Solid 4.5 stars. ARC provided by Netgalley, thank you!

I have found a new favorite author and I hope to revisit this world because I feel like so much is still there to be explored.

Love the fact that this one is a standalone, too. Gaaaah, such a wonderful book hangover I’ll have.

My only complaint, and it’s minor, is that it switches back and forth between Lira and Elian’s view points, which is ok, but there’s no indication or warning that you’re switching between them, so whenever a chapter would change characters I’d spend the first few paragraphs confused and a little lost. Otherwise, I love the characters, I love this world, and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and the ride.

I needed zero convincing to read this story once I saw that it was about lethal sirens, arrogant princes, and PIRATES. To Kill a Kingdom is a loose retelling of The Little Mermaid, but way more awesome and vicious.

Lira is a siren princess and unashamedly skilled at taking the hearts of human princes. I loved everything about her as a character: her sarcasm, her ruthlessness, her intelligence. We also have Elian, who is a charming, conceited pirate prince set on hunting sirens. When Elian and Lira’s lives are thrust together, the real fun begins. I breezed right through this book because it was just so entertaining! Alexandra Christo’s writing, setting, terrific pacing, and great characters all blended together seamlessly to create a stunning story. I loved the interactions and witty banter between Lira and Elian, and the slow build of their hate-to-love romance. My only complaint: that the book wasn’t longer.

To Kill a Kingdom is a plot-driven adventure – full of deadly sirens and pirate princes – that everyone should read. This is a spectacular debut book by Alexandra Christo and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future!

I didn't have a lot of expectations going into To Kill a Kingdom and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. This is exactly the type of story I enjoy in YA Fantasy. It's a darker retelling of The Little Mermaid with pirates, swashbuckling adventures, and a star-crossed romance. If any of these tropes appeal to you definitely give To Kill a Kingdom a chance.

DNF at 54%
Sadly, this didn't live up to my hopes of what this book would be. While the first 25% was fantastic, it just slogged down with dense pacing, unnecessary long scenes of dialogue/standing around and the main male lead didn't feel like a pirate captain; he was too cocky, didn't follow his own rules and just smirked too much. I didn't understand why his crew had such blind trust with him. I also feel like I never understood why he never felt at home with his family and why he had to become a siren hunter. I also feel like Lira went from a strong, kinda scary siren to a whiny and blindly reckless human who didn't feel like the actual daughter of the Sea Queen. I hoped she would be more conniving and actually plan her moves more effectively. While I kept reading past the 25% mark, nothing really happened and the plot hardly progressed and I lost interest. While I will give this author another chance, this was a disappointment. If you read a lot of YA fantasy, this isn't really anything new. Full mini review will be up on my blog on Monday February 5th and the link will be updated.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

“He kissed me, after all. Brushed my cheek so delicately and pressed his lips to mine in a way that shot fire through me, melting away any pieces of the mountain that had slicked itself to my skin. Things like that can’t be forgotten any more than they can be undone.”

What an amazing book. It takes the Disney version of The Little Mermaid, tosses in the original tale from Hans Christian Andersen and turns it all on its head.

Lira is a killer, her name is the Prince’s Bane and her greatest joy is her birthright: collecting the hearts of her victim princes (literally). Elian’s one true goal is to kill every siren he can, and find retribution for the friends he’s lost. How can these two find each other and reprieve or salvation from all that they know?

The tale was enchanting with characters you learn to love. From the loyal Madrid (who deserves her own story) to the silly protector Kye. The love story wasn’t the central theme to the story but it aides in the path to redemption for our hero’s.

I love that Lira is sassy, independent, and powerful in her own right. She makes it clear she needs no man to help her. All of our girls are independent in some way, and none depend on a man for rescuing.

The characters are pretty predictable dimensionally, no amazing characteristics that you wouldn’t expect between the adventure loving prince, etc. The transition in character development for both Lira and Elian was a little awkward and jolted but it didn’t negate my love of them at all.

