Overall, "To Kill a Kingdom" was a fun and suspenseful read. I really liked the relationship dynamic between Elian and Lira, even though I could have done without the romantic aspects. I also liked the world building because there were some interesting ideas of which I would have loved to see more.

What I didn't really like was the ending because it seemed somewhat rushed and tied everything up a little too neatly for my tastes and was kind of predictable.

Still, I really liked the writing, there were some intriguing ideas about truth in myths and legends, and the characters were fun to follow around.

I applied to read this on the app because of the cover. Even though I knew that I have an old school black and white kindle that wouldn’t display this anyways, it just drew me in. Then I read the synopsis…

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?



So we have sirens, mermaids, mermen, princes, royalty and a treasure hunt… Hello The Little Mermaid re-telling!

[non-spoilers]

* Just a note to say I’m not really going to include a spoiler review on this one because its not actually available to buy yet*

This was a good (but slightly dark) re telling. I enjoyed it overall, although I did find the writing hard to follow sometimes. There was a LOT of short sentences, rather than longer, more descriptive sentences which I felt made it quite stuttery at points. That being said, the world building and the mythology included in this was very very well done.

The plot was well written with a clear vision, some well written characters and some decent plot twists, but there were a few aspects that I wasn’t a fan of. I felt that some of the characters weren’t really needed and there was a lot of ‘banter’ to fill up space. I went from hating to loving to hating to loving Lira, which I would take a guess is how it was planned!

I think I’ll read this again in actual book form when it comes out and see if my opinion changes. For now its a solid 2.5 out of 5, probably closer to a 3. I think if I had enjoyed more of the characters than just Elian, Lira and a few others. If more of the world and mythology had been explored (there was a whole race of people who we only ever hear the vaguest amount about – Efevresic – but that have wonderful technology) then I think this would have gripped me more.

2.5 – 3 out of 5 for me!

**disclaimer – I received this book for free from netgalley in exchange for a fair review**

Lira is a princess and in line to take the Sea Queen’s throne. She is a siren, and every year a siren takes a heart on her birthday. Lira has a taste for royal blood. So every year, she takes the heart of a prince. In a twist of fate, she is forced to kill a mermaid, protecting the heart of a prince. Her punishment? she is turned into something that Sirens hate above all – a human. Prince Elain, heir to the most powerful and most golden kingdom in the world, but also a siren hunter. He saves a drowning woman in the middle of the sea, unknowing her true heritage. She bargains her life for information, the key to destroying the Sea Queen and the sirens who hunt them. But, can he trust her?

One of my favourite things in a good fantasy is a good opening, and To Kill a Kingdom did not disappoint. The first chapter showed how vicious and brutal sirens can be, clawing hearts out with their bare hands. But, To Kill a Kingdom kept delivering. Pirates! Adventure! Sirens! Mermaids! Chapter after chapter we got more action, more magic, more swashbuckling adventure, more deadly sea creatures, more slow-burn romance. Simply put, To Kill a Kingdom was delightful.

As most of you who regularly read my reviews probably know, I love a good, complex, and morally grey female character. Lira was vicious, ruthless, and fearless but I liked how she showed that the siren’s brutality was not born but was taught into them. I loved Lira discovering humanity but also craving the ocean still. I loved that she was figuring out what kind of Queen she wanted to be and that she, eventually, learnt that it is peace between humans and sirens that she should strive for. But I loved that throughout this she still kept her rage and her fire. Also, I really loved Prince Elain. How he couldn’t stand still on land for too long. I loved how he, like Lira, also craved the ocean. Their romance was brilliantly done. It was a slow burn hate-to-love romance and it was adorable. They had some really great chemistry and banter, so it was a joy to read.

I also have high praise for the worldbuilding and lush and beautiful writing. It was impeccably done, impressive more so as a debut so I do really look forward to more by Alexandra Christo. To Kill a Kingdom was a dark and unpredictable book that kept me engrossed, turning page after page.

