To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo piped my interested as really enjoying siren/ pirate books at the moment.
Princess Lira is the Siren Queens daughter, and know though the land as the Princes Bane the most lethal Siren as she only takes the hearts of princes, 17 hearts so far. Lira breaks a ruling from her mother, to punish her the Siren Queen turn her into something she loathe the most a human. The only way to return to her siren form is to take the heart of the Siren Killer Prince Elian.
Prince Elian is the Prince of Midas and the Pirate know as the Siren Killer, he spends his time at time at sea catching and killing Siren, trying to make the sea a safer place. After his friend and fellow Prince is killed by the Princes Bane he swear he will destroy the Siren Queen. He is on a mission to kill the Siren Queen when he pulls a naked woman (Lira) from the sea who tells him she can help him kill the Siren Queen. Can Elian trust her? Can Lira take Elian heart and return to her Siren form? What will Elian sacrifice to end all Siren kind?
This book is an epic Pirate/ Siren adventure, which has some dark elements wrapped into this beautifully written YA story.
To Kill a Kingdom is a retelling of the fairytale The Little Mermaid, with a darker twist that the Disney version. As it is a retelling it ment that I could guess certain things would happen, although I wasn’t always correct with my guess. Ever time the book mentions the Siren Queen all I see in my mind is Ursula for Disney The Little Mermaid version.
One of my favourite elements of the book is the banter between Lira and Elian;
“I’d be flattered” I say, “that you would look for an excuse just to hold my hand.”
“Perhaps I’m just looking for an excuse to shoot you.”
Many of their lines made me laugh, I especially liked the fact that Lira response are not the standard female responses.
It did take me a little bit to get into the book and warm to the characters, but once I got a couple of chapters I was hooked on the story. The book different chapters focus on either Lira and Elian perspective, I enjoyed the fact you got to see the story from both sides.
Thanks to Readerfirst as I won a copy on their site.
I would recommend this book for anyone that enjoys The Little Mermaid or fairytale retelling.
I give this book 4.5 out of 5
Thanks for reading
Gem x
