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secondhandstargazing's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“How strange that instead of taking his heart, I’m hoping he takes mine”
⚔️ 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.
⚔️ 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.
Content Warnings
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)
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