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sarah_cameron's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
Minor: Alcohol
aerisaturner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
vici24kl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Blood
Minor: Slavery
lucasxx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse
nicole_m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Blood and Outing
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Medical content, and Torture
If the warnings above trigger you than I don’t recommend this book. If not then give it a try if you like and enjoy!rikki_fae's review against another edition
For cons, the book romanticized violence (at least in the beginning; I DNFed it) in the guise of a dark siren trope. I understand what the author intended but I think the themes/content of abuse and violence were not handled as responsibly as they could have been (especially for a YA audience). I think this is because the narrator not only subscribes to these violent ideologies, but praises them in her inner-dialogue.
Which leads me to the second point; I felt the bloodlust was a bit over the top, and I enjoy the grim-dark genre. I did not enjoy the constant inner dialogue telling us how dark the she and the society are. This might be a consequence of some descriptions being told and not shown.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
olivialoveyloo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, and Gore
Minor: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, and Slavery
catchmereadingnotsleeping's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Death, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Confinement
aandromeda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
secondhandstargazing's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
⚔️ To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo ⚔️
To Kill A Kingdom was a highly enjoyable stand-alone fantasy retelling of The Little Mermaid. While I really liked it, I’m glad there’s not like 7 more giant TOMES to read in order to get to the end. Stand-alone fantasies are hard to do, so I commend Alexandra Christo for writing one with decent and unique world building, a balanced dual narration, and a satisfying conclusion.
I especially like how well done one of my favourite tropes, the enemies-to-lovers trope, was done. It is probably the best execution of the trope I’ve seen so far. Lira and Elian have ACTUAL reasons to be enemies, which is what a lot of enemies to lovers tropes in books seem to miss; and it is a nice slooooow burn romance. And once they start to connect, they find meaningful things they have in common, as opposed to just chemistry, which is what a lot of other books rely too heavily on.
One criticism I have is that there are too many villains. The Sea Queen is good as a villain because she has a narrative purpose in the story, power, and an established connection with Lira. The other secondary, side character villains were just unnecessary. They don’t contribute to any character development of the main characters, don’t have any development or convincing motivations of their own, and are very flat. All of this combined makes them extraneous, and this is probably the weakest part of the book.
I’d recommend this book for anyone who likes the following: sirens, sliiightly murderous MCs, witty banter, ocean adventures, royalty, stories about people defying parental expectations, and stories about people learning who they are outside of toxic/abusive familial relationships.
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, and Sexual violence
Minor: Confinement
Specific TW: Emotional abuse and manipulation from a parent, physical abuse from a parent, sexual harassment and non-consensual touching (not from the love interest and is in no way glorified or seen as ok by the protagonists)