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adelle_bookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Vůbec nevím, co si o tom vlastně myslím - bylo to dobrý a bylo to... divný. The Kingdom je přesně ten typ knížky, která sama na sebe spoileruje, což mi dost vadilo, a ten nejpodstatnější plot-twist jsem stejně čekala. Milostné lince jsem nevěřila. Nevím. Asi průměr.
gus_reads's review
3.0
Entretenido pero sin más. Es inevitable compararlo con Westworld, y evidentemente sale perdiendo. La parte de ciencia ficción y de thriller es muy flojita, tanto en importancia para la trama como en solidez (vamos, que no os pongáis a analizar los detalles técnicos).
Me habría creído más la historia si Owen tuviese 10-20 años más, en vez de 19. En general, lo que más ha penalizado mi experiencia lectora es que es más juvenil de lo que esperaba. El constante monólogo interno sobre los sentimientos y pensamientos de Ana me saturaba un poco, y era muy estilo Bella Swan. Creo que me he desacostumbrado a la narración en primera persona. También creo que la intensidad que intentaba darle la autora, al no meterme en la historia, acababa de conseguir que pusiese los ojos en blanco
Me habría creído más la historia si Owen tuviese 10-20 años más, en vez de 19. En general, lo que más ha penalizado mi experiencia lectora es que es más juvenil de lo que esperaba. El constante monólogo interno sobre los sentimientos y pensamientos de Ana me saturaba un poco, y era muy estilo Bella Swan. Creo que me he desacostumbrado a la narración en primera persona. También creo que la intensidad que intentaba darle la autora, al no meterme en la historia, acababa de conseguir que pusiese los ojos en blanco
scarletdust's review against another edition
5.0
Zuerst einmal: Wie schön ist bitte dieses Cover?
Das englische Cover hat mir schon sehr gut gefallen, aber die Gestaltung vom deutschen Cover passt meiner Meinung nach sogar noch viel besser zur Thematik vom Buch.
Und wie cool ist bitte das Setting der Geschichte?! Generell fand ich das Setting des Freizeitparks The Kindom und der scheinbar grenzenlosen Möglichkeiten zauberhaft. Außerdem wird die Geschichte überraschender Weise viel tiefgründiger als sie am Anfang wirkt.
Ich habe von Anfang an gedacht, dass mir dieses Buch gefallen wird. Aber ich hätte nicht erwartet wie GUT es mir tatsächlich gefallen wird. Ana ist ein wirklich sehr faszinierender Charaker und der Erzählstil passt unglaublich gut zum Aufbau der Geschichte. Der Perspektiven- und Zeitwechsel macht das Ganze noch spannender & regt einen dazu an seine eigene Theorie aufzustellen!
5/5 Sternen
Das englische Cover hat mir schon sehr gut gefallen, aber die Gestaltung vom deutschen Cover passt meiner Meinung nach sogar noch viel besser zur Thematik vom Buch.
Und wie cool ist bitte das Setting der Geschichte?! Generell fand ich das Setting des Freizeitparks The Kindom und der scheinbar grenzenlosen Möglichkeiten zauberhaft. Außerdem wird die Geschichte überraschender Weise viel tiefgründiger als sie am Anfang wirkt.
Ich habe von Anfang an gedacht, dass mir dieses Buch gefallen wird. Aber ich hätte nicht erwartet wie GUT es mir tatsächlich gefallen wird. Ana ist ein wirklich sehr faszinierender Charaker und der Erzählstil passt unglaublich gut zum Aufbau der Geschichte. Der Perspektiven- und Zeitwechsel macht das Ganze noch spannender & regt einen dazu an seine eigene Theorie aufzustellen!
5/5 Sternen
itstooraa's review against another edition
3.0
Iba con 0 expectativas con este libro y me ha sorprendido para bien.
Lo primero que me llamo la atención fue la sinopsis y obviamente su portada. Un parque tipo Disneyland que pasan cositas turbias? Para mí.
Lo que me sorprendió fue que se centró mucho en el misterio, conociendo el pasado y presente de nuestra protagonista, dejando muchísimas pistas y preguntas a lo que le está sucediendo y si realmente todo es tan bonito como nos quieren hacer creer.
