Although the ending resolution feels a little rushed, this "Little Mermaid" inspired story was entertaining and fun to read.

Oh, how I wanted to love this book. I was thrilled when I saw this was a retelling of The Little Mermaid because that's always been my favorite story and I couldn't wait to dive (pun intended) into this book, especially because I saw so many wonderful reviews. As it turned out, the only thing I really liked about this book was the cover.

Lira was a siren princess, which I thought was pretty cool at first, but she ended up having no personality and a penchant for smart ass comments. I don't think she actually knew how to have a normal civilized conversation, everything that came out of her mouth was sarcastic.

Elian was basically just the male version of Lira, smart ass comments and all. He was an arrogant prince that thought we was a pirate. He spent most of the book proclaiming how fearsome he and his pirate crew were, but we never actually saw them do anything remotely piratical aside from drinking some rum. And I think there was a sword fight somewhere towards the end, but honestly, by that point I was just bored.

I couldn't even enjoy the romance in this book because it was completely unbelievable. You know that the two main characters are obviously supposed to be together, but there is no chemistry between them. One minute they hated each other and the next they didn't, and I saw no reason at all for their change of feelings and behavior. They spent the entire book trying to one-up each other with one liners and cutting remarks. And it wasn't just them, the WHOLE book felt like that. Everything any of the characters said had to be a statement to get a reaction out of the reader and it felt forced, no one could just have a regular conversation.

Overall I'm hovering between 2-2.5 stars. 1 for the cover. 1 for the world-building which was kind of cool. I did like the whole idea of 100 different kingdoms. and would've liked to learn about more of them. And a half star for Elian's name, idk why but I really like it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Glorious, bloody heart ripping and other oceanic shenanigans! Humans hearts are today's special on the menu!

What should you expect?

Expect…

- Epic dark retelling: Action. Adventure. Deceive. Betrayals. Danger.
- Villains you’ll love to hate: Lethal mermaids. Killer Sirens. Monstrous, multi-tentacled Sea Queen!
- Unlikely Heroines and Heroes: Pirates. Siren hunters. Thieves!
- Diverse Kingdoms and cultures!
- Myths and Magic!

Ready? 1.. 2… 3… Close your eyes and DIVE! Because, you will absolutely LOVE this adventure!

Riding the waves of the Diávolos Sea on Alexandra’s lyrical writing is just an splendidly, bloody adventure!

Alexandra’s writing is dark but elegant. Modern but also oddly evocative, like the sound of crashing waves. It will take you back to a time of Pirates and sea legends with an imagery worthy of a travel coastal magazine! You will swear you can smell the ocean! 🌊

When the light breaks across the shore of Eidýllio, there’s a flash of pink that shatters the sky. The sun gleams against the horizon, encircled by a miraculous hue of diminished red, like melted coral.

OH, YES! TAKE ME AWAY!

And once you dive into the mysterious icy depths of the Diávolos Sea, and find yourself in the sea Kingdom of Keto… What should you expect?

Would a bubbly chorus of colorful dancing crabs and flounders welcome you with a…

🎶 🦀🦑🐙🐡 “Under the sea, Under the sea, Darling it’s better, Down where it’s wetter, Take it from meeee”🎶 🦀🦑🐙🐡

Nuh-huh. None of that here! THIS WORLD IS AWESOMELY BRUTAL! awesomely

So, you better run and hide! NOW.

Because humans hearts are the special on today’s menu!

And know that you are safely hiding behind a coral, hush and watch!

Who is that magnificent, otherworldly creature combing her long hair with a seashell?

A Siren? or Mermaid? Aren’t they the same anyway? 🧜‍♀️

Nuh-huh.

One of them is a monster with…

More fish than flesh with an upper body to match the decadent scale of their fins. [They] have stretched blue husks and limbs in place of hair with a jawlessness that lets their mouths stretch to the size of small boats and swallow sharks whole. Their deep-blue flesh is dotted with fins that spread up spread up their arms and spines. Fish and human both, with the beauty of neither.

Say hello to the mermaids!

Should you be afraid of them? Yup. I would stay hidden if I were you! They are fascinated by humans! They will keep you alive just long enough so they can follow your ship and collect the treasures that fall overboard. Then, they will kill you and eat your heart. Because they think that if they eat enough of them, they may become human themselves.

But you know who you should definitely stay away from? The other one, the beautiful one. The Sirens. A coldhearted killer, with eyelashes born from iceberg shaving and eyes of two different color. The right eye the color of the sea they were born into. And lips painted with the blood of sailors.

Take Lira, for example. “A magnificence forged in salt water and reality” and no other than the daughter of the Sea Queen. Lira is definitely NOT a cutesy Ariel 🧜‍♀️ that will give up her rightful place as the heir to the Keto’s throne to marry a prince and live happily ever after.

Nuh-huh. None of that here!
Yes, Lira likes princes very much. She likes to hunt them and rip their hearts. ❤

A heart for every year she has lived, to be exact. This vicious princess celebrates her birthdays stealing human hearts. Not metaphorically speaking, in a romantic way. She.literally.rips.human.hearts. Veins, arteries, hanging, blood gushing [You get the idea, huh?]. And if you dare to ask Lira why, she’ll hiss in your ear…

Because hearts are power, and if there is one thing my kind craves more than ocean, then it’s power.

Warning: If you are like me, you are probably thinking about adopting Lira. Because, Who does want a naturally-born-killer-heart-ripping-Apex-predator-of-the-sea-soon-to-be-Sea-Queen in their family? Sorry. Bad news. I already adopted her. Lira is Lada’s [from And I Darken] roommate now. A pool of blood is already gushing under their bedroom door. And I’m smiling. My beautiful, ruthless spawns. I love you!

