Wow! This book was NOT what I expected in the best way possible! A twisty, breathtaking ride which I absolutely enjoyed. If you're a fan of Westworld, you'll love this book.

This was a fabulous book! And I look forward to rereading it or perhaps listening to it once it's available. The plot was engaging, edgy, and just enough sci-fi to make it plausible. I like books that have an ending, yet, you know there could be a follow up book. I do hope she writes a second book! I did find this book difficult to read as a e-book because it jumps from the present to the past at each chapter. Additionally, instead of having clear time distinctions, the chapters are titled things like, "Chapter 9: The October of the Bubal Hartebeest" It also jumps between time in the present by switching between post-trial chapters and the trial transcript itself. Anyway, it was difficult to follow timelines and characters when reading from an e-book because it kept me so engaged that I didn't want to go back and review or figure out characters and timelines. Perhaps the e-pub versions can have a timeline added as a picture. I think that would be helpful in general. I got a little confused about characters too. For instance, Nia is a main character and is called such throughout the entire story. Then, in the last chapter she's referred to as Pania. I'm pretty sure the author told me that at the beginning of the book, but I definitely forgot that information by the end of the e-book. I think this will do better as a published book that one could easily retrace information from previous chapters. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes Orlando park attractions, sci-fi, and ethics. However, I would recommend it for YA (young adult). It is too gruesome in some parts for younger eyes (IMO).

Ana is a hybrid, half-android, half human. She is one of 7 fantasists, who live in The Kingdom, a magical theme park. Ana has been accused of murdering Owen, a park employee. The book alternates between the past, trial snippets, and the time period immediately after the trial.

This was a fascinating book. I could not put it down. It was a very interesting world, and the alternating chapters worked very well. I look forward to reading more from this author. Overall, highly recommended.

Oh yeah, this is definitely one of my new favorite reads of 2019. The Kingdom is a cocktail of twisted Disney, Westworld, sci-fi murder mystery romp with a wee taste of alt formatting, and I loved it. The AI with feels is one of my absolute favorite tropes, so this is going to go over so well with the Skyward, Lunar Chron, and Illuminae fans.

I was drawn in immediately from the first page with the introduction of a murder. But of course, it's nothing like it seems. I went back to that first page after I finished reading, and bravo to the author. When I receive my finished copy, I look forward to rereading.

Overall I really enjoyed everything about this book. It's dark, but doesn't go too far, despite its theme park setting. Every character's motivations are suspect, even the main, Ana, a Fantasist with a love of the animal hybrids on the park. She was immediately likeable, though as a reader I couldn't help waiting for the catch, the shoe to drop, considering the trial chapters. Excellently written, and kept me on my toes--and turning the pages.

One last little bit of praise: I loved reading a book with such strong female friendships. I'm crossing my fingers there's a sequel in the works.

THIS BOOK!!!

I’m still not over it!! I swear when I started to read it I really didn’t know a lot about The Kingdom. There were only three things I knew and I had absolutely no idea how it would work out for me.

1.) It’s a sci-fi series.
2.) A FANTASY THEME PARK!
3.) The hype around it is so real that it’s almost a physical thing.

You know you’ve read an exceptionally good book when you relish the idea of writing your review as soon as you’re done because you want to impress upon everyone the exact emotions you were feeling as soon as you’ve reached the last page. Guys. I know we’re only a quarter of the way through 2019 but I’ve read some damn good books so far. This….is one of the best. Well, enough reasons to pick up the book and to give it a try, right? If only I would have known what I was signing up to. Nothing, really NOTHING prepared me for the things that were about to come. I was totally swept away by this book and its events.

This is literally if Disney was 500 years in the future and the princess were androids. I want to freeze myself SO I CAN HOPEFULLY EXPERIENCE THIS! The authors writing is so eeries and enchanting, I want more. I need more. This review sucks because I can't get my brain out from the clouds but gosh.. get on this book NOW.

WOW! This book was the darkest version of Disney World ever, with a bit of Jurassic Park and a dash of Westworld thrown in! Ian Malcolm's quote sums this book up best: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."

