The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

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As a former Disney employee, I am all about theme parks! So when I saw that The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg was a read all about a high-fantasy, high-tech theme park, I knew I was going to need to read it! This story follows Ana, one of The Kingdom's "Fantasists," or human/cyborg hybrid princesses genetically engineered to make dreams come true. 

Ana's thoughts and feelings are supposed to be steady, restricted, controlled. So when she meets Owen, a park employee, and starts feeling emotions she shouldn't have and having thoughts and ideas that should never cross her mind, Ana starts to wonder if she is broken.

Chaos ensues as her "sisters," other Fantasists, start to have breakdowns of their own, ultimately resulting in being shut off for good. And when Owen is murdered and Ana looks incredibly guilty, what will become of Ana, the Fantasists, and The Kingdom as a whole?

I absolutely flew through this story and really enjoyed it! Of course I loved all of the theme park elements, and saw so much of Walt Disney World and other theme parks in this book. Theme parks are constantly competing with one another for the newest technology, the most personal experience, and the highest attendance, so it's not at all outside the realm of possibility that something like these Fantasists could be a reality one day. I loved the alternating chapters of Ana's point of view, emails, and interview material, and thought the story was pretty unique overall.

Fans of theme parks, fairy tales, and technology would absolutely love this read!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Corpse & Crown by Alisa Kwitney

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I'll start this by saying I completely missed that this was the second book in a series when I requested it. That being said, it was still very easy to figure out what was going on. Corpse & Crown by Alisa Kwitney is a YA historical fiction blended with sci-fi (with a little bit of a retelling thrown in!) that is definitely different from anything on the market today.

It's the Victorian era in England, and Aggie is training to be a nurse. The hospital where she is completing her studies is controversial due to its research in Bio-Mechanicals: human robot hybrids. The hospital becomes aflutter when the Kaiser plans a visit hoping to pit his bio-mechanical soldier against British technology, but thus far nothing they have produced has been successful enough to face the challenge. Aggie doesn't like the focus placed on this research, and would instead rather help the average patients that walked through the door. But she gets trapped in the Bio-Mechanical research, like it or not, and soon discovers things she never would have imagined.

I liked the story fine, but nothing special jumped out to me. As unique as this was, I just didn't feel any attachment to the book or the characters. Between the sci-fi elements, the historical fiction setting, and the Oliver Twist retelling, I honestly thought this book was trying to do to too much. Two of these elements combined might have been more successful rather than trying to squeeze in all three. 

There were too many story lines to follow and too many points of view for my liking. I kept losing track of who each chapter was about, and with so many characters to care about I ended up not really caring about any of them at all. I don't think reading the first book would have made a difference for me in these opinions, as my struggles were more with the writing style and too much content, rather than not understanding the back story. This was one of those books that I couldn't wait to get through so I could read something else.

I will absolutely give credit where credit is due however, and I thought the world building in this book was phenomenal. I also appreciated Kwitney's inventiveness and creativity, even if it didn't quite hit it out of the park for me. All this being said, I do actually want to give the first book, Cadaver & Queen, a shot if I can fit it into my reading schedule, as I did like the overall premise and this may just be a case of "second book in a series slump."

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Thank you to Inkyard Press for an advanced copy of this read! Corpse & Crown by Alisa Kwitney is out now!

This Cruel Design by Emily Suvada

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Last week, I reviewed the fantastic YA sci-fi, This Mortal Coil. This Cruel Design by Emily Suvada is its sequel. Like my other sequel reviews, this may contain a few spoilers for the first book in the series so consider yourself warned.

In This Cruel Design, the Hydra virus has mutated, no longer responding to the vaccine that Cat fought so hard to figure out. And worse, the virus has now infected someone close to her. It's spreading more quickly and differently than before, leaving the clock ticking on finding a patch for the vaccine. On top of all this, Cat is still trying to defeat her evil genius father. This leads the gang to Entropia-a city of genehackers that deals completely in code-in order to solicit help. Will they find the assistance they are looking for and stop the Hydra virus? And what other things might Cat uncover in the process?

There were a few twists in this book that completely blew me away! Also I loved the tie in of the birds from the first book. They were mentioned so much in This Mortal Coil and now you get to see why! The new characters introduced in this installment were great additions to the cast, and I really enjoyed getting to see some plot set in the city of Entropia.

There were a few times this book got to be a little confusing. There was definitely a lot to absorb and you must pay very close attention or you could miss an important detail that may come into play later. But it's this elaborate world building and complex plot that really gives this book that extra something.

There will be another book in this series, and I can't wait to see what Suvada has in store for us!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

A big thanks to Simon Pulse for sending over a finished copy of both This Cruel Design and the first book, This Mortal Coil! Both books are out now!

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

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I have just been itching for a good sci-fi and This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada sure did deliver! In this dystopian society, a fast-spreading new virus called Hydra has split the world in two: those hiding out in bunkers and those trying to still survive out in the world. Catarina Agatta is one of the latter. 

Having been abandoned when her father, a famous geneticist, was captured by the shady organization Cartaxus, Cat has been doing everything she has to in order to survive, including trying to hack Cartaxus systems and eating human flesh to remain immune to the Hydra virus. But when a Cartaxus agent shows up saying that Cat's father is dead, and he has left a message requesting her help with a Hydra vaccine, Cat has to go against all that she has believed about the evil Cartaxus to try to save the human race.

This world was just incredible. The gene manipulation, the apocalyptic plague that literally makes people explode, and just the technology in general were all amazing. There were some crazy plot twists that I absolutely loved, and in no place did this book get slow or drag whatsoever. The characters were very likable and it was so easy to visualize everything taking place. 

If you liked The Hunger Games, Zombieland, or any book about having to survive in a dystopian world or dealing with a terrifying virus epidemic, this read is definitely for you!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

A big thanks to Simon Pulse for sending over a finished copy of both This Mortal Coil and its sequel, This Cruel Design! Both books are out now!