And by now you are also feeling bad for the next prince that crosses Lira’s path, right? NAH! Maybe you shouldn’t. Maybe Lira will meet her match this time: Elian! The siren hunter, pirate prince that is as smart and ruthless as she is!

I scrape my fangs across my lips. What does he think could possibly have the power to destroy me? It’s a fanciful notion of slaughter, and I find myself smiling. How wicked this one is, stripped of the innocence I’ve seen in all the others. This is not a prince of inexperience and anxious potential, but one of war and savagery. His heart will be a wonder to behold. I lick my lips and part them to give way to my song, but I barely have the chance to suck in a breath before I’m wrenched beneath the water.

And… It’s swooning time!

Time for some AWESOME “I-want-to-hunt-you-and-kill-you-while I slowly-fall-for-you” slow-burning romance between sworn enemies. ❤

As Lira and Elian try to outsmart each other with fun dialogues that are a scrumptious milkshake of sarcasm and wit, you won’t know if you want them to kiss or kill each other!

BUT you WILL board their ship and embark with them on this nautical adventure across the splendorous Hundred Kingdoms world Alexandra built, with a fantastic array of diverse dwellers, myths, and cultures!

Lira is a siren princess—and she is deadly. She has been killing human royalty since she was 12, always ripping their hearts out of their chests to celebrate each birthday. She has been raised to be brutal—though nothing she does is cruel or horrific enough to please her mother, the queen. When she fails to kill the human prince who has been killing their kind, her mother banishes her to the human world as a plain girl, and if she does not deliver his heart, she will be stuck as a human forever.

Essentially, this story is a retelling of The Little Mermaid—though bloodier and more vicious as the older fairy tales tended to be. The first half, frankly, seemed a little too on-the-spot with the Disney version, even with the harshness of the original tale. It was hard to separate the Disney version from the one happening in the book. Having said that, the writing was excellent—otherwise, I’m afraid I would have called it quits.

However, the second half of To Kill a Kingdom was a rip-roaring adventure that truly put the Disney version to shame, and really managed to showcase Christo’s version of the tale. The writing flowed, and the characters really began to come into their own, rather than feeling like just a bloodier echo of stories past. Based on the last half, I would happily read more of Christo’s work.

The characters were intriguing, particularly Lira. I found that I liked her fierceness, and her strength. She made for a great female lead, something that thankfully seems to be happening more and more often. While Prince Elian was interesting in his own way, he was not nearly as strong for me as Lira was. I did very much enjoy him with his crew; the banter and affection were fun to read, in direct opposition to that of the Siren Queen and those around her. Bloodthirsty and cruel don’t begin to cover it.

The settings of the book were actually quite varied. From under the sea (see what I did there?) to a variety of countries within the book’s world, each of them totally different and unique. From frigid and covered in snow and ice, to the land of gold, to another covered in fog and grey. Each of those countries could be the focal point of a complete story within themselves, they were laid out so well.

I really did enjoy To Kill a Kingdom. It was more of a struggle to keep my attention focused during the first half, because I kept feeling like I already knew this story and how it ended. Luckily the second half won me over, and at that point where the comparisons were no longer valid, the tale really took off and I didn’t want to put it down to even cook dinner. I look forward to reading more of Christo’s work, since this is her debut!

To Kill a Kingdom is the debut novel of author Alexandra Christo. One could call this story a loose retelling of Little Mermaid except with brutal sirens who take human hearts and a whole lot darker. Lira is presumably Ariel, while Elian is Eric. The story alternates between two distinctly different lead protagonists; Siren Princess Lira and Prince Elian Midas.

"I have a heart for every year I've been alive. There are seventeen hidden in the sand of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle, just to check they’re still there. Buried deep and bloody. I count each of them, so I can be sure none were stolen in the night. It’s not such an odd fear to have. Hearts are power, and if there’s one thing my kind craves more than the ocean, it’s power."

Lira, aka Prince's Bane, is the most devastating siren in all the lands. Lira is known for singing, luring into the sea, killing, and taking human prince's hearts. There is one in particular that she has set her sights on; Prince Elian. She is also the daughter of the Siren Queen who rules over not only sirens, but mermen as well. But, after making a mistake that costs the life of one of the Queen's subjects, the Siren Queen decides to make her human. She is also given an ultimatum. Bring back the heart of the Siren Killer or else. Robbed of her siren song, Lira has until the Winter Solstice to deliver Elian's heart to the Queen.

Prince Elian Midas is heir to the Midas Kingdom, captain of his own ship called Saad, a notorious siren hunter who carries a magical blade that drinks the blood of those he kills, and the very definition of a pirate prince. He is fearless, clever, daring, and charming. Elian feels free and can actually breathe when he is at sea with the rest of his crew. While he loves his family, he doesn't like to be landlocked, nor does he see any benefit in becoming King. When Elian discovers a woman lost at sea, his whole world is about to change. This woman claims she can give him the power to bring down the SIren Queen.

Elian has another goal; to find and kill the Prince's Bane who killed one of his friends. He has no idea that Lira is that siren when he welcomes her to his ship and she becomes part of his crew. As they travel the seas trying to find the Crystal of Keto, which has the power to destroy the Siren Queen, he doesn't know that Lira is also on her own quest. A quest to rid the world of the Siren Queen forever. The longer Lira spends onboard Saad with the crew, & Elian, the less she finds herself in the mood to kill Elian.

To Kill a Kingdom is told in dual first person POV's. Some have criticized that because there is no breaks that tell you who is actually telling the story. I find myself not at all agreeing with this commentary. I found that each character has a distinct voice that cannot be compared to the other. I loved the banter and cutting commentary between Lira and Elian. The is plenty of tension that you can cut with a knife. But, there is a subtle romance that grows slowly over time and faces enough challenges over the course of the story to make the final chapter enjoyable.

