5 Things that Stood Out to me about To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Published by Feiwel & Friends ISBN: 9781250112682
on March 6, 2018
Genres: Fairy Tales & Folklore, Mermaids, Royalty
Pages: 352
Read it as: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis

Lira, a famous siren, must prove herself by stealing the heart of the man, a prince, threatening their race in this dark and action-packed debut.

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 and 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?

Alexandra Christo's debut is a dark and richly imagined take on The Little Mermaid that will leave readers breathless.

 

I hadn’t picked up a mermaid book in forever. I’m so glad I did with To Kill a Kingdom. The last book was the Of Poseidon ones by Anna Bank. They were entertaining but… I hadn’t really seen mermaids as something epic and dangerous. I knew they could be depicted as such since movies have used mermaids in their gentlest presentations and also in their savage ones. YA lit, on the other hand, at least for me, not so much. But this book really opened my eyes to the potential.

 

1. Characters who aren’t entirely good and don’t agonize too much about it, front and center

Lira kills princes and literally snatches with her bare hands their hearts from their chest. Of course she eventually questions her actions, and it’s part of how she grows as a character but she doesn’t cry over it during the whole book, agonizing over her past misdeeds and throwing a pity party all the time. At the same time, Elian has killed plenty of sirens because that’s his thing. He wants to create a better world in which they won’t have to be a afraid of crazy sea creatures trying to kill humans. So, he does reflect on the impact on his soul, ending lives, even if in his eyes these are monsters. But he doesn’t second guess it. He does what he has to do.

Maybe if this book had been about a younger Elian in which he’d just started his quest to rid the world of sirens, we’d have seen him with more doubts and a little more angst, but I’m glad that was not the case. The characters are still young, obviously but he has been doing this for a while and has come to terms with it, more or less. That was great to see.

 

2. The dialogue parts were odd at times

The dialogue was very fun and I enjoyed it a lot. But there were parts in which it read more like a script. The characters liked to banter and throw words back at each other like a volley match, but I couldn’t help but feel like it lacked a little description, even if that would take away a bit of the snappiness of the moment. Maybe that’s just the writer in me though.

 

3. Slow burn romance is soo worth it

So, there is a little romance in the story, for the hopess romantics who were wondering. But it’s really slow burn. I liked it though because there were hints throughout and it all was building towards the end. The romance was slow, but it was all about the trust building between Lira and Elian. If Elian at any moment thought Lira was gorgeous or something, he had very clear in his head, at least at the beginning, that this was a strange girl who had appeared out of nowhere and that was not to be trusted until she could prove otherwise.

In the end, it made it much more satisfying how everything happened!

 

4. Great worldbuilding

Elian and his crew visited many different places during this story. He considers this nomadic life, his home. With every new place that was described, I didn’t feel confused but was right along with Elian’s and even Lira’s clear fascination for those places. True, that in one book it’s hard to cram in enough elements to make the world come to life and not go overboard either. The author achieved this balance in my opinion. I would love to know more about the world she created, and I’m glad she didn’t try to tell us absolutely everything about these kingdoms, leaving room for later, should that ever happen! I hope it does!

 

5. It resonated with me

This book had a solid grasp on theme, and me likes. The characters themselves reflected on this, how similar they were, yet at the same time, complete opposites. This was an amazing way to develop the characters. While I couldn’t relate to them much -what can I say, I’m not that fierce lol-, I was very invested in the story, and that’s always a good thing!

 

Do you like books about mermaids? What about other fantasy creatures? Do you think there are some that might be getting forgotten and need to make a come back?

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