Friday, 4 January 2013

God Save The Queen by Kate Locke

5th July 2012,Orbit Books
384 Pages,Paperback
Review copy
Young Adult, Paranormal Adventure

Paranormal adventure set in a dystopian future with sex, lust and violence

Summary from Orbit Books

The Year is 2012 – and Queen Victoria still rules with an immortal fist.

She’s the undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where technology lives side by side with magic, where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath) and Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day. Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it’s her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But things get complicated when her sister goes missing. Xandra will not only realise she’s the prize in a dangerous power struggle – but she’ll also uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire itself.
The Mole's Review

When I took this one on I was a little apprehensive because so many paranormal books are romances and it gets a bit tiresome, however I needn't have worried. This story does have romance, lust and sex but very much as a background sub plot. The main plot, the bit that will keep you reading, is focused on Xandra's search for her sister and the treachery and subterfuge she uncovers along the way.

I struggled, until quite late on, to remember that Xandra is a woman - she certainly doesn't come over as a teenager and frequently I found myself doing a double take as I read the story. However, that aside the story is well constructed and easy to read and neither the sex nor the violence is graphic at all.

I found the story and the telling very engaging and enjoyable but expected the outcome from about halfway through - perhaps I was supposed to? I was also left wondering at the end that with the story wrapped up so well, what was left for the other 2 books in the trilogy?

Highly recommended to readers of dystopian, paranormal or just plain action adventure lovers.

Another that readers will enjoy is Unclean Spirits by M L N Hanover


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