Set in the not too distant future, the Kingdom is a magical theme park. Dreams can come true, extinct animals roam thanks to technology & biology's help. In this kingdom seven beautiful android princesses are there to keep the guests happy. Their actions & movements are monitored & they are expected to follow certain directives. Ana is one of these girls. However she is not just a dummy, she is capableof independant thought & feelings. From the start we know that Ana is on trial for murder. The story switches from transcripts of the trial to events that led upto the crime.

I really enjoyed this book. Ifelt part ofAna'a world & really wanted things to end well for her.I suppose this isa YA book, but I think it can be enjoyed at any age,

Thanks to Netgalley & the publishers for introducing me to Ana & the Kingdom

Chilling & imaginative sci-fi fare with a strong premise that draws you in, story plods a little as moves into romance territory but it's a decent read & quite accessible & quick too

I will sum this book up in one word: amazing.
Going into it I wasn't sure what to think, it seemed like a weird premise, and something that I had heard of before, but it blew me away with how great this book was.
You really connected with the MC Ana, and it was a bit creepy to compare the setting with current day, as it really made you think about what could happen in the future when technology begins to advance.
I adored the way that the book was set out, between the past and the trial and the current situation, and you soon get sucked in wondering just what is happening and why the trail is taking place,. It so well written that you are kept guessing, and that always draws me in in a book.
I hope to see more set in this world, as I'd love to see what happens after the book ends.

What do you get if you set Westworld inside Disneyland? The creepiest place on earth.

I cannot stop thinking about this book! The Kingdom unravels from two time lines; that of Ana, one of the Fantasists (The Kingdom’s robotic princesses) and from the transcripts of a trial that takes place eighteen months later. Time hopping often makes for good tension, and in this case it really helped build a captivating sense of unease, as you watched the two timelines draw steadily closer.

Characters were constantly questioned on where their loyalties lay, what their true agendas were. Even following Ana, we begin to wonder wether we can trust the thoughts inside her head.

Considering the seven Fantasists were created to be role models, brave girls who can save themselves, the women are treated as captives; objectified, abused, manipulated. Their engineering tells them to always be grateful, even when they are treated as filth. Watching them come to understand this and begin to look at their world differently is riveting. The Kingdom covered a lot of ground in a very clever and captivating way, I am already eagerly awaiting Jess Rothenberg’s next book!

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg is set in the future, when a theme park has developed hybrids, which are humans with cybernetic parts. They have also created animals, dinosaurs and other extinct creatures.

Ana, one of the seven cybernetic princesses of the Kindgom, is on trial, and we are taken through interviews, court transcripts, and flashbacks from Ana to find out what exactly happened.

There are secrets, hidden purposes, and lies, and we are shown the truth bit by bit.

This is labelled as YA, and is a good thriller that kept me guessing as to what was going to happen, and why!

The Kingdom was published on 11th July 2019, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Jess Rothenberg on Twitter, or through her website.

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

The Kingdom is a mix between Disney world and The Hunger games.
The Kingdom is a futuristic world were all your dreams and desires come true.
The main character is Ana a part human part android who is sent to trial for murder but she isn't programmed to kill or lie.
Is Ana innocent or is someone framing her.

A book quite unlike any others I have read (which is an endorsement in itself - points for originality!). Incredibly relevant in today's society, this story explores the place of women, and the expectations for the 'perfect' woman; in this case, pretty and obedient. The seven 'Fantasists' have been designed, engineered and created to be exactly that, without freedom or choices or feelings of their own.

The main character, Ana, is a really compelling character to follow as the zigzag format of reports, transcipts and narrative slowly pieces together a picture of what has happened. The themes get a lot darker than the 'futuristic Disneyland' advertising would suggest, and in the case of a YA novel I feel it's always useful to keep this in mind.

Unfortunately, I felt that the secondary characters - particularly Owen and the other 'fantasists' - were a little two dimensional to really connect with. The world of The Kingdom would have benefitted from a bit more fleshing out too.

Overall, a good read - original format, great concept, and a strong message that encourages a questioning attitude towards the roles and rights of women in the modern age.

