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Jun. 29th, 2019 08:52 amI've read a lot of books by former fandom authors in my time, but Casey McQuiston's Red, White and Royal Blue managed to give me a more consistent impression that I'd accidentally downloaded a 100k fic off the AO3 to read on my Kobo but forgotten which cute CW leads it was supposed to be an AU of than anything I've ever read before. Bug or feature, depending on your personal taste!
The plot: Alex is the photogenic, media-savvy son of the current (female) President of the United States; Harry is the differently photogenic and media-savvy grandson of the Queen of England. At first, Alex thinks that he hates Harry and Harry hates him, which leads to a mild international incident and an order for the two of them to pretend to be best friends for the media! which in short order reveals their inevitable sublimated attraction! which in short order leads to a TOP SECRET PR NIGHTMARE RELATIONSHIP!
PR nightmare bonus points: Alex's mom is currently running for re-election against a standard-issue Republican nightmare, and Alex is heavily involved with her campaign! meanwhile, Harry is closeted by royal family mandate! (Alex starts out the book considering himself as straight but works through that with relative speed.)
Important side characters include Alex's quippy and supportive sister and their bisexual best friend, the VP's daughter, who taken together form a triumphant photogenic and media-savvy White House Millenial Trio; Harry's quippy and supportive royal sister with a Scandalous Past and their significantly stuffier, less quippy, and less supportive royal brother; Alex's supportive politician dad (divorced); Alex's morally ambiguous Senatorial mentor; various assistants and bodyguards; and, of course, the President of the United States.
Every younger character (except Harry's stuffy brother) is funny, likable, and woke, with the ability to spout pop culture references whenever the plot may call for them. Every older character (except Harry's stuffy relatives and the Republican nightmare) is intelligent, perceptive, tolerant, and cool. The world in which this all takes place has no Brexit and no Trump, and although fiction tips the hat to reality at a number of key points -- email servers, last-minute scandals, election-night nail-biters -- this is a rom-com and an escapist fantasy and there's no real doubt that love and tolerance are going to triumph over any obstacles in the end.
...which, in all honestly, made it kind of difficult for me at times, and maybe contributed as much as the extremely fandom writing style to that persistent AO3 feeling: it's fix-it fanfic of reality, a shinier and glossier version where everybody on the political stage is pretty and clever and either having their own queer love story or being a supportive side character in someone else's queer love story. I respect the agenda and the choices, and it's all very tropey and readable and not at all intended to feel like salt in the wounds, but there were moments ...
The plot: Alex is the photogenic, media-savvy son of the current (female) President of the United States; Harry is the differently photogenic and media-savvy grandson of the Queen of England. At first, Alex thinks that he hates Harry and Harry hates him, which leads to a mild international incident and an order for the two of them to pretend to be best friends for the media! which in short order reveals their inevitable sublimated attraction! which in short order leads to a TOP SECRET PR NIGHTMARE RELATIONSHIP!
PR nightmare bonus points: Alex's mom is currently running for re-election against a standard-issue Republican nightmare, and Alex is heavily involved with her campaign! meanwhile, Harry is closeted by royal family mandate! (Alex starts out the book considering himself as straight but works through that with relative speed.)
Important side characters include Alex's quippy and supportive sister and their bisexual best friend, the VP's daughter, who taken together form a triumphant photogenic and media-savvy White House Millenial Trio; Harry's quippy and supportive royal sister with a Scandalous Past and their significantly stuffier, less quippy, and less supportive royal brother; Alex's supportive politician dad (divorced); Alex's morally ambiguous Senatorial mentor; various assistants and bodyguards; and, of course, the President of the United States.
Every younger character (except Harry's stuffy brother) is funny, likable, and woke, with the ability to spout pop culture references whenever the plot may call for them. Every older character (except Harry's stuffy relatives and the Republican nightmare) is intelligent, perceptive, tolerant, and cool. The world in which this all takes place has no Brexit and no Trump, and although fiction tips the hat to reality at a number of key points -- email servers, last-minute scandals, election-night nail-biters -- this is a rom-com and an escapist fantasy and there's no real doubt that love and tolerance are going to triumph over any obstacles in the end.
...which, in all honestly, made it kind of difficult for me at times, and maybe contributed as much as the extremely fandom writing style to that persistent AO3 feeling: it's fix-it fanfic of reality, a shinier and glossier version where everybody on the political stage is pretty and clever and either having their own queer love story or being a supportive side character in someone else's queer love story. I respect the agenda and the choices, and it's all very tropey and readable and not at all intended to feel like salt in the wounds, but there were moments ...
