I really enjoyed this book! Admittedly, I've never read anything from Natasha Pulley before, but I am so impressed! The world-building is fantastic, and it was SO cool to watch them learn more about how the pillars worked (poor tortoises) and follow the mystery of what happened to Joe. This story was incredibly well-crafted and interesting.

Sometimes historical/dual time-period books aren't my thing, but The Kingdoms really raises the bar! The time sequence and jumps were easy to follow and made sense, gradually revealing pieces of Joe's past, as well as the pasts of other side characters.

Additionally, I'm normally pretty good at guessing twists ahead of time but this one really surprised me! This was a great example of subtle foreshadowing that, once the final reveal occurs, lets us readers reflect and see the amazing little hints, without making the story completely predictable.

This author's prose and writing style are phenomenal and I can't wait to read more of her books!

I think I can formally call myself a Natasha Pulley fan now--loved her Watchmaker of Filigree Street books, and now this just as lovely fantasy historical fiction with time-travel thrown in. So thankful I got to read it early!

"I cannot - I cannot live any more counting the number of times I've seen you by the stars on your arm"

"You're my family! You were family before any of them. I've missed you even when I didn't remember you. Everything I've done since losing you has been about getting back to you."

This historical fiction/magical realism (?) story is sweeping and lovely and pulled me in so very slowly that I didn't even know how enthralled I was until I had to put the book down in the middle and almost couldn't stand to. It's beautiful in a similar way to one of my favorite series - Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat - in how it's written, things are less than clearly explained, but it's so soft it almost hurts. The romance is slow-burn but also so obvious that I'm unsure how the characters didn't see it sooner.

I had trouble in the beginning falling into this story because you know exactly as much as the main character does and he's experiencing memory loss. This, in theory, is a very interesting way to be lead into the story, but it's also very aggravating. The more you find out, the less you know. Because of the fact that I really didn't always fully understand what was happening, this wasn't a full 5 star read for me, but I would still put it between 4.25-4.75 because I loved it and imagine rereading it to be with Jem and Joe and Kite again. The ending made me unbearably happy in a very sad way?

I would absolutely recommend this book, but especially I would recommend it to anyone looking for historical fiction dashed with magic and lgbtq+ rep and men that read romance novels and also unapologetically shoot people and women who are actually allowed to do things.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for my ARC!

There’s a lot going on n this novel and its a pretty good ride, if it does get a little crowded and muddled from time to time. A timey -wimey adventure story.

If you're a fan of deliciously slow-burn romance and historical novels with a speculative twist, Natasha Pulley is an author to check out, and this book fits right in with the rest of her work! With a complex mystery and engaging cast, this one will keep you up all night reading (I read it in one day!) I will say, though, if you're not a fan of gore/violence/general horrors-of-war things, might want to skip this one.

I wasn't a fan of this book. I had a hard time following it and couldn't connect with or care about many of the characters. Overall, I would not recommend this book.

"For fans of The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and David Mitchell, a genre bending, time twisting alternative history that asks whether it's worth changing the past to save the future, even if it costs you everyone you've ever loved.

Joe Tournier has a bad case of amnesia. His first memory is of stepping off a train in the nineteenth-century French colony of England. The only clue Joe has about his identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month he does. Written in illegal English-instead of French-the postcard is signed only with the letter “M,” but Joe is certain whoever wrote it knows him far better than he currently knows himself, and he's determined to find the writer. The search for M, though, will drive Joe from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland and finally onto the battle ships of a lost empire's Royal Navy. In the process, Joe will remake history, and himself.

From bestselling author Natasha Pulley, The Kingdoms is an epic, wildly original novel that bends genre as easily as it twists time."

You don't need to name check a favorite book I read last year when the writer is Natasha Pulley. It doesn't hurt though.

This novel fell flat for me. I'm quitting it about 60% of the way through. I didn't find myself caring for the main character (Joe) the way I hoped I would. It started out really good, but at 60% it is starting to feel like a slog and I can't bring myself to care about what happens.