I’ve seen a few things floating about how this is a Little Mermaid retelling, I’m not sure if that is how it is being pitched by the publisher but yes, I would also describe this as a bloodthirsty and dark Little Mermaid retelling. So if that is your thing, then you need this book.

2018 YA Fantasy keeps delivering. First The Cruel Prince, now this. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year will bring in terms of Fantasy, but I’m excited nonetheless.

This is actually a harder review to write than I anticipated; I literally just want to write a page of "I love it, I love it, I love it" and squeal with excitement as I reminisce over this incredible book and suffer through my book hangover! I knew that I was going to enjoy To Kill A Kingdom; it's been suggested for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sarah J Maas. However, what I didn't know is that I was going to fall completely for this world, these characters and this story.

To Kill A Kingdom is a dual narrative high fantasy set in a world where there is a constant war between the land and the seas. Our two main characters, Lira and Elian, are hunting each other - Lira is a siren, the Princes' Bane, and is after Elian's heart, Elian is the pirate prince who seeks to destroy the Princes' Bane. However, their two paths collide in the most unlikely of ways as Lira is transformed into a human by the Sea Queen. But which one of them will succeed in killing the other?

The thing that I loved most about this book is the writing; it was so easy to get hooked on and full of warmth and humour. Lira is a sassy anti-heroine who you can't help but adore, Elian a fierce character who isn't just some pampered prince. The crew of the Saad are just as fun to get to know through both of these characters. I tabbed so many points of this book just because I laughed out loud!

I can't recommend To Kill A Kingdom highly enough; it certainly lives up to the expectation and can certainly rival incredible fantasy books such as those by Maas and Bardugo, and I can't wait to see what Christo writes in the future!

That was absolutely amazing! It's been a while since I was so excited about a book! Especially a book that has mermaids and sirens - which is something I typically avoid. But oh boy, this book was so good!

The characters were all so complex and interesting. The banter between Elias and Lira was so good and the chemistry between them was out of this world. But it never took away the focus of the story that was so interesting, that I couldn't stop reading.

The world building was done really well, and I enjoyed reading about all the different kingdoms that excited.

The only criticism I have about this book is about the siren language - Psarin - which is actually Greek. Some of the translation was not right, so that bothered me a bit (being Greek myself). But apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I definitely recommended 😉 I wish it was a series, because I'd love to read more about Elias and Lira and their adventures....!

First things first, wow. This book is my favourite of the year so far and I have a sneaky feeling that it might retain that position until December 31st! It's incredible. Definitely not what I was expecting when I started reading either.

The story follows a prince and a siren as they try and achieve their competing goals: the death of the prince and the death of the siren. Of course, as they get to know each other, things start to change. One of the best aspects of this book was its dual narrative, although some of the changes in narrator were slightly confusing. Usually books with two narrators put me off but this time, though Lira was my favourite, I enjoyed both sides to the story.

Every other mermaid/siren book I've read has turned the stuff of legend into weak-willed characters. Not To Kill A Kingdom. Even when she is forced onto land, Lira can certainly not be called weak. The depth of the characterisation in this book was wonderful. I would have happily read hundreds of pages more about their journey together.

For me, the one weakness of this book lay also in its strengths. The author knew when the story was told and the book ends accordingly. It was almost a little too abrupt, the ending, as I wanted to know more about what comes next. How all of the characters react to new situations and changes to their lives.

Although, of course, leaving you wanting more is a sign of a very good book indeed!

Having flown through this novel in an evening, I'm excited to read this author's next books. Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for the opportunity to read To Kill A Kingdom.

YES, I am always here for reimaginings of "The Little Mermaid" aka one of my all time favourite Disney films. Lira might have an amazing voice in common with Ariel, but she's no Disney princess. You know you're in for a wild ride when a novel starts with its main character tearing the heart out of a defenseless prince.

"To Kill a Kingdom" is great too in that while its structure borrows a lot from the original fairytale and there are definite throwbacks within the story, there are a lot of new twists on the tale and I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what happened next, a lot of the time. Plenty of interesting bits of worldbuilding too: I loved the dramatic irony of the sirens, able to enslave men by song, being equally enslaved by their queen.

