On a personal enjoyment level this was probably more of a 2.5 - it was cute and gay and I can recognise the appeal, but in the end RWRB just wasn't the book for me. It didn't give me the banter that I usually look for when I read enemies to lovers (where were the bants??? enemies to lovers was false advertising) and the romance was established way too quickly for my tastes, when I tend to opt for a nice slow burn with plenty of pining. I also couldn't really connect with the characters very much and I just think they came from far too much privilege (the fictional prince of England and the fictional son of the fictional president of the United States) for me to get invested, plus I don't tend to care for stories about celebrities to begin with. Sure, I was rooting for them to get together but I didn't get that warm, fireworks-in-your-soul feeling I'd have gotten if I truly cared about Alex or Henry - with nothing to be said about the supporting cast, who all felt very bland to me with mostly interchangeable personalities.

On a last couple of complain-y points, the basis behind Alex and Henry's relationship felt so ridiculous to me and made no sense, and it made Alex feel petty and childish and unnecessarily judgy. Another thing that annoyed me was how the book seemed open and willing to discuss England's history and its violent past of colonisation (a valid and important topic to explore) but then swiftly sidestepped ANY mentions of America's own less than savoury past, making it seem as though issues of racism and homophobia and colonisation are just a British problem. Even if the U.S. was never outright valorized in the book, I really wish McQuiston had been willing to consider this more seriously (since they certainly didn't shy away from doing the same thing for England, I guess because hating on England is safer when you're an American) because I just didn't care for this sanitized vision of American history.

I feel bad for complaining about this book so much - again, I totally understand that sometimes the gays just want to win and read a fun, cute, contemporary romance and imagine a world that's a little brighter and a little kinder. This book was wish fulfillment and was probably very cathartic to write, and that's fine. I really did like the inclusion of historical gay love letters and the discussion of queer people through history since it's a topic I'm very passionate about, and the line "history, huh?" really got me.

Spoiler

But then I felt like way too much attention was drawn to it at the end once Henry and Alex's emails are leaked, and it completely ruined the effect.

I know I spent most of this review saying bad things, but this book had its moments, it has an understandable appeal, so I just decided to slap 3 stars onto this one because I didn't know what else to do and leaving fiction novels unrated has always felt weird to me.