Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on February 22, 2018 | 0 Comments


Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra ChristoTo Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Published by Feiwel and Friends (3.6.2018)
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: eARC, 384 pages
Source: NetGalley


4 Stars

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?

My thoughts

A princess must have her prince.

This book was so delightfully twisted! I loved the dark concept of the sirens and their tradition of taking human hearts for every year of their life – literally. Like I said, twisted! It was basically a dark retelling of The Little Mermaid – the original one, by Hans Christian Andersen. Definitely no Disney here, folks.

Lira was fierce AF! She took only prince’s hearts, thus her moniker was Princes’ Bane. Bad. Ass!! She had a great character arc, too – she felt little to no remorse for anything in the beginning, but as the book progressed you could see the change in her as she slowly discovered her humanity.

This book had a great swashbuckling vibe going, and with the vicious man-eating sirens the feel of it reminded me of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie! Despite being twisted, it was fun, too. I enjoyed the banter between Elian and his crew! The concept of it all was my favorite part, though. It was so awesome that the sirens had two different colored eyes – their right eye was the color of the sea they were born into.

There’s royalty in me, but stronger than that there is adventure.

I loved that the romance was nice and slow! A prince-killing siren and a siren-killing prince thrown together – obviously we know they’re going to fall for each other, but it sure as hell makes for an interesting story along the way! In the beginning it started as hatred, of course. They hated one another because they had been raised to. While I wasn’t necessarily swooning for the romance – I was totally in it for the murderous sirens and pirating haha – I did appreciate it. It’s not gooey at all. It takes the entire book for Lira and Elian to trust one another and develop a friendship, then more. I also loved that while they both had a reputation, neither was quite what the other expected!

If you’re looking for a twisted yet fun tale of adventure and swashbuckling, this book is definitely for you!

Overall Assessment

Plot: 4.5/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Characters: 4/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Feels: 3/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall rating: 4/5

Jessi (Geo)

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