It's The Little Mermaid but with sirens instead of mermaids (and there are still mermaids and they are even cooler than normal mermaids so that's phenomenal too!). I cannot convey how excited I was to read this book. It's everything I've ever wanted, it's got a smattering of well-written romance, it's got buckets of romance and it has a love for the ocean at its core.

Back when I used to do songwriting that wasn't for musicals, essentially all of my songs ended up being about the sea in one way or another. I blame the fact that I was brought up in the south of England with the sea only a half hour or so away, being in such a landlocked place - Oxford, I do miss it, and books like this which can take me back there are all the more precious. 

The characters of this book were what won me over. The book is dual POV between Princess Lira and Prince Elian, both of whom are fleshed out, interesting and multi-faceted characters. On top of that, you have a host of supporting characters, all of whom I would gladly read a spin-off novel about (please?). It helps that the vast majority of side characters are pirates, I just adore pirates. You see how this book was pretty much all of my favourite things put into one book?

I think that one thing some people might take issue with is that some of the romance has a couple of elements of 'insta-love' in it. I was somewhat worried when things happened like warm tingly feelings when two characters touched, that romance was going to take over this gloriously murder-y book. In actual fact, despite those few moments, the romance builds at a fairly natural pace (as natural as these things ever come in a novel). 

But clearly, it was the dark elements of this book that grabbed my heart (when you've read this book you'll see why that's a joke) and wouldn't let go. Lira's mother is a classically terrifying villain, Lira and Elian are both killers in one way or another and most of the crew are more than a bit morally dubious. This makes for a story that smacks more of the gruesome nature of original fairytales than any of the softened Disney-esque versions. Even with that in mind, this story and this writing felt incredibly new to me. By which I mean, they felt refreshed and filled with the energy of someone with a lot more amazing books to come. 

I'm obsessed with this book, I may need to order a copy for everyone I know. Of all the retellings I have read so far this year (a lot) I think it may have been my favourite. 

Should you read this? Absolutely. If this has even slightly piqued your interest please go out and order yourself a copy, you won't regret it!

My rating: 5/5 stars

By the way, I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow! This was AWESOME. It’s so rare to find well-developed second-world fantasy YA standalones – but this book managed to deliver a great story, three-dimensional characters and excellent world-building all within one single novel.

TO KILL A KINGDOM, to sum up, is a dark fantasy retelling of The Little Mermaid with sirens. And they’re FRIGHTENING sirens, who lure humans with their beautiful voices…and then rip their hearts out. Definitely bloodier than just drowning them! Lira is a cutthroat siren who is so feared that among humans she has become known as the Prince’s Bane – so named for her way of killing princes for their hearts every year in her birth month.

The plot is recognisable in places from the original fairytale, but Christo manages to keep it fresh, combining several legends and tales in a clever way – I loved the spin that Lira doesn’t lose the ability to speak like the Little Mermaid does, instead she loses her siren voice. She can no longer charm humans with her magical song – she has to now rely on her own wits and lies.

The book is split in two, with alternating chapters narrated by Lira and Elian. Both characters are interesting, deeply developed and had brilliant chemistry – and it’s a gradual, changing relationship that felt honest and real. The assortment of characters who populate the underwater kingdom of Keto and Elian’s ship are also charming – I particularly loved Lira’s relationship with her cousin. The Sea Queen is an excellent villain, and her complex relationship with Lira – who is her daughter – is fascinating to read.

With beautiful narration, lush descriptions of the fantasy kingdoms, and original spins on mermaid and siren lore (Jeez, those mermen though?? YUCK), TO KILL A KINGDOM is a must-read for anyone who loves fairytale-inspired high fantasy – especially if you’re not looking to get sucked into a series right now!

This is a thrilling debut from Alexandra Christo, taking a unique perspective on The Little Mermaid. It’s rather rudimentary to compare TO KILL A KINGDOM to The Little Mermaid because apart from some basics on characterisation, there really is little similarity.

