Thank you so much to NetGalley and Candlewick for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

This is a really solid 3.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the focus of this book being on the Kensington System! It's always something that has fascinated me and it always is mentioned in passing in historical fictions but never really used. I had never even thought of what it was like for those being monitored and forced to enforce the System so I really enjoyed this perspective. In addition, Worsley did a great job of painting how dark and out of touch the palace was with the rest of the world from the start! It made the renovation of Kensington effect me by perking up.

The Young Victoria is one of my all-time favourite movies so I always imagine Victoria as a 20-30 something year old proper strong put together woman...while I think my default is still that, it was incredibly enjoyable to watch the soon to be iconic Queen, throw tantrums and play the System.

I found the ending "twist" to be incredibly predictable. I never guess ANY twists in books and I picked up on what was happening by like chapter 4. That being said, I don't think the book took itself particularly serious as a mystery--rather, it was a fun fluffy historical fiction where the villain gets his just desserts and our Victorias' get their own happily ever after.