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haleydeppert's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Murder, and Death
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- 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
"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".
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Murder, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence
rileydobereading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing and Violence
earlieststar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
would be 4 but the .25 is bc i wish this book was double the length.
fight at the end felt a little rushed and too magic-y for me. couldnt envision it properly and it lacked explanation on what the magic system was supposed to be.
aside from that i loved the characters, and both elian and lira are developed and lovable and genuinely well thought through.
the worldbuilding is really interesting. again, i wish we saw more of it, but im glad that it was overexplained nor dragged on. its just- the book is good and interesting and i wanted more of it. but its well written within the length and honestly, it might have gone off the rails if we spent a couple hundred more pages in the world so ill take my wins.
i liked the mythical side of the sirens a lot. they truly do feel brutal and otherworldly in this really engaging way.
slow burn in a 300 page standalone is hard to achieve but the tension was delicious. thank you for the food.
the vibes are also immaculate and there was some really good banter.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, and Violence
davianareads'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
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Violence, Death, and Emotional abuse
rafacolog's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, and Violence
madalina0_0'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
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Stalking, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse
Minor: Genocide and Slavery
thewillowwood'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Body horror, Physical abuse, Murder, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Confinement
Minor: Trafficking and Slavery
soupsoupsoup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Death of parent
anastasia_raf's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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