Hey, guys! I am super excited to talk about the incredible Love story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler. Many of you probably don’t know this, but I have been obsessed with Hamilton for years and one of these days I will be seeing the Broadway show, even if the original cast is no longer doing it. But this is published fanfiction of the love story between the two, and I do have to say my low expectations were exceeded! I do, however, want to give a trigger warning for rape and sexual assault. With that said, let’s get into it!

Synopsis

Their romance shaped a nation. The rest was history.

1777. Albany, New York.

As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country’s founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters—Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival that of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball.

Still, she can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel, and General George Washington’s right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can’t believe his luck—as an orphan, and a bastard one at that—to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history.

My Thoughts

This was actually really good! I was definitely not expecting to like this Book as much as I did, regardless of my obsession with Hamilton. I was just happy this book was solely about how Alex and Eliza fell in love and not about the affair because I already lived through it in the musical and it will hurt a lot more in the form of a novel, so as much as I enjoyed this, I won’t be continuing with the series. I honestly think you can just read this first book and be content.

I loved how fleshed out the characters ended up being in this book. I had pretty low expectations because it was Hamilton fanfiction, especially because I didn’t really vibe with the first scene we see at the opening of the novel. This book pleasantly surprised me, however, because we see how much Eliza cares about the war and her own independence. I almost lost it whenever the major conflict of the book was introduced, and I kind of wanted to throw the book because we were finally getting somewhere.

I was so thankful this book did not employ the use of instalove. It was a relationship that had to build, and it was just so satisfying to see the end result. It’s a hate-to-love relationship, and through all of it, we see the progressive ideals Eliza has for the time. She wanted to marry for love, she believed women should be able to do whatever a man could do, and she was an abolitionist, much like Alex. Her independent, fiery personality really was shown in the novel.

With all of that said, there were a couple of things that kind of irritated me while I was reading it. There was this one point where the word “spunk” or “spunky” was used repeatedly to describe Eliza and it made me cringe so much. I just hate that word so much, personally. It’s like the word “moist” for the rest of the human population. There were also several mentions of how Eliza was the superior sister of the Schuylers. It was repetitive, and I personally hate pitting women against other women, so that bit bothered me a lot, especially because of how many times it happened.

But overall, I did really enjoy this book, and I highly recommend it, if you love Hamilton as much as I do. I also just recommend it in general because it’s a really quick and fun read!

And there you have it! That was my review of Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz. Do you love Hamilton? Have you seen it? What’s your favorite song? I would love to gush about it in the comments! But that is going to be it for this review today. Thank you all so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you next time!