This getting compared to Westworld a lot but as someone who’s never seen the movie and only watched one episode of the show, I don’t like westerns even if they do have robots in them, I preferred the Disney like setting. She begins to question everything, is the world outside as bad a place as she’s been told?

Then she meets Owen and starts having feeling that she shouldn’t. Then things start to happen, her sister and best friend Nia starts acting strangely and accidents happen around the park. She thinks she’s safe within the walls of the kingdom. She’s never questioned her life as a fantasist, obey the rules, doing what she’s told. I was really intrigued by the main character Ana. The story is told in an interesting way with a mix of flashbacks, courtroom scenes and post trial interviews. I’m always on the lookout for mystery books with a twist or a combination of genres like this. I really enjoyed The Kingdom! Part mystery, part science fiction, the two genres are blended nicely together to make a really entertaining story. Sinister things start happening around the park culminating in a murder. On the surface the kingdom and it’s princesses (or fantasist as they’re called) are perfect but it soon becomes clear all is not well. 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.

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. Welcome to the Kingdom, a dazzling fantasy theme park where ‘happily ever after’ is not just a promise, but a rule. “Disney on steroids… a sure fire discussion starter about desire and power.” Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg