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A review by toggle_fow
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Okay, this had me in the first half not gonna lie.
I didn't much feel like reading this when I picked it up, but the brutal siren world Lira lived in was interesting. She was very much a monster, but one I wanted to see more of. The rules that governed her existence were new and fascinating. Elian was... not as interesting. His inner struggle with his identity fell just a little too far on the I don't care, stop whining side.
The situation set up by Lira's mother's curse only made things more intriguing. The fact that Elian and Lira were sworn enemies before that was great. Lira's personality in a human body was great. I loved the scene where she's trying to rip the captured siren's head off herself while screaming insults at her in siren language, instead of waiting for one of the actual siren hunters to do it.
Where this lost me was the romance.
Lira and Elian's insult-flinging banter wasn't the worst I've seen. It had potential. But we needed to go way further with their relationship than just death threats and one kiss. The fact that Lira's identity was revealed right at the last second as part of a climactic showdown was not the best. It gave no one any time to grapple with the fact that she was the sworn enemy of humanity, a monster and traitor, and specifically the murderer of one of Elian's friends.
All of this was the whole emotional weight behind their relationship, and a few kisses and a smug, flirty epilogue do not make up for the fact that we got to see approximately none of this resolved. It made it hard for me to care about them, and the finale seem shallow.
I didn't much feel like reading this when I picked it up, but the brutal siren world Lira lived in was interesting. She was very much a monster, but one I wanted to see more of. The rules that governed her existence were new and fascinating. Elian was... not as interesting. His inner struggle with his identity fell just a little too far on the I don't care, stop whining side.
The situation set up by Lira's mother's curse only made things more intriguing. The fact that Elian and Lira were sworn enemies before that was great. Lira's personality in a human body was great. I loved the scene where she's trying to rip the captured siren's head off herself while screaming insults at her in siren language, instead of waiting for one of the actual siren hunters to do it.
Where this lost me was the romance.
Lira and Elian's insult-flinging banter wasn't the worst I've seen. It had potential. But we needed to go way further with their relationship than just death threats and one kiss. The fact that Lira's identity was revealed right at the last second as part of a climactic showdown was not the best. It gave no one any time to grapple with the fact that she was the sworn enemy of humanity, a monster and traitor, and specifically the murderer of one of Elian's friends.
All of this was the whole emotional weight behind their relationship, and a few kisses and a smug, flirty epilogue do not make up for the fact that we got to see approximately none of this resolved. It made it hard for me to care about them, and the finale seem shallow.