Alex and Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz #Bookreview

Title: Alex and Eliza
Author: Melissa De La Cruz
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers  
Published Date: April 11th 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, YA
Page Count:368
Format: Hardcover

My Rating: ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 
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.

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 My Review:

"So she would not run. She would stay. She would do her duty. She would hold her head up high, and no one would ever reproach her."

 I will say that having already had my own opinions about Alex and Eliza meant that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have. (Yes most of this knowledge has come from Hamilton or some on tv documentaries.) This doesn't take away from the story at all, it just means that when certain things happened I wasn't as in love with them as certain other things. Also knowing what Alex does later on in the marriage, makes it a little harder for me to enjoy this love story.

I also found myself being disappointed with how the Schuyler sisters were portrayed. Peggy was the only one I really loved. Eliza was naive and then all of a sudden had this great knowledge and Angelica was annoying at times or just talked down to her younger siblings. I guess I was just hoping for some of the parts from Hamilton the musical to be portrayed in this because the author was inspired by it to write this book.

"But is that what a marriage is? Learning how to 'manage' your husband so that he doesn't oppress you? Praying for his departure rather than yearning for his return?"

Obviously there were some good points as well. Eliza didn't want to marry she wasn't in love with just to make her family happy, and she was very vocal about this. How the engagement got broken up though I didn't like and I feel like a better way could have been written. (fiance attempted to assault her.) Alex being the night in shining arm was sweet and cute and really showed her that he did care for her. It also ended up having them actually talk about things and then lead to the ending we all knew would eventually happen.

"And at last, the lonely young man who belonged to no one finally belonged to someone, forever, and the practice girl who would not settle for less than a love story for the ages found the lifelong romance she had yearned for all her life."

Overall I did enjoy this book. I know its surprising considering all the things I already mentioned, but if I had gone into this blind about who they were I know I would have liked it even more. It was nice to see a different take on their relationship and possibly what Eliza's family dynamic could have been like. We never really know much about Eliza that I've seen so far, one because she was a woman in a time when men were more important; and two because she took her self out of the limelight for awhile and destroyed anything that could let us know more about her.
If you love Hamilton though I'm going you'll enjoy this book, but probably not love it.