Review: God Save The Queen

God Save The Queen
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Queen Victoria rules with an immortal fist. 

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 being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath), Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day, and leeches are considered a delicacy. And a world where technology lives side by side with magic. The year is 2012 and Pax Britannia still reigns.

Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle. 

I'm not going to lie, God Save the Queen drew me in from the beginning. I was so intrigued by the world and the plot and what was happening, and the setting and Xandra's narrative. I ended up reading this in one sitting because I couldn't put it down! 

God Save the Queen has an original and unique world that's intriguing and complex enough without being too complex that it's confusing. It's like an alternate London, that's got modern aspects mixed with Victorian. Locke has built the world up fantastically, you're intrigued to know more about it and what to see more of it. You're intrigued by the history and politics and you can picture it vividly. There's slang words that are used by the characters, but they're easy to understand and you get used to them pretty quickly. It's a brilliantly fun and intriguing world! 

I loved Xandra, to the extent that I got annoyed at her siblings more than once. Xandra is a badass, but she's also complex and I'm so intrigued by her. She has her vulnerable moments, but I really admired her and her drive and her loyalty to her family. She's stubborn, a trait you can see when she spends most of the book in denial about what's going on, a believable reaction for the character Locke has created. Xandra is very protective of her siblings, and does so much for them, takes care of them and looks out for them. So it irked me the way she was treated by one sister in particular for most of the book. This sister chose an organisation over the sister that had done so much for her, and while I could see said sister's point of view, I really felt for Xandra and how she was feeling. Then towards the end the other two, who where looking at her funny at the beginning of the book and one of which implied she expected Xandra to be the first one to go crazy...where all pissy at her for not telling her something it was pretty obvious they wouldn't have believed. They'd probably have had her locked up in Bedlam. It irked me so much, and I'm sure Xandra will have to bow and scrape to get back in their good graces. 

Xandra's narrative was brilliant, it was funny and drew you in. It made reading the book fun, and there was always plenty of action and intrigue going on. I liked how the narrative was used to good effect to help you get to know Xandra, and her personality. I fully sympathised with her and was on her side. 

On the romance front, I liked Vex. He wasn't at all how I expected him to be after we first saw him. He was actually pretty sweet and adorable, and I ended up shipping him with Xandra so badly! I would have liked it if the romance had been drawn out a bit more though as it verged on insta-love and I'm not really a fan of that. I'm intrigued to see where their relationship will go! 

One character I really loved was the Goblin Prince! Bless his little heart. He was quite the kind little Goblin, and cute in his own way. I was so curious about him and his loyalty to Xandra, I'm hoping to see more of him in the next book because he's a lot of fun! 

The plot kept me guessing. I was fully engrossed and along for the ride and trying to put all the clues together! But there where plenty of plot twists that I didn't see coming. I genuinely didn't get it 100% right, I guessed some things but I was surprised plenty enough. 

God Save The Queen has memorable and fun characters with depth to them. There's action, intrigue and romance that all combine to create a fast paced, enjoyable plot that keeps you fully engrossed in the book and the characters. This book is genuinely a lot of fun and brilliantly original!