The book itself was magnificent. Natasha Pulley has a very distinctive way of building impossible, heartbreaking scenarios for her characters to wander around in, clueless and more or less lost until the very last. With Joe, suffering from amnesia and a strange kind of epilepsy that gives him occasional flashes of false memories, that is quite literally the case. I made the mistake of reading reviews of this book before the book itself, a decision made in part because the ARC provided by the publishers/netgalley was a disgraceful excuse of an ebook and practically impossible to read so I wanted to know if it was worth it. I should have trusted Pulley as I didn't trust the publishers. Despite some middling reviews this book was entirely to my liking with wonderfully complex characters and the sense of heavy hopelessness that Pulley does so well. The ending was bittersweet, but beautiful. The world was complex and delightful and Pulley has a knack at writing the empire without letting you forget what the empire *is doing* which I find really refreshing in the time of Bridgerton.

Natasha Pulley has a type: tender, lonely characters who find themselves (often literally) caught of out place and time. Sometimes her books have worked for me, sometimes they haven’t, but: The Kingdoms really, really did. This is, in my opinion, Pulley’s best book yet.

It’s hard to explain The Kingdoms without spoilers, so suffice it to say that the blurb tells you most of what you need to know going in, except one thing: I love Napoleanic War stuff, and this is Napoleanic War fiction (though not always the version we know from history), which was an added bonus and would have prompted me to pick up this book even faster had I known. I should also note that this is a real genre-bender; it’s obviously science-fiction/alternate history, but we also get a taste of the gothic when Joe spends some time at an eerie lighthouse in the middle of a wild and stormy sea, and some sections read like straight up historical fiction with no shenanigans in sight. The time travel element is confusing in the beginning, but is ultimately well explained throughout the book, and while it’s clear early on who Joe Tournier really is and why he’s found himself stuck in this time loop, watching him figure it out for himself is a rewarding journey in its own right.

The best thing about this book is the characters. Like I said, Pulley has a type, but it’s hard not to root for Joe and Kite, who are both an enigmatic mix of hopeful and hopeless, both so desperate to love and be loved in return, and who are very clearly moulded for better or for worse by all the weird and wonderful things happening around them. Joe in particular remains a very strong sense of self despite the amnesia and lack of certainty about his true identity, which made his story all the more heartbreaking at points.

The prose, too, is excellent: incredibly atmospheric, but with the occasional pithy aside where it’s impossible to do anything but grin. Pulley always does a fantastic job at describing the non-things: the long silences, the words that her characters don’t speak, and this book is no exception.

I do have a few small quibbles about the endings for some side characters which weren’t as satisfying as I would have liked, and I would have appreciated a little more reflection on some of the love interest’s actions during the book, but otherwise I was so incredibly engrossed in this story from start to finish. Now, if Pulley would like to drop a few hints about her other (!) book coming out this year, that would be great.

Natasha Pulley does it again! I find her work deeply enjoyable, and this was no exception.

Pulley has a very specific writing style. I enjoy that it's historical without feeling stuffy, and that the character's voices are all conversational and relatable. "The Kingdoms" has all the hallmarks of Pulley's other books, namely a fish out of water protagonist, some wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, slow-burn queer yearning, and playing with history in a new way. It's nice knowing what to expect from an author's work, and having those expectations met while simultaneously having a story feel so fresh and new.

I will say that this book has a slow start, and while it didn't bother me, I could see it deterring other readers.

I found this book to be pleasantly interesting. I was expecting a little bit more, but I did enjoy some parts of it. I really liked the aspect of sci fi and reality.

