Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

SYNOPSIS:

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?

MY REVIEW: [5 stars]

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

I am just sitting here in shock and full of feels and alskfjal;skdjfa;lksjf GO ORDER THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. How am I supposed to write a coherent review? Gah!

Okay *breathes*

So if you haven’t seen the description, this is somewhat of a little mermaid retelling, except there are lots of creatives spins that pull from other folklore as well! (For example, Midas ;))

Lira is a siren known as the ‘Prince’s Bane’ – and she’s infamous for killing princes. Yep, that’s what she does. She rips out their hearts. Not to mention, she’s the daughter of the mighty Sea Queen who is pretty much terrible all around. She’s Ursula if Ursula was chewed up, spit out by the devil himself (but still manages to be attractive). Poor Lira’s upbringing, and the reason she is a killer, is actually horribly sad.

Annnyyywayyy, Lira is unashamedly brutal and hunts with vicious intent.

Elian is a prince whos pastime is piracy. Yep, you heard me. We have a pirate prince on our hands, ladies and gentlemen. Nikolai Lantsov, meet your brother from another mother. Anyway, Elian is hilariously sassy and all around amazing. But why does he patrol the seas, you ask?

He hunts sirens. And he kills a great deal of them.

So we have a prince killer and a siren killer – the makings of a perfectly delicious story.

Anyway, after an event that royally pisses of the Sea Queen, she changes Lira into a human as punishment and orders her to go kill the siren-killer prince (but without her siren powers.) Elian finds Lira, who looks like an ordinary girl at this point, conveniently drowning in the ocean. But instead of trying to kill him right off the bat, Lira has another idea – and decides to stick around for a while.

That’s all I’m going to say.

Here’s what you need to know:

Elian is everything. His crew is everything. The WRITING is everything. (Seriously, all aspiring authors need to read this and revel in its beauty. I have SO MANY LINES highlighted.) There is romance, banter, pirates, action, drama, adventure, strong character arcs, and lots of fun kingdoms. I don’t want to spoil anything else. Just read it.

Alexandra is a master of creative writing, character, and storytelling. I honestly loved every bit of this book, and you can bet I’ll be shoving it at everyone I know.