Review: The Kingdom

The Kingdom
Jess Rothenberg

Published By: Macmillan Publishing
Publication Date: July 11, 2019
Date Read: April 4, 2020
Genre: YA - Sci-fi
Source: Review Copy from Macmillan
Format: Paperback
Pages: 340

From Goodreads:
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.

"Love. When everything is a prison, except the place where you want to be."

The Kingdom is probably the book that I have been surprised by the most so far this year. Seeing this gorgeous cover I knew immediately that I had to read this one. I wrongly suspected that this book was going to be some sort of retelling with a Disney influence... and it kind of is but it is so different to what I was expecting... in the best way possible.

The Kingdom is set in a dystopia-like Disney Land theme park where the princesses are part android. We follow the story of Ana, one of the princesses who starts experiencing the impossible... feelings. She has been engineered to not feel anything, so knows for her own safety she needs to keep this hidden. But as things get stranger and stranger around The Kingdom who can she trust?

The Kingdom was a very fast-paced read and I finished it within a couple of days. One thing I loved about The Kingdom is the mash up of genres. It was kind of sci-fi, with a twist of thriller and mystery and I loved that. Those are all genres that I love reading so a book where it's a mixture of them all... it was the perfect read for me. I also adored how this book was told. It's told in a mix of flashback prose, interview transcripts and reports. I loved the difference in storytelling type and loved experiencing those different elements. It worked absolutely perfectly for this book.

The Kingdom was fantastic. I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. I was left wanting more and I'm a bit upset that it's a standalone and there isn't a sequel coming. I would definitely read that sequel. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's action-packed, fast-paced and has a heart warming romance. I really enjoyed The Kingdom and I will definitely be on the look out for books from this author in the future.

"Because you're amazing, Ana. Because I've never met anyone else like you."