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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I have had a copy of this book on my bookshelf for years, and finally made the time to read it.
"To Kill a Kingdom" follows Princess Lira and Prince Elian. Lira is a siren, and one of the deadliest ones at that. As a punishment for perceived crimes her mother, the Sea Queen, transforms Lira into a human and tasks Lira with collecting Prince Elian's heart. If Lira does not succeed, she will be a human forever. Prince Elian has devoted his life to hunting, capturing, and killing sirens. During one of his trips, he rescues a drowning woman, Lira, and although he feels like there is something off about her, he cannot help but want to trust her, at least a little.
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Sometimes when a book sits on your shelf for too long, it will not live up to the idea you had of it, but this book surpassed my expectations.
This story is very much a reimagining of "The Little Mermaid", but much darker and more sinister. Lira uses her siren's song to lure princes into the ocean, and then she steals their hearts. Elian is not so easily swayed by the enchanting lure of a mermaid's song. Because of this, "To Kill a Kingdom" felt like the perfect mix of classic story reimagined.
I HATED the Sea Queen. She was harsh, unforgiving, and just awful to read about.
Lira is a complicated character, which makes reading from her all the more interesting. Lira brutally and ruthlessly murders men, which can be difficult to read. However, I also felt so much empathy for her because her mother is absolutely awful to her. Lira is just trying to make her's and the other siren's lives better, but that is not easy with such a vindictive ruler.
Elian was not my favorite to read about. He is very standoffish and very much driven by selfish motives, in my opinion. Yes, he is noble for wanting to help the humans be safe from the mermaids once and for all, but he is still very rough around the edges, and he elects to treat Lira like a prisoner without much reason to think she has done anything wrong.
The plot was definitely engaging, and I really enjoyed exploring the sea with the characters. I was a little disappointed with how much of the story is above the water, but I suppose that was more authentic to the retelling.
Overall, this was enjoyable. I had a good time reading it and it is definitely a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a dark take on "The Little Mermaid".
"To Kill a Kingdom" follows Princess Lira and Prince Elian. Lira is a siren, and one of the deadliest ones at that. As a punishment for perceived crimes her mother, the Sea Queen, transforms Lira into a human and tasks Lira with collecting Prince Elian's heart. If Lira does not succeed, she will be a human forever. Prince Elian has devoted his life to hunting, capturing, and killing sirens. During one of his trips, he rescues a drowning woman, Lira, and although he feels like there is something off about her, he cannot help but want to trust her, at least a little.
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Sometimes when a book sits on your shelf for too long, it will not live up to the idea you had of it, but this book surpassed my expectations.
This story is very much a reimagining of "The Little Mermaid", but much darker and more sinister. Lira uses her siren's song to lure princes into the ocean, and then she steals their hearts. Elian is not so easily swayed by the enchanting lure of a mermaid's song. Because of this, "To Kill a Kingdom" felt like the perfect mix of classic story reimagined.
I HATED the Sea Queen. She was harsh, unforgiving, and just awful to read about.
Lira is a complicated character, which makes reading from her all the more interesting. Lira brutally and ruthlessly murders men, which can be difficult to read. However, I also felt so much empathy for her because her mother is absolutely awful to her. Lira is just trying to make her's and the other siren's lives better, but that is not easy with such a vindictive ruler.
Elian was not my favorite to read about. He is very standoffish and very much driven by selfish motives, in my opinion. Yes, he is noble for wanting to help the humans be safe from the mermaids once and for all, but he is still very rough around the edges, and he elects to treat Lira like a prisoner without much reason to think she has done anything wrong.
The plot was definitely engaging, and I really enjoyed exploring the sea with the characters. I was a little disappointed with how much of the story is above the water, but I suppose that was more authentic to the retelling.
Overall, this was enjoyable. I had a good time reading it and it is definitely a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a dark take on "The Little Mermaid".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Murder, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence
anastasia_raf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"Lira, a famous siren, must prove herself by stealing the heart of the man, a prince, threatening their race."
To kill a kingdom...more like to kill my time! Because that's what this book felt like. Fun time, a way to kill evening boredom.
I felt nothing towards the characters to actually be scared for them or even care if they would survive or not. Still, I flew through it and I found the writing pleasant.
Honestly, the only reason I probably enjoyed most of it was because it was pirate-sea themed. The fast pace benefited the book and the almost constant action made it easier to follow. I couldn't help but cringe at the Greek used in the book. My first language is Greek, and I was disappointed that it felt like I was reading Google translation sentences sort of pieced together... Coherent enough to be cringy but also bad enough to be...well, cringy. I liked the way she used Greek words for the name of each kingdom. They were actually pretty well used! But the dialogues in Greek were, unfortunately, very poorly written.
I appreciate the effort but wish the author payed a little more attention to the grammar and translation of the dialogues.
To kill a kingdom...more like to kill my time! Because that's what this book felt like. Fun time, a way to kill evening boredom.
I felt nothing towards the characters to actually be scared for them or even care if they would survive or not. Still, I flew through it and I found the writing pleasant.
Honestly, the only reason I probably enjoyed most of it was because it was pirate-sea themed. The fast pace benefited the book and the almost constant action made it easier to follow. I couldn't help but cringe at the Greek used in the book. My first language is Greek, and I was disappointed that it felt like I was reading Google translation sentences sort of pieced together... Coherent enough to be cringy but also bad enough to be...well, cringy. I liked the way she used Greek words for the name of each kingdom. They were actually pretty well used! But the dialogues in Greek were, unfortunately, very poorly written.
I appreciate the effort but wish the author payed a little more attention to the grammar and translation of the dialogues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief, Murder, Trafficking, Torture, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Vomit
nicole_m's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- 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
I loved this book. <Spoiler> The enemies to lovers between Lira and Elian is great and the betrayal Lira put him through was better but the fact that he couldn’t kill her after is even better. The story line includes adventure, theft, lying, etc which is my cup of tea . I gave this book 4.75 because I enjoyed it but the ending felt a little anticlimactic to me. Overall, great book and you should give it a try.
Content Warnings
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!boredomandwordsofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, and Child abuse
Minor: Self harm and Child death
ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
Finally, a book in which not only do they mention killer mermaids, but you also read how they murder sailors and princes! And let's not forget the romance, how I love well-constructed enemies to lovers! I need to get it on my physical shelf NOW.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Medical content
Minor: Genocide, War, Trafficking, and Slavery
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