Review – To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Title To Kill a Kingdom

Author Alexandra Christo

Description from Amazon

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?

Initial Thoughts

This book has been on my TBR list for a while now but after reading A Curse of Thorns by Nicole Mainardi, I was inspired to pick it up yesterday and give it a read.  I do enjoy fairy tale retellings and this story is very clearly The Little Mermaid (with a twist).

Favorite Character

No favorite – Lira and Elian were both murdering royalty (I’m actually a little surprised I didn’t like them more), but I didn’t feel a connection with either of them.  Lira was basically a brat and Elian was incredibly arrogant until the end of the story.

While I liked the secondary characters, I didn’t think I got enough backstory to call any of them my favorite character.

Cover Art

The cover of this one is ok.  I don’t love it, but I also don’t hate it.  I like the deep blue-green water, I think it makes a nice contrast to the gold embossed title.  But, I don’t like the tentacles.  I know the sirens are described as having tentacles but these remind me of a Kraken or something like that.  I think of sea monsters not mermaids and sirens when I look at this cover.

POV

I liked the alernating POV that switches back and forth between Lira and Elian.  I am a big fan of getting multiple character’s perspectives on scenes.  However, I was not thilled with now long it took our characters stories to cross.  For the first third of the book, they were on totally different paths.

Final Thoughts

This book was good.  Just good, in my opinion.  It was the first Little Mermaid retelling I had come across and it definitely leaned more toward the Hans Christian Andersen telling than the Disney version.  I think the major charactes were very flawed in the beginning of the story but they overcame most of that and, we didn’t get enough of the secondary characters.

I’d like to see more stories set in this world (as it did sound fascinating).  But, this book, was not my favorite.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Recommendations for Further Reading

• Daughter of the Pirate King and Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller – if you’re looking for an adventure story about a red-haired pirate/siren, look no further than this duology.  Tricia Levenseller’s writing is amazing and, like, To Kill a Kingdom, it’s told in alternating POV.
• Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen – this is another excellent story about pirates, sea creatures, and magic.  Also told in alternating POV, this story has many similar vibes to To Kill a Kingdom.
• Before the Broken Star by Emily R. King – not quite a story of pirates and sirens but, like To Kill a Kingdom, this story features a ship bound for adventure, a quest for lost magic, and a little enemies to lovers romance.