Book Review (Blog Tour):
Title: The Kingdom
Author: Jess Rothenberg
Publisher: Macmillan
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
“In the end, it does not matter what a story is about. It only matters who gets to tell it.”
Welcome to the Kingdom... where 'Happily Ever After' isn't just a promise, but a rule.
Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species--formerly extinct--roam free.
Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful "princesses" engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time... love.
But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana's memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty--and what it truly means to be human.
Let me introduce you to one of the most unique books I have ever read! Like, seriously.
I went into this expecting a futuristic Disney with a main focus on the romance between Ana and Owen. And it is definitely a futuristic Disney, and there is some romance involved, but boy is there so much more to this book!
The Kingdom is like an evil Disney World where the goal is to keep consumers happy and make their dreams come true, but the process in which they keep this fantasy alive is highly questionable.
It was a wild ride!
From the very start of this book, right to the very last page, there is this constant air of mystery that keeps you on your toes. Did Ana really kill Owen? What was their relationship really like? What about the other Fantasists? Are they going through the same 'changes' as Ana? Can a Fantasist really develop emotions and a conscious, or is it all manipulation? WILD.
This book is one hell of a fascinating journey with so much suspense and sometimes a little creep factor.
I thought the way the book was formatted was super clever and allowed the story to slowly piece together, bit by bit. We experience The Kingdom through Ana's pov (flashbacks,) but also through court transcripts, emails and interrogations. I think this was the perfect way to format a story like this, because if it was just a continuous story from Ana's pov everything wouldn't have been as impactful. It wouldn't have been as gripping and as fast-paced. Like I said previously, there was this constant air of mystery I loved, and the formatting was definitely the reason why.
The ending of this book was for the most part great. We get a lot of answers and everything from the previous chapters come together. It was thrilling finding out what actually happened with Ana and Owen. The only fallback was that it did seem a little rushed, but it did feel as though it was setting us up for a possible sequel, so if that occurs, I can overlook the rushed ending - I really do want a sequel too! I need to know what happens after the ending and what happens to the other fantasists.
All in all, I really did love this book. It's not something I'd usually pick up, but I'm so glad I did, because The Kingdom kept me on the edge of my seat and completely invested from the very first page.
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