I just finished The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley. This was my first experience with this author and for the first 25% of the book I was determined that it would be my last! But as much as the first part of the book had me confused and wondering just what the heck was going on, the last 25% of the book had me anxious to get back to the story whenever I had to put it down!
I have to admit that the spelling and capitalization errors were distracting and annoying. I assume that it's just because it was an ARC and gave it a pass for that.
In the beginning I was just as confused as Joe, the main character was, regarding his position in life and how he got there. There wasn't enough information in that regard. The story just jumped into it. The other characters in the book seemed to just be pop ups with little to no depth. By the middle of the book I had a sense of the two main characters relationship and was intrigued by their story. I wanted to know where it was going to go and how it would end. So by the last quarter of the book I was fully immersed and truly wanted to know how Joe was going to resolve his issues in both worlds. I enjoyed the way the author moved the characters through different worlds based on what happened in the history, and time, of the one anchored 100 years earlier. I also loved how the author used a lighthouse as a pivot point. But there were just too many things that were confusing to me at the beginning of this story to say that I would recommend it to a friend.

I hope that prior to publishing the grammatical errors, punctuation, and capitalization errors are fixed. This book was difficult to read because of them. I also think there is too much description for things not important to the plot or characters. Overall I can’t give more than a one star rating.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here expressed are my own.

The blurb cites this book as 'for fans of the 71/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' and 'The Bone Clocks', and I get what they mean - it has this reality- and genre-bending quality that both of these titles share. I loved Evelyn, did not care for the Mitchell - and I absolutely LOVED this one!

Imagine a world in which the British did not win at Trafalgar, in which Britain became a French colony and all British people were turned into slaves. Now imagine a book which pulls off this thought experiment so effortlessly that it leaves the reader gasping for breath, because it's just all so plausible, all the details fall into place so naturally that you catch yourself thinking, well bloody of course, it's just natural, and it seems impossible that there was ever a world in which this idea did not exist. But it didn't, until Ms Pulley thought of it and brought it to live.

It's difficult to say much without spoilers, and you should go into this book without knowing too much, so all I'll say is this: Joe Tournier arrives at a train station and doesn't know who he is. And while he is subsequently picked up and returned to his old life, he can't seem to shake the thought that something is wrong and things are not what they seem to be. When he receives a mysterious postcard with a lighthouse, he just has to set off to investigate. From here we are dipped into a tour de force of the imagination, spun in such beautiful language that I kept returning to read whole paragraphs, because once just wasn't enough.
The slow unravelling of the mysteries (because there's more than one, and they all connect) was a tortuous delight, and it kept me guessing and surprised at every turn.

I have a favourite book - and I may just buy a paper copy when it comes out, because I want to treasure it on my shelf!

this book made me felt seen by how muddled things were just like my thoughts lmao. as we go through the journey along our main character, it feels a bit thriller-ish with how you'll think once or twice that we may have here an unreliable narrator due to certain circumstances he's going through, and the science fiction and literary bits weaved together made it more appealing and endearing for readers like me who tend to get pulled towards these genres. this is a good read and definitely recommended !!!!

What a ride!

I totally agree that this is a book perfect for fans of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle meets David Mitchell. This is like a science fiction story and a literary fiction novel all wrapped into one glorious story.

In essence, this follows a man (Joe) who has amnesia and is losing grasp on reality and his memories. What is real? What is fiction? Are the two really so different?

Read to find out.

I did not realize the archive date was April 15, so I will not be able to get to it before that date. I am intrigued, so I will pick up a finished copy.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I almost hate to say this because I am an artsy person, but the non-standard capitalization drove me bonkers through the whole novel. It pulled me out of the world and made me want to fix it. Was this because it was an ARC? Or should I say: 'was This because it was an aRc?' michelle Henrie said.

I kept thinking was the world was back "in order" the capitalization would normalize, but it didn't. I think it was intentional. It would be interesting to hear if it bothered other readers like it did me.

Okay, now that my biggest gripe is out of the way, we can talk about the story.

I loved how the world shifted with time travel, and how both the French and English sides were trying to use people from the future to shift the war in their favor. I loved the sense of mystery around Joe and the stories he learned as he went along as he tried to piece together who he was. There was a little more of a military vibe than I usually read, but it didn't overwhelm the story.

