staircase in front of hundreds of guests and tabloid reporters.

Their parents are less than thrilled with the altercation, and in an effort to smooth over the politically embarrassing moment, Alex and Henry are forced to orchestrate a fake friendship for the next few months. Only the “fake” friendship begins to become something more as both Alex and Henry realize the other isn’t exactly what he seems. Friendship morphs into…romantic feelings? Kind of? Maybe? Which is especially confusing for Alex since he’s (mostly?) sure he’s straight. The two men must navigate their intense and complicated relationship, all while Alex’s mother campaigns for reelection in the States and the Queen scrutinizes Henry’s every move from the throne.

So. This was an interesting experience for me. I don’t usually read gay romance, but I have to say this was a really lovely book. Alex and Henry both are extremely well-developed characters. It didn’t take me long to feel like I knew them and was invested in their stories. The plot line itself is sweet and not as predictable as I was expecting. Plus, there’s a lot more going on here than “will they or won’t they?” That dilemma is solved pretty early on, and the second half of the novel is devoted entirely to delivering a much more nuanced message about the ethical boundaries of social media and politics, as well as the efficacy of how we interact with and support the LGBTQ community.

In sum, Red, White, and Royal Blue is a really charming book, and (can I say this without sounding ignorant?) I feel like I caught a glimpse into a life I know relatively nothing about and ended up learning a lot. I finished this one feeling happy, yes, but also a little more understanding and knowledgeable. What’s not to love?

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the same as every other 20-something -trying the finish college, dealing with his family and friends, looking forward to what comes after college. Okay, there’s more than that. His mom Ellen is the first female President of the United States and up for re-election, he’s coming in to his bisexuality, and oh- he just started falling for his biggest enemy, Henry, Prince Of Wales. And that’s just the start.

This book was so so good. I loved following Alex on his journey of self-Discovery and then his love story with Alex. The twists and turns kept coming, but it never felt cheap or obvious. It was fun and deep and unexpected. I don’t want to say much more about the story because I don’t want to ruin everyone’s experience! It really does need to be experienced without many spoilers.

I do hope we might get further adventures, but if not, this book will stand as a classic of lgbt young adult.

Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the United State and celebrated American heartthrob is on the fast track to Congress by 30. Alex can make friends and get along with almost anyone. That is, until he gets thrown together with HRH Prince Henry of Wales and his too-perfect, too-handsome face makes Alex crazy. This book chronicles the romance of the young royals of England and the USA coming to terms with their sexuality and their futures.

An enemies to lovers story about the son of the POTUS falling for the spare heir to the British throne and a definite entry on my best of 2019 list. This book is every bit as fun and sweet as you would hope it would be but it is also has surprising depth. Falling in love can be scary enough but Alex and Henry have the weight of their country’s expectations on their shoulder. I loved this book.

What a book! I was a little iffy about this one. But it definitely pulled at my heartstrings. Everyone wants a happy ending but what are you willing to sacrifice to get it? This book was new for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it! What a great light hearted (while also dealing with some serious issues) read!!

So, the First Son and the Spare have never gotten along but an incident at a royal wedding leaves them having to do damage control by spending time together. It turns out living in the spotlight isn’t easy for either of them and they have more in common than they thought—including a smoldering attraction. This is a smart, fun romance with two fabulous leads. I really appreciated the bisexual and multicultural representation as the refreshing way it tackles several serious topics. And it’s just such a wonderfully hopeful novel.

This book is a gem. Or, perhaps more accurately, a Crown Jewel.

With his mother being the first female President of the United States of America, Alex is the First Son of the United States of America, and eager to launch his own political career in the footsteps of both of his parents. His least favorite person in the world is England's "spare", Prince Henry. Their status of frenemies gets suddenly and violently upended--along with a very expensive wedding cake, oops!--and they are forced to pretend to be BFFs to soothe over a potential international scandal. But soon their fake friendship becomes real... and becomes something more.

Funny, witty, and full of fluff, "Red, White and Royal Blue" is a fantastic debut capturing all of the perks, downfalls, and nuances to being in the political and royal spotlight and a need for protection, perfection, and damage control--all while falling in love behind the scenes. All of the characters are fascinating, and the growth that Alex and Henry go through is deep, engaging, relatable (yes, even if your parents aren't politicians or royals), and profound.

Also. Alex and Henry. They are big huge dorks and I love them so much. They are just so sweet and soft but try too hard to be tough guys and fail so miserably. These boys...