Would I recommend this book? Hells yes I would. There is plenty of action, plenty of suspense, interesting secondary characters, and a fantastic world building.

I came into this novel with high expectations and boy, oh boy, were they met. It’s exceedingly hard in YA fantasy to feel like you’re reading something new when so many books feel derivative of others but “To Kill a Kingdom” by Alexandra Christo managed to subvert the expectations of the genre for a story that felt wholly original.

A loose re-telling of The Little Mermaid, the book tells the story of Lira, a blood-thirsty siren who’s turned into a human by her mother, the Sea Queen, after she accidentally saves the life of Elian, a prince and siren hunter who’s looking for a way to rid the world of sirens for once and all. She’s tasked with retrieving his heart to bring back to her mother. Stripped of her siren song and in a human body, he finds her nearly drowning in the sea and from that point on their missions are entangled. They’re both so driven and blood thirsty that it’s a pleasure to read from their alternating viewpoints. The language, the plot, and the romance are so well done with both characters having a strong arc.

This book will grab readers by the throat and it doesn’t let that pressure up until the very end. It’s gripping to say the least and I’m looking forward to Christo’s future projects.

An interesting retelling of the little mermaid but with more at stake. I really liked how bloodthirsty all the sirens were, keeping the prince's hearts that they killed. Fun and well worth reading.

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

When I said that 2018 was going to be the year of epic books, I’ll admit, I had no idea how accurate that statement was. To Kill A Kingdom is one of those epic books, that swam into my unassuming hands. I had no idea what I held. Had no idea that I was about to seriously fall in love.

To Kill A Kingdom is on the very surface a Little Mermaid retelling. Except that’s far too simplistic a description. The sea lore, along with other clever insertions make this book a complex web of myth and legend spun into something new. And oh so dark. All the delicious darkness! All the murderous, devious, absolute delightful darkness!!!

The book gives us the perspectives of Lira, a siren who is unapologetically cruel, and Elian, the charming rogue prince turned pirate. First, let’s check all the boxes that this book gives us:

Pirates – ✅

Sirens – ✅

Mermaids – ✅

Kingdoms – ✅

Legends – ✅

Magic – ✅

Then there’s the story packed full of treachery and betrayal, complete with a plethora of delightful sidekicks with all their sarcastic banter, who are, in Elian’s words, “insane and wonderful”. And as if ALL THAT wasn’t enough, Christo gives us an oh-so-slow burn forbidden romance that will melt the blackest of hearts!

Lira is such a captivating character. Not quite the villain, though she is vicious and homicidal, as we get to know her we realize she is her mother’s creation through a lifetime of cruelty and abuse. One of the things I love about her is how unapologetic she is. She isn’t warm and gooey on the inside, but fierce and determined and strong. Even though she kills princes for the power their hearts provide, it is what her kind does. She doesn’t question it, doesn’t try to find a way around it. The Sea Queen demands it, and she obeys.

“It’s the princes who hold the allure. In their youth. In the allegiance of their people. In the promise of the leader they could one day become. They are the next generation of rulers, and by killing them, I kill the future. Just as my mother taught me.”

Elian isn’t quite Lira’s opposite, as he is her alternate reality. A Prince who shirks the idea of ruling. That desires adventure and freedom more than power. He is a warrior, but does so out of a sense of duty and honor than the impulse to kill. While that may sound too Prince Charming to be likable, there’s something quite charming about Elian. He isn’t evil, he isn’t malicious, but he is also fierce in his own way. A pirate with a golden heart, who does bad things but for a good cause. He’s complex in his own right.

“There’s royalty in me, but stronger than that there is adventure.”

Lira is known as The Princes’ Bane, as she only preys on prince hearts for her annual trophy. Elian, a Prince, but also a notorious Siren Hunter carries the heart that is the ultimate trophy. Lira wants his heart, and Elian wants hers in return.

“There’s nothing in the world but pain and the rare moments that exist in between.”

Except Lira, though she wants to be the fierce, obedient warrior her mother demands her to be, she is much too independent to comply fully all the time. One misstep brings the wrath of the Sea Queen down on Lira’s head, and she suddenly finds herself given an ultimatum. Turned human, Lira can only return if she brings Elian’s heart to her mother.

Elian, following rumor that there’s a crystal that can destroy the Sea Queen hidden deep within an icy mountain, finds a girl, drowning in the middle of the ocean. But when they save her, she is something far from the damsel in distress that they expect her to be.

“She spits it like a weapon and her face twists. A sudden change from the innocent girl to something far crueler. Almost murderous.”

The way Elian and Lira snipe at each other is such fun. They are both sharp, acerbic, but never venture into the realm of being unlikable. They aren’t swooning for each other, but rather find a respect by recognizing the strength they each have. For all their flaws, you won’t be able to quite help finding yourself liking both of them. If you’re looking for a book where you need to root for one against the other, you won’t find it here. In fact, knowing the impossibility of the entire situation has nothing but tragedy and foreboding woven into every word.

Christo’s writing is something to fall in love with outside of plot. She uses words like daggers, some sharp, some blunt, each one aimed to cut. It is stunning, and bears the confidence of a far more tenured author rather than a debut.

“I feel maddened by the Midasan on my tongue. Its smooth sounds are too quaint to display my anger. I itch to spit the knives of my own language at him.”

This story is an examination of nature versus nurture. Are we who we are by choice? Or do things shape us? Whether that shape is something pleasing to the world, or something more violent and explosive, both Elian and Lira struggle with this question. Underneath everything they say and do, is the uncertainty of who they are at the core of themselves.