All in all, worth the read. Raving about it already to friends as a must pursue.

I wanted to like this book, and pushed myself to do so, yet felt that, in the middle, it wasn’t meant to be. This novel started out great. I devoured the first few chapters and really enjoyed this new world that has hints of The Little Mermaid, yet is absolutely its own realm. I was a little mystified but some of the creatures (mermaids and flesh-eaters) and why they acted certain ways (vicious when they’re supposed to be love-torn and stand by when they have blood thirsty reputations), but this was easily glossed over as the story moved on. The characters of Lira and Elian are well rounded quickly and are given great histories that help explain their behaviors and thought processes. The secondary characters often fell flat for me on the other hand. They were often just a mix of banter between one another and became a means of slight humor rather than actually moving the story along.
As for the story, I was immediately into this novel from the first page. It was definitely catching and ran at a good pace. For a while. Towards the middle of the book, mainly when they start their main adventure, the plot line becomes weak and there is a lot of useless banter back and forth, no real progression other than the crew moving along from place to place, and not much action to keep the reader interested. I found myself skimming the pages until I got to something better. The last part of the book did pick up and ended wonderfully. I liked the romance, the action, and the revenge. I did find the obstacles faced by Elian and his crew awfully easy to overcome (no one gets by just on their charm). I thought that finding the necklace was a bit too convenient as well (it’s been missing for hundreds of years, yet he knows right where it has to be, no research or inquiries required).
Fairy tale retellings are so popular right now, and I’ve definitely gotten caught up in the hype. It’s hard to say that I would recommend this novel as there are a lot more in this category that are much more interesting to read. It is unique on its own and that it is the only Little Mermaid retelling that I know of now, but if this trend continues, there will be more I’m sure. I will probably still purchase for the library, as these book fly off the shelf here. I hope that others enjoy the novel more than me. Interesting and different story, needs some cleaning up.

Fascinating premise. I do love a good re-telling and this one added a lot of edge--I mean she's storing the hearts of princes under her bed.

The writing and tone weren't quite my style, but this book will do well, I'm sure!

2.5 stars

Word Play Blog Book Club Review
gabriellenblog.wordpress.com

This was a very different look at The Little Mermaid tale. And by different, I mean on the complete opposite end of the spectrum compared to the Disney version we are familiar with. This tale pays more homage to the Brothers Grimm than it does to Anderson.

Setting: The world-building was neat, and I'd like to learn more about the various countries represented in the story. I especially liked how the royalty of each country had their own unique myth or legend that made them stand out compared to the rest of the citizens.

Characters: The characters were entertaining, on the whole, even if they did fall a little flat. Lira's character arc stuttered a bit, and I struggled to understand and empathize with what she was going through. I felt like she changed a lot without enough description of what was going through her head to make it believable. Elian, on the other hand, was more enjoyable to read about; however, I felt like he was two different characters, depending on if I was reading from his perspective, or Lira's perspective. I get the author was doing that on purpose, but it just made it harder to connect with him.

Plot: Nothing special here. It's a typical band of YA characters going on a mission to save the world from an oppressive ruler. Read it for the retelling, not for the plot.

Content: The book starts off gruesomely violent, and it doesn't really improve from there. Graphic descriptions of violence are in nearly every chapter, and if this book was made into a movie, it'd probably be rated R. The book did not have any explicit sexual scenes, but it did have some crude jokes and inappropriate references. It also had fairly frequent profanity. A lesbian couple is represented, and sirens seduce both men and women.

Eh ...

My issue with this story wasn't over content or story quality. If you like a potent story of love and the sea, this is a good one. The ending was one of the more enjoyable finales I've read in awhile.

But the editor in me is cringing. Maybe it's because I'm reading an ARC (thanks, Netgalley). But I was expecting typos ... not major editing/writing issues. Don't get me wrong, this author CAN write, but the book is still in serious need of drafting and editing for sentence placement and structure and flow.

