This is a spoiler free review.
To Kill a Kingdom
Written by Alexandra Christo
Written by Alexandra Christo
Genre: Young Adult/Retellings/Fantasy
Publisher: Feiwel Friends
Release Date: March 6, 2018
Pages: 352
Source: Bought
Source: Bought
Places to Get this Book: Amazon Barnes and Noble Book Depository
Recommended Age: 13 and up!
Summary:
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.
The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?
(Summary from Goodreads)
Review:
Seductive, dark and beautiful, To Kill a Kingdom is a new favorite of mine. YA Siren stories are often a hit or miss with me, with Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller being a favorite of mine and The Siren by Keira Cass being a complete failure for me.
To Kill a Kingdom contained so many elements that I love. Enemies to Lovers: check! Vicious Sirens: check! Pirates: check! Royalty: check! A Fairytale Retelling: check!
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.
The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?
(Summary from Goodreads)
Review:
To Kill a Kingdom contained so many elements that I love. Enemies to Lovers: check! Vicious Sirens: check! Pirates: check! Royalty: check! A Fairytale Retelling: check!
COVER
The cover of this book is gorgeous. It perfectly captures the story and some of it's key elements. I love how simple it is and how there is just the title in the center and the key elements are along the boarder.
The cover of this book is gorgeous. It perfectly captures the story and some of it's key elements. I love how simple it is and how there is just the title in the center and the key elements are along the boarder.
WORLD-BUILDING
The world-building is done brilliantly which is great because there are so many places that they visit in this book. Alexandra Christo doesn't use ridiculously long passages filled with description and yet I was still able to see everything clearly. She had a way of almost immersing readers into the story and could make you feel like you were with the characters. Also, the places were so unique and exciting. There was a kingdom of frost with a blue lipped king. A kingdom that had a Midas feeling to it. And many different cultures that were thrown in.
The distinguishing between sirens and mermaids, was also done beautifully and showed their similarity but also the fact that they were completely different species which I think is often not talked about in YA Fiction.
Then there are the characters.
LIRA
The story alternates between two perspectives and the first one that we are introduced to is Lira, the daughter of the Sea Queen who is known as the Prince's Bane. Each year she harvests a prince's heart on her birthday in order to secure her spot as her mother's heir. Lira is not a sweet girl on the inside with a ruthless exterior. She is unapologetically vicious, cold-hearted and terrifyingly beautiful. We quickly see that a lot of that is the end result of a lifetime of abuse from her mother who when Lira doesn't kill a prince for her, she is exiled and given two legs instead of a tail.
When she is stranded on a pirate ship, she's feisty, angry and mean and yet manages to keep herself very likable to the reader. She can't be viewed as a complete 'villain' because of how badly her mom treated her throughout her life. And I was often rooting for her, despite also rooting for the prince.
ELIAN
Elian is a prince and yet he's a pirate at heart and spends most of his time on his ship with his crew, sailing the wide open ocean. Except, he's not the typical pirate and despite him coming from royalty, he's not a hero. Elian roams the seas, hunting down sirens and trying to make the seas safer. Elian's parents want him to embrace the fact that he's the heir to their kingdom but he wants adventure and his family who were composed of loyalty and friendship instead of his blood one. Elian is an antihero who is a pirate: capable of thievery, ridiculously clever and incredibly sneaky. Alexandra Christo never forgets to remind us that he is not a hero. (Also, he's probably biracial/black as his father is black but we are never told his mother's ethnicity. And while he is the 'Prince Eric' character, he is very different from the Prince Eric we know in The Little Mermaid.)
The world-building is done brilliantly which is great because there are so many places that they visit in this book. Alexandra Christo doesn't use ridiculously long passages filled with description and yet I was still able to see everything clearly. She had a way of almost immersing readers into the story and could make you feel like you were with the characters. Also, the places were so unique and exciting. There was a kingdom of frost with a blue lipped king. A kingdom that had a Midas feeling to it. And many different cultures that were thrown in.
The distinguishing between sirens and mermaids, was also done beautifully and showed their similarity but also the fact that they were completely different species which I think is often not talked about in YA Fiction.
Then there are the characters.
LIRA
The story alternates between two perspectives and the first one that we are introduced to is Lira, the daughter of the Sea Queen who is known as the Prince's Bane. Each year she harvests a prince's heart on her birthday in order to secure her spot as her mother's heir. Lira is not a sweet girl on the inside with a ruthless exterior. She is unapologetically vicious, cold-hearted and terrifyingly beautiful. We quickly see that a lot of that is the end result of a lifetime of abuse from her mother who when Lira doesn't kill a prince for her, she is exiled and given two legs instead of a tail.
When she is stranded on a pirate ship, she's feisty, angry and mean and yet manages to keep herself very likable to the reader. She can't be viewed as a complete 'villain' because of how badly her mom treated her throughout her life. And I was often rooting for her, despite also rooting for the prince.
