That Inevitable Victorian Thing by EK Johnston

What I drank prior: C A P S CAPS CAPS CAPS!!! So literally the caps just on the Stanley Cup. There was beer, and shots (for each Caps Goal and also when we WON). I am drunk. Super drunk. Not just on alcohol but ON LIFE

Spoiler-free Overview: This book is set in an alternate-ish reality where the British Empire still exsts but it’s the future. So they got all the technology, includingbutnotlimitedto a genetic library like fb that is supposed to genetically match you with someone. Match dot com meets facebook meets 23 and me. ok so boom: my girl Helena is about to “come out” in society, and when she does she can marry her childhood bff turns lover August. my other bae Margaret (undercover princess and heir to the throne) just so happens to be there too. They become friends and things go from there.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: so like.. do you know how hard it is to surprise me in books? Do you know how hard it is to make me feel completely out of the loop about how a plot is going to go? I usually have a general idea, but DAMN this book shocked me. I texted Linz and was like “i genuinely have no idea where this book is going.” CRAZY TOWN.

Characters: I loved them. All three of my baes. They felt real. The yhad realistic reactions to shit. Like, at one point, H finds something out, and in most books she would have kept it a secret until it inevitably came out in horrific fashion and betrayals and shit. In THIS book, when she finds out, she spills it immediately. It was so refreshing. August is a cinamon roll and is bae. Margaret just felt so real.

Plot: Again. Had NO idea how it was going to end. I kept thinking and praying “please do this right please do this right” and not only did she do it right, but it was unpredictable.

Writing Style: Meh.

World Building: I kinda liked this world, reimagining whatif England still had the empire and how globalization would change European cllture. An interesting thought experiment.

What to pair it with: Sex on the Beach. It just feels like a sweet tequila book.

Rating: 3.5/5 Shots

COMMENT DOWN BELOW: What was the last book that you read that surprised you?

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam