YA Book Review: That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston

That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston

Teenager Victoria Margaret is the crown princess of England in the near future. She has bargained with her parents, the King and Queen, for one summer away before she has to choose someone marry.

In this slightly futuristic time, a church-sanctioned computer performs gene-matching technology and offers individuals their ideal match. It's a complex system that also takes into account ethnicities, and the line of rulers now has a complex DNA history. Victoria Margaret has just begun the selection process, but is somewhat puzzled by her match results. While she promises to look into finding a match, her primary focus is enjoying a summer away from the attention the princess always garners.

She opts to spend her summer away in Toronto, posing as a commoner. She stays with family friends who can protect her secret identity. Victoria Margaret attends a number of coming-out balls with her new friend Helena, and she quite enjoys the pageantry and gossip out of the usual media spotlight. Helena introduces Victoria Margaret to her childhood best friend and her likely future husband August. Even though Helena and Margaret plan to marry, Helena and Victoria Margaret secretly begin talking to other suitors online. Much to her surprise, Helena is quite taken by one person, and begins having doubts about her presumed union with August. 

Then August makes a series of bad decisions and gets in over his head at his family business, where he is the heir apparent to a shipping fortune.  This snafu causes significant and unexpected trouble for all three characters, and the resolution is both unexpected and compassionate.

That Inevitable Victorian Thing is a highly original story that is both charming and captivating, about hidden identities and family commitment. E.K. Johnston, who also authored the YA novel Exit, Pursued by a Bear, succeeds again with That Inevitable Victorian Thing by creating characters that we care about, and placing them in uncomfortable situations that require them to face fears and feelings they'd rather not face, and make decisions they might not feel they're ready for.

I’ve not read anything else quite like this before, and I quite enjoyed it. Give this to readers who enjoyed (but who have grown out of) Kiera Cass’s The Selection series. The Netflix series The Crown is perhaps an easier comparison, as it exposes the soft underbelly of the more austere face of a young monarch.