Overall: 🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
Storyline:
Writing Style:
Character Development:
World-building:
“And the ocean, calling out to us both. A song of freedom and longing.”
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
The Story:
The Siren: The deadliest thing in the sea is me. Or at least I am right after my mother, the Sea Queen. I am Lira, Princess of the Sirens and my favorite title, the Prince’s Bain. I currently have 17 hearts under my bed. One from every prince that has died for each of my birthdays. For my 18th birthday, I have my eyes set on the Prince of Gold or better known as the Siren Hunter. Not just for my collection, but to win my mother’s favor back. My world is cut-throat and out for blood, but I will not let that blood be mine.
The Pirate: I hardly see myself as a prince anymore, far more a pirate. My heart is tied to the sea and removing the threat to those who wish to pass over the beautiful waters. No more will die to the song of a siren if I can help it. My name is Elian, Crown Prince of Midas, The City of Gold and – as I would rather be known – Captain of the Saad. My kingdom calls for me to come home and become their king. But I know once I accept, I will be no longer Elian. I will only be the King of Gold. So for now I run head first out to sea and fight the sirens to hopefully destroy the monsters for good. Or at the least, kill the Prince’s Bain.
The Quest: The world is becoming filled with hate, fear, and death. And only a crystal mentioned in a fairytale can save the land from the sea. It will take the cooperation of both sea and land to change the tides and rid the world of the monsters. But that has never happened. What is it worth to you to save world?
Key Elements:
Young Adult, Fiction, Romance, Adventure, Ocean, Pirates, Sirens
Why This Rating?
There is just something about the ocean that always has me coming back for more. Whether that be in person or a story, I can honestly say that I have found one of my weaknesses and I am totally ok with that. This book was a wonderful standalone read that I enjoyed immensely. Alexandra Christo did a gorgeous job with her writing in this story. She was able to capture scenes with wonderful details and even managed to put a little ocean sway with the words she used. It was brilliant to have the crisper and colder words come from the heartless sirens and the warmer and embellished descriptions come from the humans. Just a little bit a distinction between the two waring sides was a nice touch. And that was only a little bit of the writing skills Christo was able to wield in this novel.
Who would have thought that a story about a pirate and a siren would be able to capture such and interest. Considering most of the time we get stories about a prince and a mermaid, too have those positions actually be disliked (in the terms of a prince) and loathed (being a mermaid) was really interesting. I liked the fact we got a chance to read from the “underdogs” in this story. Even if the siren wants to kill the prince and the prince wants to kill all sirens. It was cute! This prince and princess wanted nothing more than to forget about the responsibilities of who they were back home and focus on what their goals were at that moment in time. Refreshing change. – On a side note, every time Prince Elian mentioned that he would rather be a pirate than a prince I kept thinking, ‘Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A pirate’s life for me!’.
Speaking of characters, the growth that we see from them is amazing! I did not expect to see that far of a change for one of the characters (I’ll reframe from saying which one because of spoilers). And in the end it made a huge difference for the outcome of the kingdom. The change wasn’t sudden either. I’ve seen author’s present a character development moment and rush through it. In the end it seemed like a superficial development for the individual instead of a true, down to the heart adjustment. Christo was able to slowly pull out the developmental moments and allow the character find the new path that exists. A very tasteful way of giving the audience a heartwarming character growth.
I know I have been giving this book a lot of praise and what seems like nonexistent critics, but of the things I saw that I didn’t care for where far more personal choices than anything. I wasn’t a fan of the secrecy Prince Elian with his meetings with the other kingdom. more because keeping the plan a secret didn’t really make sense to me. No one’s reactions were necessary to drive a point forward. And if the news would have gotten to the intended person, it would have already gotten there because the Saad was traveling in a different direction for a while. So to keep a secret from his crew and essentially his family, didn’t quite make any sense other than to create ‘suspense’ I guess?? Other than that, I really enjoyed this novel and loved the fact that I got a really nice conclusion at the end of the story. Could there be more? Of course, as it is with any and all stories we read! However, the way Christo tied everything up was perfectly done. Highly recommend!
Time to get lost in the next story!
