Jess Rothenberg

"Disney on steroids... a surefire discussion starter about desire and power." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Welcome to the Kingdom, a dazzling fantasy theme park where 'happily ever after' is not just a promise, but a rule . . . It's a fairytale which ends in murder as the one of the 'Fantasists' goes renegade... Ana, a half-human, half-android princess, is tasked with entertaining visitors and making wishes come true but now she's on trial, after finding herself experiencing emotions and romantic feelings against all her programming. Told through court testimony, interrogation records and fragmented flashbacks, The Kingdom has the futuristic appeal of Westworld and the twists and turns of a true-crime thriller.

The Kingdom

"This sublime blend of The Stepford Wives and Westworld is richly composed and intricately plotted." —Kirkus Reviews Welcome to the Kingdom... where ‘Happily Ever After’ isn’t just a promise, but a rule. Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The KingdomTM 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.

Beatriz Aguiar

I actually really liked this book. It's actually quite philosophical as the main character, a hybrid, wonders what makes her human. Can she love? Can she feel? Or is it all a result of her programming?
It's a wonderful world full of advanced technology and that makes it the more frightening.

Camila

Colette McDermed

I went into this book with low expectations, and i have to say i was impressed. I liked the darker themes and the deeper questions that it presented, but there were some aspects that felt rushed or flat...

Welcome to the Kingdom, a dazzling fantasy theme park where 'happily ever after' is not just a promise, but a rule . . . The Kingdom is a place where technology helps dreams come to life. Formerly extinct species roam the park, and twelve beautiful 'Fantasists' - half-human, half-android princesses - entertain visitors and make wishes come true. But this fairytale ends in murder, and now Ana, one of the twelve Fantasists, is in the dock after finding herself experiencing emotions and romantic feelings against all her programming . . . Told through court testimony, interrogation records and fragmented flashbacks, The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg has the futuristic appeal of Westworld and the twists and turns of a true-crime thriller.

Luc 

Hmm, 
I don’t know how I feel about this book.
I loved it, couldn’t really stop reading until I reached the final 40 pages. I think this book is very well written, the characters are great! They are very dimensional and, for as far as possible, realistic. The book is partially ‘normal’ telling of the story from Ana’s pov, and part dialogues/emails/news articles/etc. and I think that really works for the book, it keeps you curious, and tho you already kinda know what’s gonna happen the books surprises you every time.
I do have to say this: the books ending, I don’t really like it. I feel like the story isn’t done, and it feels kinda weird stopping here. I am think certain parts of the story are pretty gross, though they do help to let the story make sense. I.. I’m just not fully sure what I exactly think of it and I think that that’s different for everyone. Sorry this review is a mess😂
So,
I think this book is very well written, good characters and a good setting! I’m just not so sure what I think about certain elements in the story.

Nicole Dykeman

A super quick, very entertaining read. The characters are likeable, there’s some fun mixed-media chapters, and in general, the premise of the cyborg theme park princess falling in love with a cute park employee (who she maybe might have murdered) is a whole lot of fun.

Ana V. 

I found this book because we were forced to stop during a road trip, and I walked by a bookshelf before going back to the car. The cover got my attention, but the story grabbed me immediately when I realized the setting and the plot. Disney princess meets Westworld. One of the park princesses (android) is accused of murder. We follow the investigation and unroll the events from the start until the murder is explained. It's a fast pacing read, and I really enjoyed it.

Kayla 

Started out not sure if I was going to be able to get into this book as it immediately throws you into the story without you knowing who anyone is, however it then flashes backwards and starts to make sense and I was able to get into it. I enjoyed the mixed media aspect of having trial interviews and few photos from video clips. I do think this book is a great book to listen to the audiobook and follow along like it did, it helps bring those trial interviews to life. Overall enjoyed the concept of this book and wish there was a sequel as it kind of leaves you wondering what happened next.

Sophia Owen

Aroosa Qureshi

Interesting plot with a mix of twist and I loved the layout of this book that made it interactive and a very fast read! ✨
The mystery and scientific element was well written and unique 😊

Adrianne

‘A Fantasist’s job is to entertain, to provide a sense of connection. But make no mistake. The Fantasists are not governed by any sort of moral compass. Fantasists do not make us happy because they want to... they behave as they have been programmed to behave. It’s as simple as that.’


