Fierce Kingdom
Genre: thriller
Rating: mixed feelings

Quick synopsis: While enjoying a day at the zoo, Joan and her young son encounter gunmen entering. The story ensues on a near constant run to stay ahead of danger.

This novel centered around the theme of the lengths that a mother will go to protect her child, or, to put it simply fight or flight. Overall, I wanted to love this, and while it was a solid story, I did have some issues with the pacing - particularly around the middle. Equal parts suspenseful and a character study of mother and son was what I appreciated the most.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I thought this book was just average. There were things that I liked and other things that made it kind of forgettable.

It was quick enough to read and kept my attention but not one I would jump to recommend to others.

As a Mother, I couldn't believe how Joan tried to keep her four-year-old quiet. I was holding my breath hoping that everyone would be safe. This book will help you look to yourself to see what you would be capable of to protect your child or someone you love.

I don’t know how to explain how I feel about this book. In theory it’s an intense freaking premise. A mother at the zoo with her four-year-old son, a normal event in their lives. They hear some firecrackers in the background, which is slightly strange because it’s not the Fourth of July or a national holiday, and shortly after they proceed to the zoo exit because it’s closing time. Then they realize the source of the sounds and spend the next three hours hiding in the zoo and fighting for their lives.

But that’s really it. I feel like everything that happened in the book can be summed up by that little paragraph. The rest of the book was filled with feelings and emotions and background stories. Not much physically happened.

You learn about Joan’s love for her son—the beautiful, treasured bond between mother and child from the day he was born to present day. She knows how he feels, how he thinks and how he’ll react. He knows him better than he knows himself. And it’s amazing and deep—truly. You also get the point of view from two other women hiding out in the zoo along with one man. But it’s mostly about their past and their background. Not much happened in the present time of the story, so I often felt bored.

This was a struggle. I struggled like hell in the middle, really had to stop myself from permanently laying this down and not picking it up again.
The first part was fast paced. The ending ok.

Why did I pick this up?

I liked the sound of the premise.
It was “sold” to the reader well.
But it didn’t deliver what it promised

A young woman takes her young child to the nearby zoo. As they are preparing to leave for the day they hear pops. At first she suspects bursting balloons or firecrackers. When she sees bodies sprawled on the ground, she realizes the danger. Her struggle to survive and protect her child commences as two mentally disturbed, drugged up young men terrorize the surviving zoo visitors and the animals. This reader was mentally on the edge of her seat as the story progressed.

4.5/5 stars from me for this heart pounding nightmare. This was terrifying, suspenseful, exhilarating and unputdownable. Joan was written exquisitely; Phillips expertly captured a mother’s instincts, bond with her child, warped sense of logic and reason during crisis and her pure sense of fight or flight. I know I was probably the prime target market for this book, being the mother of a 4 year old son myself I could relate to Joan deeply which most definitely intensified this book for me. *Trigger warning for sure on this one, the story revolves around a public mass shooting. .

3.5 stars

This was definitely a unique book. I didn’t read the description going in so it was a nice surprise as I didn’t have an inkling of what to expect! So I’m not going to give anything away in this review either, but to say that I liked Fierce Kingdom. I could vividly picture the story in my head as I read every word. It was thrilling and a bit scary (due to certain situations that occurred). The writing was good and I really enjoyed the story too.

A few things I didn’t like about this book though were the pieces of the story that were never answered in the end. The baby? The teacher and “the guys” at the zoo. What happened?? I’m one of those people that like an explained ending or at least sone answers. I don’t like to be left guessing, I know not everyone is this way, but I am!

As I said, this book was different and I don’t think I’ve read anything exactly like it. I would recommend this book, for the most part I enjoyed it, it kept me interested throughout. But the ending is left pretty open, if you’re okay with that, I say go for it!

I really loved the original concept of this book and the zoo setting. I also thought the premise was really interesting and with today's issues, wouldn't be that unbelievable. I did think the plot and writing was intriguing and engaging, but I did feel that it could have been done better. Still a good read if you are interested in thrillers.

Sprawling with tension induced scenes that keep you on the edge and hoping that everything turns out okay at the end. Cunningly short it doesn’t tire you out by dragging the storyline and ties the story up pretty well. The title is a bit misleading and could have been something else like a fantasy. Because I don’t read the synopsis–I like going in not knowing anything. Gah.

Special thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this review copy.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a very interesting thriller that I was hooked on from the start.

I thought the plot was something very unheard of. Being trapped in a zoo is something that I have never read before in a book! It was very intense and I'm glad that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

Reading this book later than the publication date showed a lot of reviews. I'm glad I was able to put all reviews aside (happy or negative) and really enjoy this novel!

