This book was lowkey cheesy, full of tropes, included a lot of infodumping..and I was obsessed with it. Seriously, I don’t usually listen to audiobooks and I got to the point where I listened to parts of this book on Spotify because I couldn’t actively be reading my physical copy in the moment but I also could not put it down. I have literally never thought that a book would make me feel like I wanted to giggle and kick my feet, but this book made me feel that way. It was a cozy blanket wrapped around me (not to say that the book itself was cozy at all, but just the way it made me feel) as I read it.

Why did I love this book so much?

Honestly, I don’t really know why this book hit so good for me, but it did. I think it did a couple different things really well that are the main things that I care about in books and fiction. First, the worldbuilding. Like I mentioned, there was a lot of infodumping in this book that it got a little exasperating at times. There were a million names that were so confusing because some of them were fairly similar that I ended up looking up a list of characters online and studying them so that I could remember who was who. And yet, this book essentially takes something like Game of Thrones as its inspiration and plays with it. From the political system to politics, I felt immersed. The city of Kair Toren was described in such a way that I felt like I was there. Could the information have been a little bit better disseminated? Sure, of course. I wish we understood a bit more about how the magic worked in this world. But overall, adored how closely tied the worldbuilding was to the plot.

Speaking of the plot, it was essentially every terrible fanfic I’ve ever read in middle school about people ending up in [insert fandom world here], but original. I adored the way that Maggie set about trying to change the fate of Kair Toren using just her brain, wit, and knowledge of the book series that she was obsessed with. Don’t we all wish we could end up in a fantasy world of our favorite books and help our favorite characters out? (I mean, actually I would probably die, but you get the point).

The authors took familiar tropes and played with them, and I loved it. Sometimes, you just want a book where you immediately recognize the rogue with the heart of gold, or the deep, dark, and mysterious duke whom everyone fears, or the no-nonsense but secretly kindhearted madam who runs the local high-end brothel. You want the convoluted political scheming and the assassination and the forced attending of a fancy ball. This book had all of it, and it was cheesy and smart and perfect when it all comes together.

(Also, what was that cliffy? I’m going to die waiting for the next book!!!)

And the characters were so fun. I’m not even normally a romantasy reader, but the romance made up so little of the plot that I loved what I did get of it. Give me some grumpy x sunshine and I will be happy. There was so much chemistry between the characters, and I don’t just mean romantically. Give me all the found family! Give me the friendship between Maggie and Will/Lute and the parental way that she took care of Kaiden and Clover. Give me the way that Gort interacted with his sons and the way that Solentine takes care of his family with his assassin’s guild. Each character was written as a full person, not just the main characters, and I grew to love them all as much as Maggie clearly did.

I don’t really want to talk too much about the budding romance just because of spoilers, but it’s hot but with no spice (yet, it’s clearly going to build up to it in the next book or two) with all the yearning on both sides. There’s a lot of hurt/comfort, diving in and then pulling away, and everything else I want in a good romance. Maggie refuses to let herself be taken advantage of, and she is cautious. She won’t let herself fall for someone without knowing that it will be an equal relationship—and right now, she can’t be sure of that. I appreciate a romantasy where the main characters aren’t jumping into bed immediately. They’re not even in any sort of relationship at all in the book, but the vibes are there and ready.

I’m going to stop talking now because I’m almost at 1k words at this point. In sum, yes, there were a few flaws. Yes, the author pulled in common memes and stupid phrases from our world that were a little jarring. Yes, I did get super confused with the clunky infodumping and the sort of awkward way that the authors described every character almost akin to a DM in a game of DND. I’m not saying this was a perfect book in any way.

But I loved it. If you ever harbored a fantasy of magically ending up in your own favorite book series, I suspect you will too.

See my Maggie the Undying series reviews:

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (#1) | here Title (#2) | to be announced/coming soon

This book was lowkey cheesy, full of tropes, included a lot of infodumping..and I was obsessed with it. Seriously, I don’t usually listen to audiobooks and I got to the point where I listened to parts of this book on Spotify because I couldn’t actively be reading my physical copy in the moment but I also could not put it down. I have literally never thought that a book would make me feel like I wanted to giggle and kick my feet, but this book made me feel that way. It was a cozy blanket wrapped around me (not to say that the book itself was cozy at all, but just the way it made me feel) as I read it.

Why did I love this book so much?

Honestly, I don’t really know why this book hit so good for me, but it did. I think it did a couple different things really well that are the main things that I care about in books and fiction. First, the worldbuilding. Like I mentioned, there was a lot of infodumping in this book that it got a little exasperating at times. There were a million names that were so confusing because some of them were fairly similar that I ended up looking up a list of characters online and studying them so that I could remember who was who. And yet, this book essentially takes something like Game of Thrones as its inspiration and plays with it. From the political system to politics, I felt immersed. The city of Kair Toren was described in such a way that I felt like I was there. Could the information have been a little bit better disseminated? Sure, of course. I wish we understood a bit more about how the magic worked in this world. But overall, adored how closely tied the worldbuilding was to the plot.

Speaking of the plot, it was essentially every terrible fanfic I’ve ever read in middle school about people ending up in [insert fandom world here], but original. I adored the way that Maggie set about trying to change the fate of Kair Toren using just her brain, wit, and knowledge of the book series that she was obsessed with. Don’t we all wish we could end up in a fantasy world of our favorite books and help our favorite characters out? (I mean, actually I would probably die, but you get the point).

The authors took familiar tropes and played with them, and I loved it. Sometimes, you just want a book where you immediately recognize the rogue with the heart of gold, or the deep, dark, and mysterious duke whom everyone fears, or the no-nonsense but secretly kindhearted madam who runs the local high-end brothel. You want the convoluted political scheming and the assassination and the forced attending of a fancy ball. This book had all of it, and it was cheesy and smart and perfect when it all comes together.

(Also, what was that cliffy? I’m going to die waiting for the next book!!!)

And the characters were so fun. I’m not even normally a romantasy reader, but the romance made up so little of the plot that I loved what I did get of it. Give me some grumpy x sunshine and I will be happy. There was so much chemistry between the characters, and I don’t just mean romantically. Give me all the found family! Give me the friendship between Maggie and Will/Lute and the parental way that she took care of Kaiden and Clover. Give me the way that Gort interacted with his sons and the way that Solentine takes care of his family with his assassin’s guild. Each character was written as a full person, not just the main characters, and I grew to love them all as much as Maggie clearly did.

I don’t really want to talk too much about the budding romance just because of spoilers, but it’s hot but with no spice (yet, it’s clearly going to build up to it in the next book or two) with all the yearning on both sides. There’s a lot of hurt/comfort, diving in and then pulling away, and everything else I want in a good romance. Maggie refuses to let herself be taken advantage of, and she is cautious. She won’t let herself fall for someone without knowing that it will be an equal relationship—and right now, she can’t be sure of that. I appreciate a romantasy where the main characters aren’t jumping into bed immediately. They’re not even in any sort of relationship at all in the book, but the vibes are there and ready.

I’m going to stop talking now because I’m almost at 1k words at this point. In sum, yes, there were a few flaws. Yes, the author pulled in common memes and stupid phrases from our world that were a little jarring. Yes, I did get super confused with the clunky infodumping and the sort of awkward way that the authors described every character almost akin to a DM in a game of DND. I’m not saying this was a perfect book in any way.

But I loved it. If you ever harbored a fantasy of magically ending up in your own favorite book series, I suspect you will too.

See my Maggie the Undying series reviews:

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (#1) | here Title (#2) | to be announced/coming soon

[dnf at 38%] twas not doing it for me ☹️