Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Published by: Feiwel & Friends on March 6, 2018
Genre: Fantasy, Mermaids
Pages: 384
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★

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?

To Kill a Kingdom is a standalone! Do you have any idea how refreshing that is? I’ve been reading tons of series lately and while I do love series, it’s always nice to read a standalone that wraps everything up neatly and doesn’t have any cliffhangers. I got to enjoy a complete story and feel nice and satisfied at the end.

To Kill a Kingdom was everything it promised:

• Two kingdoms at war.
• Sirens and mermaids.
• Enemies falling in love.
• The main character questioning her violent upbringing (nature vs nurture).

I really loved watching Lira’s development. Her mom is dark, twisted, and hates humans, and taught Lira to be the same. But circumstances allow Lira to live among humans for a while and her opinion of them changes.

I really like books that experiment with nature vs nurture. Lira spends quite a bit of time thinking about whether it’s in a siren’s nature to be violent and kill humans, or if they were pushed to be that way by their queen. It’s always an interesting thing to explore and I really enjoyed this book’s take on it.

To Kill a Kingdom does have a nice romance, but it’s not really overpowering. It’s definitely there, but I think it’s also clearly not the most important part of the story.

It was missing a little X-factor that would have let me give it five stars, but I definitely recommend this book if you want a darker version of The Little Mermaid and a standalone that will wrap up neatly at the end! Win!