Book 647: Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston

This is your warning—this post is a mess. I’m going to have to re-read this a few times before I can really wrap my head around why I enjoyed it so much.

I’m not even sure I’m going to be able to say why I loved it as much as I did. Just know that I read the entire book in three sittings (an hour at the gym, roughly seven hours at home [from 5 pm – to midnight] and then about an hour-and-a-half in the car on our most recent trip to Maine.

I was always going to love it because of the numerous Jane Austen [“‘Stop trying to Jane Austen my life!’ he yells back.” (180); “But you went after him!!! That’s SO Jane Austen!” (281)], Star Wars, and Harry Potter references, but other than that the chemistry of Alex and Henry was to-die-for. Like my heart hurt on so many occasions from joy and sadness and y’all, the cliffhanger between chapter nine and ten nearly broke me.

If I had to take a stab at why I loved it outside of Alex and Henry and my own obsession with the UK and all things British/English, I think it would be because of two things McQuiston said in the afterward/acknowledgments.

“What I hoped to do, and what I hope I have done with this book by the time you’ve finished it, my dear reader, is to be a spark of joy and hope you needed.” (419)

“To every person in search of somewhere to belong who happened to pick up this book, I hope you found a place in here, even if just for a few pages. You are loved. I wrote this for you. Keep fighting, keep making history, keep looking after one another.” (421, Acknowledgments)

She was writing in the aftermath of the 2016 election and she mentioned what was supposed to be a light-hearted parallel universe suddenly became so much more, because it had to. And then to include something a simple as an I see you in a book that had such powerful representation of so many people actually had me tearing up.

I laughed out loud countless times as I read the book, but these in particular made me laugh and/or giggle hysterically

“…what kind of garbage country eats bland beans on white toast for breakfast? He can’t decide if his Mexican blood or his Texan blood is more offended.” (41)

“She’s certain he was the one who vandalized the sign outside one particular senator’s office to read BITCH MCCONNELL, but she’ll never prove it.” (55)

“You are the thistle in the tender and sensitive arse crack of my life.” (73)

“The phrase ‘see attached bibliography’ is the single sexiest thing you have ever written to me.” (241)

I swooned as Alex came to terms with his sexuality and Henry blossomed into his, sure the physicality of the love is important, but that line about the fucking moors and the wind in his hair, hello Brontë trope, I love you.

“He kisses back, but lets himself be kissed however Henry wants to kiss him, which right now is exactly how he would have expected Prince Charming to kiss in the first place: sweet and deep and like they’re standing at sunrise in the fucking moors. He can practically feel the wind in his hair. It’s ridiculous.” (136)

“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?” (242)

And I truly appreciated McQuiston’s reveal, portrayal, and discussion of both young men’s sexuality,

“So, he always assumed if he weren’t straight, he would just know, like how he knows that he loves cajeta on his ice cream or that he needs a tediously organized calendar to get anything done. He thought he was smart enough about his own identity that there weren’t any questions left.” (111)

“Straight people, he thinks, probably don’t spend this much time convincing themselves they’re straight.” (112)

“In an instant of sudden, vivid clarity, he can’t believe he ever thought he was straight.” (139)

But she didn’t stop with the two of them, there were trans characters, interracial couples, pansexual characters, undefined characters, and they just were. They didn’t have to explain themselves or justify their existence. It was refreshing and just when you thought it might be too much, it wasn’t.

I think there were a few struggles with point of view, in that there were a few times I had to re-read a paragraph or page to figure out who was talking because the narration style changed. And there were definitely some copy editing mistakes with repeated and missing words, but overall I really really enjoyed this. I already know it’s been optioned for a film and I am SO THERE FOR IT.

I’ve spent the last few days researching identity theft so I can change my name to Casey McQuiston and take credit for this novel. This may be the book that finally gets me off my ass to write my own for some reason. I loved it that much, something about imitation, flattery, blah blah blah (or I may be gunning to become her :-D).

Recommendation: READ THIS BOOK. I will be reading it again, probably a lot sooner than I think because I’m not one with self restraint. McQuiston’s characters are so real and perfectly imperfect that you can’t help but love all of them (even the most minor), but where she really excels (or where her editor does) is her restraint. The story could’ve been even bigger than it was, but it would’ve suffered so much more if it was.

Opening Line: “On the White House roof, tucked into a corner of the Promenade, there’s a bit of loose paneling right on the edge of the Solarium.”

Closing Line: “Winter clouds, victorious, he unlocks the door.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Red, White & Royal Blue
“It’s just that Martha is a perfectly respectable daughter of nobility, and Philip is a prince. It’s as sexy as a business transaction. There’s no passion, no drama. Alex’s kind of love story is much more Shakespearean.” (12)

“As your mother, I can appreciate that maybe this isn’t your fault, but as the president, all I want is to have the CIA fake your death and ride the dead-kid sympathy into a second term.” (23)

“Whatever, fine. Henry is annoyingly attractive. That’s always been a thing, objectively. It’s fine.” (43)

“It’s weird, considering how fiercely protective Alex is of them, that he never even noticed until Henry’s Twitter exchange with June about their mutual love of the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie goes viral.” (71)

“He’s in Henry’s face now. If he’s getting his heart broken tonight, he’s sure as hell going to make Henry have the guts to do it right.” (274)

“It is, indeed, bullshit. It’s all I can do not to pack a bag and be gone forever. Perhaps I could live in your room like a recluse. You could have food sent up for me, and I’ll be lurking in disguise in a shadowy corner when you answer the door. It’ll all be very dreadfully Jane Eyre.” (294)

“(I’ll agree with your assessment that you’re the Han to my Leia in that you are, without doubt, a scruffy-looking nerf herder who would pilot us into an asteroid field. I happen to like nice men.)” (295)

“You see, for me, memories are difficult. Very often, they hurt. A curious thing about grief is the way it takes your entire life, all those foundational years that made you who you are, and makes them so painful to look back upon because of the absence there, that suddenly they’re inaccessible. You must invent an entirely new system.” (299)