I adored this! I am a huge fan of fairy tale retellings, especially those that aren't afraid to go dark. I love Disney just as much as the next girl, but I'm super drawn to the dark and twisty. The world-building was fantastic, and I adored that the relationship seemed organic- I really can't stand insta-love. I wish I could read this for the first time again.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of "To Kill a Kingdom" by Alexandra Christo. I have not had much luck with mermaid or siren stories so I was a bit skeptical about this story but I am happy to say this book exceeded my expectations. The world is brutal and edgy and beautiful. The world building caught my attention immediately and the writing is perfectly gritty. I will be purchasing a copy for my library and happy to share it with my students. This story is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas.

A murderous modern spin on the little mermaid story. This book feels like the author is both paying homage to classic tropes and thumbing her nose at them at the same time. It’s a good balance that makes the story feel contemporary despite its cliche themes.
As far as the story itself - the overall pacing is pretty good and the characters are fleshed out nicely. Details make the difference and you can tell the author gave a lot of thought to the people she created. The writing is on point and the author seems to enjoy playing with language which makes for a pleasurable and easy read. She has a knack for delivering a lot of informations with a few well chosen words. Her descriptions are beautifully phrased, the dialogue feels natural, and there’s both a charm and an edge to her wit and humor. On the downside, the story’s predictable and there are parts that feel really rough. A few scenes are painfully overworked while others are jarringly underdeveloped. I would have preferred to see this written as a trilogy and more care given to plot development and world building. The ending is a bit tidy for my tastes, but ultimately satisfying. All in all a good read and I look forward to her next book.

I really like mermaid/siren books, but when I started this one I was getting the sense that this was a poor rip off of the Little Mermaid. I kept reading for lack of other reading material at the time and I ended up loving this book!