I love the enemies-to-lovers troupe, slow burn, and pirate-y adventures and this is kinda that, but not. Idk, maybe it's me, but I just wanted more from it. My students still check it out, so for me, that's a win.

Plot
The plot was okay, but did drag a bit through the second half. Not bad, but it could have moved along faster. I like that there was a clear cut mission for both Ira and Elian and it wasn't just all over the place, which I have read too much lately. Of course, Lira's mission did shift by the end of the book to a new focus, but her goal was the same. I love sea adventures, so I wish there had been more sea/underwater scenes. I think Keto could have been utilized in the story more, even if the main storyline was on the surface.

Characters
Lira went through a pretty big shift through the story. She went from tough and dedicated to her mother and kingdom to tough and dedicated to herself and her kingdom. Sure, Elian was a big part of that, but it was clear she wanted to escape her mother's rule. I really like that she stayed loyal at the end to Keto and didn't abandon them to run off with a prince. Elian was an okay character for me. There was nothing really wrong with him, but he wasn't that memorable for me either. I suppose it was pretty cool that he wanted to do the siren hunter/pirate thing, but really he came off as a bland prince.

Really interesting concept and just the right amount of fanservice cliches (I mean that in the most positive way possible!) It was a unique character driven story that I have definitely already recommended.

I like that it took the Little Mermaid story and flipped it on its head. She’s a badass siren chick who can take care of herself. He’s more than a vanilla, generic prince character. He’s ruthless. It seems like a good match. Except I couldn’t understand how they could so easily move past the fact that they have murdered a ton of each others’ people.I would have been ok with them crossing paths, going on this adventure, and not falling for each other. YA fantasy doesn’t always have to end in a relationship. I think the story would have been stronger if that hadn’t been the focus!

I ended up listening to this one on audio shortly after it released and I was enthralled!! I loved this story and the characters and had a hard time not listening to it and so found excuses to drive around or take the long way home to hear more of the story. This book was so much fun and my biggest complaint is that it ended and that it was a standalone title.

This is a bit of a unique retelling of the Little Mermaid-- and it was interesting, but it just didn't hook me enough. I think fans of the more dark fairy tales might enjoy it more, and I may revisit it in the future. If you like fairy tale retellings, give it a try.

Very unique concept of the typical "sea adventure" fantasy book! I was expecting the typical pirates and monsters trope, but this spun everything on its head. It's rare that the ending of a book or movie takes me by surprise, but this one totally threw a curve ball at me. Would definitely recommend!

I'm honestly surprised this was the first retelling of The Little Mermaid to come at the story from this angle—a kind of dark romance of pirates, monsters, and vengeance. I've already recommended it to multiple people I know who have a real connection with the Christian Andersen and Disney versions. You may also know people who would love this book at the intersection of The Little Memaid/Pirates of the Caribbean/The Night Before Christmas—it seems like a strangely common corner to end up on.

I'm honestly sad it took me so long to work through my ARCs to get around to reading To Kill a Kingdom because this book (cue unable to put into words how much this book blew me away) uhg so so so so good. Enemies to lovers is one of my all time favorite trope and this book had great fantasy and mythological elements to keep everything super interesting. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a great escape from reality.

Overall I liked this book, but it was fairly predictable, and I felt like it could have been a little longer to develop the plot and relationships a bit better and deeper. This just felt like a story that I’ve read a good number of times before.

Look, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy my reading experience. Like I said, this was a good book, and I read it fairly quickly. It just took me a couple reading sessions to finish. So it’s always a plus when I can finish a book in just a couple of days.

The relationship between Lira and Elian just happened a bit too quickly and without too much development so it would be more realistic, a phrase that seems a bit odd for a fantasy book, but good relationships form from time spent together and conversation together, and shared experiences. I would have liked to experience more of those moments with the main duo.

I thought the world was interesting and there was just enough world-building to make me intrigued. I would love to know more about each of the countries. Perhaps there will be more books set in this world in the future. I don’t know.

I’m glad I read this book, even if it isn’t going to make one of my favorites lists.