Firstly, in a sea of YA fantasy series, I want to shout from the rooftops that this is a full and rounded standalone. Yes, I said standalone and I felt complete by the end, so it does what it says on the tin.

Sirens are the name of the game in this book and Lira is a scrappy, fierce and murderous siren princess known across the world as The Princes Bane. Her mother, the Sea Queen is her nemesis but she is bent to her mother’s will. The Sea Queen is a rather frightening, violent dictator without ethics or scruples. Lira, initially with little to recommend her, undertakes a change about which I don’t want to say more. The character development was superb.

“The crew said her hair was as red as hellfire.”

“The Princes’ Bane is the greatest monster I’ve ever known, and the only one who’s escaped death once I’ve set my sights on her.”

Elian is more pirate than Prince of Midas, on a self-inflicted crusade to rid the world of sirens. There’s a lot more to like about Elian and he cuts a swarthy, heroic figure. The ship the prince operates from, holds a crew of friends, protectors and loyal sailors, they made for good reading. When Elian and Lira eventually cross paths, it’s not pretty but it’s explosive, violent and hateful.

“It’s you.”
“Look at you. My monster, come to find me.”

The story took hold of me from the first chapter and was a thrilling voyage across oceans and into unusual lands. I was interested throughout and dying to see what would happen. The romance is subtle but still kicks a punch, nevertheless, it doesn’t overwhelm the story.

“Me, my ship, and a girl with oceans in her eyes.”

I had a little niggle in this book regarding how the dialogue was written, my problem being that it is consistently unclear when the dialogue character changes, which stops your flow while you work out who’s talking. However, this is just a niggle and wasn’t a major issue.

I am truly excited about this debut, it’s uniqueness and strong writing of characters and story direction. YA fantasy lovers are going to rave over this, I’m sure.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog.

This post-reading review is found on Goodreads:

If want to read a GLORIOUS book about, mermaids, and PIRATES, definitely give To Kill a Kingdom a shot! It was intense and plot-driven, incredibly well-written, and super easy to get into. You’re going to love the complex characters and their hilarious banter, too! 😍

Full review closer to the release date on my blog, Aimee, Always, and on Goodreads.

"Could it really be such a bad thing, to become a story whispered to children in the dead of night?"

I'm firmly on the fairy tale retelling band wagon at the moment, but this loose retelling of The Little Mermaid is most definitely the best one yet! Lira is a siren, which is kind of like a mermaid, if mermaids liked to plunge their fists into prince's chests and rip out their hearts. Lira has seventeen such hearts under her bed as a matter of fact. She is delightfully awful in all of her ferocity and I absolutely loved her. She's wretched, treacherous, cunning and basically everything Ariel wasn't - she's the kind of interesting, twisted protagonist who isn't what you expect from a fairy tale but who you can't help but be utterly captivated by. Her mother is even worse!

Elian, a Midasan Prince who might very well be next on Lira's hit list, also isn't what you might expect if you're familiar with the original tale. He is handsome, but that's about it. At one with the ocean, Elian is more of a pirate than a prince, except the treasure he seeks is the very beast (Lira, how rude!) threatening to destroy him. His crew are pretty badass too!

As you can imagine, Lira finds herself on land eventually and their paths cross. You're expecting them to fall madly in love and for Lira to not want to rip his heart out aren't you? But you're so wrong. So unfolds a hilariously sarcastic, heavily insult-ridden relationship in which neither trusts the other, and Lira (who is hiding her true identity) continues to plot to murder Elian.

"Technically I'm a murderer, but I like to think that's one of my better qualities".

This book was everything that was missing from this genre, and more. It's the kind of book you spend highlighting hundreds of paragraphs because you just love how it's written; it was deliciously despicable, funny and not at all what I expected.

I loved it in all of it's awfulness.

To Kill a Kingdom is a dark and creative retelling of The Little Mermaid. I was very excited to read it since I love the original story, and the premise sounded fantastic: in this story the little mermaid, Lira, is a ruthless siren who hunts princes to get their hearts, and the prince, Elian, is a pirate and siren hunter.