*** ARC received for an honest review***

I cannot wait for you guys to read this. I CANNOT WAIT FOR YOU GUYS TO READ THIS! I can't wait to see your reviews and your reactions. You're updates. To see if you cried. And laughed. I can't wait to watch some of you fall in love.

I almost didn't read this. Y'all know that I regret at least 2/3 of the ARCs that I take. I waited a while on this one. Debated. I was thrown off by "rom-com." That phrase sits flat with me. Makes me think "silly," "frivolous" and frequently "I bet I don't think this is funny. I never think these are funny."

And then when it started I didn't get it. I was grabbing for the rhythm. A lot of characters at once. And McQuiston doesn't hold your hand. She's running ahead with a sparkler - laughing and telling you to catch up. For at least the first 6% I grasped for a handhold. A foothold. Some kind of solid ground.

But at some point I was in. I was there. And it was...everything. From Dolly Parton to Lil John to The Great British Bake Off to Star Wars. McQuiston threw open wide welcoming arms - making this reader feel at home and cherished.

The other day I mentioned to Jus that I hadn't cried in a while. The next I ended up crying myself to sleep over hockey. Last night I happy cried for the last 20% of this book. It felt like Care Bear hugs, and finding your tribe, and falling in love, and ice cream and fireworks. That happy ache in my chest that tells me I'm ensconced in the extraordinary.

I cannot fathom the research that went into this. The politics alone was...meaningful. Thought-provoking. Happy and sad. And then you add in England and museums and Texas and nerf-herders. Awe-inspiring from cover to cover.

It's April, and I'm saying it now. This is my 2019 Book of the Year. It's going on the short list of books I'll reread. Of all time favorites.

Guys, I can't wait for you to read this book.

This is one of those books that I fell so completely in love with that words will not be enough. Red, White and Royal Blue will easily make my list of best books I read in 2019. It's the kind of book that works its way into your heart and leaves a lasting impression. It is one of those rare occurrences where a premise that dazzled me was executed to perfection.

This book a salve for those of us who were weary and broken after the 2016 election. It offers up a very bittersweet ‘what if’ but also manages to bring such joy. A female president may be something that only exists in fiction but this, somehow, makes the reader hopeful for it to one day happen in reality. It also paints a portrait of a powerful woman who can be there for her family and run the country. It is not that this should be a shocking idea, but the way that Casey crafts President Claremont circumvents some of the expectations I anticipate people are going to have. She could have been a very different character, as we see elsewhere, but I am glad she wasn't.

We get to know Henry mostly via Alex’s perspective as the story mostly exists through him. We also get to know both of them through the achingly romantic email exchanges that they exchange. The emails are the stuff of romantic legend. The kind of thing hopeless romantics dream of receiving. They, much like the relationship between the characters themselves, are a mix of humour, banter, and emotion with just the right amount of sexual tension. I found myself swooning one minute, giddy the next, and delirious from the amount of emotion showcased in this correspondence. The little details make all the difference and Casey McQuinston obviously gets this. The inclusion of quotes from various famous writers not only revealed a lot about the characters but their feelings in a simple, yet clever, way.

The romance is much more complex and complicated than I was expecting. This shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. I anticipated reading more of a fluffy rom-com. A book where Henry and Alex falling in love would not have ignited any backlash just some tabloid fodder. Instead, this book is very much grounded in our reality. It's a poignant look at what falling in love in the spotlight would look like for the First Son and Prince of England. It is messy and real but always tinged with hope.

Both Alex and Henry have baggage that they need to deal with. It is baggage that relates to their romance, but would have surfaced at some point regardless. Having a story for your main characters that is separate from the romance always makes the story richer and this story is made all the better because of the detail given to building up the characters. It really is the characters who make you fall in love with this story because you wholeheartedly root for them. The obstacles they face are ones that feel organic and real that this, at time, feels like it could have been inspired by real events.

The relationships outside of the core romance are just as important to the story. The family bonds and friendships showcased add nuance and texture to the story just as well as the romance does. These other relationships add layers to the main romance and flesh out the book in important ways. I loved the dynamic and friendships that exists between Alex's group and Henry's group. They're the cool kids you want to hang out with. A group whose lives come with certain expectations that make them cling to the people who understand what that is like. Their love for one another is evident as we see them be there for each other time and time again.

