A review by vanina_ice
The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don’t really know why but this book was way darker than I was expecting. Maybe it’s because the cover is so cute and colorful? Regardless, the darker tones of this book should have been pretty fucking obvious given the fact that it’s right there in the synopsis and the quote on the back of the hardcover 😂 but alas, I was still caught off guard.

Anyway, this book was an enjoyable, fast paced read and a very creepy dystopian that’s basically about Disneyland from Hell. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Westworld, which I haven’t seen, so instead I likened it to LIFEL1K3 + Jurassic Park. Speaking of LIFEL1K3, I don’t know if “androids approaching the singularity and losing their sanity while becoming more human” is an official trope, but I’m discovering it’s a character arc I enjoy greatly. I thought the world building, set-up, and character development were done really well. The Kingdom is a truly haunting and menacing place filled with horrible bastards at every turn. The sisters were all so compelling and my heart was breaking for them. Were this a longer book or a series, I would have loved POVs for each of them. Which brings me to my only complaint that there wasn’t more of this book. The ending felt slightly rushed. I could have easily gone for another 50-100 pages to give us more time with everything that transpires. Not to mention that ending, which totally sets up for a sequel that doesn’t appear to be planned but I hope is in the works!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings