The Kingdom

⚠ TW: suicide attempt, implied sexual assault, animal abuse

For a good while, this book led me to believe it's dystopian. It's not. It fooled me as much as it fooled poor Ana. This is a darker, sci-fi version of Disneyland, complete with all the disturbing things such as abuse towards the animals and even the Disney Princesses. The story jumps back and forth between a trial for murder and the events leading to it, but it never gets confusing because the trial and interview chapters are presented in the format of a transcript. The mystery of what actually happened is also kept a secret all the way until the end.

My only complaint is that the ending feels unfinished, and that the book never really fleshed out all the other Fantasists. Even Nia and Eve who played pretty important roles in the story. The ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel though, so it'd be nice to see this world revisited to tie up all the remaining loose ends.