For the most part the premise lived up to my expectations. The story was very original, but I also loved how it took several elements from the fairytale and gave them a new meaning. I must say the plot was a little slow moving at times: the most action packed scenes were great, but the slower parts dragged a little at times, and some dialogues could have been cut. For the most part, however, I was interested in the story.
The setting was also great, I really liked the different kingdoms we got to visit through the characters' journey. I would like to read more books set in this world!

As for the characters, I liked both Lira and Elian. They were complex and realistic characters and their relationship was a very well done slow burning, hate to love romance. They started as enemies and strangers who disliked each other, then became good partners and then lovers. I think maybe their feelings went from respect to love a little too quickly, but it was still a well formed relationship, and their banter made me laugh several times.
The secondary characters were great too, especially Madrid who was a fantastic badass. I would read a spin off about her!

In conclusion, <i>To Kill a Kingdom</i> is for sure one of the best retellings I've read. Very recommended!

Lately I have pretty much been reading alternative fairy tales. To Kill a Kingdom is like a dark version of ‘The Little Mermaid’ mixed with siren mythology.

Lira is the daughter of the Sea Queen aka Ursula from ‘The Little Mermaid’. The Sea Queen is a brutal and ruthless ruler of the sea and any Siren disobeying her orders will face severe punishment. After taking her annual prince’s heart a couple of weeks early, Lira is turned into a human and sentenced to death unless she can bring the heart of the Prince Elian of Midas aka the ‘siren killer’. Now she must pry the siren killer’s heart out of his chest and present it to her mother, unless she can find a way to overpower her, while simultaneously trying not to get killed by the prince.

As the world and characters were introduced, the plot revealed itself naturally. There is no instant love between Lira and Elian which was very welcomed. The banter they throw back at each other was a really nice surprise. The only niggle I had with the characters was that Lira came across overly aggressive and arrogant at times when with Elian and his crew. This led to thinking Elian and his crew were a tad stupid at times for believing Lira. I feel she should have played nicer to lure Elian and his crew into a false sense of security thus she may be able to deceive them easier and more genuinely.

2018 feels like it's going to be the year of the mermaid. With Louise O'Neill's The Surface Breaks due out in March and now To Kill a Kingdom, mermaids are clearly the next big thing. Although, technically, this isn't a story about mermaids. This is about Sirens. Princess Lira is a Siren, next in line for the throne, and a trained killer. With the hearts of seventeen princes buried under her bedroom floor, she's beautiful, deadly, and revered. But when she displeases her mother, the Sea Queen, she's transformed into a human, and given a deadline - deliver the heart of Prince Elian, a sailor, pirate, and prince, by the winter solstice - or remain a human forever.
For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. With an interesting main character, and a hate-to-love arc between the two leads, this retelling of The Little Mermaid had enough other stuff going on to keep things interesting. The main issues I had were the one-dimensional villain of the piece, and the lack of conflict between the two mains when all was revealed. But these were relatively minor issues, as they weren't the driving force of the book. Exploring different countries and the oddly one-dimensional aspects of those was interesting, and Lira's relationship with her cousins, together with Elian's relationship with his crew, made for an interesting read.

Thank you to Netgally and Hot Key Books for the e-arc

This is what I like to think of as Classic Young Adult Fantasy. This phrase could swing either way, but in this case I mean it as a positive. As a debut novel this shows tremendous amount of potential and she's an author I'll definitely look out for in the future. I was taken by the premise, the cover and the fact that this was a standalone and I'm really glad I decided to request this. I've grown bored with fantasy with princes and princess, as I've seen it so many times I could cry, and though at times this was predictable, I couldn't help but enjoy the journey. I had a hint of those novels that used to be the best of the best in my eyes a few years ago, and I could really see this becoming a new favourite for a bunch of people. It's definitely one I would recommend picking up when it comes out in March (2018).