I read The Kingdom a couple of months ago after requesting a copy from the publisher. I hadn’t seen it mentioned on social media a lot so I wasn’t sure what to expect but the concept of a twisted Disneyland really appealed to me. The Kingdom is a fantasy theme park where technology promises your dreams can come true. Fantasists are half-human, half-android princesses imprisoned within the park and viewed by many as less than human. The moral questions invited by the text explored the ethical implications of technology, whilst feminist themes of consent, objectification, and sexism permeated the story.

The narrative is centred around Ana, a fantasist accused of murder, and now on trial. Using court testimony, interrogation records, and fragmented flashbacks, the mystery behind her crime is slowly presented to the reader. The plot was well-paced, engaging, and thought-provoking, and kept me hooked from the very beginning. As Ana is finally allowed to tell her story to the wider world, the dark side of the theme park is exposed – the cruelty to hybrid animals, the implied rape of the fantasists, the objectification they experience daily, and the mental toll this takes, leading to instances of self-harm and suicide.

The blend of sci-fi, thriller, and fantasy works to create a nuanced examination of contemporary feminist and technological issues. It’s easy to envisage something similar to the Kingdom existing in the future, which is both terrifying and exciting. There are so many ethical implications and these can sometimes fall by the wayside in the rush for companies to build bigger, better, and more profitable creations. The Kingdom is a dark fairytale that engages the reader from beginning to end, posing uncomfortable questions, and encouraging the reader to question both the advantages and disadvantages of technology.

I really wanted to love this due to it having similarities to Disney and West World but this wasn't for me. I tried to push my way through this as the writing was generally really good and I liked the characters. The premise of the court case and death at the hands of our main character was set up really well but it just felt like there was not much happening and it took ages to get to any point.

Unfortunately, although I found the premise of the novel very interesting, I couldn't finish the book at this time. I have had to put it down for the moment, so I won't be posting a review at this time.

This was exactly what I needed at the moment - a slice of dystopian YA with subtle interesting ideas and a murder mystery that starts at the end. Ana is a Fantasist, a genetically enhanced part human/part machine that’s been designed to fulfil your every heart’s desire within The Kingdom - a theme park that allows people to view the past and design their own future. Highlights include extinct species brought back to life as ‘hybrids’ that don’t feel pain, and are not considered ‘real’, spanning several different geographical ‘lands’ from the frozen tundra to a spellbinding storybook world.

The story centres around the murder of Owen, and the subsequent trial of Fantasist Ana, who’s apparently obsessed with the maintenance man she’s suppose to have killed. Except Fantasist’s aren’t programmed to kill, or lie. So what really did happen that night? The story unfolds via court transcripts, videos and interviews between Ana and the court, as well as her own memories of the 18 months leading up to the trial. It’s an interesting and unusual way to tell the story, and is sometimes hit and miss in it’s delivery. At times it feels choppy and uneven - especially the beginning, and stops the organic flow of the story. Just as things pick up with the backstory, it cuts to a different time and place, which left me feeling frustrated. A more linear approach would have worked better, in my opinion, with a few strategic movements around the timescale, rather than the constant jumping around.

Ana starts out as a interesting character. As a Fantasist she aims to please, never questioning or doubting her surroundings. She’s painfully naive and trusting, even when faced with morally wrong situations - such as the meeting with the Investors. It was interesting to watch this naivety change over time, although I did find her relationship with Owen forced and instalove like at times. It didn’t really grow over time as I would have liked, and ends with Ana mainly fawning over him instead of asserting her independence. More interesting was Ana’s relationship with her sisters, especially the troubled Niam who’s actions lead Ana down the path of self discovery.

I did like this idea that runs throughout the story surrounding morality and the hypocrisy in engineering. Throughout the story we see this pull of technology, the ‘fun’ of genetically designing animals for the pleasure of people but without really caring about the consequences. To challenge this, as Ana does, brings to light the idea of who decides what is right and wrong in genetic engineering? The people within The Kingdom don’t see these animals or the Fantasists as real, or worthy of any kind of proper life. Their sole purpose is to entertain, and when they fall out of fashion or ‘malfunction’ they are easily disposed of.

