Presidential by Lola Keeley
- Publisher: Ylva Publishing, 2020
- Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+
- Format: eARC
- Page Count: 235 pages
- My Rating: ★★★ (3/5)
Content warnings: shooting, off-page deaths, parental loss, spousal loss, biphobia from antagonists, uses of ableist language
There have been a lot of discussions on how this book closely resembles Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay The American President. Since I have never seen the film, I decided to read Presidential first, rate it, then skim through the script. Therefore, the similarities between the two works do not affect my rating. I consider Presidential as Keeley reimagining a queer, female The American President.
POTUS Constance “Connie” Calvin (51, bisexual) is not only one of the most powerful person in the world, she is also a widowed single mother raising her twelve-year-old son Zach in the White House in between signing bills. After Dr. Emily Lawrence (32) calls the president out on neglecting environmental issues, Connie accidentally brings up a sensitive topic for Emily upon their first encounter. Determined to make things right, Connie seeks Emily out, and maybe even wins her heart along the way.
This is a White House romance between two career-driven, smart women. It was a mostly fun and enjoyable read with very lovable characters Connie, Emily, and Zach. Sadly, I did not feel much chemistry between the leading women and was not gripped until the 85% mark. It was only in the last few chapters that I began to feel invested in the story, partly because I love seeing Zach’s wellbeing as Emily’s primary concern.
I had expected to see constructive political debates between Connie and Emily but was disappointed that the shoptalks were not thought-provoking. A few of those instances were forced and almost ridiculous, especially the ones with other languages involved. Maybe Jen Jensen’s The Politics of Love has spoiled me from all other political f/f romance with its wonderful discussions.
The thing I liked the most in Presidential is the prominent part gun violence played in the story. I cannot understand why guns are legal in the US, so the stronger emphasis on their danger is an important addition compared with The American President. I also appreciated that almost everyone is LGBTQ+ in this book: Emily’s boss Rebecca, Emily’s older sister Sutton, one of the White House staff Elliot uses they/them pronouns, etc. One minor thing I did not understand was that the final chapter, though functioning as an epilogue, was named chapter 29. This might only be an ARC issue, but it took me a while to figure out how much time had gone by between the last two chapters.
Presidential reads like a response to the rhetoric question of whether or not a “female” president’s private life goes under excessive public scrutiny and whether her dating a woman unveils deep-rooted homophobia in America. While the story does not really answer the question, it reimagines the rom com The American President with an added layer of queerness and gun violence trauma. [9 Sep 2020]
I received an e-ARC from Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