To Kill A Kingdom is, from beginning to end, stunning and spectacular. It is dark, devious, and murderous in its beauty. As soon as you finish, you’ll find yourself yearning to pick it up and read it again. To relish the writing. To revisit the characters. To simply submerse yourself in the dark world that somehow fills you with light.

Alexandra Christo has launched herself into an author I will follow with obsessive devotion. To Kill A Kingdom wooed me, but when you go to Goodreads, her next Untitled book set for release in 2019 simply has two words: Gangster Fantasy. Um, can I get a HELL YES???

If you love Christina Henry, Leigh Bardugo, or Pierce Brown, I highly recommend this book! It was released yesterday, March 6, and I will be screaming and fangirling about this one for a long time. Do yourself a favor and go grab a copy now!

Thank you NetGalley, Fierce Reads, and Feiwel and Friends for approving a copy to read and review!!!

To Kill a Kingdom is such a great retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. As well as keeping a little of the Ariel and Ursula influence. I loved this story and the way it was reimagined!!

My favorite love stories are always the ones filled with sarcastic and witty banter between the two love interest. I think Lira and Elian have this down pat. They go from despising each other, to friends and even confidants. I loved the way their interactions paly out all the way through. Even when trust is something that really has to be tested. Neither of them have bright and sunny past but they both can see each other for what is in front of them. I loved the way they come together.

Also it’s always great to have dual POVs. Especially when you are dealing with both an Ocean and Land kingdom. Having the two perspectives of a war that has waged for centuries, is really insightful and adds depth to the story. You are like oh I can see where they are coming from, oh I can see where they coming from too. Plus I thought they were well down and definitely sounded like two different characters.

The supporting characters fill their roles well. Kahlia who is Lira’s cousin and Elian and his crew of pirates. Of course Sakura and the kingdom of ice. We got bits of the other kingdoms but not so much information where you felt overloaded.

Again I loved the little nods to the other versions of The Little Mermaid. The sea foam and taking of a princes heart. Lira’s fiery red hair and the Sea Queens tentacles. It’s my favorite way for a retelling to be done, keeping little elements but making the story it’s own.

I really loved this book and especially the characters. A great reimagining of a classic story!

<i>To Kill a Kingdom</i> is <i>The Little Mermaid</i> retelling I didn't know I needed. Lira is a siren princess and Elian is a human prince. She doesn't want a part of his world and he doesn't hers. When she makes a kill that angers her mother, she gets turned into a human. Lira and the Prince then go off on an adventure to either bring peace to the ocean and land kingdoms, or bring them all down.

The brutality of Lira's characterization is to die for. This anti-heroine has shining moments of sympathy that draws the reader in despite her monstrosity. Elian too was well-balanced between being a swoony pirate and a selfish prince. Both aspects of his character played off the other in a really compelling way. I was also a big fan of the wealth of cultures within the world this story takes place. They felt inspired by our worlds, with inklings of a much richer history.

The one main complaint I have is that there was a bit of a lull in the middle with sequences of questionable necessity. Also the names could have used some work (looking at you, Keto).

If anyone is looking for a YA fantasy with a bit of a edge, definitely check this one out.

To Kill a Kingdom revolves around Lira, a siren princess who will soon become Queen of the sea, but not before she collects more princes' hearts to store under her floor. Revered in the waters and reviled on land and known as the Prince's Bane throughout both, Lira makes a deadly mistake and is transformed into a human - the thing they hate the most - by none other than her mother, the Sea Queen. Now, she must deliver the heart of Prince Elian, a royal who would much rather be the Captain of The Saad and kill sirens, or remain in her loathsome human cage forevermore.

Full of intrigue, pirates (with some stereotypical pirate lingo), deadly sirens, unsightly mermaids, and plenty of royalty in disguise, this novel takes you on a feral romp through the sea and up glacial mountains. Ripe with magical world building, Christo brilliantly weaves fantasy and murder.
Let's take a moment and appreciate the stunning cover.

Okay, now that we've drooled a bit, I was so excited to read this novel because I had read it was a 're-imagining of The Little Mermaid...with a twist' and that automatically struck a chord with me. Why, you ask? Because this lady here, slept with the VHS of The Little Mermaid and watched it non-stop as a baby.
Mermaids/sirens have always fascinated me and I really enjoyed Christo's versions of each. I am naturally drawn to darker, more gothic stories/characters so I was definitely pleased!

All in all, this was a quick and pleasurable read for me. If you like the original faerie tales you should definitely enjoy To Kill a Kingdom!

my rating: 3.5

eGalley provided by Netgalley + Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

5 EPIC STARS FOR THIS DELICIOUSLY DARK SIREN TALE!!!

FULL REVIEW MAY ALSO BE VIEWED ON LAIR OF BOOKS

HUGE thanks to Macmillan, Netgalley, and Alexandra Christo for the early review copy in exchange for my honest opinion

PLOT

DISCLAIMER: This review will contain much GUSHING & RAVING cause it is worthy of all that & much more!

As per usual, it takes me longer to find the words to adequately describe how I felt about a book when It falls into the category of GAHHH! This was EPIC & everyone will love it & this beautiful jewel of a book needs to be framed on my wall! I had the pleasure of reading To Kill a Kingdom with a group of 4 other bookworms (will be listed at the end of review) & besides this being my first group buddy read, what marks this one as very special was that EVERY single one of the readers LOVED this book to pieces!