Characters

First off, this book has some great dialogue, and at times is genuinely funny. Sometimes I think the banter goes a bit too far, as every second line is a one-liner, but near the beginning of the book I definitely laughed out loud and would consider this a funny book, with nearly every character contributing to the humour.

The two main characters, Lira and Elian, who both get a first person POV, have strong voices. Each chapter (at least not in my e-book version) wasn't topped with names to clarify who's chapter was who, but I had no trouble discerning whose POV I was reading from at any point. This book actually showed these characters personalities. When it said they were ruthless, showed them killing, and when they changed, we saw them hesitate.

My only issue with the two main characters was who they both jumped to conclusions and acted upon them as if they were correct (and they were most of the time, it was the author trying to be ironic, but even if they were insightful, it was a bit too much here), and it left me as a reader wondering why the characters (not just Elian) was acting more hostile than I thought necessary and then backing away too quickly.

There are a few side characters here, and though none take on a big role, they all have strong personalities, and it stops this novel from coming away flat around the edges.
The only negative comment was the treatment of Sakura, and how I felt her treatment at the start of the book was way different from the end. She was a little evil in an endearing way to begin with, then an antagonist by the end- or at least being treated that way and (unless I missed it), I couldn't see anything within this story that would make this change happen due to her actions.


World-Building

This is set in a fantasy world, and is able to flesh everything out without info-dumping. Necessary information slipped naturally though the characters thought process or through dialogue. I'm sure there were some pauses for explanation but nothing felt bogged down, or none that stuck out to me. I wouldn't say this is the most original world (though it certainly has it's moments of creativity), but it relays partly on what we already know of our world and similar fantasy worlds to fill in the gap- which I think is a smart choice for a standalone where the world they're in isn't as important as the characters or detrimental to the plot. Each place they visited did have it's own tone and feeling, and for that I give this kudos.


Plot

This is a Dark Little Mermaid retelling (ignoring the fact that the original fairytale was pretty dark to begin with). This book takes aspects from both the original story and from the Disney film most will know, and turns it into something of it's own. It's sirens instead of mermaids, and the Prince Eric character has a way better personality and is more than a plain prince. Yes, he's a siren hunter (and calls himself a pirate, but you honestly don't see a lot of pirating. I think the author just made them pirates over sailors or hunters because it would market better).

Maybe partly due to the fact that this is a retelling, the plot points are pretty predictable, but sometimes a book isn't about the twists and turns, but the journey, and this is written in a way that's enjoyable read despite the predicable elements, waiting to see how these characters will react to well known plot points.

This is also a faced paced novel with plenty of action, if that's something you need to enjoy a novel. Though I don't need a fast pace, this one didn't put me off, and was fast without feeling rushed.
Personally, there was a detail of the ending that wasn't quite to my taste, but I don't think will be a problem for many other readers.


Overall

This is a stellar debut with a great voice and characters. There are a few issues here and their, but nothing much to make a dent into my enjoyment of the story. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for any books Alexandra Christo writes in the future.

***2.5 Stars***
*ARC generously provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

The idea behind this novel was amazing, I just didn’t like how it was executed. Lira is a siren known as the Prince’s Bane and her mother, the Sea Queen, turns her into a human and will only changer her back if she can bring back Prince Elian’s heart. Prince Elian is a siren-hunter who wishes to kill the Sea Queen and the Prince’s Bane. After rescuing a human from drowning (whom he doesn’t know is the siren set to kill him), Elian takes Lira with him on his ship while believing she’s going to help him end the siren race.

Sounds awesome, right? Unfortunately, this story was just….corny and a little childish. I did like Lira for the most part. She was sassy and sarcastic and I wish we had more chapters with her POV. Elian and his crew however, were annoying. There was just too much unnecessary back and forth dialogue between the characters. And when I say unnecessary, I mean unnecessary. Most of the dialogue was just the characters throwing sarcastic jibes and jokes at each other. I understand wanting some light-hearted humor to shape your characters, but after a while that’s all there was. All these characters felt relatively the same. It got to the point where I stopped caring all together and I would just skim the pages until something about the actual plot came into play.