The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg is a YA sci-fi story, which in my opinion lies somewhere between the HBO TV show Westworld and any Disney princess fairy tale. The idea behind the book is definitely interesting, although not original. The gruesome bits are only hinted at, so it still can fall under the Young Adult category. But I think it would’ve been so much better as a full on adult sci-fi with a bit more intrigue and scientific details. Ultimately, as it is written I found the story rather superficial and lacking in relevant content.

Euodias

A solid 3 stars. A very easy read and there were quite a few thought-provoking moments that made the book really interesting.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This was a buddy read w/ Sophie :)

I thought this was a really neat concept for a book! It started out really intriguing, as snippets of the post-trial interview and transcripts from the trial are interspersed between the story chapters, so you immediately start wondering what happened. I thought that element was pretty well done, though it was a bit difficult to keep up with who was who in those since the characters hadn't been introduced in the story yet.

I thought the set-up of the park and nefarious deeds that happened behind the scenes were scarily realistic (as realistic as a story about hybrid android/humans can be, anyway). One example was how all the Fantasists were different races to champion diversity, but since they were created in a lab and never actually lived in the world, they didn't experience anything people of their race would. This is a hollow representation of diversity, but is 100% on track with how Disney would implement this program. The other thing that stuck out to me was how (view spoiler)[the Fantasists were basically used as sex dolls by the employees and investors, and had their memories wiped afterwards. Again, this is 100% something that would happen if this were real life. (hide spoiler)] I thought these types of elements were well-done in that regard, because while nothing was super explicit, you knew what was going on, and it didn't feel so far removed from reality. It certainly made me think about how this would be implemented irl, but it makes me sad to think about how realistic these elements would be in our shitty world.

Overall though, the book was just okay. The writing was fine, but it definitely felt like YA which can sometimes prevent me from becoming totally immersed. The relationship was kind of cute at first, but (view spoiler)[after the reveal that he was assigned to study her and test her limits, I became less interested, even though he really did have genuine feelings for her. (hide spoiler)] I've just seen that trope too much, and I'm a bit sick of it. There were also a couple things towards the end that didn't seem well-thought out, like (view spoiler)[was Owen standing in the corner of the interview room the whole time?? And why was that tiara sharp enough to kill Dr. Foster?? (hide spoiler)] But otherwise, it was pretty good.

Moon of Pages

Pam Sartain

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!

Julia

3,5

Nice premise but nothing surprising.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received a physical copy of this book from Henry Holt & Company. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book Series: Standalone so far

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: May 28, 2019

Genre: YA Dystopian/Sci-fi

Recommended Age: 16+ (animatronics, TW animal death, TW animal violence)

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Pages: 352

Amazon Link

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.

Review: Oh. My. God. I have found the westworld like, Disney princess book that I never knew I was pining for all my life. My geeky, Disney, dystopian, horror loving, animatronic hating heart loved this book so much. The story was amazing, if you loved WestWorld you’ll love and need this book! The characters are developed and so life like. The park in the story is so much like the horror Disney stories I love to watch on YouTube. The world is just simply amazing and well detailed to boot!

However, I would like to know more about the outside of the park and how the world looks. Is it the world we live in or a true dystopia as described to the animatronics? I would love to read a continuation of this story and get more backstory, so hopefully one comes. I also didn’t expect this to be a horror story, but it was so so good.

Verdict: I need more.

vera

Truly thought I was going to love this a lot more than I did. Ultimately, it just felt very “meh” to me. Found myself quite bored with the story, it felt like it was just going in circles at times and nothing was actually ever happening. Couldn’t connect to any of the characters or truly believe in this fantasy world.

Sunny Song

This was such an amazing book, I loved the messages that rothenberg had, they were subtle but had such an impact. This was definitely a 4.5 in my books.