I can only hope this novel finds the readers who need it. It might inspire them to, like Henry and Alex, make some history of their own. Casey McQuiston became a must read author for me after this knock out of a debut. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I expect you'll love Alex and Henry's love story as much as I did.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Sometimes I read a book and I go in with no expectations, and I get halfway through and depending on how much I'm enjoying it, I'll start having some either low or high expectations, and that will pretty much decide how I feel about the book. I enjoyed this book from the start, so when I got to about midway I knew I'd hold the whole thing to pretty high expectations, yet it still managed to exceed all of my expectations!

The main description of the book gives a clear preview of the enemies-to-lovers trope, which is probably the main thing that the book focuses on at the start. As the story deepens, it turns into friends-with-benefits-to-lovers, which isn't really something I've read in a book before, and I loved it! I think one of the most important notes to make about this book is that despite the romance-based plot, the book deals with a lot of other important themes; Alex discovering and coming to terms with his sexuality, the consideration he is giving to his future career goals, divorce, death, and grief.

The impact of both Henry and Alex's political/royal statuses on their relationship, and in turn the impact of their relationship on their statuses is also a key aspect of this book, and it is interesting to consider how people with such statuses have to consider every detail of their life in this way - it's like they have to make decisions about their relationship based on how other people will like it, and if they won't, they often can't do it. I think this is something a lot of people can take for granted, and it's thought-provoking to read about it outside of an environment that's not necessarily based on differences in culture.

I loved all the relationships in this book - obviously, Alex and Henry's relationship was my favourite, but there were many other relationships that in some way were key to the story. I enjoyed reading about Alex's relationship with his sister; sibling relationships can often include a lot of fighting in books (I hear this is often true in real life too, but I'm an only child so I have no personal experience), but the way Alex and June were written felt real, and they were both portrayed as very mature characters.

Alex's mum, Ellen, doesn't have many scenes in the book (she's busy off doing her presidential business - although she is talked about often), but I like how supportive she is of Alex. It was interesting to read about how Alex often sees her as 'president mom' as well as just mom, and in these moments she has to deal with something personal in a business-like way, making sure they're right for her presidency as well as her family.

In terms of relationships, I think my favourite thing is the fact that every character has depth, even if they're not one of the main characters, and I loved discovering things about their lives, or about how they fitted into Alex's and Henry's lives.

The only small criticism I have is that the story often jumped from one key time-point to another, although this could just be the fact that the ARC doesn't have any dividers in place. If this is not the case however, it did make it a little bit confusing at times, although I am sure this will be changed in the final printed copy of the book. Overall, I finished this book grinning and teary-eyed, which definitely means it was a great read!

thank you fr Arc granted from net galley and publisher
WOW WOW WOW I just didn’t want this to stop the best royal romance in the world and one of my favourite books of the year and I would love it if there was a sequel to this book cause I just wanna see the life that happens after the election period aswell even though we saw loads I just want more and more of these two characters who have now been added to some of my favourite people ever in books and just brought me so much joy while watching this book because it had such cute and funny moments throughout that just made ur heart flutter from page 1 right to the end.

I fell in love with this book almost immediately. I was screen-capping passages and tweeting about it by the first few pages. Instantly lovable characters that I fell hard for. A plot so absurd it works. Genuine hope and passion through positive political drama and idyllic democracy. I went in to this thinking it was YA and I would say it's definitely not. More new adult, although I could see it being marketed as YA as it has a similar style and sense to a lot of YA but would probably not catalogue it as such in the library.

I LOVE when I know the dumb characters are hopelessly in love way before they've figured it out themselves.

I LOVE when a book makes me genuinely laugh out loud.

Also this is my new favourite genre of escapism. Contemporary fiction where everything is the same except that politics isn’t making everyone lose their mind with fear that the world is on fire. True fantasy fiction ;)

It surprised me in a lot of ways as being a fluffy flirty romance but then hitting me with the smart politics more than I expected. It hits the mark when it shifts ever so slightly in tone. There's a moment, as there is in almost all happily-ever-afters, where you think maybe it won't work out. And from that part on it delves into the real, sad, thoughtful, and dramatic intricacies of their lives.

This book ended up reminding me of The West Wing in a lot of ways. With the way it handles political drama and setting a story in a world better than our own. Filled with more hope and love than currently seems possible. It reminded me that there is still merit in fun political dramas. That there is still hope to be found in watching or reading stories with a heavily idealized democracy, not just emotional terror and dread.

