Red, White & Royal Blue

A Novel

By: Casey McQuiston

Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

* GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD WINNER for BEST DEBUT and BEST ROMANCE of 2019 *

One of AudioFile Magazine's Best Audiobooks of 2019; an Instant New York Times bestseller; a *Must-Read Book* for Us Weekly, Vogue, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Oprahmag.com, and more!

"Narrator Ramón de Ocampo brings out all the emotion in this tender, serious, funny, and warmly hopeful love story...Listeners will be swept up as Alex and Henry face questions of identity and coming out amid familial duties and political machinations." — AudioFile Magazine

What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. 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.

Praise for Red, White & Royal Blue:

“Effervescent and empowering on all levels, Red, White & Royal Blue is both a well-written love story and a celebration of identity.” — NPR

"I took this with me wherever I went and stole every second I had to read! Absorbing, hilarious, tender, sexy—this book had everything I crave. I’m jealous of all the readers out there who still get to experience Red, White & Royal Blue for the first time!" - Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of Love and Other Words and Roomies

"Red, White & Royal Blue is outrageously fun. It is romantic, sexy, witty, and thrilling. I loved every second." - Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Maybe in Another Life

©2019 Casey McQuiston (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

AudioFile Magazine Editors' Pick

"Narrator Ramón de Ocampo brings out all the emotion in this tender, serious, funny, and warmly hopeful love story." -AudioFile Magazine

"I tore through Red, White & Royal Blue as if it were a pint of Ben & Jerry's. By turns hilarious and angst-ridden, buoyant and strikingly real, this novel is a surefire bull’s-eye for any devotee of classic romance, slow burn fanfiction, or heartfelt storytelling. A political love story too timely and too genuine to miss." - Lyndsay Faye, internationally bestselling author of Jane Steele and The Gods of Gotham

The audio was a little tough to follow

4.25 Stars
*This review has no spoilers but if you like a quick review skip to the Down & Dirty*
Fresh and relevant, fun and unique, Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is blowing up with amazing reviews. I had to see what the hype was about, so I got the audiobook. If any book could benefit from an ensemble cast of narrators, it’s this one, despite the story being told in 3rd person. Ramon de Ocampo did an OK job, especially switching between the two men, but there were a lot of side characters, and I found the audio very hard to tell who was talking.

“I’m the son of the first female president. And I’m not white like she is, can’t even pass for it. People will always come down harder on me.”

First son Alex Claremont-Diaz is 21, half Mexican, and handsome. He, his sister and the VP’s daughter are all around the same age and make up “The White House Trio”, all working to get their ticket reelected in 2020. The beginning of the book seemed kind of slow to me, introducing all the characters as well as their security detail, and I had a hard time following the dialog between them in the audio version.

Prince Henry is about the same age as Alex but Alex can’t stand him and his stuffy British ways.

“‘Arch nemesis’ implies he’s actually a rival to me on any level and not, you know, a stuck-up product of inbreeding who probably jerks off to photos of himself.”

When their rivalry causes a mishap, they need to smooth things over with the press, and they are forced to spend time together and pretend to be friends. But pretending turns into an actual friendship, and the two start keeping in touch across the continents. Oh, the e-mails! I loved them so much!

“But he thinks about Henry, and, oh. He thinks about Henry, and something twists in his chest, like a stretch he’s been avoiding for too long.”

When Henry and Alex kiss, Alex realized he was bisexual for the first time, and I really enjoyed reading his feelings about it. But Alex’s mom is trying to get reelected and the race is very close. What kind of problems would coming out cause the campaign and his own political aspirations? And as for Henry, would the Monarchy ever accept a gay prince?

"Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that.
History, huh? Bet we could make some."

My biggest problem with the book I think was when the 6 friends were all together, it was so hard to follow on audio, so I had to stop and make a list of the players. Here is a quick breakdown of the main characters.
•Alex: Mexican-American bisexual first son, going into politics himself.
•June: Mexican-American first daughter. More of the leader of the group.
•Nora: the VPs granddaughter and Alex and June’s BFF. She is geeky, bisexual, a hacker, and totally funny.
•Henry: The stuffy Prince of England. 100% in-the-closet gay.
•Bea: Henry’s sister, former drug addict (possibly bi too?)
•Pez: Flamboyant fashionista who seems gay but isn’t. Henry’s best friend.
•Rafael Luna: A Senator
•Cash, Amy and Zahra are all Secret Service or working on the campaign.
•Prince Phillip: the actual heir to the throne and Henry’s older brother.
•President Ellen Claremont: Democrat President of the US, Alex and June's mother.
•Leo: The President's 2nd husband and Alex and June's stepfather.
•Senator Oscar Diaz: Alex & June's Dad

Likes:
•Current, fresh and funny.
•Alex - it took a while for me to warm up to him, but when I did, I was hooked.
•I actually loved the political part of the story and wish it was really the way things are (I do not think most Republicans will like this aspect of the story).
•Wonderfully diverse and developed side characters.
•I was glad the sex scenes were fade to black because I think high-school aged kids who may be struggling with their identities should read this.
•Lots of sexual tension despite the sex scenes being fade-to-black.
•Alex’s family and their reaction to his news.
•I love correspondence in a book, and Henry and Alex’s emails and texts were wonderful.
•Happy and hopeful.