We’re introduced to our MC Lira the Siren daughter to the Queen of the Sea while she and her cousin scout out a Prince for the killing. Lira prides herself to be known as the ‘Prince’s Bane’ a reputation she’s worked hard to earn by ripping out the hearts of many Princes. This time however, she was to only oversee her cousin Khalia who was to kill & take her 15th heart. Lira broke tradition by killing & stealing a heart for herself bringing her count to 18 hearts. As heir to the Sea Queen’s throne, she has a limit of 60 hearts she can kill and steal before she must give up the crown. This angered her mother the Sea Queen who handed down her punishment, one aimed at humiliating her as well as cause her pain. When Lira veers from her mothers orders as part of her punishment, the Sea Queen strips her of everything that makes her a Siren and leaves her in human form. Of all the things Lira despises, humans are at the very top of the list. She no longer has her siren song and therefore can’t lure anyone in. The Sea Queen has given her until the Winter Solstice to kill Prince Elian of Midas known as ‘The Siren Hunter’ …

Prince Elian aka The Pirate Prince or The Siren Hunter is on a self assigned mission to eliminate the Sirens as a threat. Aboard The Saad he is loved by his crew for his down to earth humble nature. To the crew he isn’t a Prince, he’s their captain and one of them. Traveling the high seas they hunt sirens, specifically The Prince’s Bane. Elian believes if he can get the Siren Queen’s daughter, he can get to the Siren Queen herself and put an end to all of the killings.

CHARACTERS

Lira- Our MC isn’t supposed to be someone you end up loving…she’s a cold blooded killer who relishes collecting hearts under her bed. Yet I can’t recall ever loving a villain more than Lira. She’s been raised to kill by her mother the Sea Queen who is by all means Ursula on steroids lol. Love is a foreign word. Humans are disgusting & weak. The hunt for royal blood is what she’s known for. Christo created Lira’s character & gave her so much depth & development, seeing her whole outlook evolve was one of the BEST things about this book. Lira has a toxic abusive relationship with her mother. Many times her mother will lash out verbally & physically yet Lira aims to please the Sea Queen…she seeks out her approval but above all she wants to be seen as a worthy heir to the Sea Queen’s throne. Now, the scenes between Lira and Elian were truly enjoyable to read! the witty banter between these two made me laugh out loud & shake my head with a smile from ear to ear Haha! this is a hate to love that will leave you at the edge of your seat shipping these two for days!

Elian-Many have compared him to Nikolai Lantsov & I can definitely see these two getting along just fine! Elian knows he isn’t suited for the throne, court life just isn’t for him and he’d much rather let his little sister take the crown when the time comes. Travel and freedom is in his blood and if it wasn’t hunting Sirens to protect the kingdoms, he’d still opt for the sails. Elian’s fierce loyalty to his crew keeps him from instantly falling for Lira & I admired how he put them above everything. The fact that he could keep up with Lira’s sharp wit made him instantly a fave in my book.

The Sea Queen- I may have feared Ursula as a child but that never kept me away from watching The Little Mermaid over & over again. There was something about the villainous Queen that command respect & when we meet the Sea Queen it’s really no different. Christo gave us a vivid description of her tentacles & ruby red eyes that will freeze the blood running through your veins with fear whilst reading. The scenes with the Sea Queen were tough because of how abusive she is towards Lira, it’s not your average mother/daughter relationship & she won’t hesitate to kill her daughter if need be. The Sea Queen knows her time on the throne is quickly coming to an end & she’s not going out without a fight.

Honorable Mentions- Khalia aka Lira’s cousin, this side character is the definition of Ride or Die! she’s the one I’d want in my corner facing any opponent. Khalia took some hits from the Sea Queen to protect Lira & this is why Lira feels protective over her. Lira may not know what love is but Khalia comes close to what can defined as a loved one for her. The Saad Crew also goes hard for their Captain & Elian is very lucky to have a newfound group of people he can call family when he’s away from home. I love this above everything being that I am someone who has had to make family from friends, sometimes these bonds run deeper than blood.

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS

I can go on for days about the writing & world building in TKAK and never tire! In the buddy read I participated in, it was mentioned that the battle scenes were so vivid they are practically made for the screen & couldn’t have agreed more with that statement. This story played out seamlessly in my mind & was a real treat & feast for my imagination. Filled with complex multi-faceted characters, there really was no hero to this story. In fact this book made me think a whole lot of the age old debate on nature vs. nurture…and I loved reading Lira’s stream of consciousness as she asked herself what if she’d been raised to love & not to kill. Could she ever be a different kind of ruler? could she ever love someone? Or is killing a part of who she is? These characters were so well fleshed out that it would be impossible to forget them. I was pleasantly surprised to see Christo weave in the King Midas mythology when creating the City Of Gold Prince Elian and his family rule over. Again, vivid imagery when it came to the kingdoms amplified my reading experience and left me enamored with this world as a whole. It’s safe to say I will be reading EVERYTHING Alexandra Christo writes! be it short stories, Novellas, full length novels! encyclopedias! the backs of cereal boxes YOU NAME IT! To Kill a Kingdom hits shelves tomorrow March 6th & this is one you won’t want to miss ;)

Lira is a siren princess – and she is deadly. She has been killing human royalty since she was 12, always ripping their hearts out of their chests to celebrate each birthday. She has been raised to be brutal – though nothing she does is cruel or horrific enough to please her mother, the queen. When she fails to kill the human prince who has been killing their kind, her mother banishes her to the human world as a plain girl – and if she does not deliver his heart, she will be stuck as a human forever.

Essentially, this story is a retelling of The Little Mermaid – though bloodier and more vicious, as the older fairy tales tended to be. The first half, frankly, seemed a little too on-the-spot with the Disney version, even with the harshness of the older tales. It was hard to separate the Disney version from the one happening in the book. Having said that, the writing was excellent – otherwise, I’m afraid I would have called it quits. However, the second half was a rip-roaring adventure that truly put the Disney version to shame, and really managed to showcase Christo’s version of the tale. The writing flowed, and the characters really began to come into their own, rather than feeling like just a bloodier echo of stories past. Based on the last half, I would happily read more of Christo’s work.

