Dirty secret: I am the worst reader in the world. I own many eBooks. I've even ventured into paperbacks despite finding them very strange to hold and lacking in illumination. My DNF pile is more of a towering heap. If I like a book, I'll milk it so long I forget to open the thing. If I love a book, I'll read it in a rush that turns the story to haze. Truly The Worst.
And the number of books I've re-read? Phew, maybe it's in the single digits in the last five years. Becoming an author hasn't helped (not because I'm some snotty critic, but simply because there's not a lot of time once I do my full-time job and also authoring things).
So when I tell you that I've started an almost immediate re-read of a book, I need you to understand that this is an EVENT.
If you haven't heard of This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews, pull up a chaise longue. Trusted reader friends recommended this book to me; they have never led me astray.
First, some caveats: this is the first book in a series, it's a brick, and there's no spice. Yet. But this is Ilona Andrews, and I know they can deliver the slow burn that gets hot (yes pls omg).
I'm not going to spoil anything. But if you like a spoiler-free reading experience, GET TO READING because I know this series is going to get huge at some point, and then you will cry bc it's hard to discuss the book without spoiling.
Maggie wakes up immortal in the universe of her favorite unfinished fantasy novels. She soon uses her knowledge of the books to let's say change what's going to happen. It's a portal fantasy that takes a modern DoorDasher to a world kind of like Game of Thrones.
I first read the book in audiobook while flat on my back for a week. By the end, I was just mainlining hours of the story, desperate to know what would happen. The narrator (Kristen Sieh) crushed it btw.
I read and listen to a lot of writing advice, and one bit I heard about worldbuilding is that authors should start the story when something is not working correctly in the world they've created. We find Maggie, naked save a pile of rags, and OH BOY the city of Kair Toren is not quite what it was in the books. Little things are off, not just because she showed up from Texas, and it makes everything mysterious and delicious.
There are twists. I will not tell you what they are or when they happen. But they are good enough that I am cracking into my eBook for a re-read because this is one of those stories where the authors planted all the seeds and then sprung them at the best possible moment. Getting to see their traps take shape on a re-read is pure delight.
If I say more, I'll either spoil or scream.
Should you find yourself needing a snack-sized kingdom with max spice, the latest in The Queen's Men series, Trained by the Queen's Lover, is out now and serving up the MMF heat. There's a hunting lodge, roaring fire, and pelts to defile when you're ready.
