God Save the Queen by Kate Locke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I picked up this book in a book store when I saw the cover, and wondered what it was doing in the Speculative Fiction section.
Reading the blurb, the premise sounded good – in Victorian England a strange plague created Vampires, Werewolves and Goblins of the aristocracy, and they still exist, and rule, in modern day times.
Of course, technology has taken a different path, as it would if Victorians were still alive and in power, so it’s kind of a paranormal steam punk setting.
Throughout this setting we follow our main protagonist, Xandra Vardan, who is an aristocratic half-blood and member of the Queen’s Royal Guard. When her sister goes missing, it seems the aristocracy is involved, and then there’s a plot on the Queen’s life. Trying to do both her job and track down her sister, Xandra’s discoveries turn her life upside down and promise to shock the foundations and stability of the aristocracy.
Reading the book, I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t fantastic. The writing was reasonable but some of the descriptions, outfit (and cover) seemed to target the male gaze a bit too much, possibly at the expense of maintaining my suspension of disbelief.
There was a decent mystery and the novel was reasonably well plotted, I was never bored nor considered putting the book down, but nor was I left with a sense of wonder after finishing the novel.
I’ll probably pick up a sequel, if there is one, but it won’t hit the top of my “to read” list.
prk.
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