to kill a kingdom by alexandra christo

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

This book had the potential.

In case you’re too lazy to read the synopsis, this book is about a siren who’s supposed to kill a prince when she’s turned to a human as punishment but ends up falling for him and I’m pretty sure you can guess what happens next.

This book was enjoyable to read but I only have a very few problems with this book.

THIS BOOK HAD THE POTENTIAL TO BE GREAT!

In the beginning, the book started off dark and interesting and it had me thinking this might be The Little Mermaid turned dark but as I kept reading further, I was just getting more disappointed and not because the book was horrible and it certainly wasn’t. I was hoping it would keep it’s dark and twisted theme from beginning to end but instead we get this happy ending. A too happy and easy ending.

The romance could’ve been so great! For most of the book it wasn’t rushed and I enjoyed them being allies and slowly start to trust one another and their banter but then it sort of got insta-lovey all of a sudden and then once the prince finds out about her secret, it doesn’t take him long to get over his betrayal towards the siren. Like really he’s already kissing her and all lovey dovey during a battle scene after he finds out about her secret and it’s so frustrating!

I mean it’s not a horrible romance. It just had a lot of potential to be that slow burn romance with a lot of ANGST! I wish they would be friends a bit more longer so we can see some buildup and tension but it’s barely there. I love the two main characters and how they are alike but yet so different. Their comebacks and banters were entertaining to read.

The prince’s crew were cool to read about also but I wish their were more to them. It just seemed like they were there mostly to serve their captain instead of having their own personality but I did enjoy Kye and his girl (I forgot her name!) banters. They were too cute!

The book wasn’t horrible and it was rushed at all. I felt like this book would have done so much better as a duology or a series. The potential it had could’ve made a great series and I wish we could have just got MORE instead of a 300+ page standalone. I wouldn’t mind if it was a 500+ standalone, I wanted more from this book!

In conclusion, even though I was bit disappointed, I still enjoyed reading it and I give this a rating of three and a half stars!

Thanks for reading!

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