Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

To Kill a Kingdom
by Alexandra Christo

March 6, 2018

384 pages

Goodreads     Indigo

Goodreads Summary:
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 definitely lives up to the heaps of praises I've seen floating around the book community. While the story didn't blow my mind, my expectations were easily met.

There was plenty of action and adventures filling the pages of To Kill a Kingdom. Ms. Christo did not leave anything out. Some of the gory moments were quite graphic and I must say not for the faint of heart. I cringed more than a few times but I was also totally all for the descriptive details (conflicting I know but just like this book). It was so easy to visualize the world and all its fine points. The kingdoms were delicate and the politics intricate.

To Kill a Kingdom was all about the characters. Specifically Princess Lira and Prince Elian were incredible. Both were royalty with much weight on their shoulders. We got to witness their complexities and growths first hand as they faced conflicts within and outside themselves. Driven, unyielding and even vicious- they stopped at nothing to achieve their goals. Noble or not Lira and Elian were outstanding characters. I loved unraveling their hidden depths.

There's definitely some hate-to-love romance in To Kill a Kingdom. It's not a big part of the story though I thought it was pretty essential to the story's development. I was all for the tension between Lira and Elian. The slow burn simmered nicely behind their distrust for each other; their bantering always teetered between delicious and deadly. The balance was beautiful though I certainly wouldn't have minded some more kissing ;)

I have some minor issues with how the climax played out. However those are entirely my personal preference so I won't say much except things felt a little too smooth. I had hoped for a little more consequences to past actions.

Add To Kill a Kingdom to your TBR because there's much swashbuckling adventures to be had with these dark and enchanting characters in their eye-opening world. I'm excited to see what the author will give us next.
 

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way.