Reviews and Comments

about naïve teenage witches doing naïve teenager witch shit

If you hate committees and cops as much as Stella does, this work of magical fiction is for you.

...which is also very nicely queer-normative, despite being very anglo. Everything in here is about books, and there's a nicely working magic system and religions. Lots of queer polyamory, prominent depiction of hearing-impaired and disabled characters, and a world that caters to all of them. There's also a beautiful accompanying oracle card deck :)

Just like Last Night at the Telegraph Club, this book follows the journey of a young adult in finding out about their gayness - in a different century and different circumstances. Most of this book, I liked a lot. There's so many reflections on different parts of life, it's just enjoyable and thought-inspiring.

However, I'm a girl that needs happy endings. This book does not have a happy ending. Starting at about 2/3 of this book, everything turns sad in every way. I would not have read this book if I had known.

This is the story of 17-year old Lily Hu in 1950s San Francisco Chinatown and her slow and risky introduction into lesbianism. It's all embedded within real historical events, with so many references to things and places and events and people that actually existed (the Author's Note explains a lot of them - well-researched! and if you want to read up on them, there's even a bibliography list). I devoured this book with lots of joy. It's interesting and thrilling and capturing. Go read it!

Nothing special or original, just a random WLW romance, but it just felt comfy and lighthearted and really enjoyable.

Same old plot. Someone is out for revenge, wraps their entire life around it, gets lost in the cause, and has to accept that maybe it's not worth it and getting their life is more important than vengeance. The implementation is okay. Noor is a nice character. That's all.

I read this originally in high school age, when my computer science teacher recommended it to me. It's entertaining and it did feel good reading it again, however disguided and fascist the described society may be.

Damn this book felt long and boring. Mostly, nothing happens except that Paul/Polly moves around Iowa City/Michigan/Provincetown/San Francisco and fucks around. No tension, no bigger story. I do have to appreciate however, how this book visits quite some different sides and forms and subcultures of gay and lesbian communities. Paul's shapeshifting allows it.

Cringe, flach und sexistisch.

Ich erinnere mich noch genau, wie ich dieses Buch früher im Sommer-Lese-Club der lokalen Bücherei verschlungen habe, und ich habs damals geliebt. Als ich es dann Ende letzten Jahres unter den aussortierten Büchern einer anderen Bücherei gesehen habe, musste ich es einfach mitnehmen, und nochmal lesen ♥

I like the characters, but the story itself is not really that good. A chosen one? The only one in the world? Looking for a magical sword? How creative. "Darker by Four", by the same author, was soo soo much better.

It's basically the most standard romance novel you can imagine, and there's not really any creative plot ideas.

This is a good book, for what it is. However, not much of it is really unique and mindfuckingly excellent. In fact, Casey McQuiston's other books, specifically One Last Stop and I Kissed Shara Wheeler, are full of such amazing ideas and moments, that Red, White & Royal Blue just cannot keep up. They've set the bar too high.

Then again, AFAIK, Red, White & Royal Blue is McQuiston's first book, so one could see this as evidence that they only get better and better.