Month: May 2019

‘The Kingdom’ – Jess Rothenberg

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 seven 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 seven Fantasists, is in the dock after finding herself experiencing emotions and romantic feelings against all her programming . . .

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. Ultimately, there were elements of the backstory and the world-building that didn’t quite answer all my questions.

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. Her focus is to provide happiness to the guests she interacts with, though she can’t feel emotions…or so we’re led to believe.

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 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.

‘Dead School’ – Laura Gia West

Tina Crocker is not a character we really get to know during this. Initially I felt some sympathy for her as she suffers with nerves, and the one time she pushes herself out of her comfort zone she ends up dead.

With Tina’s death at a school show we then come to learn this is the latest in a long line of attempts to pass Dead School. The character we know as Tina has a reputation as a failure. For whatever reason she is not allowed to take on a specific role; she has to go back to learn how to guide another through death.
Following Tina in her mission to help social misfit Anna, we also get to see Tina develop.

Unfortunately, though I liked the sound of this it really jumped all over the place. There wasn’t sufficient detail given to set up the concept, and the interesting idea of the school actually became a background detail. The characters weren’t really fleshed out enough to care unduly about them, and the ending seemed to arrive from nowhere.

I was so keen to read this when I saw it on NetGalley, but it seems to be one of those books that isn’t quite being pushed in the right place.