That Inevitable Victorian Thing

I'm a bit conflicted on my rating of this book. On the one hand, I loved the characters and the overall concept of the world and the awesome representation. I really liked that understandable secrets led to rational discussions rather than misunderstandings and Big Explosions of Drama.

But on the other hand, the plot was... well, it kind of felt like it didn't exist? I mean, obviously things happened and the characters did things, but everything was so idyllic and the characters were all so sane and level-headed that it never felt like anything bad could even happen. And the pacing of events was so odd — sometimes slow and sometimes very abrupt — that it was hard to really get a feel for the movement of the plot. It felt more like a slice of life comic than a novel, I think.

So, bizarrely, it would seem that my favorite things about this book are also the things about it that ultimately left me feeling not totally satisfied. The world was so nice and the characters were so intelligent that the book just couldn't quite support a properly paced story arc. It definitely needed more conflict.

Overall, I would not recommend this book if you're looking to be kept on the edge of your seat or hit in the emotions, but I definitely would recommend it if you're looking to read something light and feel-good about a cool world of diversity and non-discrimination.