Review: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me

2026 has been a rough year for me and reading. I can’t tell if it’s that I’m burn out or that I’ve just read too much in one genre. Either way, April is off to a great start, bucking the trend of the year so far.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews, written by an author I have fan girled for at least 15 years, started slow for me. I am not sure if that is because it was new or I am working out of my slump, but it didn’t pull me in immediately the way Andrews usually does. That being said, the slow start was worth it. I absolutely love the world building, characters and story in this one.

Favorite thing

The deeply flawed and human characters. Ilona does a great job of balancing characters with incredible powers against actual real human fallibility. I enjoyed the way that Maggie herself struggles with this.

Least favorite thing

The pacing at the start of the book felt more explain heavy than I usually like/expect from Andrews. I get it because of the structure of the story and concept overall - it had to happen. But it was still a slog.