I did think the story was a little convoluted for the reader to figure out, but I was okay with it. (And I was obviously bugged by the capitalization so it was hard to focus.) Since we are on the journey with the mc, Joe, who is confused, it felt organic to be in the same boat (pun intended) with him.

A point of worry in the book is how casually Kite murders people. I tried to have empathy for Kite because Joe did, but I felt like my emotions were falsely trying to mimic Joe's or maybe being unsuccessfully manipulated, and I was more horrified than trusting of Kite. I liked Joe and had empathy for him more than any of the other characters.

In the end, there are things I liked such as the slipperiness of reality. I would categorize this as an idea book so it's okay that I didn't love the characters, but I would have liked it more if I felt that tug to empathize or root more for Kite. When Joe had a wife and child (depending on which reality you were in), I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about his love for Kite. And I didn't understand why they had such a strong connection. Trauma through war? I'm not sure.

My final verdict was 3 out of 5 stars.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one.

I have to make a confession before I even start into this review: I am a huge fan of Natasha Pulley. She writes complex characters in difficult situations with compelling richness and depth. Her plots are intricate and her settings fleshed out. This book lives up to all of that, but even as someone very familiar with her previous works The Kingdoms blew me away.

For anyone unfamiliar with Natasha Pulley or who has seen this discussed as a romance, I would like to emphasize one important thing first: while there is a romantic relationship threaded through this novel, it would be a mistake to approach this book as a romance. As with her previous works, the romantic entanglement is central to the unraveling of the plot. However, the relationship is not centered in the same way as a relationship is in a romance novel. This book is complicated and slow at times. It’s about the nature of time travel and the implications of it. If you are going into it only for the gay relationship payoff, you might find this a difficult and disappointing read.

In 1898 Joe Tournier steps off a train to London and suddenly can’t remember anything about his life. Not why he was on the train, not where he came from, nothing. He knows his name is Joe and he has a faint memory of a woman named Madeleine. Everything else is lost. To make things worse he seems to be remembering a different London entirely – one not blacked out by smoke, where slavery isn’t legal, and where everyone speaks English instead of French. But people here remember him. His owner, who turns up to collect his runaway slave, and his wife, a woman he swears he’s never met.

Over time Joe adjusts as best he can. He pays off his debt, earns his freedom, and just when he’s setting out to find a job, a postman shows up at his door. The postman comes bearing a postcard the office has held for 90 years – an impossible postcard that shows the newly built lighthouse on Eilean Mor in the Outer Hebrides. It’s message is simple – if Joe remembers, meet the writer there. Joe doesn’t remember, just like he doesn’t remember anything else, but his determination to track it down leads him to the lighthouse maker and a job. Eventually it takes him to the lighthouse itself and the discover of a doorway into the past. A past that just might have the answers to Joe’s lost memory and to the identity of the mysterious postcard writer.

The Kingdoms is a master class in plotting. Reading that summary makes this book sound relatively straight forward and I have to laugh. I must confess I’ve reread parts of this novel half a dozen times. This is a complicated time travel novel with a layered and nuanced take on the implications of time travel itself. But to really talk about it would give so much away. Not giving out spoilers is a rule of my reviewing that I am loath to break and so I won’t be talking about the plot here, or any characters other than Joe. I’ve rewritten this review a dozen times and I can’t find a way to discuss any of that without giving out more detail than I would like. One of the best things about reading something new is the discovery that each new page brings. I won’t ruin that for anyone else.

That leaves me with telling you about Joe – the man at the heart of this mystery. And Joe is a mystery. Joe’s memory loss is brilliantly used, not only to introduce the reader to the world of the novel along with Joe, but to obscure how that world happened. You don’t know any more than he does and that binds you to him. Each discovery, each loss, each hope, each heartbreak, you feel it too. Joe is the touchstone – the thing that binds the whole novel together, but also the nexus. Everything branches out from him. Ultimately The Kingdoms is a story about identity and the intrinsic nature of people. Does messing with time change who you are? Does Joe’s altered memory or history change everything about him or is he still at heart, the same man?