Hence my low rating. Hey, if the actual release is improved, I'll give it a bump up.

But the cover and title ... just like a siren - beautiful and alluring.

It took me a while to actually sit down and commit to reading this book, but I'm glad I followed it through. Christo's characters are nuanced and imperfect, not common in a YA book. Both Lira and Elian are gritty, and hardly the typical teen hero. They both have a heavy weight on their shoulders and chafe against the idea of controlling their future and battling for the futures their parents want for them.

I'm sad that it's standalone, but its a great debut.

I'm so thrilled to say that I loved this book a whole bunch. It was dark and gorgeous and a bit of romantic too. I enjoyed all of it so much. The writing was gorgeous, the story was incredible. There is so much that I loved about this book. It's told from two point of views, Lira and Elian. With her a siren, and him a human prince.

And oh, I cannot even begin to describe why I loved this book so much. It was simply the best. I adored getting to know Lira. She has the hearts of seventeen princes in her home under the sea, one for every year she grows. She started killing them by herself when she turned twelve. And gosh, this girl is vicious. Loved her.

I haven't read that many books about sirens, but I can say that I wish they were all like this one. Dark and vicious, the characters changing and getting even more awesome. This was everything I wanted from a story about a pirate and a siren. It was amazing. Though I must mention that the summary is a bit wrong, as Lira did not kill one of her own, she killed a mermaid, which they say is way less than a siren. She was not forced to kill the mermaid, she chose to. And that isn't even why her mother punished her either. Hmph. But even so, it was kind of close, and it was so exciting to read about. Lira was such a vicious and fierce siren. A killer. Yet she had a heart too, somewhat. She cared for her younger cousin, and I adored that friendship so much. Was great.

While Lira was amazing as a siren, I think I loved her more when she ended up as a human. Lira is the daughter of the Sea Queen, whom is so like Ursula in the little mermaid. Full of tentacles and all kinds of cruel and awful. I hated how she treated Lira. And everyone else in the sea too. She is the reason for why Lira is killing a human prince once a year. Why every siren kills a human when they grow. So there is kind of a war between the sirens and the humans. Lira is vicious and cruel as a siren, but that is not all she is.

But when her mother turns her human, oh, how I loved reading about all that. Lira does not want to be a human at all. She almost dies, but is rescued by Elian and his ship in the middle of the ocean. I loved how they fought and argued and slowly became friends. It was the best thing. Elian does not trust her, and he really shouldn't. Lira is there to take his heart back to her mother. Only this time as a human and not as a siren. Lira was an amazing character to read about. Dark and full of murder. Yet she change a bunch too.

And I loved that the very much. She doesn't go all soft, but she starts to see things better, like she used to do when she was a child. And oh, it was all the very best to read about. This whole book was just thrilling. I also very much loved Elian. He is a prince, and I loved the small peeks at his royal family. They seemed awesome. But he spends most of his time at sea, with his ship. He hunts down sirens. And so Elian is a killer too. He's pretty dark at times, yet so fun and sweet too, and I adored reading about him. Very much.

There is not all that much romance in this book, but there is a little bit, and it was so stunning. I shipped these two characters so much. Lira and Elian were both awesome and they fit together so well. I mean, yeah, she lied about who she was almost the whole book, but even so. They were perfect together. And I loved reading about them, how they argued and teased each other and eee. It was written so well and it was gorgeous and I loved these two characters the very most. Sigh. I only wanted more kissing, haha.

There is a whole bunch of amazing characters in this book. I'm not going to talk about them all, just going to mention a little of them. Elian has a ship that he is captain of, with a bunch of people who are loyal to him. We get to know a few of them, and they were so much fun. And seemed so awesome. I loved how they protected him and cared for him. This book is all about Lira and Elian, but the side characters were important too, and were written so well. We don't see the sirens a lot, but they seemed so awesome too.

