Title: To Kill A Kingdom

Author: Alexandra Christo

Pub. Date: March 6, 2018

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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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?

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Since this book is a recent release, the first part of my review will be spoiler free as always. Further down in the post there will be a spoiler section.

I listened to the Audible audiobook for To Kill a Kingdom and I loved it – narrated by Jacob York and Stephanie Willis, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I listened to the Broadway The Little Mermaid soundtrack because I wanted more mermaids/sirens. As much as I really enjoyed that it was a stand-alone novel, I wanted more story when I finally finished it – but that is always the case with mermaid/siren novels.

To Kill A Kingdom is a dark Little Mermaid retelling that will leave you wanting more sass, bad-assery and banter. It follows Lira, also known as the “Prince’s Bane”, a siren who rips out the hearts of only princes – they are her prey of choice. But also roaming the oceans is Prince Elian, a pirate who has taken it upon himself to find and kill as many siren’s as he can, but his main goal is finding and killing the Prince’s Bane.

Lira, one of the most dangerous sirens – thinks herself just about untouchable, until an event of her doing pisses off her mother, The Sea Queen. Punishment for not obeying – to be cast out as a human, without powers. Left to drown in the ocean, Lira is picked up by Elian and his crew. They assume she’s just a random girl, and instead of outright killing Elian, Lira decides to do something else…

This book was absolutely amazing, and I found myself so immersed in the world Alexandra Christo had created. Something about the audiobook version of this story made it truly come to life, but it was mostly the brilliant and vivid writing that makes up this story about a Prince Killer and a Siren Killer. If you want a dark version of The Little Mermaid then this is a book you will definitely want to pick up.

Now for spoilers!

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Last chance!

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I’m going to start this by saying, again, I loved this book!

I can still vividly picture the ending of the book in my head, the final battle between the Sea Queen, Lira, and Elian & Co. It was so well written – the whole book was so well written.

I’m giving this book a full rating, because I think it most definitely deserves it. Though, and this is entirely on me – I went into the book thinking that once Lira turned human she wouldn’t be able to talk. I guess I misinterpreted “robbed of her song” as she lost her ability to speak – so when Lira can still talk after they rescue her, I was a little disappointed. But that was quickly resolved with how the story progressed and how much I came to love Elian and Lira’s relationship.

I really liked how Lira changed over the course of the novel, but also in a way, she didn’t. Her ‘ruthless killer’ was only ever a persona she donned to appease her mother. Her true nature came out in the end, the one that her aunt saw in her all those years ago when she was forced to kill her. I liked that about this book, that the characters were dimensional – that no one besides the Sea Queen was wholly one thing or the other. Let’s face it, the Sea Queen was just downright mean and ruthless and not at all good. Even if in a very twisted way, she had her siren’s “best interests” at heart – though subjugation isn’t what anyone wants.

There were so many moving pieces to this book, and Elian was moving and playing them all. True, his actions were for the good of his kingdom, and he definitely made sacrifices – I’m looking at you Sakura – so glad he got out of that agreement. I was not thrilled when he bargained his happiness for information, since at this point he and Lira had already come in contact with each other, and I was already shipping them. That moment when Lira saved his life, and then thought about taking his heart, but didn’t – you could tell that Lira wasn’t this siren hell bent on taking a life just for the fun of it. The fact that she hesitated, staring at him, until guards showed up, goes to show what her true nature is. Though in fact, that action of not killing him is what leads her mother to casting her out.

The torture the Sea Queen inflicts on her daughter is awful, and I felt like I was experiencing it as well – I was plugged in with headphones and completely immersed, so it wasn’t hard. It was so vivid and clear in my head, so props to Alexandra Christo for making me feel like I was drowning.

I could talk all day about this book, and how you should pick it up and read it if you haven’t already, but even in this spoilers section, I don’t want to give away everything that happens in this amazing book. Overall, I would definitely read this book again, it’s one of my new favorite fantasy retellings, and everyone should read it. If you want a dark Little Mermaid, with Pirate Princes, fantastical kingdoms, bad-assery, banter and sass, romance, adventure, drama, with strong character arcs, and lots and lots of action, then you should go and pick up To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!