Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hype does scare me when it comes to reading a book or a series. That is why I treaded hesitantly when it came to this book, I wasn't sure if the hype was going to consume me and leave me with nothing to enjoy in this book. Well, I can happily tell you that didn't happen and that I love this book with my whole entire heart.
Synopsis
A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends...
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.
The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?
This book was actually so amazing. The first half of the book when I thought of what I would rate it once I finished (bc obviously I was going to finish it) I kind of believed it would be a 4, maybe 4.5, star read. At that point, it was a book I was enjoying but not enough for it to be phenomenal or to be considered one of my new favorites. The second half of the book made me want to slap my prior self for not considering the background that went into the first half of the book and how that made everything in the rest of the book enjoyable. Like, it wouldn't have meant as much to me if there wasn't all that build up of Alex looking at Henry in a teeny bop magazine of June's like oh my god that was so perfect.
I still feel like my brain is very flustered because I finished reading the book like five minutes ago but I thought I would let my fresh thoughts just flow for this review.
Something I wasn't too sure about going in was the hate to love trope thats included in this book. It's not something I've dealt with since I got back into reading again and from what I remembered from my sad prior reading, it was also super cringey. This was far far from that. It was so enjoyable, like I said before, the magazine that Alex looked at Henry in way before they ever met like sealed it for me. It was the underlying spark of something that he didn't recognize as feelings for him. What made this hate to love even better was the LGBTQ+ rep, like oh my god, the fact that they were two boys made my heart grow ten sizes. Maybe it was just the characters of Alex and Henry, together, that was enjoyable for me because I LOVE them so much, but I just really enjoyed their overall dynamic and attitude. Plus their romance blooming throughout the book was absolutely precious. Them sending emails and quoting historic letters was so incredible. I love history, so that was like an added bonus on top of all the romantic gush I was loving about this book. But the scandal and the royal part of the scandal had me shook! Actually, a lot of this book had me shook. Sometimes good and sometimes like WTF??!! The good ways always had me laughing at loud or being like oh oh OH MY GOD! (it was a build up). The, not really, bad times were more me just being like "no please don't let that happen" or (again) "WHAT THE..." and sometimes it was just screaming like actual screaming and gushing as well in the better moments.
Something I wasn't expecting to be something as involved in the story and for me to actually like was the politics. Since I took government my senior year of high school, I've been more interested in American politics and all that goes on behind the scenes and voting and all that jazz. So it was interested to see the insight on what the author believes that first family would be like. I also enjoyed the many roles that were included that were very real to the roles the first family probably has like security agents and other people that just manage the every day lives of the first family. It was something that I expected going in would be overshadowed by the romance but it very much wasn't. And if politics isn't your thing or you are currently anti politics for reasons I won't go into... don't be hesitant of this book, it's not overwhelming but (in my opinion) there is an enjoyable amount that makes the book seem more realistic.
Seriously, please read this book. I'm not going to say anything like "I recommend this blah blah blah.." I'm saying go pick this up from your bookstore or library or thrift store. Wherever you get books. Go get it. Read it. Or listen to it. The audiobook is out to have a bad rep but I listened to the audiobook while reading this physical copy and it made my experience even more enjoyable that I think it would have been just reading the physical book.
Comentários