There is so much going on in this book. I'm not going to mention all of it, just talking about it a little. The story is about how Lira is trying to take the heart of Elian, killing him. And how Elian is searching for a weapon to finally kill the Sea Queen, and her daughter. I loved how these two characters started to care for each other. Though Lira does lie to him almost the whole book. But I didn't mind that too much. They were just so cute together. And eee, this story was incredible. I loved every moment of it. And want more.

I'm giving this lovely book five stars. Because I loved it a whole bunch and it was everything I wanted it to be. Eee. The characters were beyond stunning, and the story was so exciting. I mean, sure, there was a few things that bothered me a little bit, like I wish there was a little more of the romance. And I'm curious to know even more about that ending. But I also just loved this book. And I am feeling so happy about it all. Also, the ending was great. A bit rude, yet fully perfect too. I loved it so much. Whole book was great.

I think you should all read this book. Because To Kill a Kingdom was everything that I wanted it to be. Fun and dangerous and so good. The characters were written so well and I loved them to pieces. I wish there would be even more books with all of them, but yeah, this is a stand alone. Aw. But I really wouldn't mind more about them all, one day. Eee. Fingers crossed. Either way, I cannot wait to read more by this author. Thank you so much to the publisher for my copy via Netgalley. Now in a huge need of the print ARC too.

3.85 Stars

I had to be very specific in my star rating because I didn’t want it to seem like I didn’t enjoy this book. I did, very much so. This isn’t a 3 Star book but it isn’t a 4 Star book (even though I rounded up in my rating on here). Hence, 3.85.
Christo has grasped such vivid imagery in her writing that I felt as if I was in the novel on every page. This novel was immediately gripping but lost a little of its finesse in the middle of the book. It got a little tedious and for what felt like 100 pages I just wanted something to happen and for the characters to get a move on. However, the characters themselves were so interesting, they kept me hooked enough that I wanted to keep reading. I am really glad I did because the ending was excellent. For the final few chapters I absolutely could not put it down. I have recommended it to many of my friends and I think this will be an instant hit when it is released. There were some fantastic lines such as “You can’t win a war, someone else just loses.”

Biggest gripe: awkward pirate-ness of the novel. My eyes rolled so frequently when I first met Elian and his crew that I was getting headaches. Elian-at times-is like some sort of kid who thinks that searching for his own identity is his act of rebelling against his parents and his perceived constraints of society. His identity winds up being this sometimes annoying emo pirate attitude. ‘Look at me I dress like a pirate. I act like a pirate. I’m no prince, I’m a pirate.’ The only pirate cliche he and his crew were lacking in was the use of the word argh. It gets to a point where it’s like, ok we get it you’re a pirate. Elian and his crew are wonderful characters that you really care about; Christo just needs to tone down the forced pirate-ness (I can’t think of an actual word to describe it). Lira doesn’t fare any better when she decides to try and ‘fit in’ with the crew:
“Lira’s hair is pulled to one side in sweeping strands, with braided string running through odd sections. Large gold hoops hang from her ears, stretching her lobes.even from the quarterdeck, I can see the dried blood around the loops. She’s dressed in a pair of dark teal trousers with an ornate jacket to match, ridged by oval button twists. Her shoulders are a flourish of gold tassels, and the ends of a white dress shirt poke out from her wrists. There are patches on her elbows, hastily stitched together with black string. Lira places a hand on her hip and tries to pretend she doesn’t feel self conscious, but it’s the first true thing I’ve seen on her face since we met. She may look like a pirate, but she’s got a way to go before she can pass as one.”
I’d be self conscious too if the only pirate I could pass as is Captain Hook. If she finds herself a parrot, she’s all set for Disney. Never fear though, they all mature and the forced pirate-ness of the novel dissipates.

Overall though, I would absolutely recommend reading this.

