Title: The Kingdom

Author: Jess Rothenberg

Publisher: Henry Holt 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 352

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal TBR

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 was pitched that this was a young adult version of Westworld, and it definitely is! We get a seemingly perfect amusement park full of technological advancements. I loved the world building in this book. We really get a sense of the park and the different environments we can encounter. Once we establish some of the world, we get to follow Ana as she slowly starts to unravel her own thoughts and feelings. And the lingering mystery of who died and who killed them. The book is completely fun popcorn adventure, but I still loved reading it. The story was highly enjoyable and the characters were fun.

Next up on the TBR pile: