The Kingdom was an amazing read. The formatting for this book was so unique and made me feel like I was viewing the investigation myself. Switching back and forth from the interviews to the flashbacks was really interesting and unlike any other YA novel I have read so far. Great read and would 100% recommend for someone who enjoys tech/fantacy and is willing to jump into a world of mystery as well as excitement. Thank you for Netgally and Pan Macmillan for providing me an ARC of The Kingdom in return of an honest review.
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Samira H

Welcome to The Kingdom.
This book was extremely gripping and clever. At the beginning I thought I had it all figured out, thought it would be a nice romance story... a fairytale. But then the overlapping timelines, the interwoven narratives all came in and suddenly I didn’t know what to think. My perspectives kept changing and I couldn’t put the book down. I needed to know what really happened ..the twists and turns pulling me in deeper and deeper.
I loved Ana as a character she was so well written and likeable and I liked that I couldn’t get a proper read on her. She was different and unique and I liked following the sorry through her eyes.

Wow, what can I say? This book totally blew me away. I was intrigued by the concept (a near-future Disneyworld-esque theme park populated by highly advanced human/android hybrids) and that stunning cover definitely caught my eye, but YA fiction can often stick to too many tropes for me and it takes something with an extra edge to really catch my attention. ‘The Kingdom’ delivered and then some. With hints of everything from Asimov’s ‘I, Robot’ to Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by way of ‘Westworld’ and ‘Dollhouse’, the novel features fascinating characters, ingenious world-building, and a truly intriguing mythology that I just could not stop reading. I flew through the story, so eager to find out what would happen to protagonist Ana and her Fantasist ‘sisters’.
The way the story is told through present-day court and interview transcripts, interspersed with first-person narrative leading up to the events in the present was a really novel format and made the story even more tense and foreboding. I also enjoyed the way the author builds the mystery, giving the reader enough pieces of the puzzle to almost figure it out, but holding back the few vital pieces to ensure the twists are unexpected.
Whilst positioned in the YA bracket, I feel the book is a very mature and grown-up story, tackling some very dark and complex themes. Amongst the themes I picked up on are issues of consent, choice and what it means to be human in relation to artificial intelligence, however these are all very subtly woven through the story and are not hammered home to the reader in a preachy way, often only alluded to however still having impact. The lead character is a fantastically complex and compelling conduit through which to explore these issues and the author does a brilliant job of portraying the world as seen through her eyes, a world which I’d love to revisit. With that in mind, I would be very eager to see a sequel to continue the story forward and up the scale somewhat. The ending definitely leaves it open for one and I suspect the author may intend this to be a series, an idea which I am entirely supportive of. If this isn’t the case however and no follow-up is planned, the conclusion is still satisfying, although I’d have liked perhaps an epilogue to add more sense of finality. Here’s hoping there is another as this is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year, and the world and mythology which Jess Rothenberg has created is one with endlessly rich possibility.

I got a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for a fair and honest review.
Wow! What a great book! Imagine Westworld meets Jurassic Park meets Disneyland and you're somewhere close.
The Fantasists are essentially Disney Princesses in the future - AI beings whose sole purpose is to make the guests at the park happy. This books had it all - danger, romance, a twist that you might see coming but is still fun - while also raising questions about AI and genetics (just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD!) and big corrupt corporations. I'm not gonna name names but it's pretty obvious which ones the author draws inspiration from!
If you're a fan of YA/dystopia/sci fi/ Disney Princesses or just a good story then you're going to love this!

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. It is a departure from the books I usually read but I am so glad I read it. It is beautifully written and the characters were brilliant, thoroughly recommend.

*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Westworld meets Disney and creates a fantastic dystopian YA novel that, if you’re new to the genre settings of androids and questioning our understanding of what it is to be ‘real’ or ‘human’. I think that’s why I personally didn’t love this as much as I hoped I would: the story didn’t really do anything ‘new’ to what I’ve seen from Westworld and similar entities before. That said, I still really enjoyed it and having the story play out over court transcripts throughout the story was fun and it’s easy to binge on this read and be completely absorbed in it. For this, I’ll say… 3.5 stars.

Also heads up for some of the following content in the book: self-harm/sexual abuse/implied rape

P.S The hardbook cover that can be seen on Goodreads is SO PRETTY.

I had no idea what to expect from this book - I expected more about actual fairy tale characters.

This was far beyond - it told of expectation vs reality, fantasy vs actuality.

The twists of the trial and what happened laterally had me gripped, I could not put this book down

This is not a book I would have normally picked up however the blurb intrigued me so I decided to give it a go and I’m so glad I did. It was one of those books you pick up thinking you will read just one chapter and before you know it you’ve read it in a single sitting.
Ana is one of seven Fantasists who are sort of a hybrid AI/ human Disney princess. They live in a kingdom which is in fact a theme park and are designed to be perfect and always do and say the right thing to make people happy. Only then there is a murder and disappearances and everything does not seem to be such a perfect fairy story after all.
This will be a really good read for anyone who likes fantasy and Sci Fi or traditional story retellings. Also the potential for a series here.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book, very much like Humans and Westworld with a futuristist storyline. I liked the characters & didn’t figure out the twist until right near the end.
It took me a couple chapters to get used to the to & fro timeline but I did enjoy that about the book, it all came together at the end.
It made me want to visit the kingdom & then made me hate the kingdom!
Great read, certainly my kind of thing!