There had better be a second book because I am not ready to give up Elian, Lira, and the crew AT ALL.

This novel was a very good read. It is not for the faint of heart, but it shows that people can change. The novel brings in the mythology of sirens and the dangers they cause to those who fall into their mists. It tells of those who try to stop the sirens and try to protect humanity.
Lira is a siren princess with her mother being the queen of the sea. Every year a siren is take a heart of a human. Lira only takes the hearts of human princes. This story shows of Lira's transformation, from being the Princes' Bane to the queen she can become. Lira is brutal, due to her mother, and kills without thought until she commits a crime and as punishment is made human and needs to take the heart of a sailor.
Elian is the prince of Midas and a siren killer. He prefers the sea than being groomed to rule the kingdom after his parents. After the Princes' Bane kills his friend, he seeks revenge. He needs to find the key to destroying all sirens, even if it involves making deals that he does not want to. He is a good captain on his ship and his crew respect and trust him. When he finds Lira is the ocean, he does not trust her and knows she is hiding something.
Elian and Lira work together to find the key to destroying the sirens, each having a different goal in mind. As Lira spends time with the humans, she begins to see them in a different perspective and feels remorse for the kills she has committed. She realizes she needs to kill her mother and needs Elian's help, even though she was sent to take his heart. As they spend more time together, their opinions of each other change, opening up their minds to other possibilities. However, when Elian learns the truth of Lira's deception, can Lira convince him that she has changed? Will they be able to destroy the sea queen and finally bring peace between the humans and sirens?

This is favorite genre, mythology romance, and it rates up high on my list! Great descriptions of the characters and I enjoyed the progress of the main characters' relationship from combative and hostile to loving and trusting. The story flowed well and kept me and quickly turning pages. Loved it!

I received this ARC in a fair trade with a fellow blogger. My review is completely honest and voluntary, I was in no way compensated for this review.



I was most ecstatic to read Alexandra Christo’s debut To Kill a Kingdom that has a The Little Mermaid flair to it, though this is not your ordinary retelling, more that the fairy tale was a base for this story! This story was truly unique and enthralling! It pretty much held me spellbound throughout because everything is not what you would expect from this story!


First off, our heroine, Lira—note that spelling there, look familiar?—is not a mermaid, but a siren. There’s a difference, in most literature and in this world too of course! Lira is the daughter of the Sea Queen, who’s very Ursula like even though she’s a siren too, and she longs for the day that she will take her mother’s place. Every year she takes the heart of some hapless prince who dares to be sailing on her ocean. She’s earned a named for herself as the Princes’ Bane, but when she kills another prince a few weeks earlier—as she is only allowed to take the heart of a “man” once a year, her mother decides to punish her in the worst way possible.


Then we have our prince, Elian—starts with the same letter as another familiar prince, eh?—who is anything but princely, though he is in fact a prince. He much prefers the life of piracy! He makes it his mission to scour the seas and try to kill any all sirens that cross his path, he’s looking for the Princes’ Bane of course, for she has killed one of his dear friends. Then as it happens, one day he comes across a maiden just floating in the sea, completely naked.


As you can gather, this is our siren, Lira who was punished by her mother with the worst fate imaginable; legs. She is told to take the siren killer’s heart and return to her mother before her birthday arrives or ELSE! It’s not long before Lira’s plans change though, she still plans to kill the prince of course, but she also plans to steal the magical eye that is said to be the other half of the one her mother owns. With it, Lira can control the sirens and take her place as true queen of the sea.


This was a most magical story! There’s not a better way of describing it! All along we know what Lira plans and what she is, we know she’s deceiving the prince. But then we also know what the prince is thinking, for this story alternates between both of their points of view. He’s not a hapless sap that falls in love with Lira from the moment he sees her, nor she him. In fact, the two aren’t very fond of one another at all. Neither one trusts the other, and with good reason.