PLOT SUMMARY: Lira is a siren, known as Princes’ Bane, daughter to the ruthless sea queen, heir to the throne. Lira has a collection of 17 princes’ hearts, making her feared by men and respected by her people. As Lira takes her cousin out to collect her 15 heart, Lira breaks on their most sacred rules and takes the heart of a prince before her birthday. As punishment, the queen commands Lira’s 18th heart to be that of a sailor, a move meant to tarnish her reputation.
However, Lira devises a plan to do as her mother commands and still captures a prince’s heart, but things don’t go as planned and when she kills another creature of the sea her mother inflicts a punishment on her that will change her life.


REVIEW: I really enjoyed this story. I did not, however, enjoy the end fight. I felt it was very anticlimactic and rushed. But overall, the story was compelling despite the lulls in the story. I really enjoyed the added in myths and the twists on them. There were some moments that I felt were very reminiscent of the Little Mermaid, but it worked really well. I really liked the character development and even the secondary characters. There is so much sass and swag in this book, I couldn’t help but like it! I kind of wish there were more to the story but at the same time, I felt it was a great stand alone. I really felt everything tied up well in the end.


SUBJECT HEADINGS: Sirens, Mythology, Magic, Princes/Princesses

APPEAL: This is a high fantasy with the added twist of mythology. The pacing is a little all over the place. It has some slow points. The characters are strong and complex. They are and jagged, meant to be unlikable, but as they develop the reader can grow with them. There is quite some action in this tale, and a lot of world-building, but the ending was pretty anticlimactic.

Rating: 3 to 3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book well enough. The author definitely hits some points of brutality and darkness that had me legitimately wary of this protagonist, and I quite liked that. As for the prince, he is a likable character, but as it is with many YA books, this book dips into mediocrity once the romance starts to creep in. Enemies to lovers tropes are great when done subtly and gradually, but this trope becomes an epic fail when familiar paths are taken to reach that point. An overall fun read, but nothing particularly special.

Mermaids? Enemies to Lovers? Yes and yes. What's not to like? Just lovely. Great dark teen fantasy novel perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare.

A fun new take on fantastical creatures living beneath the ocean's surface. This story had excellent world building and a exciting cast of characters. My greatest fear going into reading this book is that I would be reading a pirate falls for mermaid romance book and wow was it so so so much more. The only downside to this book was that it's a standalone. I would have been here ready to read book two it had been a series!

This was one of those YA books that I do not think is for everyone. There's nothing wrong with it, and it's not a bad book by any means, but I think the audience for this book is going to be very minimal. There are books in the YA world that I would recommend to anyone at any age with no hesitations, but this is not one of them. It was quite tropy and typical YA, but also really fun and enjoyable.

I really enjoyed the plot, characters, world building, and setting. I enjoyed the sea creature and pirate aspects of the book, and wish both of these topics were explored more in novels. Plus, I'm a sucker for a fairy tale retelling.

Much like modern pirate movies that aren’t in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, siren books aren’t that common. The last one I read was a hot garbage fire and made me more than a little hesitant to check out To Kill a Kingdom, but c’mon! The collision of a siren-hunting prince and a prince-hunting siren sounds really, really cool. I don’t entirely regret reading the book, but it’s left me feeling a little bit whelmed.

You’re about to read a bunch of criticisms of To Kill a Kingdom, but I promise you I didn’t despise the novel. It’s just one of those unfortunate books where all the things you like are followed by the words “but unremarkable.” Elian is a fun character and co-narrator–but unremarkable. What little we get to see of this apparently large world is cool–but unremarkable. Everything that this novel does right does so only at a satisfactory level, never really going beyond that point to become something you’ll remember.

Part of that may lie in how lifeless the book feels. Of course things are happening and the characters are going places, but it’s not the kind of narrative journey you get swept up in. It was a bit like reading an IKEA instruction manual and seeing that X piece connects to Y in the correct assembly of your fun new piece of furniture. Like plugging the numbers in front of you into the mathematical formula to get the correct answer.

And this isn’t me being An Old who’s outgrown YA books. I certainly didn’t feel that way about the other YA books I read just before To Kill a Kingdom!