The characters were intriguing, particularly Lira. I found that I liked her fierceness, and her strength – she made for a great female lead, something that thankfully seems to be happening more and more often. While Prince Elian was interesting in his own way, he was not nearly as strong for me as Lira was. I did very much enjoy him with his crew – the banter and affection were fun to read, in direct opposition to that of the Siren Queen and those around her. Bloodthirsty and cruel don’t begin to cover it.

The settings of the book were actually quite varied. From under the sea (See what I did there?) to a variety of countries within the book’s world – each of them totally different and unique. From frigid and covered in snow and ice, to the land of gold, to another covered in fog and grey. Each of those countries could be the focal point of a complete story within themselves, they were laid out so well.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book. It was more of a struggle to keep my attention focused during the first half, because I kept feeling like I already knew this story and how it ended. But at that point where the comparisons were no longer valid, the tale really took off and I didn’t want to put it down to even cook dinner. I look forward to reading more of Christo’s work, since this is her debut!

This review will be posted on www.vampirebookclub.net

Lira steal's princes' hearts. Literally. She lures them into a trance-like state with her siren song, and drags them down to the bottom of ocean where she rips out their hearts. After failing to steal Prince Elian's heart, the pirate prince also known as the "siren killer", Lira's mother, the Sea Queen, turns her into a human in punishment, and commands that she retrieve Elian's heart, or stay a human forever.

Are you getting Little Mermaid vibes from that description? Good, because there is a definitely Little Mermaid inspiration here, though it's definitely more Anderson than Disney (for examples, sirens turn into sea foam a few moments after they are killed). There's also some Greek mythology (I feel like this is the origin of sirens, but I only say that because of the Odyssey), but the influences, while noticeable, are integrated nicely, and the world-building game in this book is super strong. Elian and Lira travel to several different kingdoms, and each kingdom has its own flavor and customs. There's also some cool mythology around sirens vs. mermaids vs. mermen, and I really loved where she went with the mermaids in particular. It was a version of mermaids that I had never read before.

Elian and Lira are both complex but likable characters (if you like your heroes of anti- or bloodthirsty variety, which, I DO). Initially, Lira is a stone-cold killer. She was raised to be one, and the fact that she could be anything but a stone-cold killer after her upbringing is kind of magical. As the book develops, she learns more about humans and begins to *gasp* kind of like them. Her character development and growth are a main theme throughout the book, and Lira's maturation is slow enough to develop seems plausible.

Elian was also fine; he mostly serves as a foil to Lira, and it's fun to see his opinion of her change as he slowly learns more about her. There is a bit of romance between them, but as they are at odds for most of the book, its kind of a forbidden romance which is a trope that I love when done right (needless to say, it was done right here).

Amazing worldbuilding, great characters, no sequel - what's not to love? If you are into pirates or mermaids or lux worldbuilding, you'll enjoy this book. 4 stars - I really liked it!

Thanks to Feiwel & Friends and Netgalley for the eARC for review consideration. To Kill a Kingdom will be released on 06 March, but you can put your copy on hold today!

"To Kill a Kingdom" is a wonderful YA fantasy about a siren and a pirate. Told in alternating points of view, we follow Lira, a deadly siren known as the Princes' Bane, because she takes the heart of a prince each year, and Elian, a prince of Midas who would really rather be a pirate, hunting sirens throughout the waters around the 100 kingdoms. Lira is under her mother, the Sea Queen’s thumb, as are all the other ocean creatures, sirens and merfolk alike. Someday, she will receive the trident that has the eye of Keto and gives the user immense power with which to rule. For now, she must do her mother’s bidding- which includes taking the heart of a prince every year on her birthday. This is why she has 17 hearts buried under her bed.

In this story, sirens are beautiful while merfolk are a grotesque combination of fish with a little humanity. Sirens need their beauty to lure humans to their deaths- they sing and captivate them into drowning, taking their hearts just as they die. The hearts then lend them some power and become part of them. However, it does not seem that they need the hearts to live. The Sea Queen has tentacles and magical powers through the trident she carries (think Ursula in the Little Mermaid). She does not care for the lives of her subjects (including her daughter) and merely for the power she holds. Thus, she seems ready to get rid of her heir and keep the power to herself. Latching on to a small mistake of her daughter’s (taking a heart one month early), she imposes many punishments- the worst of which is to make her into a weak human and set her out to do the impossible- take a prince’s heart without her siren powers.

Although Elian is a prince, his life really happens on the sea with his loyal crew. He has a magic compass which can tell him if someone is being truthful and a magic knife that absorbs the blood of sirens and kills them quickly. When sirens die, they return to the sea (their bodies become sea water and sea foam), and this maybe makes them seem easier to kill to the Captain (Elian). Things are about to change when he finds a woman about his age floating in the middle of the ocean all alone. He immediately jumps in to save her, and finds that she is somehow less than grateful and a little spiteful.

Lira is trying to accomplish what her mother has asked her, but the longer she spends with the humans, the harder it becomes. She finds purpose in the quest they have set out on- to find the other eye of Keto, which could match the Sea Queen’s power and end her tyranny. Along the way, she also learns about her own humanity, which she was taught to suppress, and what it means to be human.