I think that I had to give this book 4 stars because the POVs threw me off a little bit. It was pretty interesting to see the outsiders and the shooter get their own parts, but I think it honestly confused me a little.

Great, great novel by Gin Phillips!

Fierce Kingdom is the story of Joan and her son Lincoln, who are at the zoo one day, enjoying their time, when Joan hears a popping sound. There is something wrong about this when she hears it, and she realizes that there is an active shooter amidst the zoo. It was definitely an interesting setting for such a thriller.

I thought this was an entertaining book. I was genuinely interested to see what would happen. The story had a few issues, particularly the ending. I understand not wanting to wrap a story up too neatly, but there were too many loose ends for my liking.

There were a few decisions or situations that weren't completely believable, but overall I thought the character's thought processes were believable and I was engaged enough in the story that the unbelievable parts didn't really bother me.

Overall, I thought this was a decent read. I would be interested in reading more by Gin Phillips.

Super fast paced and quick read. The writing is very immersive and jarring, and you can completely relate to the feelings of the mom who is desperately trying to protect her child.

This book is terrifying to read as a parent. Joan is visiting a nearly empty zoo on a weekday near closing time with her son, when suddenly a shooter starts acting other zoo patrons and Joan is left running for her life while also trying to hide her child. This book weighed heavily on my mind when I visited a zoo recently with my family!

The good:
~ I liked how Joan was a smart, resourceful parent who came up with many different ways to hide and keep her child safe.
~ I found it to be a bit of a thought experiment with making you wonder if you’d try to save other people too if it meant it could endanger yourself or your child

The bad:
~ I found the husband SO annoying. Like he was (reasonably) terrified and worried, but he kept CALLING her cell phone to DISCUSS the active shooter situation. I kept thinking that this was what was going to get her killed and it made me so frustrated. (This is not a critique of the writing since I am sure there are people with that personality out there! :-p)

If you are ok with reading a book that has a premise like this, then I definitely recommend it. It was a fast, thrilling ride and I will remember it for a long time.

Thank you to Viking and Netgalley for my copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Although it's been a while since I read “Fierce Kingdom” by Gin Phillips, I am happy to have had the chance for the preview; thank you Net Galley!

I was really looking forward to reading this book because of the setting and suspenseful description, but was so disappointed... and ready for the story to be over. I guess the phone, and failure to use it to help in a smart way, could have been the turning off point for me. Some situations just had me shaking my head, and this was one of them. Even in a crisis situation, you hope that the main character will behave and react in a way that uses some sense. Unfortunately, a lot of filler and not enough thriller while reading this story.

I am sad to say I didn't enjoy this book that much. After hearing premise I was really excited to read thia book, it sounded really thrilling.

The idea of having to hide and keep calm yourself and your child in that type of situation, is fascinating to me. I don't think what would I do if I found myself in similar one.

It started really intense, so much, that middle part felt so ordinary and dragging a bit. Also some parts were not realtstic to me ( she throws her phone away instead just turning it off, she uses her opportunity to use the phone by calling husband, not police or someone who can actually help her...)

Ome thing that really bothered me was violence involving animals, here cats. I understand that it was used to make a point, but i just couldn't read those parts. We are all different, and some people probably won't have problem with it, but I did.

So all in all, it was interesting premise and thrilling story, which couple of issues i couldn't pass though.

2.5/5 stars

I went into this novel expecting some intense moments. This is what I was envisioning: a mother with her small child trapped inside a zoo while there were individuals with guns running throughout the facilities, animals feeling the intensity and responding therefore noises and some chaotic moments, other individuals trapped inside the zoo (smart, educational people and some irrational crazy ones) which would add drama and intensity to the novel and some police action. I felt that I was cheated, I only witnessed part of the action. I wanted more drama and action.

The novel started off intense, the situation began and I was ready but then it fizzled out and I felt that we were hiding in a box while the rest of the world went on without us. It’s not like I wanted death or shots to be fired but I wanted to know more than what was happening in my little box. I was getting frustrated with the mother. I wanted to run out into the main area and find someone else to hide with. When she finally emerges, and meets up with a few others in the restaurant, the novel was beginning to get interesting again but it was the others who were supplying the drama.

I couldn't put this book down. I hadn't read the synopsis in a while so I had forgotten what the story was about but within the first few pages I was hooked. I got a little frustrated around the middle of the book because I was ready for the nightmare to be over. I wanted to know where the story was heading and how it was going to end. The ending, however, was incredibly disappointing. I was left feeling like the story was unresolved and the book was missing the epilogue.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel!

THIS WAS SO GOOD. Very fast paced and unputdownable!!

Trigger: for those with small children, this may not be for you if you are easily bothered by bad things happening to children.