A review by mairead_parade
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely adored this. It broke my brain in the best way and was all I could think about while reading. I went into it with very little information, which I think is the ideal reading experience. Pulley is exceptionally good at mirroring the main character's amnesia and confusion by just dropping the reader into an unfamiliar world and builds the perfect tension for the reader between needing to understand everything and knowing that the truth will almost certainly be devastating. The secondary characters were beautifully drawn and I'd read spinoffs about any and all of them - my kingdom (pun intended) for a Revelation Wellesley sapphic romance, and the detail about the duck on his daughter's nightshirt will stick with me for a long time. Some more thoughts behind a spoiler tag, but I strongly recommend going in blind! 

As with all things timey-wimey, it's best not to think about it too hard, but the story's internal logic makes sense and Pulley stays committed to it, minus the slightly too-convenient return of Joe's memories at the end. I also appreciated that this would be nearly impossible to convert to a visual medium, barring some kind of Fight Club-esque bait and switch. With a lot of cultural focus on TV/movie adaptations of successful books, it's satisfying to experience a piece of art perfectly suited to its medium. My only quibble is how neatly the twins seemed to slot in as Joe's lost children - with his memories returning, I think there would be some more trauma to grapple with at his losses. But I recognize that the characters had already been through a lot at that point, so the happy ending still felt earned and deserved.

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