This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is a chonk. And just like when people called my former dog a chonk, a land seal, a door stop, I think every word is precious. The audiobook is 21 hours and 34 minutes, and I’ve listened to it twice in a week. Kristen Sieh is a fantastic narrator. I’m probably going to listen a few more times before the book comes out March 31.
We meet Maggie on her third day in Kair Toren, the capital city of the Kingdom of Rellas. Rellas, Kair Toren, it’s people, and the stelka that tried to bite her are all supposed to be fictional. They are supposed to be confined to the pages of an unfinished fantasy trilogy. But Maggie woke up naked in the streets and has to use her knowledge from the books to survive. Along the way, she will use her knowledge to save people, make friends, earn money and favors, and change fates.
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is a self aware isekai. Maggie is a reader, she knows fantasy tropes, she knows about portal fantasies, and she is aware that in isekai, the character is often inserted into another character’s life. Maggie is herself, aware that she doesn’t exist in the books she endlessly reread, and an unknown to the people in the world. Kair Toren is violent and often uncaring. But Maggie meets a noble who gives her some coins to buy shoes, which makes her feel like Kair Toren is a city worth saving. Maggie understands the stakes are high, and though she is The Undying, that isn’t quite true. She can be tortured and murdered, she’ll just come back to life, in a lot of pain.
As a reader, I would really not like to suddenly wake up in the fantasy worlds I read (maybe Becky Chambers’s Monk and Robot universe would be ok), especially not a fantasy world with a mad king that’s on the brink of civil war and invasion. I was along for the ride watching Maggie navigate this world she knew so well, but not as well as she thought she did. There are twists and turns. Surprises happen because of changes Maggie makes to the timeline, which she anticipates happening, and because there is information that probably would have been revealed in the third, unpublished book.
If you have read Ilona Andrews before, you’ll recognize a lot of elements. For example, there is a love interest and he definitely needs to go through some things, like Curan, Rogan, and Alessandro before him. Maggie isn’t skilled in weapons, like Kate, but she is a strategist. She observes, she considers, and she thinks through the motivations of the people around her.
The only downside of listening to the audiobook without the full text available is not being able to go back and remind myself of what Maggie said about various characters before she met them. Listening to the book first may also spoil a major plot twist if you are a careful listener. I can’t wait to have the physical book in my hands, but I’ll also be getting an audio copy for myself as well, because it’s such a good listen.
I received this advance listener copy from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
