I kept checking and rechecking his age in the beginning because I was thinking of him as eighteen at most! Janine: Yes, I agree that Alex read much younger than twenty-one. I would peg him at around fifteen – sixteen tops and that was not a good thing for me. Almost from the very beginning Alex’s age that was announced on page (21) for me did not compute with the way he talked and acted. I am very often eager to try the stories which have the vibe of “from enemies to lovers” trope, and this book had a lot of early reviews which sang it accolades, so I said why not. Sirius: I agree that conflict had a lot of potential, but for me that potential evaporated pretty quickly. But pretty quickly, the lack of depth or nuance weakened it. I liked both of the guys and wanted them to find a way to be together. Though the story was predictable, at first the impossibility of it all-Alex’s fear for his family’s approval ratings in a campaign year, Henry’s confinement to the life expected of a royal-gave the conflict a lot of potential. My first question to you is what did you think of the setup and introduction of the conflict?

So I can only speak to the section I read, but that was substantial enough that I can make some judgements.

Janine: I have to start by confessing that I did not finish this book-it was so frustrating that I reached 42%, which translates to around 180 pages, and then quit. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn’t always diplomatic. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. Handsome, charismatic, genius-his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? Sirius and I both read accolades for Casey McQuiston’s debut, Red, White and Royal Blue, an m/m New Adult romance. Janine D Reviews / DNF Reviews bisexual hero / campaign / diversity / England / joint review / LGBTQIA+ / m/m / NA / politics / prince / publicity / Washington DC 32 Comments JOINT REVIEW: Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Red white and royal blue