Bookish Mumma

When I tell you that these two chapters were huge, I mean that they were the last remaining Mammoth in the world. Brandon Sanderson is bigger than a Mammoth, the analogy still works. That man scares me. Anyway! There’s more witty repartee which I love and there’s more politics. I’m surprised that there hasn’t been more of considering that the character that Red, White & Royal Blue follows is the First Son of the US. Even more so given that Casey is American and politics that affect them have been at the forefront. I’m not saying that all books like this have to reflect the social climate in which their author exists. It is significantly more likely than not, however. Write about what you know and all.

If you’d like to read the book and fill in the gaps, you can get the book here.

If you’d like to read any of the previous posts or books reviewed, you can read those here.

It’s weird that the thing with Henry could make him understand this huge part of himself, but it does.

Sexuality and attraction are massive parts of a person, so this is unsurprising. Especially when this was such a sudden development for him and it caused him to freak out and recover so quickly. As the relationship with Henry continues and develops, Alex is going to understand parts of himself that he didn’t know existed because of the Butterfly Effect of all of this.

“I’m not… historically great at talking about things,” Henry says.
“Well, I wasn’t historically great at blowjobs, but we all gotta learn and grow, sweetheart.”

This exchange made me close my book and laugh for a minute. I think I startled my dog. Practice makes perfect though, in blowjobs and in talking!

“Mum hasn’t been involved much since Dad died,” Henry says on an exhale, then stops short. “Sorry. That’s not fair. It’s… the grief has been total for her. It was paralyzing. It is paralyzing. She was such a spitfire. I dunno. She still listens, and she tries, and she wants us to be happy. But I don’t know if she has it in her anymore to be a part of anyone’s happiness.”

This is where I stopped yesterday because it hit me like a tonne of bricks. I wish I didn’t know how this feels, but I really, really do. It’s hard to be around and encourage someone else’s happiness when it feels like yours is gone and can’t come back. Not when the absence of someone that you love was interwoven all around it.

“Hi, Pez,” Alex says, grinning back. “Where are y’all?”
“We are out for a drive, taking in the scenery of Carmarthenshire,” Pez tells him. He tilts the phone over toward the driver’s seat. “Say good morning to your strumpet, Henry.”
“Good morning, strumpet,” Henry says, glancing away from the road to wink back at the camera.

Look up the word ‘strumpet’. This is so much funnier now that I know what that means.

He turns to June and slurs, “Bisexuality is truly a rich and complex tapestry,” and she screams with laughter and shoves a napkin in his mouth.

Amen to that, Alex!

He watches Henry lather up and shave, put pomade in his hair, put on his Burberry for the day, and he catches himself wishing he could watch it every day.

There’s a certain blonde tradie that I would love to see get ready for the day for the rest of my life. So I can absolutely understand this feeling.

“Why don’t we talk about how there’s a chapter of the Klan in every state? You think there aren’t racists and homophobes growing up in Vermont? Man, I appreciate that you’re doing the work here, but you’re not special. You don’t get to sit up here and pretend like it’s someone else’s problem. None of us do.”

Alex comes off as an asshole here, but he makes a good point. There will always be people with bias and prejudice and hate in every zip code. Regardless of whether or not they are open about it or whether or not you know about it. Just because you don’t see it, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen. If you want to see change, you have to actually DO something about it. Protect the ones you see are getting hurt if you are in a position of privilege. Call out your friends. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s necessary.

“Right,” Phillip says. “You know I don’t judge. I just think, you know, remember when we were younger and you’d spend time with my mates from uni? Or Lady Agatha’s son, the one that’s always quail hunting? You could consider more mates of… similar standing.”

Says he doesn’t judge… Proceeds to judge

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
Alex groans.
The thing is, he does, and Henry knows this too.

From experience, if someone says that they don’t want to talk about something, they almost always do, but might just need to take some time to process the situation.

Conclusion

These two chapters were massive and it was hard to find points to include that were somewhat short and I didn’t have to type up a whole page for. It’s absolutely worth reading for yourself because there were some really interesting points (and a few moments of light smut if you’re into that) that were enjoyable to read. The politics came in some more which was great to see, though I do hope that there is more of it. I’m not usually one for politics, but Red, White & Royal Blue does revolve around a presidential debate, so it’s kind of necessary.

If you’d like to read the book and fill in the gaps, you can get the book here.