“But, you know, that feeling? When you wake up in the morning and you have somebody to think about? Somewhere for hope to go? It's good. Even when it's bad, it's good.”

I haven't read Red, White, and Royal Blue yet, and did my best not to hold onto any expectations or hype. For the most part, I think it worked. Casey has an amazing ability to create a world of a magic and realism. She hits the right balance of timetravel romantic drama but also a thoughtful dive into queer history and finding a found community. While I couldn't necessarily relate to August and had a hard time finding her interesting, I absolutely loved Jane - her courage, ambition, boldness makes her one of my favorite characters of all time. Together, their relationship is both heartwarming and s-t-e-a-m-y. I'm dying to try the Su special, or just obsess about everything Jane-related until the end of time.

As much as I loved the mix of romance and mystery, I wished the pacing was stronger. The plot is a little too focused on August's crush on Jane, and not really knowing if it's reciprocated. The magic meet science parts are implemented in the plot well enough, but I kept waiting for more of

Spoiler

August's background with her mom as private investigators to be used more. Instead, a lot of the third act like the build-up of getting Jane off the train and the clues of finding out she was a roommate to August's long lost uncle felt convenient. The main conflict - of trying to get Jane out of the train before the shutdown - didn't come across as a race against time as much as I thought it would

A part of me kept expecting more. I also have a tough time with the supporting characters - they definitely help make the book much more refreshingly diverse, but at the same time, I didn't feel like they were used enough to be more than tropes or very minor influences in the overall story. (And as some have touched on, August's background as a white character from New Orleans telling Jane that racism doesn't exist anymore seems like an odd oversight for an author with such an inclusive and tight-knit attention to detail.)

But overall, I really enjoyed this. I can definitely see why Casey's work is so well-loved, and I'm excited for her next book and to read RWRB too.