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The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg Review

Hello Friends :)

How are you all doing?

During the craziness going on everywhere in our world right now, I just want you all to know how appreciative I am that you took the time to stop by my little corner of the internet.

I know that I've been spending a lot of time reading other blogs and watching Youtube videos and such, and I'm really thankful for these awesome bookish communities that keep us connected during these days of social isolation.

Today I'm here to share a review of a book with you all that ended up not being exactly what I was expecting.

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg:



Source: Libby App

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Publication Date: May 28th, 2019

Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction



Synopsis:


Welcome to the Kingdom... where 'Happily Ever After' isn't just a promise, but a rule.

Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species--formerly extinct--roam free.

Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful "princesses" engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time... love.

But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana's memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty--and what it truly means to be human.

(synopsis from goodreads)



My Review:

I'm going to be straight up honest and admit that I was inspired to read this because the synopsis made me think of The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson, which is one of my all time favorite series. Considering this one is about a fantastical theme park with robot princesses, I was sure it was going to be a book that would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, I ended up finding this one to be a massive let down, and while I wouldn't necessarily say it's a bad book, it just wasn't what I was expecting, and failed to really initiate any kind of a response from me.

I first off have to say that I really loved the format in which Jess Rothenberg chose to tell this story. I love when books make use of epistolary style, and I loved how numerous chapters would consist of trial transcripts, or interviews, mixed in with the regular story. However, that honestly ended up being one of the only points I truly did enjoy. For such an amazing premise, this story really falls flat. The timeline is disjointed and convoluted, and I spent most of the book waiting for all the hinted at secrets and conspiracies to be exposed, only to end up massively disappointed with the mediocre way everything is finally revealed.

The Kingdom itself was really a setting where I was expecting great things from, and yet I found most of the descriptions about it to be kind of weird and lackluster, and often didn't add up with other information that was revealed. I loved the idea of this theme park, but the actual execution of it was an entirely other story.

While I'm usually all about the romance elements in young adult books, this one was plain weird, and I was never won over. I never really grew to care about any of the characters (other than maybe Mia), so it's not surprising that I wasn't really invested in Owen and Anna's relationship. 

Unfortunately, this one ended up being nothing like what I was expecting it to be, and I'm glad I ended up reading it through the libby app, rather than buying a copy for myself. I won't personally be recommending this one, but I hope others have a much more positive experience with it than I did.

Final Rating: 2/5


Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

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