I spent the last few years avoiding stories like this because I thought it would be too depressing to compare it to the current political landscape. But this reminded me that it's nice to imagine better.

Also it's got two cute dumb boys that hate flirt with each other for half the book and I am weak and I love it.

I loved this book. It combines all my favorite elements. It’s a gay love story that has lots of cultural, political and historical references. It’s witty and romantic and fun. It has characters of all races and genders and sexuality. It’s set multiple locations including Austin and Houston. I’m from Texas so loved that also. I will Be ordering this book because I
Need it in my collection and I want everyone to read it. Five star read!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2677780584

I loved this book! It literally made me laugh out loud and cry. This a modern day fairy tale for millennials. I found the interactions between the two main characters so real and touching. I loved the writing too. I can’t wait to read her next book!

Red, White & Royal Blue is a rom-com featuring Alex Claremont-Diaz, USA’s First Son, and Prince Henry of England. After a small public altercation between the two, they need to do damage control and fake a friendship. That goes better than expected and they end up falling on love.

This book currently has 708 reviews on Goodreads and a rating of 4.57. Which it’s pretty good for a debut New Adult novel. But, honestly? It absolutely deserves all the praise it is getting.

Red, White & Royal Blue felt like I was reading fanfiction. But not like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, where nothing makes sense and you can't recognize the characters. This story is the finest example of how you can grab tropes that are regularly used in fanfiction, and deeply appreciated, and make them work even better in an original work.

This book hit all my favorite beats. The hate that goes to being fake friends, then maybe friends that text every day, then "I want to kiss your face" to "WE’RE IN LOVE". Mix some star-crossed love because of society, some modern royalty, and I’m SOLD.

The only thing I had trouble following was the political dynamic. But that’s because I’m not American. I have a general grasp on how it works but I couldn’t understand every power move.

All the characters feel so real. Casey created this diverse cast, with POCs and all kinds of sexual representation, and give it life in a way I’ve ever read in a contemporary romance before.

Alex has this charismatic, endearing and larger-than-life personality. But, at the same time, he is very driven and knows all the points he has to check to achieve his goal of being a politician. This dichotomy feels like it shouldn't work but, when you meet Alex, it makes sense. He cares so much and he can’t even realize how much at the beginning.

Henry is a boy that carries the world on his shoulders, but a world that, in his eyes, will never accept him for who he is. Like Alex, he cares about leaving a good, inspiring mark in the world. He is just so good.

June, Nora & Pez are the best sidekicks. They could have been a bit more explored, especially Pez, and I would love to read a spin-off in June’s perspective.

Alex and Henry's families couldn’t be more different. They’re both in positions of power, filled with responsibility and the pressure of maintaining a positive public image. But while Alex’s mom supports him and puts him above public opinion, Henry has to deal with the traditional values of the Royal family.

This is the story of two boys, with paths clearly defined for who they are and who they have to become, that find each other unexpectedly and say “screw it, we’ll find our own way”. They start by hating each other (was it hate though?) but, when forced together, they soon realize they have more in common than they thought. And when they do, believe me, you’ll be a goner. Alex and Henry are cute as heck, they are there for each other at all times, there are bits of angst, there are hot moments. You’ll be completely immersed on their relationship and you’ll swoon. 

I also connected with Alex and Henry's love story because their dynamic reminded me A LOT of Sterek (Stiles and Derek from Teen Wolf). So, if you're a Sterek shipper, this is a must read!

Every scene with the group of friends of Alex, Henry, Nora, June, Bea, and Pez was a joy to read. They have the time of their lives when they are together and I kind of envy that.

This is a fun, adorable book filled with inclusive representation and characters you’ll fall in love with. I can’t wait to have a physical copy in my hands and reread it. If you like romance in general, you HAVE to read this book. Believe me, you won’t regret it. It is THAT good.

This is the book of 2019 that owns my heart and soul and my entire being. I have never felt so loved and represented in anything I’ve ever read and I cannot express how beautiful this book is.

If you haven’t seen this pretty much everywhere then I’m guessing you do live under a rock. This has been taking the book community by storm and I haven’t seen one person dislike this masterpiece. I received an e-Arc of this novel a couple of months ago and read this at the beginning of February but just haven’t been able to feel like I could put my thoughts into words, or even a decent review. So really this is going to be different than my normal review format because I just want to gush and explain what this story is about.