I will admit though that the changing points of view threw me a bit. Since they’re both in first person and there’s no identifying header with the chapters, I wasn’t really aware of a narration change until several lines down. This happened every time it would change. It’s perhaps one of my only complaints of the story. Lira and Elian are pretty similar in some ways and they both want the same thing of course, so when there’s a new chapter ahead, it wasn’t always clear who was at the helm.


The romance though was pretty awesome! Mostly because it was hardly there. It’s one of the slowest burning romances I’ve ever read and I loved every moment of it! Elian and Lira aren’t very fond of one another when they first meet, but Lira realizes in order to get to the eye that will give her power of the sea and sirens, she will need Elian’s help. And eventually, very, very slowly, a friendship is formed between them that heightens to romance!


The tension of the story was spot on! It’s not a fact paced kind of read, but the slow buildup does tend to draw the reader in by giving little bits of action, suspense, thrills, and chills intermingling throughout the story. There’s a good dose of action scenes throughout as Lira and Elian and his crew go on this treacherous journey! It’s a read that has you constantly turning the pages eager to see how they get out of each bind they find themselves in. And of course we have the burgeoning romance between Lira and Elian.


I’ve read the original The Little Mermaid and naturally, I’ve seen the Disney movie, so the ending was bound to go in either or the two ways. Needless to say, I was holding my breath in anticipation as things got really intense in the final showdown! I have to say that I was quite pleased with the route Alexandra chose to go! It was very fitting for the story and characters!


To Kill a Kingdom is not your ordinary Little Mermaid story, in fact, it pretty much blows the original and Disney one out of the water with its boldness and edginess! It’s a truly beautiful and unique kind of read that all fairy tale fans are going to want to get their fins—er hands—on a copy stat!



Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars



To Kill a Kingdom releases March 6, 2018

I had just heard this book was one of several involving the ocean, pirates, and possibly mermaids. I figured I'd give it a try and boy, am I glad I did! To Kill a Kingdom is one of my favorite reads of the year. It's a retelling of the Little Mermaid, but this time with the main character as a siren. Her mother plays the role of the wicked sea witch. And there is a dashing love interest. These two are pitted against each other from the start. Sirens kill princes. Princes kill sirens. What happens when they fall for each other? It is a beautifully written cat and mouse game, and you can't help but root for these characters and the main character is a kick ass female protagonist. What more can you ask for? Pick up this book, you won't be sorry. It's amazing.

Alexandra Christo's "To Kill a Kingdom" is a fast paced fantasy novel that is well worth the time to read. I enjoyed the siren and prince struggle to find themselves and to truly find and accept each other. Often novels that utilize double narration, alternating between each chapter can be confusing or frustrating, but much to my relief "To Kill a Kingdom's" first person narrators (Lira and Elian) had distinct, clear, and interesting POVs making the switch easy to follow and easy to appreciate. Both the main and side characters are compelling, even if the reader is left wanting a bit more in terms of character development overall. Basic world building is complete, and the novel stays on point giving readers just a hint of the regions outside of the main areas the story focuses on. 3.5-4 stars for sure. For the most part, I had a hard time putting this book down, and I found that a stand alone fantasy novel was just want I have been wanting to read-no slow build just to get to a second or third book was absolutely refreshing. I look forward to reading more from Christo in the future.

It took a few chapters for me to figure out if I like the characters. After that I didn't want it to end and would love to see some spin offs.

4.5*

Princess Lira rips a prince's heart out every year for her birthday. Prince Elian is the pirate-prince who has sworn to kill her. When these two are forced together and ultimately must fight for the survival of their kingdoms, only one can survive.

I'm a sucker for a book with a hard-core anti-heroine and witty banter between the main characters, but throw in a well-written story, non-stop action between the pages, and a prince you can't help but love, and and I'm hooked!

Difficult to follow and tedious. The heroine reminded me of Katniss with a tail. For fans of the genre only.