I do wish this story focused a little more on the romance. We have two characters set to kill each other, one has no clue who the other really is, and adding that forbidden love would have made this story much more interesting. When we finally did see Lira and Elian’s romance blossom, it actually was pretty good. This author has potential, but the focus on the actual story and plot just got lost too much.

Now. Another thing. I don’t know who’s idea this was, but this novel is advertised as being great for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo. As someone who read the first three books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and is currently listening to the Grishaverse series…… no. Just, no. Bad idea. It’s not even close to being on the same level as these books. That made me like this book even less because I was expecting something so much greater.

The last 20-10% wasn’t that bad. It got much more interesting but still, this book definitely wasn’t a winner for me. I think it would be much better suited for middle-grade readers as opposed to young adult readers.

To Kill a Kingdom is a standalone! Do you have any idea how refreshing that is? I’ve been reading tons of series lately and while I do love series, it’s always nice to read a standalone that wraps everything up neatly and doesn’t have any cliffhangers. I got to enjoy a complete story and feel nice and satisfied at the end.

To Kill a Kingdom was everything it promised:

- Two kingdoms at war.
- Sirens and mermaids.
- Enemies falling in love.
- The main character questioning her violent upbringing (nature vs nurture).

I really loved watching Lira’s development. Her mom is dark, twisted, and hates humans, and taught Lira to be the same. But circumstances allow Lira to live among humans for a while and her opinion of them changes.

I really like books that experiment with nature vs nurture. Lira spends quite a bit of time thinking about whether it’s in a siren’s nature to be violent and kill humans, or if they were pushed to be that way by their queen. It’s always an interesting thing to explore and I really enjoyed this book’s take on it.

To Kill a Kingdom does have a nice romance, but it’s not really overpowering. It’s definitely there, but I think it’s also clearly not the most important part of the story.

It was missing a little X-factor that would have let me give it five stars, but I definitely recommend this book if you want a darker version of The Little Mermaid and a standalone that will wrap up neatly at the end! Win!

Thank you to Netgalley, Alexandra Christo and Bonnier Zaffre for my advanced copy of To Kill a Kingdom.
Title: To Kill a Kingdom
Author: Alexandra Christo
Publication date: 6th March 2018
Page count: 384 Pages
Quote: 'I have a heart for every year I've been alive. There are seventeen hidden in the sand of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle just to check they're still there.'
Rating: 5*
Summary
To Kill a Kingdom is the tale of the sirens of the deep ocean and one in particular, Lira, known and the Princes' Bane because of her penchant for only stealing the hearts of princes.
Elian meanwhile is a prince like no other, forgoing his inheritance to become king of the city of Gold, Elian instead travels the seas with his motley crew, killing as many sirens as he can find. But has he met his match in The Princes' Bane?
Robbed of her song by her mother, the Sea Queen, Lira is turned into a human and sent to hunt for the heart of Elian to prove she is as ruthless as her mother needs her to be. When she meets Elian she promises to help him find the weapon to destroy all siren-kind but can she be trusted?

Review
I really, really, loved this book. There's not enough books out there which go into the underwater-fantasy genre. To Kill a Kingdom fills that gap in the market. It's well written and the characters are simply brilliant. I loved Lira she was such a conflicted character, unsure of her true nature and what had been planted by her evil mother. There are definitely parallels with The Little Mermaid here too, Lira's red hair, her song being taken away by her mother who happens to have long black tentacles and a trident.

But it was enough its own story without feeling like a retelling, and is in fact about sirens not mermaids (which are different). I loved the crew of the pirate ship particularly Madrid who was a really cool character. I feel like this worked really well as a a standalone novel but the potential is there for a follow up too.

An excellent and indulgent twist to the much adored little mermaid tale. Flame haired siren Lira, aka Prince’s Bane, is as fierce as can be, her character arc is addictive and her engaging tale of violence, deceit and love is enormously satisfying to read. A quick read and a great book for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Disney’s Twisted Tales series.