At times an interesting read, with some subtle darker undertones, but a stereotypical protagonist and strange nonlinear storytelling lets it down.

This book deals with a rather interesting subject because with A.I. becoming more and more a reality, it’s not impossible to see one day a park like this one appear.

I can't tell you that I loved the story because I didn't, I liked it, but it's not a big book either in my opinion. I felt a lot of anger as I read the book because Ana and her sisters are treated as men would like to treat women if that were possible. I don't know if I'm clear, but princesses are not only created to sell dreams to little girls but also to their fathers. And a priori they are close enough to human beings to be able to be forced to do things that are not allowed.

I loved Ana though, she's normal and doesn't really understand what's happening to her, but she tries to understand anyway. We discover throughout the book through testimonies, interviews and memories that not everything is clear in the Kingdom. And I liked the format of this book, everything is told through the trial and Ana's memories.

Quick word : A good book.

What if Disneyland had a more Westworld kind of a thing going on? That’s the premise of this book. A magical Kingdom, where ‘hybrids’ are bred part machine part flesh, to reintroduce extinct species and provide a playground for anyone rich enough to visit. It’s more Disney visitor park than WW immersive, and there are only seven ‘Hosts’ – I mean, ‘Fantasists’ (I hated that word, btw) – all female, as apparently the male versions were ‘too unsettling’.

Our story follows one of these android Princesses, Anna. It’s told in a similar way to Big Little Lies, starting with courtroom transcripts before the main tale is told in flashbacks as we discover who has died, and why. Slowly, Anna’s perfect existence is shown to unravel at the edges: is their safe haven more of a cage? Is someone messing with their data files? Is there a bigger conspiracy going on than Anna can imagine?

It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the read, but as the references above show, it all just felt like a mash up of several other ideas. Heck, the author even uses the phrase “Violent delights have violent ends” – yes, it ties in well with the Romeo and Juliet theme (being originally from that play, before being used in Westworld) that is rather clunkily thrown in (I get it, it’s from Anna’s point of view, but still meh), but it really only highlights what felt like a lack of originality.

I could forgive that more easily if the story did anything new or exciting or just wowed me in any form. Instead, it never felt like it rose above its derivativeness, for me, and the weakness of the ending only confirmed that feeling of ‘meh’. It’s not a dreadful read by any stretch, but nothing hit any high notes for me at all – if you’re less familiar with those inspirations, then your mileage may indeed vary.

I loved this book! I honestly thought I was going to hate it as I’m not really into ‘Princesses’. We follow Ana, who is a Fantasist, she is accused of a terrible crime she insists she couldn’t commit as Fantasists can’t do harm or lie to others...but is Ana telling the truth? Has she found a way to lie? I hope there are more novels from this author in the future. Just brilliant.

I was utterly mesmerised by this story.

Jess Rothenberg juxtaposes a certain well-known Magical Kingdom aesthetic with the kind of god-playing found in Jurassic Park or Frankenstein to explore the nature of what makes us human, with devastatingly compelling effect.

We follow the story of Ana, a human-android hybrid created as one of seven ‘Princesses’ to entertain guests at The Kingdom theme park. Some perform with dolphins in the icy waters of the marine section; some dance in ballgowns at the castle balls; Ana seeks out nature in the form of the hybrid animals in the jungle, arctic or woodland zones. Of course, whatever their special interest, all of the princesses must be kind and smile, and make the guests magical wishes come true. And if the guest’s wishes are not so magical – not sweet and innocent – then there’s nothing to worry about: ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’ are there to soothe upsets, wipe memories and make a ‘broken’ princess disappear… sometimes forever after.

The story is told through a mixture of Ana’s memories, court documents and a psychologist/scientist transcript of an interview with Ana. The story starts with an unspecified murder (hence the court and interview), but other than Ana being somehow involved, events are unclear. Gradually the author takes us back and forth, revealing the rot beneath the shining streets, and the distress beneath the lipstick smiles, until it becomes a lot clearer exactly who is guilty and what the real crime is.