This story blew me away! It was doubly dark and innocent at the same time, in such a cohesive way! It keeps you guessing until the end, always unsure of who to trust, who is really evil and really innocent. My opinion flip flopped the whole way through, and I was ready to watch the entire Kingdom burn down! The best part is that all of the intensity of this book is written without much violence. Despite the fact that the whole book is based off of a murder mentioned in the first line, very little violence actually occurs. Very sketchy and concerning things happen, but because of the "innocence" factor of our MC, the reader assumes what sketchy thing happened, while our characters wonder what MAY have happened. I also love how there was little need for action packed fight scenes or violent abuse to convey the morality issues brought up in this story. The morality is all conveyed in what ifs and is-this-right questions brought out by our MCs as they interact and view the goings on in the Kingdom. Honestly, this book was incredibly intelligent and so well written. I am ready for a sequel!

Books like this help keep us human because it has us question our own humanity and what makes us sentient and worthy of preserving. I'm sure these kind of books will also keep us from creating Skynet in the future!

The Kingdom is basically West World meets Disney World in this dizzying actions packed story that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park that is everything you ever wished for. The Kingdom is home to the fantasists, the seven artificial intelligence that were designed as Princess's for the consumers enjoyment. But then Ana, on of the princess's meets a park employee and for the first time experiences emotions that are outside her programming. Soon Owen turns up dead and Ana is the prime suspect in his murder. The story is told through character testimony, interviews and Ana's memories the story of Ana and Owen and the sinister truth behind The Kingdom and the fantasists is revealed.

By the last page of this book the question of: What makes us human? Popped into my mind. This book really makes you sit and thing about that. Is it emotions? Having a body? What is it exactly? I love books that make you think long after you finish them.

I did not see the ending to The Kingdom coming at all. I was shocked and thrilled at the same time to see how this was going to play out. But with the ending being open ended like that, I am curious to see if Rothenberg has more up her sleeve for this world?

I found this book very hard to read. It was just too dark for me. However, I believe it will be a popular read but it just was not for me. I did not like most of the human staff of The Kingdom and it just became too creepy.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I requested an ARC of this book and I'm SO SO happy that I did. I read this book within 24 hours which is very rare for me. I did not want to put this book down, even to sleep. The author has created an amusement park that is fantastical but dark and creepy at the same time. I also loved seeing how much this book reflects our reality with the themes of cruelty, lies and also what it means to be human. Ana's journey was wonderful and sad at the same time. This book is perfectly paced and the tension/mystery was perfectly balanced. I do want to note that the cruelty/violence against the animal hybrids was hard to read at times. But this book is pretty much perfect and I have recommended it for my library to purchase. Read this book! Thank you to the publisher for the e-arc review copy. Review to come next week on my blog.

This one is one of the smartest, most compelling books I have read this year and it will definitely be making my favorites list! I suspect this one is going to be a big hit and I'm really glad I was encouraged to pick it up.

The Kingdom is a brilliant sci-fi thriller that completely sucked me in. It is both beautiful and disturbing, weaving together hard-hitting social commentary with a page-turning mystery. Set at a futuristic theme park (think Disneyland on steroids with sci-fi technology) The Kingdom follows Ana, one of 7 biological AI hybrid princesses who only exist to make happily ever afters come true. It is told in a dual narrative, past and present. In the present timeline, there has been a murder and Ana is on trial as a suspect.

Thematically this book is so rich, I'm going to give you some bullet points.

1- The Meaning of Humanity: Unsurprisingly for a book that involves some degree of Artificial Intelligence, there is a deep consideration of what it means to be human, to feel, to have self-determination and where the line between machine and sentient being is. Most of the story is told through Ana's perspective and we see the disconnect between her internal growth, feelings, and relationships, and the way she is clearly viewed by others as, at best, a child to be manipulated and controlled or, at worst, a program with no value or sense of self. We also see different sides of this issue in documents related to the trial. (i.e. can Ana be convicted of murder if there was simply a glitch in her programming?)

2- The Commodification of Beauty and Diversity: The princesses are diverse in terms of skin tone and facial features, supposedly representing global unity, but lacking any attached cultural heritage or history. It is lip-service diversity for the purpose of corporate revenue by the theme park. (Case in point, the "authentic Nigerian" jewelry worn by one of the princesses and available for purchase in the gift shop is made in Taiwan) Likewise, they are all forced to maintain impossible standards of physical perfection and are treated by men as interchangable because they are clearly meant to be consumed. Which leads me to....