Lira’s character arc is a bit weak since she’s a siren who has already experienced human emotions that her mother the Sea Queen thinks are unbecoming of a true siren. Had Lira been learning humanity entirely akin to Anya in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I might have been more invested in her. She never gives much thought to her mother’s winter solstice deadline either despite her desire to remain a siren, which robs her conflict of immediacy. I wasn’t feeling her romance with Elian either. Oh, how I would have loved their relationship if it had just remained platonic!

There’s one more thing I can appreciate, at least: the siren’s song works regardless of the target’s gender or sexual identity, unlike that other siren book I read and its determination to remain heteronormative. Since the siren song here lures in victims with a falsified feeling of love, I’m curious how their song might affect an aromantic or asexual person. Alas, my question goes unanswered.

Do you remember how pre-Pirates of the Caribbean, pirate movies were more often painful belly flops like Cutthroat Island than they were hits? Even the beloved, commercially successful Hook was considered a financial disappointment because it “only” made the studio a profit of $50 million. (I don’t think even the people in Hollywood understand Hollywood math.)

Well, maybe that’s me and YA books with sirens. It’ll change the game when one that succeeds with me comes around, but the ones I keep reading flop for me as a reader.

A dark retelling of The Little Mermaid, To Kill a Kingdom explores the question - What if Ariel was a killer and Eric was one of her greatest threats?

I've been dying to read To Kill a Kingdom for ages. I always enjoy retellings and when an author can put such a great dark twist on the Disney version we all know and love it's always a good time.

Princess Lira is the parallel version of Ariel who's version of treasure is hearts buried in sand. She takes royal hearts like her mother did for her as a child. These hearts are meant to bring power, prestige, and a way to get revenge on humans. By taking royal princes hearts, she is taking away the future of their kingdom's. One man will not let that happen.

Elian is the parallel version of Eric who hates being tied down to his kingdom, is a pirate, and the best siren killer in all the seas. One siren that has eluded him is the fiery, Prince's Bane, who he has sworn to kill. Unbeknownst he's about to get his chance.

The introduction of Lira is a pure masterpiece. She's not a weak, terrifying looking mermaid obsessed with becoming human. She is a violent princess who will do anything to steady her mother's wrath and prove that she is a worthy successor, but she makes a mistake that changes her life forever. As a result, she is transformed into a human and must find a way to get out of her situation with the help of one of her greatest enemies.

“I reach out my hand to pull her up, and the look Lira gives me is nothing short of poisonous. “Do you want me to chop it off?” she asks. I keep my hand hovering in the space between us. “Not particularly.” “Then get it out of my face.”

Lira is the best part of this book. I absolutely love this warrior princess. Not only is she a warrior but she has a kind side too that you see take shape mainly with her bond with her cousin. Her motives that drive her are compelling. She faces many new emotions when she becomes human. I enjoyed her progression as a character and insights to her past. Her aggressiveness, wit, and the honest way in which she spoke was well placed but also balanced out by her more protective, kind gestures.

“Technically, I’m a murderer, but I like to think that’s one of my better qualities.”

Elian is a bit less compelling but he is still interesting. I like how he's a siren killer and he is doing it all to protect not only his kingdom but every kingdom across the land. He has a selfless quality that gets him in a lot of trouble but it is a commendable one. He's mostly an take action type of guy who sometimes thinks things through. I never understood why he trusted Lira so easily. There was an obvious red flag, multiple ones really, and yet he still chose to trust her. Is she that beautiful or is he that reckless?

One of the other things that further bothered me because of this almost immediate trust of Lira was Lira and Elian's banter in the beginning. It felt too forced. Again, I couldn't wrap my head around how much Elian trusted her right away so their banter in the beginning so this portion of the story I quickly read through. I did enjoy their relationship once a certain event occurred and was grateful after the fact because now I could enjoy their budding relationship.

I didn't care for the side characters. There were a few crew members that were friends of Elian that were put there for readers to try to care for but I just didn't feel it. They were okay at times. Frankly, Elian could have treated his best friend better. He could be annoying with the way he dismissed his friends concerns. I would be that friend in the situation though so that's why I was probably bothered by it so much. If something is the least bit shady, skeptical me will continually warn you and try to get you out of the situation.

