Early Review – The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Release Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1250293855
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC through Amazon Vine
Rating: 5/5 stars

“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.”

I really enjoyed this YA fantasy/sci-fi book. It’s set in a futuristic Disney World type park where the princesses are human hybrids (part machine, part human and called Fantasists). Things start to go wrong in the park and eventually someone is killed. Ana, one of the Fantasists is held for questioning.

The book is mostly from Ana’s perspective but also has some scenes from the Trial taking place and other outside sources. Everything together forms a disturbing picture of this supposed wonderland theme park.

This book was incredibly well put together, very creative, and engaging. I really enjoyed it a lot! There’s lot of food for thought here around AI and humanity’s need for entertainment and distraction from the world around them.

Overall this was an awesome book. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but it worked really well and was incredibly engaging. I would recommend to those who are interested in robots and AI, a good mystery, or just love reading about amusement parks.