3- Rape Culture & the Objectification of Women: In terms of content, do be aware that there is on-page sexual harassment and off-page sexual assault that takes place. The princesses are treated as "not real" and as objects to be leered at and consumed rather than as people. Which very understandably results in...

4- The Legitimacy and Necessity of Female Anger: We see this anger manifest in multiple characters in different ways as a response to the mistreatment, abuse, and tight control of the princesses. Thematically, I think this is very timely. With the #metoo movement we are in a cultural zeigeist surrounding female rage and I think she really taps into that in ways that teen girls should have access to. The author also parallels this in very interesting ways with mistreatment of animals...

5- Animals and the Environment: This book is set in a future where global warming has done a number on the environment and many species of animals are extinct. The Kingdom offers an escape from that reality, partly by giving to live to extinct hybrid animals that are part biological clones, part technological construct. But this gives way to some big questions about treatment of animals (again paralleling the treatment of the princesses). For instance, some of the animals are engineered not to experience physical pain, so is it animal cruelty to raise zebras and have lions attack them in order to entertain guests? (Major content warnings for animal cruelty by the way, in this and several other scenes). On the flip side, there is a really interesting plot thread about evolution that feels very hopeful in the face of such a bleak future for the environment.

There is probably more, but I will stop there. I'm blown away at how the author was able to weave such weighty thematic content into this page-turner of a book that just leaves you wanting more. I would LOVE to see more in this world, especially from the perspectives of some of the other princesses. I received an advance review copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Content/Trigger warnings for the following: animal abuse and cruelty, on-page sexual harassment, off-page sexual assault, self-harm and attempted suicide, manipulation and control

It was an amazing read and I was hooked from the beginning. The cover had me intrigued, the synopsis got me excited, and The Kingdom did not disappoint in the slightest. It was like Disneyland meets Westworld with a dash of murder mystery and it was absolute perfection. I need to own this book and cannot wait to have it on my shelf. I honestly couldn't recommend it enough!

In a place called The Kingdom where Fantasists roam creating a trip of a lifetime for park goes there is a murder. Owen a park employee is killed and one of the Fantasists Ana is blamed for it. Ana is a robot, who despite her programing has fallen in love with Owen. This book was so much fun to read, especially after I began watching Westworld I was craving something in a similar vein and that is what this book provided. On the surface the park is like Disneyland all sunshine and smiles but beneath that there is wickness, mystery, and of course murder.


It is the human condition to wonder what makes us human. So in a sense the main character seems extraordinarily human because she has to deal with the same sort of crises that humans do and similar questions about our origin and purpose. I found this to be a few interesting read that was refreshing in a landscape of epic fantasy about girls fighting magical wars. It was nice to step into something totally different.

A Disney-esque land of pretty pretty princesses... who are hybrid android/humans, operate according to strict rules, and responsible for populating an amusement park with love and kindness. Ana is one of these princesses, and from the very beginning we learn that she's accused of doing something extremely bad. She's accused of killing Owen, a human park employee, but how could she? Ana's supposed to be sweet and obedient just like all her sisters. The reader is led down a dark rabbit hole of secrets, mystery, and intrigue in a park that combines a Disney-like facade with a back end that looks more like Westworld. Ana comes face to face with classic AI tropes: what is free will when you've been programmed to obey? Who deserves her loyalty? What exists outside of the perfectly curated world she lives in? Readers will contemplate these questions alongside Ana as she breaks free from her carefully designed existence.

The kingdom was unlike anything I've read before...set in a futuristic society where everything has the potential of being genetically altered or created, this mystery unfolds in a land reminiscent of Disney World - of the future called "The Kingdom". In The Kingdom, people live out their greatest fantasies: riding dragons, meeting extinct creatures such as a mammoth, but everything that lives in the park has been created in a lab - genetically altered. The chapters have unique names that mark the month and the animal associated with it, for example "The December of the Lesser Chameleon". This story is told from the point of view of Ana, a "Fantasist", who reminds me of a futuristic Disney Princess...all the little girls want to meet the Fantasists in The Kingdom. Ana has been accused of murdering a man she claims to love, yet none of the Fantasists have been programmed to have the emotion of love. This story is so good, yet haunting as we delve into the world of genetically altering organisms. Things in The Kingdom start to go terribly wrong, and Ana tries to discover the truth. One can only fear that a world like this is possible in the next 100 years. I couldn't put it down & had to know what happened...the story ends being left open almost as if there will be another one. I will definitely buy this for my high school library. I will have several students who'll love it!

