Review: This Is the Only Kingdom

Publishing Tuesday 

This is The Only Kingdom by Jaquira Diaz is a multigenerational family story that takes place in Puerto Rico and South Beach, Miami. It is a plot and character driven novel with quite a bit of tragedy — murder, anti-Black racism, violent homophobia. Diaz’s novel is fast paced and, at times, I felt like I could feel the sweat. The first line of the book sets the tone: “hours before they find him, everything burns.” 

This passage gives some idea of the real tragedies found in Diaz’s novel:

The newspapers would mention, briefly, that the Humacao prosecutor opened an investigation. They’d say that after Rey was driven to the Ryder Memorial Hospital emergency room, the police cruiser had been stolen from the hospital parking lot, and when it was found three days later, it had been doused in gasoline, set on fire. No evidence was recovered. They’d say Rey would be remembered as a loyal friend, that he was an addict, that he left behind a daughter, a wife, a little brother. The Humacao Houdini. El Caserío’s Robin Hood. He was twenty-four years old.

I appreciated this explanation of the title:

How many times had she heard heaven described as a kingdom where Jesus sat on a throne? And how many times had she heard them describe the sins that would keep Tito—and Nena—from the kingdom of heaven? But hell wasn’t real, and heaven was no kingdom. This, she wanted to tell them all, this is the only kingdom. Everything else was a lie.

The prose was solid, but I really did not find any passages I wanted to memorize. In my opinion, This is The Only Kingdom is worth reading. It is not sublime.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a free copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

epub. 336 pgs. 18 October 2025. Publishing 21 October 2025.