I adored all of the princesses wholeheartedly, not just Ana. It is clear both what they were designed to be, and how they have surpassed the limits of their programming (each in their own ways) to show more humanity than the ‘real people’ surrounding them. The parallels with slavery, the treatment of minorities and those who are different, and the inhumane treatment of performing/captive animals throughout human history are all clear and distressing.

Yet the author doesn’t forget that this is also entertainment and provides the reader with a twisting mystery plot that kept me reading, spellbound, to the bittersweet end, and had me reliving the story long after the ever after. Highly recommended.



ONE HOUR AFTER THE MURDER

The room where they at last found him was so cold they wondered, at first, if he had frozen to death. Face as white as snow, skin as cold as frost, lips as blue as ice. His expression seemed, to the police, perfectly peaceful. As if he had passed away in the middle of a very lovely dream.

Except for the blood.
Blood always tells its own story.

– Jess Rothenberg, The Kingdom


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

The Kingdom is a fascinating concept. Just imagine a Kingdom like Disneyland where all your wildest dreams do come true. Key to this magical Kingdom are seven 'fantasists', Our protagonist Ana is one of these fantasists, bio-engineered princesses created to entertain the Kingdoms guests.
We start the book, in a courtroom. You know from the outset that something has gone horribly wrong and through the course of the book we find out through Ana's memories and court transcripts the dark things that go on to make dreams come true.
It did take me a little while to get into this as I didnt quite take to Ana at first, it was actually Nia, Ana's sister, that peaked my interest and her actions from thereon in had me gripped.
Its not high on my recomended list, but I do know a few people that would enjoy The Kingdom.

I didn't know what to expect with this. Usually science fiction and fantasy can take me a while to get into it. But this was easy. I was intrigued from very early on. Wondering what the world was like, what happened to Ana.
By the end I had figured out the truth about Owen but I think the twist worked perfectly. There's so much more to the story to be told. With the world, the characters. I need more.
This could be a great TV show. I can see the world coming to life on screen like it did on page.

If you know anything about me at all you know I am a HUGE Disney fan, we went for our honeymoon and we’re going back in October. So when I saw The Kingdom, a book about a theme park which has many similarities to Disney World I knew it was for me. I loved it, there were so many different layers to this book and the moral grey areas throughout all of it. We follow Ana and her evolving as she tries to figure out her place in the world as a Fantasist that’s expected to be so human you can’t tell. I think this book is a great example of a story that covers all the bases when it comes to robots and the implications of that. It’s safe to say this was one of my favourite books of the year.

The Kingdom had really interesting characters in the sense that they weren’t technically human and that changed the dynamic completely when the main character, Ana, was interacting with the others. I loved watching her filing away memories and keeping them for future conversations and interactions. The way that her relationship grows with Owen is fascinating and I loved watching them both figuring everything out. There was nothing I wanted more than to watch them and see how everything would work out. I was rooting for them all the way through!

I think watching the characters interact all the way through The Kingdom was one of the best bits of this book. But also the way the technology worked throughout the park and the loopholes that the princesses end up finding to work around the system. I also thought the hybrid animals and the problems they had around the evolution is something really fascinating I loved hearing about all the issues and the morals that go along with all the breeding programs and the animals involved. I think the best bit was watching how everything changed and evolved throughout the entire storyline.

This is a short list but I guessed what was going to happen at the end and I wished that it had been more of a surprise with a little bit more development. BUT I STILL LOVED THE WHOLE THING.

I would recommend The Kingdom in a heartbeat. I adored the characters, the world building and everything about this book! I definitely think it is one of my favourite books of the year.

Sometimes a book just comes a long that hooks you from the beginning and pulls you in so that you just never want the pages to stop turning. This was one of those books. I truly liked all there was to like about this book.

