ARC Review: To Kill a Kingdom

About The Book:

  Title: To Kill a Kingdom

  Author: Alexandra Christo 
  Pub. Date: March 6th, 2018
  Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
  Pages: 384 

  Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology

  Rate: 3.5/5 stars 

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?

Review:

To Kill a Kingdom really captured my attention first by the beautiful cover, and next by the summary. I love the whole lore of the sea - it's so mysterious and I wish there were more novels set around it. To Kill a Kingdom centers on Lira, a siren princess known as the Prince's Bane because she kills a Prince every year on her birthday. Lira's mother, The Sea Queen, seems to hate her and everything she does because she ultimately threatens her rule. This novel also centers around Prince Elian, who hunts sirens across the sea. When The Sea Queen turns Lira into what she hates most - human - Prince Elian rescues her from the bitter cold of the ocean without knowing who she actually is and her ultimate goal, to kill him.

"Pirates are liars by trade and royals are liars by blood" 

I feel like this can sort of be a reimagining of the Little Mermaid, but it's definitely more creative than your typical reimagining - you can tell Ms. Christo really made this book her own. While very obvious, I absolutely loved the romance between Lira and Prince Elian. I also loved the world building constructed by Ms. Christo. She created the most believable and surreal world in only 384 pages. It really is very impressive. While I absolutely loved those parts of this novel, I wasn't a fan of the Sea Queen. I couldn't really wrap my head around her description or picture her in my mind. I was trying to picture her as an Ursula type ruler, but her description was some what more bizarre. I was also having issues picturing the mermen - which seemed more ghostly than person or fish. I couldn't really understand the politics of the sea, either. Why does the Sea Queen hate literally everyone? I wanted to see a different side of her - she was very one-dimensional and it would have been nice to see a more gray area than just black and white.

"Some people burn so brightly, it's impossible to put the flames out" 

With all of the various aspects going into a fantasy novel, writing a standalone is not an easy feat for authors. However, Ms. Christo definitely pulls it off. While there were parts I didn't like, the good outweighs the bad. I would love to read a spin-off novel of the different lands in his novel, their descriptions are absolutely beautiful. I would definitely read another novel by Alexandra Christo. If you are a fan of fantasy and romance novels but don't necessarily want to commit yourself to reading an entire series - To Kill a Kingdom would be a great book for you! Are you planning on picking up this new release? What are your favorite books set under the sea?

Thank you to Fierce Reads for providing this book
in exchange for my honest review

- Jocelyn