When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel.
Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters’ ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she’s coming to love—a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes—and attentions—of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will end: in a cataclysmic war.
By Naomi
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, but this book almost did! I read an ARC of this book almost 8 months ago (I have read it twice, actually)(three times by now), and I’ve had to contain myself all this time. It’s hard to give an in-depth review of this book that is more that just screaming ‘READ IT’ at everyone that walks by me, because a lot of the good things in this book must simply be experienced. I also don’t want to give any spoilers because, again, it must be experienced. However, if that isn’t enough to convince you to pick it up (and why wouldn’t it be?), I’ll try to put my thoughts into words.
First of all, I am a big fan of this husband-and-wife author duo. They have written one of my favorite series (the Innkeeper Chronicles), and I trust them to write Good Books. There are some elements that you can find in all of their work: badass female characters, a found family, alien species and/or funky creatures, a satisfying romantic (sub)plot and high stakes and a soft landing.
That brings us to This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (This Kingdom for short and for my sanity). Maggie is a modern woman from Texas, who wakes up on the streets of the fictional kingdom of Rellas, the setting of her favorite fantasy series. It’s a grimdark Game of Thrones-esque fantasy, and the trilogy is unfinished. The author published book two a decade ago, and no more since then. As a reader you get dropped straight into the story, when Maggie has been in Kair Toren, the capital city, for three days already. She has nothing: no clothes, no money, no food and no place to stay. She does have her bookish knowledge, and she uses it to survive. Maggie realizes early on that Rellas is heading towards a devastating war because of scheming nobles and a neighboring kingdom chomping at the bit, waiting to invade. However, in trying to find clothing, money and shelter, Maggie has come to know some citizens of Rellas and made friends. She decides that she’s going to use her knowledge to prevent the war (and total destruction of Rellas).
The story is told in Maggie’s first person POV, and it’s the best thing to ever happen. Maggie is an amazing, wonderful character. She’s smart, astute, extremely likeable and kindhearted, but not a pushover. She is politically savvy and a great judge of character, and also a great schemer. That does not mean she can’t be taken by surprise because hoo boy, there are some excellent plot twists in this story! It’s not a spoiler to say that Maggie can’t die. Or she can. but her body is self-healing and she always comes back even though it sucks and it’s painful. Even though Maggie is undying, the stakes are still very high because there are so many unknowns. Will she be able to change the story? Why did she even appear in Rellas, and will she be able to go back home to her parents and brother? What happened to the author of the book series? I’m sorry to say that you won’t be getting all the answers just yet, since this is the first book in a series. On the other hand, this is the first book in a series!
The world-building is so extensive. Maggie realizes pretty quickly that the actual kingdom of Rellas is not as bleak as the version in her books, and that the world and characters are not limited to what she has been reading about. We get plenty of time to explore the world, as the story does not immediately set the reader on the path of trying to prevent the war. When Maggie realizes that she can make changes, there are some characters’ fates that she wants to alter for the better. There are many side quests, if you will, where Maggie is setting a plan in motion while also exploring all that Rellas has to offer. These mini-adventures give the book a bit of a cozy vibe, even though I would not at all classify citizens being violently executed on the streets as cozy. It’s a very dark world Maggie has ended up in, but she tries to appreciate the beauty in the everyday life and is working hard to make the future better.
The secondary characters add to the vibe. They have suffered greatly, but persevere and try to live their lives as fully as possible. They are fleshed out, and each character gets their time to shine in the story. They feel like real people, which is thanks to the great writing and storytelling. There is a romantic subplot, but it’s tied to one of those great plot-twists so I can’t really say anything about it, except that it is a very satisfying slow burn.
This is a big book, and rumor has it that the authors are hard at work writing the sequel, which is going to be another chunker. And yet, despite the mountain of information you get, it never feels like an info-dump. It’s all presented organically, and it flows with the story. That’s the authors’ talent, to build such an interesting world and give you so much information, but you’ll always want more. Even after reading the book three times, there’s still so much to discover, hints and teasers and possible clues for later plot twists. This Kingdom has given me hours upon hours of reading joy already, and I can’t wait to dive back in.