Tania Joana da Silva Monteiro

This is a story I couldn't put it down. I wanted to see what was coming next, whether it was about the murder or about the world the main character was living in or about the conversations and thoughts. The question of humanity amongst Anna and her sisters was really well explored and I was horrified at some parts because.. Well I can't say, but it made me feel for the beings living in the kingdom. The end was great, but I would change how some things were done to achieve that ending because I had to suspend my disbelief at that time a lil. Still an awesome ending and I have finished listening to the audiobook and ordered my physical copy because I am still thinking about this book! Also the cover 😍

Jessie G

Laura Allen

Lisa van der Heijden 

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

I have been reading YA for years and with my 25 years of age can be considered a senior YA reader. In all my years, I have not read many YA books that are thought-provoking . The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg is one of them. 

The Kingdom is centred on the Fantasist Anna. Fantasists are Disney princesses on steroids. They are half-human, half-computer and are designed not only to be beautiful but also to make dreams come true. The story starts at an interesting point in the plot; Anna is accused of murdering maintenance worker Owen Chen. The question is not if Anna murdered Owen, but why she did it. Fantasists are not supposed to be capable of feelings and thereof are not capable of premeditated murder. 

It took some time for me to get into the story because it combines traditional storytelling with transcripts from the murder trial and other sorts of media. However, I was soon invested in the story because it addresses some interesting questions about artificial intelligence, morality, and sense of self. Also, it reads like a thriller, the reader slowly discovers the truth about Owen’s murder. I loved how the kingdom is supposed to be the best place on earth and how the story slowly unravels this to reveal the rotten true. My main issue with the plot is there are quite a number of plot holes that left me with important questions. However, the ending was very surprising and left the possibility open for a sequel. 

The characters were underdeveloped. While Anna is an interesting character and her growth is very interesting, the side characters have no depth. For example, Owen has no interests besides the hybrid animals in the Kingdom and Anna. I only found him interesting because Anna did. Continuing, I have no idea who mother and father is and what their motives are. However, Anna’s ‘sisters’ Eve and Nia were also interesting characters because they also start to develop emotions like Anna. 

While the author does not have a unique writing style, she was capable of creating an intense atmosphere. Jess Rothenberg has a subtle way of writing. It is clear certain things are happening but they are not concretely addressed. I also loved the intricacy of the code the Fantasists use with one another to change secret information.

“Stories can be rewritten. Reshaped. Retold.” 

The story is set in a futuristic amusement park/zoo where people can escape the problems of the real world. It has some interesting elements like the hybrid creations from mostly extinct animals and the recreation of nature (e.g. northern lights). It is even separated into different areas (magic land, winter land). However, the world feels too little developed. There are little detail and no explanation. However, this was fitting for the situations due to Anna’s lack of knowledge. For a futuristic world, there is barely any new technologies except the technology to create the hybrids (but this remains unexplained). People still communicate via smartphones and social media. I wish the author had been more creative in this aspect. 

What I loved most about the book is that it is thought-provoking. It addresses some interesting questions. For example, how will artificial intelligence influence our humanity? In this world, the Fantasists are desired and idealised due to their beauty. However, they are also (sexually) abused and bullied. If an artificial intelligent creation misbehaves who is responsible? The creation or the creator? During the murder trial, there is a discussion if Anna is responsible or The Kingdom. Are artificial creations able to feel emotions and have a morality? Can they determine the differences between good and bad? In The Kingdom, the jury wants to determine if Anna feels emotions and if she is capable of intensions and murdering someone. 

In conclusion, this book has an interesting concept. It is thought-provoking and addresses some interesting questions relating to artificial intelligence. However, I think the execution could have been better. I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if the characters and the world were more developed. This book as a lot of potential and I hope the author continues Anna story in a sequel.

Trigger warnings: hurt animals, (sexual) abuse, suicide

Rating breakdown:
- Plot 3/5
- Characters 2.5/5
- Writing style 3/5
- Worldbuilding 2 .5/5
- Overall enjoyment 4/5

Kate

4.5* This was essentially a murder mystery set at Disneyland, in which a Disney Princess is the prime murder suspect. So yeah, of course I freaking loved it. 

TW: possible self harm trigger, mention of abuse