Red, White and Royal Blue revolves around a biracial/bisexual Mexican White Boy by the name of Alex. He is the First Son after his mother became President of the United States instead of … Trump. The love interest in this story is a gay man who is the Prince of Wales, sir Henry. I love both of these boys with my whole heart and they deserve the world.

Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son, is amazingly hilarious. All his life he’s never questioned his sexuality or who he is too much because he feels like he’s always had a duty to his mom and his family. But when he gets to know Prince Henry a little better, he starts to realize he needs to focus on himself a lot more. It’s tough on him as his parents are split up and a ton of responsibility is on his shoulders, being the First Son and all that. But his sister June and best friend Nora are always by his side and I love this family so freaking much.

Prince Henry also has a ton of pressure on him as he is, ya know, the Prince of Wales. He and Alex have known each other from a very young age as they are both important figures in the world but they’ve never really gotten along well at all. Some events happen and they’re pushed into a fake friendship that eventually leads up to one of the greatest romances I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I’m a whore for a good “enemies to lover” story and this is just right up my alley.

Now, there is a lot of politics in this book. I have never been one to be involved in politics until about maybe about a year ago, so reading a book that features heavily on the LGBTQ+ community as well as our countries issues, is phenomenal. Casey McQuiston created a masterpiece when it comes to writing and storytelling, and just getting across that things in our country need to change but at the same time giving us a fantastic love story.

Alex and Henry’s love story is super cute and I loved every second of it. There wasn’t a time when they were together that I wasn’t dying inside cause I knew they were going to make me love them even more. This is uhm, a little more on the sexy side of reads as it is a New Adult novel but a lot of the scenes faded to black or just weren’t explicit at all. And overall their character growth and love growth is to die for.

But now for the Gush.

Reading this was just like being hugged tightly for hours on end while laughing and crying. As I’ve said already I’ve never felt more represented and that is because Alex is a Mexican Man who is half white and half gay. I didn’t know going into this that the main character is Mexican or bisexual so being able to read this and just find these things out made me feel so loved and accepted. Having someone who is exactly like me made me feel heard and loved and ya boi is CRYING right now, if you could see me, you’d probably laugh. Anyways though, as someone who has never felt good enough about myself and as I’ve always doubted myself, this is a breath of fresh air and a book that I will forever hold close to my heart.

Being able to see the dynamics of his family and how they reacted when he came out or how they supported him and wanted him to be loved was amazing. Seeing more into Alex’s dad side and the Mexican side of the story just AGH I love it so much, all of it was so relatable, even down to the salsa being in the butter tub and not having actual butter.

Growing up Mexican and White has always been an internal issue with myself, I’ve never identified with one side more than the other. It’s always funny because people don’t want to let you be both, you have to chose sides so for the longest time it was I’ve always been gay and I’ve always been Mexican. It didn’t become until recently when I’ve surrounded myself with better people that I’ve realized I don’t have to conform to one box, I’ve never been a full gay and I’ve never been a full Mexicano, HELL I can barely speak a couple words in Spanish. And being able to be inside of Alex’s head and see how he deals with his life really just made me feel secure in myself. I can’t really even think of anything else to say besides thank you Casey, this is the book I’ve been waiting for.

I know this book touched a lot of souls, especially us Queer Biracials And I know it touched Texans and LGBTQ+ members and just pretty much everyone who has read it. But in good meme fashion, I’m just going to end this by saying that Casey McQuiston did THAT and created one of the best novels of all time. This does drop on May 14th so make sure to preorder your copies soon, this is definitely worth the read.

Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to read this, I hope you’re having a wonderful day.

Happy Reading friends,

~ Sol

To NetGalley, the publisher, and the authoress: thank you to the moon and back for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 1.5 (rounded down)

Okay, don’t hate me for this, because my review is certainly in the minority when it comes to this book; I simply couldn’t make up my mind: one star? Two stars? Three stars? Oftentimes, I was annoyed by it— the biased politics— more than that, perpetually frustrated about all the lovey-dovey stuff and incessant faire l'amour (it was damn excessive!!). Then again, there were moments that really struck me deep, and Lord knows I’m an emotional reader. One key scene towards the end made me tear up a bit, and it’s not often that happens. So, kudos for that. I know this book is going to be a big hit for many people, and I’m fully prepared to defend my unpopular opinion here on out.