An interesting format to tell the story, it was fine and I was able to follow the storyline.
I loved the premise, intrigue and characters. It's a mind boggling thought that that we could develop that kind of technology and then have it evolve. I will highly recommend the story.

This book is Disneyland meets murder and I'm here for it! I loved this book! It's got creepy Androids, a murder mystery, and people who are just the worst.

The Kingdom is easily one of the most unique books I have ever read, and I loved every minute of it! Disney meets Westworld meets Serial in this futuristic novel set at a theme park that is told in flashbacks, trial transcripts, interviews, surveillance footage summaries and more.

The story had a lot of twists and turns and jumping around on the timeline which confused me a bit, but in the end I loved Anna's journey of becoming human. It was a ride, but the character who played with my feelings the most was Owen. I kept wondering about his motivations, but what I predicted based on one sketchy act in one scene turned out to be not true at all. I liked the Romeo and Juliet references peppered in, too.

A a reality of her profession/function there are guests and investors and certain employees who dare to abuse Fantasists like her, sometimes to the point of having to erase their memory afterward. Ana fantasizes about how good it'd feel to hurt them despite it being ''unsafe'' and against her programming-I found that to be incredibly relatable to me personally.

I received this book as a digital arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this thinking that I was really going to love this book. It is told in pieces of mixed media (courtroom documents, video surveillance footage, a YouTube video, etc.) The concept seemed really cool and murder mystery-esque. And, let's not kid ourselves, the cover is great (the UK cover is GORGEOUS). But, I just.. didn't. I am glad that I read it and I don't think that it was a bad book, there were just parts that I was not about and did not feel like needed to be in the book (not giving away particulars but fair trigger warnings for self-harm, suicide, and rape). I also felt like it took too long to get to the climax of the story. I was 50-60% through with the e-book and still had no idea what was going on and just wanted to get to it already. It wasn't until I was about 70-80% through with the book that it really started to get moving and things started to make sense and fall into place. The ending was nice, but if you want to know what kept it from being a 4-star book for me, see below (beware of spoilers).

spoilers below; do not read below these lines if you do not want to see them

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There were many parts throughout the book that implied sexual assault on the girls, particularly Kaia. After said sexual assault, the girls' memories would be erased. It seemed like some of the other Fantasists knew what was going on, and even our main character eventually figured it out, but of course they couldn't say anything because who would believe them (much like present-day rape culture and how most victims are afraid to report because they feel no one will believe them or say that it is their fault). I can handle difficult topics in my books, generally, but what really bothered me was that there didn't seem to be one decent human staff member of The Kingdom aside from Owen. Investors were seeking the 'company' of the girls at night, even just regular crew members would harass the girls or take them away to presumably have sex with them.

While I can understand why this was an element in the story (to highlight how people didn't view the Fantasists as beings but rather playthings that they could use however they saw fit, to show the depravity of the people who were supposed to be "greater than" because they are human, not machine, etc.), it was referenced SO much throughout the book with zero repercussions for the guilty. The only one who is implied to get in trouble is Mr. Casey but none of the other men were ever punished for what they did or even implied to be so. For me, that is what really soured this book for me (that and it taking way too long to climax and then resolve), especially since the author could have taken that out of the book entirely and based on the other interactions with staff, we still would have gotten the same message. The implied sexual assault was not necessary in this book whatsoever.

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book by the cover reminded me a lot of Mulan in the split face personal with the sword in the middle but the plot of the book was totally different and unexpected. This book also reminded me a lot of the Kingdom Keepers series with the Disney Parks after hours and all the chaos that happens then with the Disney characters. But I also loved the additional romance line to the plot with Ana and Owen and the love Ana has for him and wanting to stop at nothing to get to know him better. Then it turns into a who done it mystery where Owen is found dead and Ana is the prime suspect for his murder and the plot takes a whole new twist and turn. From beginning to end this book was very addicting and I could not put it down. Our young readers are bound to love it.

We will consider adding this title to our JFiction collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.