Es un libro súper ligero, entretenido, y que te anima a seguir y seguir leyendo para poder saber qué es lo que estaba pasando.
Sí que es cierto que quizá esperaba más descripciones y que pasaran más acontecimientos en el parque, conocerlo más a fondo y la magia que había en él.
Pero en general me ha entretenido y me ha gustado. Gracias a el podido salir de mi zona de confort, ya que es un libro de misterio mezclado con ciencia ficción.
★★★'5☆☆
Lo primero que me llamo la atención fue la sinopsis y obviamente su portada. Un parque tipo Disneyland que pasan cositas turbias? Para mí.
Lo que me sorprendió fue que se centró mucho en el misterio, conociendo el pasado y presente de nuestra protagonista, dejando muchísimas pistas y preguntas a lo que le está sucediendo y si realmente todo es tan bonito como nos quieren hacer creer.
Es un libro súper ligero, entretenido, y que te anima a seguir y seguir leyendo para poder saber qué es lo que estaba pasando.
Sí que es cierto que quizá esperaba más descripciones y que pasaran más acontecimientos en el parque, conocerlo más a fondo y la magia que había en él.
Pero en general me ha entretenido y me ha gustado. Gracias a el podido salir de mi zona de confort, ya que es un libro de misterio mezclado con ciencia ficción.
★★★'5☆☆
janagaton's review
5.0
Disneyland meets the movie, Ex Machina! I absolutely loved the unique concept of this book! All the foreshadowing is done so well, our main protagonist's voice fits so perfectly into that rebellious Disney princess vibe, the usage of mixed media with the transcripts and security camera footage is a great touch, etc. etc. etc. I read through this book so quickly because it was difficult to put down, and everything was wrapped up in a satisfying manner at the end. Would definitely recommend even if you're not a fan of sci-fi because I sure am not typically, but this book was an exception!
pandoramedusa's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, but it just did not provoke any emotions for me. I just wasn't invested. I did like the twists and turns, but I need to have some sort of connection to the characters. The main character told you that she was changing, but I honestly did not see her actions change that much, she always already seemed deviant and “different”.
kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence, Violence, and Cursing
nordicreads's review against another edition
3.0
And it started so well...
I had such high hopes for this book in the beginning. It struck me as a "#NotDisneylandWePromise meets a murder mystery" which had me hooked quick! The main character Ana is a cyborg-human hybrid kind of being, acting as a #NotDisney princess (a "Fantasist"), wandering around this theme park known as "The Kingdom" entertaining guests and letting them live a fantasy while they visit. We soon learn that the park is actually inhabited by several such princesses, as well as previously extinct animals that have been "resurrected" by recreating them as these hybrid cyborgs.
Something I found kind of cool was that at the beginning of a chapter, the month is announced but they're all attached to the name of real endangered or extinct animals (e.g. "The September of the Saola"), and I found myself Googling the names of the animals when they came up and found it quite fun to learn about them.
I found Ana to be quite likable at first: she had this mixture of naivety and curiosity that made her feel like a sheltered child discovering things about the world around her that her caretakers don't want her to. The plot takes place in the present day when Ana is on trial, accused for the murder of an employee, and the past, when we follow her life in The Kingdom and how things unfolded from a happy time to "now" and the book attempts to swap between these to build tension. But the "present day" sections were so short--just interview or trial transcripts or snippets of minutiae--that they only really annoyed me. Yet somehow the book lingers on this juxtaposition of the murder charge and Ana's innocent nature so long that I practically heard the "Dun, dun, DUUUUUUN!" after every bit, which got old real fast. But overall, the pacing was alright until the end.