“Love is a word we scarcely hear in the ocean. It exists only in my song and on the lips of the princes I’ve killed. And I have never heard it from my mother’s mouth.”

The Sea Queen was the most perfect, vile villain ever. She did not care for her daughter whatsoever. It's nice to have a villain so clear cut evil. It makes scenes with them all the more fun.

The writing, although I didn't enjoy the immediate trust and some of Elian's scenes, was fantastic. This is the retelling I never knew I wanted but needed. This is a debut novel as well so I am highly impressed with Christo. I can't believe she is already coming out with a book next year called Into the Crooked Place. I can't wait to read more of this author's work in the future. It'll be nice to see her progression as a writer.

4.5 Stars!
Full Disclosure: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, Macmillan!

TW: Abusive mother - mostly emotional abuse but a bit of physical

One of the reasons that I wanted to read To Kill a Kingdom, was because it’s a standalone. My experience with ongoing series is that I read the first book, love it, and then forget the entire plot in the year it takes for the second book to come out. I then either reread the first book or just plain give up. (usually the latter because I’m lazy). Anyway, that wasn’t a problem with To Kill a Kingdom; the story is perfectly contained in one engaging book instead of being spread out to a poorly-paced trilogy.

To Kill a Kingdom is being advertised as a Little Mermaid retelling. It is if you’d allow for Ariel to be a prince-hunting siren named Lira set on stealing a certain siren-hunting prince’s heart -- literally, of course. Obviously, their relationship transitions from enemies to allies to lovers as relationships tend to with such a premise. I love this trope to pieces and it was especially good here. (Tangent: I feel as if every romance on a ship has a hate-to-love romance. And the hero always ends up calling the heroine a hellcat. Am I wrong?)

To Kill a Kingdom has been described as “dark,” but I don’t think it’s due to the fact that Lira is a frequent killer. Rather, I think the darkness is derived from the toxic dynamic between Lira and her mother. Even though her mother continually verbally abuses her no matter how hard Lira tries to please her, Lira tries to be the perfect daughter in the hopes of gaining a modicum her approval. This sad element brings a dose of reality to an otherwise fun fantasy story.

To Kill a Kingdom is an exciting enemies-to-lovers story tinged with darkness. I’m excited to read whatever Alexandra Christo writes next!

4.5 stars

“They celebrate love as though it's power, even though it has killed far more humans than I ever have.”

WOW THIS BOOK!! Oh my gosh, this book has everything you could want; mermaids, pirates, royals, romance, rebellion, magic. This is definitely one of my top reads of the year.

Lira is a siren known as the Prince’s Bane since she only steals the hearts of human royalty. She is also the heir to the deadly Sea Queen, who rules over the sea and all of it’s creatures.

Prince Elian is the heir to the Midas Kingdom, but his heart and soul long for the freedom of his ship than the stuffy confines of the palace he’s designed for.

Here’s a short summary of the book: Lira is punished for killing one of the Queen’s creatures and is turned into the very thing her kind hunts—human. She is tasked with killing the Siren Killer, Elian, or she will be denounced by her mother and never take the throne. And as fate would have it, Prince Elian is the one to rescue Lira from drowning.

Lira and Elian are eveeeerrrrything. Their banter, their saracasm, their badassery is just perfection. When these two are together the tension is palpable between them, and I. Want. More. I think they may be my new ship (pun not intended).

“It's like holding a story rather than a person; she feels wild and infinite in my arms.”

The writing is so fantastic. Christo will probably become a new auto-buy author for me. She weaves a beautiful world full of myths and creatures. She does such a fantastic job at the world and character building. The scenes with the supporting characters of Elian’s crew/friends were some of my favorites.

Also I will marry Elian. The end.

“He has eyes like vast pools and a jaw made from shipwrecks and broken coral. Every movement he makes is as quick and fluid as a tidal wave. He belongs to the ocean. He is made from it, as much as I am.”

This is a spectacular debut from Alexandra Christo and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

This was a very enjoyable book! It wasn't quite as dark as I was hoping for, and the romance was slightly mushy, but still a great book!