This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

So… at the risk of saying what I always say… This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is interesting. I don’t usually read Portal Fantasy, but I’m definitely no stranger to the concept (my Anime entry-point was Digimon and The Chronicles of Narnia was a staple of my childhood). I feel like this is an interesting way to do a Portal Fantasy, though, due to the nature of the beast, it does feel rather info-dump-y at times. I like Maggie. The way she is about her book series is very much how I am about Buffy: The Vampire Slayer to the point where I’ve had this exact fantasy about being able to do what Maggie is essentially doing. It’s also a bit of a breath of fresh air to have a female protagonist who isn’t already a total badass in the physical arena, as a lot of the female protagonists I are. I am glad she eventually gets at least some weapons training, but going into it pretty helpless in that arena was neat.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is quite the twisty tale. It relies a lot more on the knowledge Maggie possesses than any physical prowess she may or may not have. Again, very different from what I’m used to reading, but in very good ways.

Not sure how I feel about the “twist” mid-book. On the one hand, kind of a great “twist.” On the other… it’s… yeah idk. It’s not the best “twist” and I’m very interested to find out how exactly the “twist” ended up deciding to be a “twist.” I’m also not sure I can actually talk about it because it is kind of a major “twist” but at the same time… mid-book. Not exactly missable. Yay for random fantasy romance tropes, I guess? It is rather well done, honestly.

Speaking of the romantasy tropes, I thought the potential love interests were well established. I was sure it was going to turn somewhat soppy at some point and I’m glad I was very wrong about the lack of sop. The story definitely didn’t need it, nor did I. All that to say, I am very pleased with the amount of romantasy drama. Just right for my tastes.

I like the bits of fantasy critters we get. You’d better believe I have them visualized via OviPets and plan to eventually add them to my too-long list of critters I want to make.

I will say, as I was nearing the end, I feared This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me was going to just trail off and not actually end. Another spot where I was very glad to be proven wrong. The climax definitely took it straight to a satisfying ending. The epilogue was also satisfying enough and leads into the next book well. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes from here.

So… yeah. This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me was a fun break from what I’ve been reading lately. Definitely recommend giving it a read.