That Inevitable Victorian Thing

I suggested this book to someone on a whim and then they liked it enough to recommend it back to me. Unfortunately, I didn't like the book as much as them, but I did want to mention their interest in the book because it shows we all like different things and that's okay ^_^ So, as always, take this book review with a grain of salt.
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Straight-up I want to mention how this book is supposed to be a different kind of future–speculative fiction perhaps? I always forget the correct way to use the term. All people, no matter where they live in the world or what they look like are equal. I mean, there is still a Queen, royals, and other leaders, so obviously this isn't financially equal, but supposedly everyone has equal chances. The thing is, some of the comments about equality really struck me uncomfortable.
example: “Margaret's political training had included lessons in how to determine ethnicity based on a person's heritage, and therefore she could often guess a person's heritage without asking.” but as princess and future queen, her job is to make sure no one uses another's heritage to bring them down... (Yeah, let's not even mention how the Queen and princess wear wigs to hide their true hair... that isn't showing positive and negative appearance looks at all rolls eyes)
Like I said, I'm uncomfortable with it because it sounds weird and I don't think it needed to be included, but other people might look at it differently.

Yet, there were some instances of showing diversity which I thought worked out well. I won't mention this more because of possible spoilers, though.

Let me talk more about the romance. I dislike August. I don't think he got the redemption arc he deserved in order to make me like him. Also, he was a bit dull which kind of fit with Helena who is also boring. —To make a interlude here, I think one of my biggest problems is that I found the characters a bit boring.— Anyhow, there is a twist with the romance at the end and I DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. Please, talk to me about it. Someone might be able to change my mind, but I'd also like a ranting buddy lol.

Another thing to consider is that I didn't think there was much of a plot. This can be taken as a neutral thing– My Neighbor Totoro doesn't have a plot and I love that movie! If what we are getting is a slice of life and a little conflict at the end, I think I'm okay with it, here I felt like there were many different strings which the book could pull to make it interesting, yet... no? we are left with nothing really changed or happened. This is the beginning of their adventure, one I don't think will end well.

So, will I recommend this again? ...I might. It depends, but I have yet to figure out the parameters for recommending it. Although, if people like this, they might like Glitter ??