Let me say this: it was very clear from the beginning how this story was going to end. It wasn’t surprising... like, at all! But, the joy should be in the journey, no matter the outcome, right? Well... no. It was written beautifully, I’ll give it that. It was truly, honestly good. There were many moments of inspired, descriptive passages and pretty prose. It’s a shame that you had to trudge through the too-frequent, unrealistically crude, sarcastic banter to get to it, though, but still...

Almost every side character is a person of color, which should feel great, but instead comes off as incredibly forced (which sucks). Their inclusion I perceived as only to be used as a statement, which feels wrong somehow. I dig that here the First Family is biracial, but again, it didn’t feel organic (couldn’t it just be, “This is us. This is who we are” and leave it at that? Instead of it trying to hammer home social commentary?). It’s totally all contrived political correctness. Mostly, for the entirety of the novel, I couldn’t connect with the main characters. They didn’t feel real enough: too smug, snarky, narcissistic, and the romance was all-consuming (and I hate that)... Give me diversity and representation, but let it make sense! Let it be real!!!

A hell of a lot happens in the first 10% of the book (it felt like it was crammed in, or one giant prologue that’s multiple chapters long): White House to London, back to USA, then London again, a wedding and three public events— I didn’t know how it was going to be dragged out for the remaining 90%. I wish more time was actually focused on a few of Alex and Henry’s outings earlier on, because they came and went so fast I got whiplash: the trip to the stables was over in a blink, the talk show (I think it was?) was probably a paragraph or two before it jumped abruptly into a charity event. There was SO MUCH room for elaboration... these were missed opportunities for interesting depth progression, and could’ve saved on so much unnecessarily long-winded ramblings later on. After about a third of the way through, the books starts to evolve into something different— more sincere, if you will. It’s a welcome shift. The first 30-odd percent seems like an infinitely different story/tone.

(Side note: the whole ‘young adults debate Star Wars’ schtick is SO overdone).

Speaking of Young Adult, I know this is technically billed as such (even though all the main characters are in their early twenties), but it is MUCH closer to Adult than anything. Fair warning for anyone sensitive to it: there is extremely frequent crass language, and lots of graphic sexual material— one of the more... intimate scenes plays out for like, several pages (too long, in my opinion). We get like, a dozen (I am not exaggerating!) different sex scenes. Now, I’m no prude (and wholly sex positive), but that’s just TOO-DAMN-MANY! Like, chill out and put it back in your pants, Ms. McQuiston. Something with this much fanfiction-y smut getting tagged as YA is beyond me...

I also can’t believe I’m saying this, but there was just waaaaay too much banter for my liking. It was all sharp, biting humor all the goddamn time. I craved moments of actual sarcasm-less depth and seriousness, and was frequently disappointed most of the way through.

(Not to sound nit-picky, but...)— cool. Another politically-charged book out to vilify Republicans. I get it: it’s about the First Family. They’re Democrats. I’m fine with that, obviously, because I don’t judge people or outright reject anyone based on political affiliation. But couldn’t this book just leave out all the name calling, ignorance, and horrible right-wing stereotyping? I mean, the entire RNC is completely demonized for *spoiler reasons*— because the only message I see being pushed here is that Republicans are nothing more than bigoted, racist, fascist, evil, rapist homophobes. The authoress could’ve done the decent thing: play nice and be pro-bipartisan, but that’s too much to ask with such clearly imbedded bias. Her disgust for Republicans is scary and, frankly really, really sad. I almost, almost was willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but come the conclusion after the whole “Waterloo” leak, I’m just resigned to the fact that Left-leaning authors will never tolerate opinions outside their own. And it makes me feel bad.

So, yeah, I feel let down from a great height. That is all.

<i>Thank you netgalley for the review copy!</i>

OMG. If you're wondering if this book is worth the hype, IT'S WORTH IT. This book is EVERYTHING.
From the loveable, complex, diverse cast of characters, to the heart-stopping enemies-to-lovers romance, to the political aspects that absolutely break your heart because of what could have been, this book stole my heart and ran away with it and got a tattoo of this book cover on it's ass.

PRE-ORDER THIS BOOK. REQUEST IT FROM YOUR LIBRARIES. SHOVE IT INTO THE HANDS OF EVERYONE YOU KNOW. You won't regret it! <3

Honestly, this may be my favorite book that I have read this year! I didn't even want to finish it because I didn't want it to end!! I will anxiously be awaiting everything Casey McQuiston publishes in the future!