S&L Podcast - #541B - This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews Wrap Up

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BOOK OF THE MONTH WRAPUP (SPOILERS)

Welcome to the wrapup of last month's book pick!

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This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

Shane: I got to the halfway point and couldn't help but fly through the rest of the book. I really liked it and have lots to say, but I'll kick it off with some highs and lows from my perspective. Very curious to hear from others.

  • Highs: Lots of compelling characters, with some real variety in backgrounds, personalities, etc. Clever solutions to problems in conversation and action.

  • Lows: All of the "Maggie must be mine" stuff. I don't read romance, so not sure how normal this is but I didn't like it. Some solutions were plucked from other "plot lines" in a way that felt cheap. The Raven Scholar did an AMAZING job of avoiding this pitfall IMO.

SkittyJann: I very much enjoyed the book, being a long time Ilona Andrews fan, with two caveats. One, the excessive info dumping in the first third (quarter?) of the book which was sort of caused by the premise of the story, and two, the tacked on ending on the last page. Was that really necessary? I feel like the publisher made them put that in so that people will read the next book, like the excellent character building and story line weren't enough. One can include something popping up at the end of a book that intrigues and inspires further reading. This felt more like a threat. "You'd better want to read the next book 'cause something bad could happen to Maggie!" As if.

Ruth Tiltab: I also want the next book even though, yes, the number of hot controlling dudes who wanted to own Maggie was a little annoying. It’s a trope in some romances, and can be fun when it’s lightly done, but the amount here made the men very unattractive to me no matter how pretty they looked. Like, Maggie’s main dude had that whole, dangerous but will protect her no matter what thing going for him and that normally appeals to me, but I grew so tired of him that by the end, I was kinda puzzled Maggie cared if he lived or died… That gripe aside, I had a great time with this pick, and breathed an audible sigh of relief whenever Maggie made it through something without dying, which shows how invested I was. I liked her cousin a lot, and enjoyed the shades of grey the characters all wore. I hate having to wait for the next one.

ADDENDUMS

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