Sirens, and Pirates, and an amazingly awesome novel! Oh my!
It is not often I will read an author’s work an immediately swear that I will read every single piece of writing they ever produce from then on (who am I kidding? I do it all the time!), but as soon as I read the opening chapters of To Kill a Kingdom, I swore that no matter what Alexandra Christo wrote, I would read the heck out of it. If there’s ever a day where I see a Christo novel and don’t look at it with a heart-eye emoji in place of my head, you will know the end has come.
With the hindsight gained from writing this review ten months after I finished the book, I can confidently say that I am so so so glad I was able to read To Kill a Kingdom. It is definitely one of 2018’s best YA Fantasy novels and I am thrilled to see that it and Alexandra have gotten the recognition and glory they deserve this year.
Now, rather than endless fangirling, To Kill a Kingdom began with the knowledge that it had everything it needed to draw me in: royalty (siren royalty nonetheless), sirens, mermaids, pirates, ruthless murderers, an evil queen, actually being a Little Mermaid retelling that has blood and revenge and magicky things.
Our protagonists—Prince Elian, siren slayer (not his actual title, but I think it works well), and Princess Lira, siren sovereign (I’m killing it with this alliteration today)—are both killers. Now I love myself a murdery baby in a novel, can’t get enough of it, the more blood and fun violence, the better. So when To Kill a Kingdom began:
»»————- ♡ ————-««
I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive.
There are seventeen hidden in the sand of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle just to check they’re still there. Buried deep and bloody.
»»————- ♡ ————-««
I knew I was going to adore this book. Paired with such lines as, “Technically, I’m a murderer, but I like to think that’s one of my better qualities.” I could not love these characters any more if I tried. Except one is a sassy, gorgeous, badass siren princess and the other is an attractive, humourous, honourable pirate prince. I mean, come on!
From the very start, I was hooked, and I stayed that way until the very last full stop on the very last page. The fact that To Kill a Kingdom is a standalone YA Fantasy is honestly surprising because how many of those do you see around? However, I think it was paced and finished wonderfully and, despite the fact that I’m in love with the characters and setting and Alexandra Christo has said she might be writing more books around other secondary characters to explore this really awesome world and the stories in it, I am perfectly happy with it staying a standalone.
[However, if she really wants to write more books about Lira and Elian, I am totally down to read the s@?# out of them as if my life depends on it. Please and thank you!]
So, overall, Alexandra Christo can write—boy can she write—and I loved both POVs (which doesn’t happen often, let me tell you), and the plot was a great plot that I didn’t immediately guess the direction of, and congrats to her cover designers because if this ain’t the prettiest and most aesthetic book I’ve seen in a long while… (Shoutout to Liz Dresner and Anneka Sandher, the aforementioned designers!)
Just to clarify, if you haven’t read this book, read it! It’s amazing and will forever be one of my favourites as long as I live and own at least one brain cell.
With the hindsight gained from writing this review ten months after I finished the book, I can confidently say that I am so so so glad I was able to read To Kill a Kingdom. It is definitely one of 2018’s best YA Fantasy novels and I am thrilled to see that it and Alexandra have gotten the recognition and glory they deserve this year.
Now, rather than endless fangirling, To Kill a Kingdom began with the knowledge that it had everything it needed to draw me in: royalty (siren royalty nonetheless), sirens, mermaids, pirates, ruthless murderers, an evil queen, actually being a Little Mermaid retelling that has blood and revenge and magicky things.
Our protagonists—Prince Elian, siren slayer (not his actual title, but I think it works well), and Princess Lira, siren sovereign (I’m killing it with this alliteration today)—are both killers. Now I love myself a murdery baby in a novel, can’t get enough of it, the more blood and fun violence, the better. So when To Kill a Kingdom began:
»»————- ♡ ————-««
I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive.
There are seventeen hidden in the sand of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle just to check they’re still there. Buried deep and bloody.
»»————- ♡ ————-««
I knew I was going to adore this book. Paired with such lines as, “Technically, I’m a murderer, but I like to think that’s one of my better qualities.” I could not love these characters any more if I tried. Except one is a sassy, gorgeous, badass siren princess and the other is an attractive, humourous, honourable pirate prince. I mean, come on!
From the very start, I was hooked, and I stayed that way until the very last full stop on the very last page. The fact that To Kill a Kingdom is a standalone YA Fantasy is honestly surprising because how many of those do you see around? However, I think it was paced and finished wonderfully and, despite the fact that I’m in love with the characters and setting and Alexandra Christo has said she might be writing more books around other secondary characters to explore this really awesome world and the stories in it, I am perfectly happy with it staying a standalone.
[However, if she really wants to write more books about Lira and Elian, I am totally down to read the s@?# out of them as if my life depends on it. Please and thank you!]
So, overall, Alexandra Christo can write—boy can she write—and I loved both POVs (which doesn’t happen often, let me tell you), and the plot was a great plot that I didn’t immediately guess the direction of, and congrats to her cover designers because if this ain’t the prettiest and most aesthetic book I’ve seen in a long while… (Shoutout to Liz Dresner and Anneka Sandher, the aforementioned designers!)
Just to clarify, if you haven’t read this book, read it! It’s amazing and will forever be one of my favourites as long as I live and own at least one brain cell.