The Kingdom of What Is


Children - Fantasy/Sci-Fi
186 Pages
Reviewed on 10/16/2018
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Caitlin Lyle Farley for Readers' Favorite

Thirteen-year-old Kate struggles to adjust after her parents split up and her father leaves. One day, she leaves school early and goes to the park across from her home. Here, she receives a strange gift from a crow with a single white feather. Kate pursues the crow through a rose hedge and into the woods, a place her father always called the Time Out Woods. But this is not the place she remembers from countless walks with her family; here it’s summer and the strawberries are ripe. The pond is home to beavers and not old tires and rotting rubbish. Somehow, Kate has been transported to a magical world, and the Kingdom of What Is fast becomes an escape from the troubles of the real world. But the kingdom has its own problems, as Kate learns when people with faded features and vanished limbs capture her.

The Kingdom of What Is can be described as one part whimsical adventure and one part situational fantasy tackling the emotional turmoil young teenagers face when their parents separate. Karl Petersen crafts subtle yet meaningful metaphors through The Kingdom of What Is and these fold in well with the unusual personalities and plans of the monarchy to defend their kingdom from a cunning and persuasive villain. Kate’s relationship with her younger brother, Gavin, is so relatable, as is the friendship she shares with her best friend, Analyse, and Kate’s indecisive crush on Nolan. Fans of Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe will find much to love in this novel.