Some 40 pages before the end, it feels like the book takes a hard left into excess dramatics for the sake of dramatics and nothing else, and I can't work out why. Ana, in particular, starts acting in ways that don't feel natural, even taking into consideration the stressful situations she experiences. It gets comically excessive. And where the plot felt fairly natural and realistic before, that too derails spectacularly right at the finish line. During those few pages I felt like I was constantly saying "wouldn't work like that" and "why would you make it this convoluted?" Ultimately I also felt like the plot ended up contradicting itself. It's emphasised that The Kingdom corporation is heavy on security, but then at the end characters are able to waltz around--what should be a heavy security location--without much problem. And we went through the whole book and trial proving that Ana is not actually the monster she's feared to be--that she fears others could come to see her as--and then she ends up doing something horrible (and still illegal) right at the end and...now suddenly it's a good thing because it was someone we didn't like? Seriously, where before her attitude is "I can't do this bad thing, what if I'm a monster?" she suddenly swings into being somewhat sadistically pleased with a horrendous act. And...there's no remark on this. Like she doesn't even wonder if what she did could be wrong, nor does anyone around her go "Uhh...Ana, maybe not a good idea?" Nope, it's someone we don't like this time, so now it's alright (although still illegal, but let's ignore that silly little detail).
Overall, the book was alright--a solid "meh." The ending was baffling in how the plot and characters seemed to morph all of a sudden, but until then I thought it was an interesting setup. I'd say it's worth borrowing from the library (like I did) but I wouldn't sink actual money into this.
I had such high hopes for this book in the beginning. It struck me as a "#NotDisneylandWePromise meets a murder mystery" which had me hooked quick! The main character Ana is a cyborg-human hybrid kind of being, acting as a #NotDisney princess (a "Fantasist"), wandering around this theme park known as "The Kingdom" entertaining guests and letting them live a fantasy while they visit. We soon learn that the park is actually inhabited by several such princesses, as well as previously extinct animals that have been "resurrected" by recreating them as these hybrid cyborgs.
Something I found kind of cool was that at the beginning of a chapter, the month is announced but they're all attached to the name of real endangered or extinct animals (e.g. "The September of the Saola"), and I found myself Googling the names of the animals when they came up and found it quite fun to learn about them.
I found Ana to be quite likable at first: she had this mixture of naivety and curiosity that made her feel like a sheltered child discovering things about the world around her that her caretakers don't want her to. The plot takes place in the present day when Ana is on trial, accused for the murder of an employee, and the past, when we follow her life in The Kingdom and how things unfolded from a happy time to "now" and the book attempts to swap between these to build tension. But the "present day" sections were so short--just interview or trial transcripts or snippets of minutiae--that they only really annoyed me. Yet somehow the book lingers on this juxtaposition of the murder charge and Ana's innocent nature so long that I practically heard the "Dun, dun, DUUUUUUN!" after every bit, which got old real fast. But overall, the pacing was alright until the end.
Some 40 pages before the end, it feels like the book takes a hard left into excess dramatics for the sake of dramatics and nothing else, and I can't work out why. Ana, in particular, starts acting in ways that don't feel natural, even taking into consideration the stressful situations she experiences. It gets comically excessive. And where the plot felt fairly natural and realistic before, that too derails spectacularly right at the finish line. During those few pages I felt like I was constantly saying "wouldn't work like that" and "why would you make it this convoluted?" Ultimately I also felt like the plot ended up contradicting itself. It's emphasised that The Kingdom corporation is heavy on security, but then at the end characters are able to waltz around--what should be a heavy security location--without much problem. And we went through the whole book and trial proving that Ana is not actually the monster she's feared to be--that she fears others could come to see her as--and then she ends up doing something horrible (and still illegal) right at the end and...now suddenly it's a good thing because it was someone we didn't like? Seriously, where before her attitude is "I can't do this bad thing, what if I'm a monster?" she suddenly swings into being somewhat sadistically pleased with a horrendous act. And...there's no remark on this. Like she doesn't even wonder if what she did could be wrong, nor does anyone around her go "Uhh...Ana, maybe not a good idea?" Nope, it's someone we don't like this time, so now it's alright (although still illegal, but let's ignore that silly little detail).
Overall, the book was alright--a solid "meh." The ending was baffling in how the plot and characters seemed to morph all of a sudden, but until then I thought it was an interesting setup. I'd say it's worth borrowing from the library (like I did) but I wouldn't sink actual money into this.