ELIAN
Elian is a prince and yet he's a pirate at heart and spends most of his time on his ship with his crew, sailing the wide open ocean. Except, he's not the typical pirate and despite him coming from royalty, he's not a hero. Elian roams the seas, hunting down sirens and trying to make the seas safer. Elian's parents want him to embrace the fact that he's the heir to their kingdom but he wants adventure and his family who were composed of loyalty and friendship instead of his blood one. Elian is an antihero who is a pirate: capable of thievery, ridiculously clever and incredibly sneaky. Alexandra Christo never forgets to remind us that he is not a hero. (Also, he's probably biracial/black as his father is black but we are never told his mother's ethnicity. And while he is the 'Prince Eric' character, he is very different from the Prince Eric we know in The Little Mermaid.)
FRIENDSHIP/FAMILY
Prince Elian considers his crew to be his family as they are loyal and his best friends who care about him and each other. Then we look at Lila who has a complicated relationship with her mom as her mom only cares about keeping the siren's vicious and scaring the humans and she doesn't care much about her daughter.
Prince Elian considers his crew to be his family as they are loyal and his best friends who care about him and each other. Then we look at Lila who has a complicated relationship with her mom as her mom only cares about keeping the siren's vicious and scaring the humans and she doesn't care much about her daughter.
PLOT
To Kill a Kingdom is meant to be a dark Little Mermaid Retelling but it is so much more than that. Lira, the Prince's Bane, has a heart for every year she's been alive, in order to keep her mother 'happy'. Elian, the Siren Hunter, spends his days on the ocean with his pirate crew, hunting down mermaids. One day, the two cross paths. Lira has searched for him as she wants to add his heart to her ever growing collection but when a mermaid intervenes, she doesn't go after him. The Sea Queen isn't pleased and exiles her to stay on land with two legs instead of a tail and an instruction to rip Elian's still beating heart out of his chest. He
Elian wants to exterminate all the sirens and their Queen, while Lira wants to take the throne that belongs to her. When Elian pulls Lira out of the sea, she doesn't tell him of her real identity as they are sworn enemies. They forge a necessary alliance in order to achieve their goals, unaware of how much this will change them and the world around them.
To Kill a Kingdom is meant to be a dark Little Mermaid Retelling but it is so much more than that. Lira, the Prince's Bane, has a heart for every year she's been alive, in order to keep her mother 'happy'. Elian, the Siren Hunter, spends his days on the ocean with his pirate crew, hunting down mermaids. One day, the two cross paths. Lira has searched for him as she wants to add his heart to her ever growing collection but when a mermaid intervenes, she doesn't go after him. The Sea Queen isn't pleased and exiles her to stay on land with two legs instead of a tail and an instruction to rip Elian's still beating heart out of his chest. He
Elian wants to exterminate all the sirens and their Queen, while Lira wants to take the throne that belongs to her. When Elian pulls Lira out of the sea, she doesn't tell him of her real identity as they are sworn enemies. They forge a necessary alliance in order to achieve their goals, unaware of how much this will change them and the world around them.
ROMANCE
This romance is an enemies-to-lovers slow-burn romance with two characters who start out as complete enemies who are trying to complete their own goals but they ultimately need each other. There is hilarious witty banter between Lira and Elian as they move from distrust and loathing to something more. Their friendship and love makes them strong and they manage to emerge with more wisdom and more complete.
WRITING
The writing was gorgeous. Alexandra Christo had the ability to bring her characters and settings to life. It often felt as if everything was real as I could almost see and feel everything. The description was beautiful and the narration made me feel as if I was standing or sitting near the characters while they spoke, argued and lived. Her world building and prose were full of magic and imagination which is exactly what I wanted from the book.
This romance is an enemies-to-lovers slow-burn romance with two characters who start out as complete enemies who are trying to complete their own goals but they ultimately need each other. There is hilarious witty banter between Lira and Elian as they move from distrust and loathing to something more. Their friendship and love makes them strong and they manage to emerge with more wisdom and more complete.
WRITING
The writing was gorgeous. Alexandra Christo had the ability to bring her characters and settings to life. It often felt as if everything was real as I could almost see and feel everything. The description was beautiful and the narration made me feel as if I was standing or sitting near the characters while they spoke, argued and lived. Her world building and prose were full of magic and imagination which is exactly what I wanted from the book.
FINAL THOUGHTS
To Kill a Kingdom is a beautiful but dark book. Alexandra Christo managed to bring her story to life through her description and narration. The world building was done fantastically and the settings were so original. The two main characters were fully fleshed out and were interesting to read about. I highly recommend this book as it is a brilliant Little Mermaid retelling as well as Fantasy story.
Quotes from the Book:
“Technically, I’m a murderer, but I like to think that’s one of my better qualities.”
“How strange that instead of taking his heart, I'm hoping he takes mine.”
To Kill a Kingdom is a beautiful but dark book. Alexandra Christo managed to bring her story to life through her description and narration. The world building was done fantastically and the settings were so original. The two main characters were fully fleshed out and were interesting to read about. I highly recommend this book as it is a brilliant Little Mermaid retelling as well as Fantasy story.
Quotes from the Book:
“Technically, I’m a murderer, but I like to think that’s one of my better qualities.”
“How strange that instead of taking his heart, I'm hoping he takes mine.”
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Crowns
