Book Review of 'To Kill a Kingdom' by Alexandra Christo

Premise: 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:

    To Kill a Kingdom is a dark ocean-themed fantasy that has a unique spin, that’s perfectly written with scenery and prose. There are two main characters: Lira and Elian. 

    Lira is the princess of the sirens, the daughter of the Sea Queen, the heir to the Sea Queen’s throne, and has earned an infamous reputation among humans who call her the Princes’ Bane. As per siren tradition, once a year on her birthday, Lira uses her siren song to enchant a human, and then rips out their heart, as more hearts = more power and respect amongst sirens. However, unlike other sirens, Lira doesn’t bother with average sailors; she only takes the hearts of princes. After several events occur, Lira disobeys her mother who punishes her by turning her into a human, something all sirens despise. Lira can only turn back into a siren (and regain her respect, loyalty of her subjects, and the right to the throne) if she takes the heart of the well-known siren killer, a human foolishly dedicated to ridding the world of sirens. However, Lira doesn’t have the power of her song this time. But she’ll do whatever it takes.

    Elian is a human and the crown prince of Midas, the largest and most powerful kingdom in the world. He is expected to be king, but he doesn’t want to be bound to the throne he’s supposed to inherit. He’s a sailor, a pirate, and an adventurer, and doesn’t like staying in one place for too long. More than the kingdom of Midas, he feels at home most on his ship, the Sa’ad. But above all, he’s a siren killer. He’s the siren killer. He spends his time roaming the seas, killing sirens, to make the world a safer place for humans. But what he wants more than anything is to kill the biggest threat: the Princes’ Bane. He slowly uncovers secrets to finding the Crystal of Keto which might just stop the Sea Queen and her sirens forever. It’s a dangerous journey. But he’ll do whatever it takes.

    A prince siren-killer and a siren prince-killer thrown together and you have the makings of a perfect story. The banter is gold too: 

"If the necklace is that precious," I say, "we should have just killed Tallis to get it."

"You can't just kill everyone you don't like."

"I know that. Otherwise you'd be dead already."

Or

“You’re a little heartless today, aren’t you?”

“Never,” I say. “There are seventeen under my bed.”

    The writing is very detailed and so descriptive that you can practically imagine the smell of the ocean and see the golden kingdom of Midas yourself.

“In Midas, the ocean glitters gold. At least, that’s the illusion. Really, it’s as blue as any sea, but the light does things. Unexplainable things. The light can lie. The castle towers above the land, built into the largest pyramid. It’s crafted from pure gold, so that each stone and brick is a gleaming expanse of sunlight. The statues scatter on the horizon, and the houses in the lower towns are all painted the same. Streets and cobbles glow yellow, so that when the sun hits the ocean, it glitters in an unmistakable reflection. It’s only ever during the darkest parts of night that the true blue of the Midasan Sea can be seen.”

    The descriptions weren’t long passages but you could still see each setting clearly. Additionally, the world-building was so diverse! There are 100 human kingdoms, and obviously the characters didn't go to each one, but the ones they did go to were described impressively and you really get a sense of a world being built.

    This book lives up to the hype. Read it. I recommend this book to everyone. On a scale of one through five stars, I rate this book 5 stars.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

~ Candria

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P.S. If you read this book and liked it, you might enjoy reading Daughter of the Pirate King