Very interesting story, it's a sci-fi, murder mystery thriller with a dash of romance, set in a mashup of Disney/Westworld/Animal Kingdom! The story touches on a number of challenging themes , among them are: what it is to be 'human', AI and bionics, sexual assault, animal welfare and conservation.
I enjoyed the book, but would have liked to spend more time with the trial and also exploring the consequences of the events that took place in The Kingdom.
I can definitely see this appealing to a lot of our readers - the cover alone (it's gorgeous) will entice them to pick it up.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book, it sounded so interesting and I was so sure I was going to love it but I just didn’t love it like I thought I would.

I felt it dragged a lot at the beginning and it made me lose interest in the story. The world itself is really interesting and there are lots of interesting discussions that are dealt with in the book. I just think the book wasn’t for me but I’m sure many others will really enjoy it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this. Having completed it, I can say it was definitely one that got my attention and I’m grateful to NetGalley for allowing me access to this prior to publication.
Ana is a Fantasist. Essentially a machine, she is programmed to bring happiness to those she interacts with. She lives, along with her sisters, in the Disney-style theme park known as The Kingdom and she is programmed to behave within a strict set of parameters.
Early on, we are given details of a transcript of a trial. Through this we learn that Ana has been accused of the murder of a park worker. She maintains she didn’t do anything, and that she cannot lie.
I was fascinated by the concept, though more detail about the Kingdom would have been good. I also found myself wanting to dig deeper into the park and its set-up. Frustrating, perhaps, but there was plenty here to get the reader’s attention.

I loved this, I am not in the intended age range,far from it but I don't think age is a barrier to enjoying this well written and thought provoking book.There was more to it than I expected.The central character was very likable the setting was interesting and imaginative and this was an original and enjoyable book to read.Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley, Pan MacMillan and Jess Rothenberg for my Arc of The Kingdom in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: The Kingdom is the place where happily ever after really does come true. Thanks to Ana and her sisters, the princesses who meet and greet and make your every dream come true. Ana like all the princesses and even the animals in the park, is a hybrid. Part human, part robot, her life revolves around pleasing the Kingdom's guests, but when some of the other girls start changing their behaviour and breaking the rules, Ana starts to investigate with the help of maintenance worker Owen Chen. Over time Ana begins to fall in love, but everything falls apart when Ana is accused of murdering Owen.

This was a great read. Written in the form of trial transcripts, interviews and Ana's own memory this is definitely one for fans of books like Only Human and shows like Westworld. In fact other than Westworld I haven't seen anything else that explores the idea of theme parks with hybrids.

The story is fast paced as it reads like a murder mystery but with a fantastic sci-fi / fantasy blended twist. I loved how it explored not just Ana's consciousness but her ability to feel and think and to explore what it really means to be human and to love.

The Kingdom is brilliant. Highly imaginative, a true genre hybrid that takes in layers of pretty much all my favourite types of stories and mashes them up into an intense, page turner of a read that is entirely gripping.

In a twisted version of Disneyland, the fantasists, hybrid girls, make dreams come true every day. In a kingdom of the exotic and the extinct, people come to escape the drudgery of the destroyed outside world. But there’s a dark heart lurking beneath the magic and Ana finds herself accused of murder…

Jess Rothenberg takes her central premise and then proceeds to twist it around an entirely human story.. One of learned emotions and the hidden depths of our very nature. Told in flashback, trial transcripts, interviews and footage we slowly see Ana’s awakening and the events that lead her to that courtroom..

It is an extraordinarily fascinating plot with crime fiction, fantasy and sci-fi elements blended to perfection and told with immersively beautiful prose. Immediately you will get hooked into this darkly delicious tale, with it’s thought provoking underneath and it’s scarily authentic possibilities.

I loved every moment of it, the ending only wetting the appetite for more from this world, it is both beautiful and gritty, a Grimm fairytale indeed…

Intelligent, with emotional plotting and characterisation, The Kingdom is a must read and Jess Rothenberg is an intuitively talented writer.

Highly Recommended.

Welcome to the Kingdom, a dazzling fantasy theme park where 'happily ever after' is not just a promise, but a rule . . . This new book out on July 11th is a tautly paced YA thriller for fans of One Of Us Is Lying and Westworld..

We had one of our young readers review it...

The Kingdom follows the life of Ana (a half-human, half-android), a beautiful fantasist in a dreamland park. You see Ana as she comes into conflict with Dr Foster, the world and even her own programming and the only person she can turn to is a human boy she shouldn’t even be talking to.

I really enjoyed the book as it was told through court testimony, interrogation records and flashbacks; something I haven’t seen done before although I really enjoyed it. The book was tense and thrilling. It also had an incredible plot twist. Throughout the entire book it kept me guessing and I couldn’t stop reading; it was addictive!

I think the book is brilliant and I definitely think Rogan’s books should stock it.