Overall, it’s a poignant and really fun fantasy that you can easily lose yourself in for a day or two (because you won’t be able to put it down)! The action builds until the end, and I thought at first that it might be a series, but everything is wrapped up in the end. I actually wish it could be series, because I loved the premise, this alternate magical world, and all the characters- primary and secondary- they were all very well crafted. I highly recommend this book for YA readers of all ages. Aside there is fantasy violence and deaths, there is one attempted sexual assault , but it is not too descriptive/does not get far. While it might be better for older readers, younger YA readers may also enjoy this enthralling fantasy novel.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I was pretty much over fairy tale retellings but this one just sounded so interesting, I had to give it one more shot, and luckily I was not disappointed. It was dark and thrilling and kept me guessing as to how it was all going to turn out at the end, that I found it hard to put down.  It is hard to believe that this is a debut and I hope to see a lot more by this author in the future.

The story is told from both Lira's and Elian's point of view.  There might be slightly more narrative from Lira, but that is okay as she is the one whose character goes through the biggest changes.  I really liked that we got to see both sides of the story, and how both characters thought that they were doing the right thing to save their kingdoms.  There is of course a romance that develops between them, but it is slow to develop and it is done really well.  It is also not the main focus of the story, which was very refreshing.

Lira, as I said before, has the most growth as a character in this book.  Which is not too surprising.  Not only does she go from being a siren to a human, which understandably turns her world upside down, but she goes from being someone who her mother wants her to be, ie. ruthless and evil, to a young women who wants to make things better for both kingdoms.  Elian has a lot to do with this change, but their are other characters, namely the other pirates, that also help her on this journey.  

While Elian's change and growth is not as huge as Lira's it is just as important.  As he gets to know Lira, his views on how his world works also changes.  He also begins to see a world that is much different than what he originally wanted.  I also liked that Elian also had a duality to his life, he is both a Prince and a pirate.  He understands his duty as a prince, but he longs to live on the sea and continue his quest on the sea.  I really liked that they both had two different lives and that they both needed to reconcile those lives to be happy.

I loved the world that the author has created here.  There are many possibilities for future stories set in this world.  There are a lot of different kingdoms (I think there are 100) and they are each unique and have some fascinating characters populating them.  We only got to see a small fraction of these kingdoms, but each one was more amazing than the last.  I really hope that there are more books coming set in this world. 

Overall this was a great retelling of the Little Mermaid, that was dark and glorious.  It was fast paced with just enough twists to the story that it kept me guessing to the end.  I will definitely pick up other books by this author in the future.

* I got this book from the publisher and gave it 4.5 stars*
I really enjoyed this book a lot. I thought the plot was mostly very fast pace and engaging. I thought the end of the book had some slow parts but I still really enjoyed it. I thought the character and the world building was the highlights of the books. I really loved the duel POV that was got in the story and loved the morally gray characters that we met. I really loved the siren mythology that we were exposed too. I would def read more by this author in the future. It is the first mermaid/ siren book I read with a strong focus and it made me exited to read more!

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Rating: 4 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

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?

What I Liked:

I hadn't known much about this book before I received it in the mail from the publisher, so I wasn't sure I was even going to read it. But the allure of sirens was too much for me to resist, so I decided to give it a shot. This story seems to be a loose retelling of The Little Mermaid, which, despite what people say, is actually a pretty empowering story of choice. I enjoyed that story, and I enjoyed To Kill a Kingdom. I'm also a huge fan of this being a standalone, because I love standalones!

This is the story of Lira, a deadly siren princess, and Elian, a deadly siren hunter. Lira is the daughter of the Sea Queen, the siren queen of the ocean. Lira has the hearts of seventeen princes, and she is known as the Princes' Bane. When she kills an eighteenth prince a month before her eighteenth birthday, the Sea Queen punishes her transforming her into a human, and giving her what seems to be an impossible task: bring the heart of Prince Elian, notorious siren hunter and heir to the throne of Midas. Prince Elian is at home at sea, not in a kingdom. He hunts sirens because of their bloodthirstiness when it comes to humans. He doesn't suspect that the strange girl he saves from drowning is not only a siren, but the siren that has tried to kill him before, the infamous Princes' Bane. Elian agrees to let her stay aboard his ship, because she says she has crucial information that will help him on his quest to find the Crystal of Keto, which has the power to destroy the Sea Queen. He wants the siren reign of the sea to end. She wants to destroy her mother. They share a common goal, but what happens when Elian finds out who Lira really is?

This book is told from dual POV which I wasn't expecting! I thought it would be told solely from Lira's POV. But we get to read from Lira's first-person POV, and Elian's first-person POV, which was cool. I loved seeing the story progress from each of their perspectives. You can slowly see how their opinions of each other change, which was a gradual and subtle thing.

The story starts with Lira killing her eighteenth prince, but a month too soon. So she is punished, transformed into a human, and left at sea. Elian and his crew find her by chance, and pull her aboard. Little do they know that this is a siren-turned-human, and the very one that once tried to kill Elian.

Lira is bloodthirsty and power-hungry, a true siren princess at the start. She wants to appear inhumane and vicious, and she is definitely both of those things. Being transformed into a human and losing her siren powers isn't at all what she wants, but that won't stop her from taking Elian's heart. But the longer she spends with him on his ship, the less she wants to kill him - which she doesn't realize, at first. How did she go from wanting to kill him with no remorse, to saving his life not once, or twice, but three times? I liked seeing Lira's character development, from a spoiled and cruel princess, to a more human, empathetic girl. She still has all of her determination and will, but she starts to realize that Elian's heart isn't what she needs or wants, and doing what her mother wants her to do isn't the right thing to do.

Elian is similarly afflicted by duty and expectation, but in his case, he doesn't want any of it from the start. He doesn't want to be the heir to the Midas throne, and he wants being a prince. He'd rather be captain of his ship full-time, and live at sea. Elian hunts sirens to protect his people. He has a noble heart, and yet he is every inch a pirate prince. He is charming, cunning, roguish, sneaky, and daring, and he has no concern for his safety. I loved his quick wit and humor, and his selflessness. He sacrifices everything for everyone else. He is a warrior and a pirate and a very clever prince.

