This book will age well, not because it could be imagined as taking place at some future point (the 2020 presidential campaign features strongly, after all), but because it is so unapologetically of its time. The writing is timely, too - Alex’s speech patterns are very 2019 Gen Z. McQuiston’s writing definitely does her story justice - the characters feel like real 20-somethings, despite the display of artifice they give the cameras. This was such an interesting, high stakes spin, that Red, White, and Royal Blue really felt like a new, fresh story. Henry needs a political excuse to be in the same country as Alex at all, and vice versa. “Coming out” is hardly the most pressing issue when Alex and Henry struggle to have a private relationship in the first place, both of them plagued by paparazzi and all their movements tracked. And, in fact, it isn’t entirely a coming out story at all. If Alex comes out, what does that mean for his mom’s bid for re-election? And for Henry, who doesn’t have the luxury of disappearing from the public eye after another four years, is coming out too costly? This isn’t your average coming out story, but one of celebrity (especially unasked-for celebrity). It deals with coming out in an interesting way, since the stakes are global. Underneath its fun trope-y beginning, it becomes a drama that addresses queer sexuality on a more thoughtful level.

I really enjoyed Red, White, and Royal Blue.

After a PR nightmare, Alex and Henry are forced by their respective handlers to play nice, or else. This is where the novel begins: a rivalry come to a head at the royal wedding of Henry’s older brother, Phillip. Henry is only two years older than Alex, but while they play similar roles in life, and occasionally collide at international events, Henry is cold and aloof, never stooping to befriend his American counterpart. Alex likes politics, but he can’t stand the fakeness of it all - and his frustrations come to be centralized around one man, Prince Henry of Wales.

And his mother just happens to be the President of the United States. Red, White, and Royal Blue is the story of Alex Claremont-Diaz, a 21 year old student with political dreams: to climb the rungs as intern, staffer, and finally Senator by 30. Trigger warnings: Sex under the influence of alcohol (not in a predatory context, but still), forced outing, attempted rape (talked about, not in scene), drug abuse (not in scene), parent death, rare instances of homophobia, racism, xenophobia. Note: Characters have explicit sex this is not YA and definitely not appropriate for younger teens Mexican American/Mixed race main character

Royal blue book