Saturday, June 23, 2018

Book Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Release Date: March 6th, 2018
Read: March 26th-April 2nd, 2018
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Series: Standalone
Format: ARC, 342 pages
Source: Publisher in exchange for honest review




Description 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?



Review:


   In my heart, I’m as wild as the ocean that raised me.
    To Kill a Kingdom made a fairly large splash on social media before I even had the chance to hear about it from work or even from GoodReads. This was a little peculiar since I usually make it a habit of mine to actively seek out Mermaid titles. Especially ones that are retellings. So of course once it was all over my timeline I made it a mission to get my hands on a copy of To Kill a Kingdom.

   Anything evil mermaid related is an obsession of mine, no matter how old the book, I have to read it . So when I picked up To Kill a Kingdom, is was an instant love, I even made my coworker bring it into our store to put her in her paranormal section. I loved everything about the society of sirens, everything from the murderous queen to the tradition of stealing the hearts of a mortal as a birthday tradition. It even made my day as to have an explanation as to how the sirens came to be, with there being an even worse race of male sirens that are just horrific in every way imaginable. I couldn’t have been happier with Alexandra Christo’s portrayal of mermaids.

   Even though it was advertised as a Little Mermaid retelling, I could also see the elements of other fairy tales mixed into the book as well. The second one that stood out the most was the story of King Midas. Being a fairy tale fanatic it was a fun little side piece to read into the different kingdoms and see little impressions of other fairy tales.

   As you get further into To Kill a Kingdom you can obviously see how much work and detail went into the storyline and plot, it was refreshing to see how everything fit together in the end without any loose threads.

   The only thing I did not enjoy about To Kill a Kingdom was the journey that occurs in the last parts of the book. I found that even with the plot being so detailed, the journey still could have been longer. With the journey being done in such a short span of time it felt as if it was somewhat rushed. I honestly thought between it all, the story could have even been two books, a duology.

   To Kill a Kingdom was a murderous, magical adventure that I kept me enthralled all the way until the final page. If Alexandra Christo ever decides to revisit the world she’s created with this book, you will certainly see my name at the top of the list of people who would like to read it. 

Rating:

Favourite Quote:


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

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:


Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mermaids, Witches, Magic, Little Mermaid, King Midas



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