Red, White and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston

[goodreads]

Title: Red, White and Royal Blue
Author: Casey McQuiston
Genre: YA, LGBTQ
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: Audiobook ~12hrs
Date read: August 2020

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?


Really cute :-D It's a great mix of friendship, romance, coming-of-age and finding your own place in the world. I really enjoyed seeing Alex' and Henry's friendship grow organically and how they each brought their friends and siblings along, to create a larger, harmonious group. I really appreciated that the relationship here was not interrupted by a misunderstanding that could have been prevented by simple communication. That is a trope far too prevalent in YA, and I was glad not to see it happen here.

I also enjoyed seeing this "behind the stages" view of politics and royalty, even though I have absolutely no doubts that that part is 100% made up and not based on any personal experience :-P