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3.5/5
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Reread. Started in line to meet Casey McQuiston and get my book signed, finished (accidentally) on Election Day.
Rating: 5/5
Pages: 448
Started: 5 November 2022
Finished: 8 November 2022
Summary:
Alex Clairemont-Diaz has his whole life planned out: get his mom re-elected as President, use his momentum as First Son to become the youngest member of Congress in history. Then he trips at a royal wedding in England, sending both his rival, Prince Henry, and himself crashing into an absurdly expensive cake. To avoid international scandal, Alex is forced to pretend to befriend the prince, despite the fact that he's hated him for years--Henry is aloof, snooty, rude, has been for years. But as Alex gets to know Henry better, he begins to understand that there's more to the prince than his emotionless facade. Then Henry kisses him, and Alex has to decide if his carefully planned future is worth throwing away what might be the love story of a lifetime.
Thoughts:
There are so many things I love about this book: the found family, the absolutely hilarious writing, the incredible chemistry. But sticks with me every time I read it is the hope. Compared to how the 2016 election went, the idea of a female president with a bisexual son is incredible. Rarely do I find political fiction or realistic fiction to be sufficiently escapist, but this is an outlier to the rule.
I had forgotten I could have book hangovers this bad. I've been off-balance and listless for days now, all because of a political rom-com with a pink cover. I wasn't even planning on re-reading RWRB, but I ended up waiting almost an hour in line for Casey McQuiston's signature, with only the book for entertainment, and of course once I start a book I have to finish it. But I had completely forgotten how much this book destroys me. It just that Alex and Henry are so in love. And Alex and Henry's emails are unbearably romantic. Alex is so competent--everyone in the book is really. Compared to the inconclusive chaos of our election, this book was almost too utopian. I'm cautiously optimistic about the results of the election, but the definitive hope in RWRB is on a whole other level. The entire world accepted two boys in love. Murals were painted, for heavens sake.
I had also forgotten how great McQuiston's writing is. It's not super flowery, but there's something super charming about their current, colloquial style. Their fragmented sentences, in particular, are super cool. They feel very familiar, probably since they're closer to the internet speech I consume daily than the strenuous-to-detangle language of Shakespeare.
"Alex is. Well, Alex is probably losing his mind" (134).
I love this book with my whole heart. The only regret I have is that now I have to wait another year or two before I get to read it again.