Okay, it is maybe going to sound a bit harsh but Queen K is a surface novel. It is shiny and shows you a world that unless you are a part of you wouldn't be privy to knowing about. However, the problems faced in it just seemed a little shallow.

It is the story of au pair Mel who has been hired by a super rich family to get their daughter ready for boarding school in England. However, once she enters the family's orbit she is confronted with lies, corruption, and violence.

Other than that, the book didn't really give me much more. It was a filler novel for me. It isn't one that I will read again but it was entertaining at the time.

Queen K by Sarah Thomas is available now.

For more information regarding Serpent's Tail (@serpentstail) please visit www.serpentstail.com.

I was interested in the premise and I wanted to like it. The characterisation wasn’t great. The book felt as though it was confused and didn’t know what it was

A fascinating insight into the super rich lives of the Russian oligarchy.. Kata hires Mel to tutor her daughter. Mel gets a ringside seat into the world of the super rich where Kata buys herself into the right circles but keeping secrets from husband Ivan is not the best idea . Building to a stylish finish who will not see coming this book is a real page turner

Disappointing - very surface level and not enough tension leading to the ending at all. Sorry to say I would not recommend.

This was an easy and enjoyable read for me. I like the characters and felt that the plot was very smooth. Would recommend.

Unfortunately this book was a disappointment. The blurb sells a lot of promise but I think the plot was lost as the story progressed. I'm not sure how the title, the blurb and the story were connected now that I finished the read. Mel, Alex and other supporting characters e.g. Ivan and Tatiana seemed to be stronger than 'K' so I am not sure why there was an emphasis surrounding her as the central character. The curiosity that builds up in the first pages around K's disappearance soon vanishes and is left as a figment of imagination when we start with Mel's involvement and connection to K and Alex, and by the time we reach the conclusion of the book it feels anticlimactic and weak. Thank you @netgalley @serpentstail @viperbooks for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest unedited review.

On a balmy evening in late March, an oligarch's wife hosts a party on a superyacht moored in the Maldives. Tables cover the massive deck, adorned with orchids, champagne bottles, name cards of celebrities. Uniformed staff flank a red carpet on the landing dock.

This is what Kata has wanted for a long time: acceptance into the glittering world of high society. But there are those who aim to come between Kata and her goal, and they are closer to home than she could have imagined.

Witness to the corruption and violence underneath the shiny surfaces is Mel, a young English woman employed to tutor Kata's precocious daughter and navigate her through the class codes of English privilege. Now the closest Mel gets to such privilege is as hired help to the wealthy, and she is deeply resentful.

I’m so sad it's over. I could have read another sixty chapters . . . A fantastic read!

Great read. Didn't want to put this down. Brilliantly written from beginning to end. I really enjoyed this and found myself absorbed in reading.

An interesting tale of oligarchs and riches, a chance to look at the world of the super-rich and peer behind the curtain! Told from the perspective of one of the yacht's many staff, the comings and goings of the rich is quite a tale to read. Some loose ends for me and a slight lack of pace meant I didnt enjoy it as much as I had hoped, but a decent enough read

Queen K Sarah Thomas


4 stars

What an interesting story! Melanie is 28 and drifting through life never wanting to put down roots so being employed as a tutor to various people suits her lifestyle.

The story begins when Melanie is contacted by Kata, a Russian lady, married to Ivan, a high-up in the Russian government. We are never told exactly what his position is but he obviously holds a high position amongst the Russian oligarchs and is a very rich man because of this.

Kata and Ivan have a daughter, Alex, and Melanie is first employed when Alex is 11 in order to help her gain entry to a prestigious English school. Alex is extremely intelligent and Melanie has no problem in helping her succeed. She is subsequently employed again for Alex’s GCSE’s and then finally for her ‘A’ levels. Melanie becomes very close to both Alex and her mother Kata. Kata is looking to be accepted in the high society of everywhere that she lives but her husband seems totally uninterested and it is obvious that kata is under his control. This affects Alex who, as she grows older, realises the tensions in her parents’ relationship.

Events finally come to a head in an explosive ending set on Ivan’s superyacht in The Maldives. I enjoyed this book, the subject matter was original and different and the description of the lifestyles of rich Russians was interesting. When I discovered at the end of the book that the author had actually been a tutor to such people it made everything described more real.

The only slight disappointment for me was the ending which seemed to be a bit abrupt but definitely worth a read.





Karen Deborah
Reviewer for Net galley

An inside peek into the lives of the uber-wealthy, entitled and relentlessly striving. Shines a light on the dark underbelly of this world and was an interesting read.

I was very much looking forward this book from the description but it doesn’t provide.

The intrigue is there but we don’t hear about it, and the pace is too slow.

I was really looking forward to this book and it's vulgar riches. Unfortunately, it was just too slow paced and lost its sparkle along the way.

What begins as a promising story unfortunately becomes quite quickly a confusing and flat depiction of the ascension and fall of a high society wife. A lot of potential is muffled by unnecessary side stories and ought to have focused more on the content than the package.

Well written and different and had some very interesting characters,all in all it was a goodish read that enjoyed

This was everything you need for a thriller and crime story. It is not as black and white as you first think and like most typical thrillers, is full of twists.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

This book is about Mel, who goes to work as a tutor for Alex, the daughter of Kata and Ivan, Russian plutocrats. Kata and Ivan came from a small provincial town in Russia, and Ivan became rich through the privatisation of state assets when the USSR collapsed.
Kata wants the family to fit in with London society, but her background and neediness make it difficult, and also causes problems for Alex at her English boarding school. The story is told by Mel, as she goes back to work with Alex and Kata over the years.
Kata engages Tatania,, a schoolfriend of Alex to help her start an art gallery and charity to help her gain legitimacy and respect. All the characters have their own agendas, but nobody's motives are clear.
The launch is held on Kata's yacht in the Maldives, leading to a terrible finale.

An intriguing Highsmith-esque thriller about a young woman with a past who becomes a tutor for the daughter of a Russian billionaire. Over the years she works for them, she is exposed to wealth beyond her wildest dreams and struggles to maintain her envy. As she discovers that the help are invisible in this new world she is navigating, she finds way to manipulate situations to her advantage.

I really enjoyed the detail and world building in this novel, and the way Thomas skewers social mores and behaviours of the super rich - but how wealth isn't always the answer to everything.

I was disappointed by this book it just didn’t flow as I expected it to and I found the narrative slightly stilted. It was a shame as I liked the ideas

This wasn't my usual read but I enjoyed it. Great character build up. I wasn't sure who to believe.

This book was well written