Elian and Lira together? They are hilarious, like fire and ice. They bicker and clash from the moment they meet. Lira is determined to hate him (obviously), and Elian doesn't trust her (she is a stranger at sea to him), and yet they slowly begin to like each other. There is plenty of banter and exchanges of wit, and some subtle tension between them. The romance is there, though very subtle, but I liked seeing it unfold. Elian and Lira are a cute and fierce pair - but equally strong and equally capable.

The climax of the story is two-fold - finding the Crystal of Keto, and of course the big confrontation with the Sea Queen. I won't give any details, but the climax has a lot going on and everything happens very quickly. The author does a good job with the pacing of the story in general, but I did find the climax to be very quick, and then the ending occurred.

The author did a great job with the world-building and storytelling. Like I said, I think this is loosely based on The Little Mermaid, with Lira being Ariel (turn "Ariel" backwards and you basically get Lira, and Elian and Eric start with the same letter). I loved this! This story is wholly its own though, with Lira being a siren (not a mermaid - there is that distinction), and Elian being much more than a one-dimensional love interest).

The ending is a good one! A tiny bit bittersweet though not in the way you're probably thinking. It's a happy ending with a shred of bittersweet too it. I thought it worked well for a standalone, and I hope this story stays a standalone. I love how everything wrapped up!

What I Did Not Like:

The only big complaint I have is that I think the author or publisher (whoever makes this decision) should have labelled chapters with whomever was narrating that chapter. There is no clear indication per chapter, and since both characters have first-person POV, it was sometimes difficult to initially discern who was narrating the chapter. Sometimes I had to flip ahead to see whose name would be mentioned (Elian, or Lira) and that is how I would know who was narrating the chapter (whoever's name wasn't the one mentioned). It just would have been easier if it were clearer who was narrating the chapter, like having the name at the very beginning of the chapter.

Would I Recommend It:

I do recommend the book, especially to fans of unique YA fantasy! This book is very interesting and I was never bored while reading it. It also wasn't too romance heavy (a good or bad thing, depending on your preferences), though the romance was definitely there by the end of the story. And it's a standalone novel, so there is low commitment! It's definitely worth the read!

Rating:

4 stars. I'm very content with this book! To Kill a Kingdom is riveting, thrilling, and romantic - definitely a book I'd reread and recommend to my friends. If you're looking for a standalone story with a clever pirate prince, a fierce princess, and a bloodthirsty villain, look no further. I'm excited to read more by this author!

I finished this book last night and waited until today to post my review because I have some feels that needed to work themselves out first.

To Kill A Kingdom is a dark and twisty retelling of The Little Mermaid. Or rather, a backwards retelling. To Kill A Kingdom is about Lira, a sign revered across the sea for how ruthless she is in taking the hearts of princes. When she disobeys her mother, the Sea Queen, she is transformed into a human until she can bring Prince Elian's heart to her mother to prove her worth.

What Lira doesn't anticipate is what she learns along the way of what it means to be human and how corrupt her sea kingdom truly is. The depth of her character and how she evolves over the length of the book was astounding to me. There was no one point to me where she just suddenly changed, she learned throughout the story and changed over time which I truly loved.

There was a little romance in the story but it was by no means insta-love, which is a trope that I truly dislike so I appreciate the effort to let the romance develop over time. And the characters themselves were incredible. I want more books, and I want spin-off books that focus on supporting characters. I hope there is a sequel that delves deeper into the sea kingdom because I desire MORE world building, even though there was so much in this story!

This book deserves all the stars, and it definitely gets 5 from me!

3.5 stars

Review date: March 8; 2018
Review link: https://dulivre.blogspot.com/2018/03/book-review-to-kill-kingdom.html
Plot: To Kill a Kingdom is being marketed as a Little Mermaid retelling, but I would consider it "inspired by" The Little Mermaid instead. Siren Lira was known as the Princes' Bane for her affinity for princely hearts. She was turned into a human as a punishment and coincidently was found by a prince who made it his life's work to kill any and all sirens.

I didn't know what to expect with To Kill a Kingdom, but I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the journey along with Lira's self-realization. To Kill a Kingdom was a relatively slow-paced book, which I don't typically have a problem with, but To Kill a Kingdom was missing explicit rising action. I found it too easy to put the book down and wasn't as invested in the story or its characters as I was expecting.

Characters: Lira was a fascinating main character to follow: she was deadly and had no remorse for the lives she disrupted. Her leading man was Elian, the was just as interesting as Lira, if not more. As the prince of Midas, he had certain duties to fulfill but his heart was with the ocean and his ragtag group of pirates. My one complaint about To Kill a Kingdom was that it was told from the first person perspective of both Elian and Lira with no clear markings of when the perspective it would change. I believe the lack of perspective change was the reason I couldn't fully lose myself in the novel because half the time I had no idea whose perspective I was following.

Along with Elian, we got to know his loyal crew and I enjoyed learning about their pasts and seeing their interactions with each other. It was easy to fall in love with them and at times the group gave me Six of Crows vibes.

Worldbuilding: Christo's world was imaginative and I would love to return to it and learn more about different aspects of it. The main kingdom was Midas which was loosely based on the tale that we all know and love. All of the other kingdoms had their own defining markers and political ploys that I craved to learn more about. The distinction between sirens and mermaids/mermen was unique as well and makes me excited to see what new worlds Alexandra Christo crafts in the (hopefully near) future.

Short N Sweet: To Kill a Kingdom was an impressive debut, but I just had higher expectations.