Synopsis (From Book)
When his mother became President of the United States, 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 an 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 and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable 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 presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises 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?
Thoughts Before Reading
I've been avoiding this book since it came out because I wasn't interested in it enough to pick it for my Book of the Month back in December, and I also didn't want to pay extra to make it an add-on. But for February I had a free add-on and after hearing so many good things about the book I knew that this had to be my add-on for the month! It just worked out perfectly that it was February where I could add it since it is a heavy romance book and this is Valentine's Day month. From the synopsis, it sounds like it is going to be a really fun read and after pretty much DNF Dear Edward I've decided I needed a light fun read. Not going to lie I really, really want to read Crazy Rich Asians so don't be too surprised if I get into this book and sit it down to read Crazy Rich Asians. I just want to read my BOTM book for February and Dear Edward was something that I started in January and I still haven't finished it. We'll talk about that book over in its review post. I didn't hate the book I just couldn't stay involved with it and my interest in it just fizzled out.
After Thoughts
I know I totally robbed you all of the halfway through thoughts for this book but I really could not put this book down! So I'm really going to try to keep it spoiler-free. I had so much fun reading this book!
I went into this book really skeptical because when books get so much hype behind them I get curious, but at the same time, I'm really hesitant because I'm scared that I won't have the same feelings as everyone else is having towards it. To be really honest there have been a ton of books that people extremely love, and because of the hype, I should love it too because they have so many aspects that I love but they end up being a DNF or very low rating, most recent example is Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid or An Anonymous Girl by Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks. So I was really intimidated by this book! But for February I wanted to get an add-on that was romantic and something that really fit in with the Valentine's Day theme. Obviously, I didn't get to the book in February, but I finally got to and I'm so glad that I did! The second I picked it up I could not stop reading! I loved Alex and Henry so much! They were so cute and their relationship was so fun to follow. I don't know if I would qualify this book as an instalove situation because Alex truly hated Henry in the beginning of the book and we really got to see their relationship gradually evolve over time, and I mean it was months that this spanned over before they even kissed!
Outside of Alex and Henry I loved Nora and June so much! Another thing that was so fun to read about was how McQuiston pulled from current political events. Alex's mom became president after the Obama administration and we are watching the family prepare for running for her second term. It made the book feel like a real-life story instead of a work of fiction.
I think there was a lot of character growth for everyone in the story, but especially for Henry. You would really have to read it to see why, but I think you can really assume that both Henry and Alex would have a lot of issues with any sort of relationship.
This last thing that I really truly loved about this book is such a reading preference from my end. A lot of the book has a different format, and by this, I mean the way it's printed. Alex and all of the other characters text one another or his emails with Henry are all printed in the same format but it is different from the rest of the book. To me whenever a book has this mixed media within it I just eat it up! It makes me feel like I'm reading super fast and I have so much fun experiencing it.
To me, this book was hands down a 5 out of 5 stars and I can definitely see where everyone is coming from when they praise this book. I think this is one of the few books that I can understand getting a GoodRead's yearly award. Below is a book aesthetic that I made using images from Pinterest. Underneath the picture I've listed out what each picture represents and some even have page numbers listed beside the explanation so you can see where I got the inspiration from within the book.
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| Right to Left: The White House in D.C., A Crown, Rainbow Flag, Union Jack Flag, Polo (Pg.35), Heart (Pg. 257), Harry Potter Books (Pg. 240), American Flag, Broken Heart, Blue Bonnets and the state of Texas (Pg. 362), Jane Austen Books, Beagle (Pg. 31), Kensington Palace (Pg. 33), Vote Sign, Yellow Tie (Pg. 407), The Great Expectations (Pg. 31), Democrat Button |
Here is an update on my Spring reading challenge so you can see where I'm standing right now.
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