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A review by gymnerdreader
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
3.0
Not my cup of tea. I nearly DNF'ed it at 60% just because I found the way Elian's POV to be written to be very cocky and annoying. I do not think that particular personality trait is an endearing trait for anyone and it rubbed me the wrong way. I also felt the plot was just too slow in the beginning. There was like no action and they were just sailing on the ship for the entire first half of the book and traveling to random kingdoms. Just boring and ridiculous. I am glad I stuck with it because the ending was a lot better, but the pacing was so rushed. It went from literally 0-60 and it just left me searching and wanting for more.
What I liked:
-Lira is a badass female lead and I enjoy the way her character was written. For a story that is a retelling of the Little Mermaid I am glad she was not written as a damsel in distress. She is a badass and I just felt really bad for the life she was forced into.
-Storyline is very interesting and intriguing. A little splash of enemies to lovers romance. This storyline is what drew me to the book in the first place.
-Ending was well done and cute. I am glad I continued with it and did not DNF (lol). I was still not in love with the book by any means, but the ending action made me bump this up to 3 stars.
-Character banter. Charming and hilarious if I am being honest.
What I Didn't Like:
-POV changes. This book is told from Elian and Lira's POV. This is not even labeled in the chapters so you basically have to read to figure out who was narrating which particular chapter. I got a good handle of it as I read, but I was SO confused in the beginning. Why not label the chapters? Why make it a guessing game?
-Elian's POV is just too cocky and annoying. The first half of the book is just him talking about how great of a pirate he is and how humane he is compared to the murderous sirens and I just can't with this. I mean just because you feel bad about killing someone does not make it ok and to act like it is ok to murder people because you feel bad is a silly, ridiculous, eye for an eye attitude. Not feeling it.
-The world building-I understood some of it, but some of it went way over my head. I was just confused by some aspects of it because it is just too much. This could just be because I do not often read fantasy, but still.
-Plot-Super slow in the beginning (to the point of DNF) then super fast at the end.
-Some splash of a romance, but DO NOT pick up if that is what you are looking for. There are elements, but this is mostly a fantasy. I picked this up for the enemies to lovers thing to see if I would like it. While I did enjoy these aspects of the novel, there was not enough of it to be classified as a romance. Definitely a fantasy through and through
Final Verdict:
Not my cup of tea, however I could see why other people enjoyed this one. It has elements of a good story, but the execution majorly missed the mark for me. I enjoyed the banter between the characters and I actually found it to be quite humorous. For such a slow and boring start that dragged on FOREVER at least the banter sort of made up for it?? I am not even sure. I guess you can say fantasy is a hit or miss genre for me. I do not often read it so I will give this the benefit of the doubt.
Also: NOT a good idea to read this while reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. This one DID NOT even come close to it for me haha.
Reread? Eh no.
CAWPILE Rating: 6.81/10 (3 Stars)
What I liked:
-Lira is a badass female lead and I enjoy the way her character was written. For a story that is a retelling of the Little Mermaid I am glad she was not written as a damsel in distress. She is a badass and I just felt really bad for the life she was forced into.
-Storyline is very interesting and intriguing. A little splash of enemies to lovers romance. This storyline is what drew me to the book in the first place.
-Ending was well done and cute. I am glad I continued with it and did not DNF (lol). I was still not in love with the book by any means, but the ending action made me bump this up to 3 stars.
-Character banter. Charming and hilarious if I am being honest.
What I Didn't Like:
-POV changes. This book is told from Elian and Lira's POV. This is not even labeled in the chapters so you basically have to read to figure out who was narrating which particular chapter. I got a good handle of it as I read, but I was SO confused in the beginning. Why not label the chapters? Why make it a guessing game?
-Elian's POV is just too cocky and annoying. The first half of the book is just him talking about how great of a pirate he is and how humane he is compared to the murderous sirens and I just can't with this. I mean just because you feel bad about killing someone does not make it ok and to act like it is ok to murder people because you feel bad is a silly, ridiculous, eye for an eye attitude. Not feeling it.
-The world building-I understood some of it, but some of it went way over my head. I was just confused by some aspects of it because it is just too much. This could just be because I do not often read fantasy, but still.
-Plot-Super slow in the beginning (to the point of DNF) then super fast at the end.
-Some splash of a romance, but DO NOT pick up if that is what you are looking for. There are elements, but this is mostly a fantasy. I picked this up for the enemies to lovers thing to see if I would like it. While I did enjoy these aspects of the novel, there was not enough of it to be classified as a romance. Definitely a fantasy through and through
Final Verdict:
Not my cup of tea, however I could see why other people enjoyed this one. It has elements of a good story, but the execution majorly missed the mark for me. I enjoyed the banter between the characters and I actually found it to be quite humorous. For such a slow and boring start that dragged on FOREVER at least the banter sort of made up for it?? I am not even sure. I guess you can say fantasy is a hit or miss genre for me. I do not often read it so I will give this the benefit of the doubt.
Also: NOT a good idea to read this while reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. This one DID NOT even come close to it for me haha.
Reread? Eh no.
CAWPILE Rating: 6.81/10 (3 Stars)