Dislikes:
•It didn’t translate well to a single narrator audiobook even though it was 3rd person but would have been phenomenal with a full cast.
•It felt a bit too long, especially the first half and it was hard to follow all the characters.
•Present tense.

The Narration:
I think the narration took away from the book and I wish I read instead of listened. There were too many characters with too much dialog to be able to follow easily. While Ramon de Ocampo did a pretty good job of switching voices and accents, I did notice several times that he used the wrong voice for a line here and there. If ever a book needed an ensemble cast this would be the one.

The Down & Dirty:
Red, White & Royal Blue has all the makings to be a hit. It's fresh and different. It's modern. It's relevant. It's fun. It has a wonderful message of inclusiveness with the understanding of the consequences. But I think the narration, for me, took away from the story. There were a lot of characters and I had a hard time following along with who was speaking. The beginning moved a bit slow for me, but the last third of the book was amazing. Though this is definitely an adult book with some sexual scenes, the actual sex is fade-to-black which I think works fine for this and will help it appeal to the more mainstream reader. I loved the characters and the storyline was just perfect. I see why everyone has been talking about Red, White & Royal Blue, but I think the narration held me back from being as blown away as everyone else.

*Note: while taking the photo I started listening again, and now that I know the characters I am enjoying it even more. Though the beginning is still a bit of an info overload - I can see why I had trouble following, because it's a lot even the second time.

Rating: 4.25 Stars, 2.5 Heat, 3 Narration

Perfection

You know it’s good when you’re thinking about when you’re going to reread it😍...So good.

Fantastic listen!

I don't know exactly what I was expecting on this one, but I definitely didn't expect to love it as much as I did! I don't think I was expecting as much snark, and swearing, and just sheer hilarity as there was, and so this one was almost an instant winner for me!

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the son of the President (the first female president too), and Henry is the youngest Prince of Wales. A bit of an international incident that threatens US/UK relations shoves them together as they must pretend to be best friends to calm the bad press. Their friendship becomes real before long, and then becomes something even more.

Honestly guys, this book kind of ruined me a little bit. It has all the ups and downs and so on and so forth that most romances do, and I was emoting really hard by the end. The last 2 hours or so of this book was a roller coaster of emotions. I will get misty-eyed occasionally about books, but this one actually made tears happen. I was honestly *very* curious how this one was going to achieve a happy ending, considering the position these two are in. Seems rather impossible, in these times. But this book takes place in 2020, and assumes that a liberal woman has been in office since 2016.

Alex and Henry were both so easy to cheer for. Secondary characters are also really awesome in this one though. I especially loved Nora, who is the granddaughter of the Vice-President, and part of the 'White House Trio' as Alex, his sister June, and Nora are affectionately known in the press. I also really loved Pez, who is Henry's friend, and Amy, who is one of the secret service agents that protects Alex.

The narrator, Ramon de Ocampo did a great job bringing everyone to life. There are parts of the book that he puts just the right amount of snark in, or emphasis on some words or suchlike, and it made it a real pleasure to listen to. I sat down and gulped the whole thing in two sittings even though I never, ever wanted it to end.

So, all told, this was one of the most entertaining, enthralling, well-paced, and feels-jostling romance novels that I've ever read, and I think I loved it even more as an audiobook than I would have as a print book, because the narrator really gave it all kinds of flair when it needed it to just make it extra amazing. Probably one of my favorite books ever, now.

History, huh?

I was HOUNDED by several friends to read this book, and when I finally got around to it, I was SO MAD at myself for waiting so long. McQuiston captures you immediately with the characters and their depth. I felt like I knew every single character, their wants fears and desires. Alex and Henry are brilliant and you can’t help but root for them throughout the story. They’re emblematic, being in the public eye, but never faltering to hand on to what makes them human. Brilliant work!

Nothing Like It

This book is an intersection of all things I am able to identify with in one beautifully written story. There's Drag Race, Star Wars, politics, Starship, queer love, fantasy of what could've been after 2016. I laughed and cried and cried and cried. It's officially and immediately an all time favorite.

The Best Audiobook EVER

It gives you hope. It makes you proud. It makes you believe. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Surprise

This book has a fairy tale theme, but is a surprising book of substance. McQuiston did a ton of research in many fields to author this very intelligent book. It was extrememly entertaining, thought provoking & humorous . I was torn between wanting to listen with out stopping and savoring it to make it last....

Captivating

I fell in love with both Alex and Henry. They had beautiful, smart, funny dialogue and texts and wonderfully written emails. The sex scenes are exciting and loving. My only complaint was that the narrator pronounced David Bowie like David Owie.

Beautiful Love Story

This is a wonderful story of love. I have it on Audible and have listened twice in about 3 weeks.

Prefer the physical book

I’m glad I watched the movie and read the book before listening to it. I grew up speaking Spanish so when the narrator emphasized letters and words that didn’t sound right, I cringed. I think this would be way better if read by a full cast, especially if they have native Spanish speakers for Alex, Oscar and Luna (I believe they are the only ones that actually speak Spanish throughout the book..)