Both the plot and the setting were both so imaginative. We follow an ongoing court case against the Kingdom corporation with witness interviews and evidence transcripts, all intermingled with flashbacks told from Ana’s perspective. This paints a fantastic picture of a magical park where everything is perfect, aiming to preserve what the outside world is loosing as it descends into a diplopia. The park acting a beacon of happiness to everyone. As we learn more about the park through Ana’s eyes we reveal a sinister undertone that lends itself so fantastically to all the twists and turns of this murder mystery. The switching formats build up amazing suspense but also allow for plot twists to come out of nowhere giving this book its un-put-down-able quality. Rothernburg’s writing is fantastic capturing all the different tones, from court room drama, cheesy advertisement campaigns to classic ‘Princess’ rhetoric. There is just so much depth and layer upon layer that unfolds. She brings together picture perfect fairy tales, mystery thriller with dashes of distopian fiction into an amazingly entertaining read.

The characters are also amazing, Ana is awesome as we learn with her as she tries to establish where she fits in the realm of AI or Human, programming vs free will, emotion vs algorithm it really allows the world and the plot to be full fleshed out without any info dumping. The side characters are also multifaceted, twisting and turning as the fairytale breaks down and exposes its sinister side. All in all it just makes for a truly fantastic read.

There were a few points where I wish the relentless pace would slow and let us savour some of the twists a little longer in order to fully process them. But that is my only complaint. The ending itself was a little open ended, giving us a big reveal which was not fully resolved but i just hope that means we are going to get more from this world.

The Kingdom is a fascinating book that encompasses fantasy, mystery, science fiction and dystopia to create an unusual yet refreshing YA read. The premise of the novel is that the cyborg protagonist, Ana, is on trial for the murder of a staff member at the Kingdom theme park. Intrinsically, the question is did she do it and, if so, is she accountable for her actions? I love how the book makes the reader consider the philosophies of artificial intelligence in multiple scenarios. The novel flicks between the courtroom, interviews and Ana’s memories to piece together the mystery of Owen’s death.

Ana is one of several Fantasists. Fantasists are effectively half-human, half-robot, Disney-esque princesses created to make the dreams of the Kingdom’s visitors come true. I found Ana to be an affable, thoughtful and intelligent character. Through Ana’s eyes we see how her programming works, for instance, how she scans people to read their emotions and thar she has a firewall which limits her search capabilities. It is really interesting when Ana begins to develop an awareness and emotions that go beyond her programming. Particularly her own reactions to her personal development.

I adored getting to know the different Fantasists and their relationships with each other. Ana is very close to Pania, who is basically the Kindom’s version of Ariel. I don’t want to say too much about Nia but her character progression is fascinating.

I found a lot of the relationships in the book to be very interesting. There is a great mix of characters including some that made my blood boil. All of the way through, you are made to question each characters motivations as there are a lot of secrets.
The world building in The Kingdom is well developed and immersive. I love the vastness of the park and can vividly picture all of the unique areas contained within it. It is clever that we don’t see much of the outside world as it makes the reader question what it is really like out there. Is The Kingdom really the jewel in a dark world or is the darkness coming from within?

The pacing throughout the novel is very good, as is how smoothly the story flicks between past and present. The story is very gripping! Each chapter is another clue to what happened.

Feminism and abuse are two key themes in the novel. Fantasists and hybrid animals are treated like commodities, to be done with as others please. I think that the treatment of captive animals is a very relevant topic today. If an animal is bred, even out of extinction, it does not give humans the right to do what they like with them. A comparison is definitely drawn between the captive animals and the Fantasists, both of whom deserve freedom and lives free from abuse.

I found certain scenes in the novel to be particularly upsetting as Ana faces many difficult situations. It is interesting watching her fight against her programming, although the circumstances where the fantasists may want to enter ‘safe mode’ are very affecting. There is a lot of manipulation by men including the Kingdom’s investors, the scientists, staff members…. However, the worst abuse is the allusion to rape and how it impacts the character involved. The fantasists are a vehicle to demonstrate that women are not there for the sole purpose of making men happy. Also, that we should not sacrifice our own happiness simply because we are ‘programmed’ to put other people first.

The Kingdom has become one of my favourite books of 2019 and is a compelling read from the first page. I couldn’t put it down! I found the novel to be very thought-provoking as it poses a lot of moral questions. However, there is also plenty of action! There are a lot of unexpected twists to the story and I couldn’t guess how it would end.