But probably not Victorian the way we’re used to seeing it it’s not historical Victorian, nor is it steampunk. As the book title says, this is Victorian. While the story may start off a bit slow, the Victorian ambiance is present from the very beginning. Set in a near-future world where the British empire was preserved not by the cost of blood and theft but by the effort of repatriation and promises kept, That Inevitable Victorian Thing is a surprising, romantic, and thought-provoking story of love, duty, and the small moments that can change people and the world. In a summer of high-society debutante balls, politically charged tea parties, and romantic country dances, Margaret, Helena, and August discover they share an extraordinary bond and maybe a one-in-a-million chance to have what they want and to change the world in the process. Posing as a commoner in Toronto, she meets Helena Marcus, daughter of one of the empire’s greatest placement geneticists, and August Callaghan, the heir to a powerful shipping firm currently besieged by American pirates.

But before she does her duty, she’ll have one summer of freedom and privacy in a far corner of the empire. The imperial tradition of genetically arranged matchmaking will soon guide Margaret into a politically advantageous marriage. Victoria-Margaret is the crown princess of the empire, a direct descendant of Victoria I, the queen who changed the course of history.

If you like the Victorian aesthetic minus all the icky colonialism, LGBT+ characters, multi-racial characters, secret identities, Significant Handholding™, debut balls, princesses in disguise, and Canada, you’ll like this book. That book is That Inevitable Victorian Thing, and it’s already joined my list of favorite queer YA fiction. Needless to say, when I heard she was working on a Modern-Victorian alternate universe (trust me, it makes sense) with LGBT+ characters, I immediately put it on my ‘to read’ list. Ever since Star Wars: Ahsoka, I’ve been a big fan of E.

That inevitable victorian thing