Alex and Eliza: A Love Story (Alex & Eliza Trilogy, #1)

by Melissa de la Cruz

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Witches of East End and the Descendants series comes the love story of young Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler. 

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 those of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball. 

Still, Eliza 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. 

In the pages of Alex and Eliza, #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz brings to life the romance of young Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler.

• ISBN10: 1524739626
• ISBN13: 9781524739621
• Publish Date: 11 April 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 June 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: G.P.Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers'
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781524739621

Reviews

[Steph L]

This was a great book that was a fictional imagination of the events that happened. It was the kind of book that was written in a way that you could feel like it was happening. It starts with Eliza and Alex meeting when they're younger at a party that her mother has and they dance. A time jump happens, and as Eliza is going to spend the winter with her aunt and uncle her carriage breaks down, and Alexander gives her a ride to Morristown NJ. As she is recovering Alex comes to see her. Eliza gets promised to Henry Livingston, a family friend, and brother of her best friend Kitty. Angelica also elopes with John Chruch, and Peggy is in love with their cousin.

Alex as Washington's Adi DeCamp has been gone for a while, and when he finds out that Eliza has been away for a while, and it does not go well when he comes back and sees that Eliza is now engaged. When Alex comes back on the night of Henry's engagement party there is an altercation between him and him which Eliza gets in the middle of. Alex goes to Albany where the Schuyler family lives, and he is not sure how gets there but he tells them what happened. Next, they go to Morristown where Eliza is, and Alex proposes to her and her parents are there. They get married, and they have a happy ending. For years Alex has loved Eliza, and now he has his happily ever after with her.

[readingwithwrin]

"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 armor 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 it's 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 a while 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.