To Kill a Kingdom Detailed Review With Spoilers

To Impale a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publication Engagement: March half-dozen, 2018

Rating: four stars

Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

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

The sea is the merely place Prince Elian calls dwelling house, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more an unsavory hobby—it's his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the body of water, she's more than what she appears. She promises to assist him notice the fundamental to destroying all of sirenkind for adept—Only can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian take to barter to eliminate mankind's greatest enemy?

What I Liked:

I hadn't known much virtually this book earlier I received information technology in the post from the publisher, and so I wasn't sure I was even going to read information technology. But the attraction of sirens was also much for me to resist, so I decided to requite information technology a shot. This story seems to exist a loose retelling of The Little Mermaid, which, despite what people say, is actually a pretty empowering story of selection. I enjoyed that story, and I enjoyed To Impale a Kingdom. I'm as well a huge fan of this beingness a standalone, because I love standalones!

This is the story of Lira, a deadly siren princess, and Elian, a deadly siren hunter. Lira is the girl of the Body of water Queen, the siren queen of the sea. Lira has the hearts of seventeen princes, and she is known as the Princes' Bane. When she kills an eighteenth prince a month before her eighteenth birthday, the Bounding main Queen punishes her transforming her into a homo, and giving her what seems to be an impossible job: bring the heart of Prince Elian, notorious siren hunter and heir to the throne of Midas. Prince Elian is at home at bounding main, non in a kingdom. He hunts sirens considering of their bloodthirstiness when it comes to humans. He doesn't suspect that the foreign girl he saves from drowning is not merely a siren, simply the siren that has tried to kill him earlier, the infamous Princes' Blight. Elian agrees to allow her stay aboard his ship, because she says she has crucial data that will aid him on his quest to notice the Crystal of Keto, which has the ability to destroy the Bounding main Queen. He wants the siren reign of the sea to end. She wants to destroy her mother. They share a common goal, just what happens when Elian finds out who Lira really is?

This book is told from dual POV which I wasn't expecting! I thought it would be told solely from Lira'south POV. Just we get to read from Lira's offset-person POV, and Elian's first-person POV, which was cool. I loved seeing the story progress from each of their perspectives.  You tin can slowly meet how their opinions of each other change, which was a gradual and subtle affair.

The story starts with Lira killing her eighteenth prince, but a calendar month too soon. So she is punished, transformed into a human being, and left at body of water. Elian and his crew find her by chance, and pull her aboard. Trivial do they know that this is a siren-turned-human, and the very one that once tried to kill Elian.

Lira is bloodthirsty and power-hungry, a true siren princess at the start. She wants to appear inhumane and barbarous, and she is definitely both of those things. Beingness transformed into a homo and losing her siren powers isn't at all what she wants, merely that won't stop her from taking Elian's eye. Just the longer she spends with him on his ship, the less she wants to kill him - which she doesn't realize, at first. How did she become from wanting to impale him with no remorse, to saving his life not in one case, or twice, but three times? I liked seeing Lira's character development, from a spoiled and cruel princess, to a more man, compassionate daughter. She even so has all of her determination and will, but she starts to realize that Elian's middle isn't what she needs or wants, and doing what her mother wants her to do isn't the right matter to do.

Elian is similarly afflicted by duty and expectation, but in his case, he doesn't want whatever of information technology from the outset. He doesn't want to exist the heir to the Midas throne, and he wants being a prince. He'd rather be captain of his ship total-time, and live at ocean. Elian hunts sirens to protect his people. He has a noble heart, and yet he is every inch a pirate prince. He is charming, cunning, roguish, sneaky, and daring, and he has no concern for his safety. I loved his quick wit and humor, and his selflessness. He sacrifices everything for everyone else. He is a warrior and a pirate and a very clever prince.

Elian and Lira together? They are hilarious, like burn and ice. They bicker and disharmonism from the moment they meet. Lira is determined to detest him (obviously), and Elian doesn't trust her (she is a stranger at sea to him), and all the same they slowly begin to like each other. There is plenty of banter and exchanges of wit, and some subtle tension between them. The romance is there, though very subtle, but I liked seeing it unfold. Elian and Lira are a cute and fierce pair - only equally stiff and equally capable.

The climax of the story is two-fold - finding the Crystal of Keto, and of course the big confrontation with the Sea Queen. I won't give whatever details, merely the climax has a lot going on and everything happens very quickly. The author does a skillful chore with the pacing of the story in general, merely I did notice the climax to be very quick, and and then the ending occurred.

The author did a smashing job with the earth-building and storytelling. Like I said, I recollect this is loosely based on The Piffling Mermaid, with Lira being Ariel (turn "Ariel" backwards and you basically get Lira, and Elian and Eric get-go with the same letter). I loved this! This story is wholly its ain though, with Lira beingness a siren (not a mermaid - there is that stardom), and Elian existence much more than a one-dimensional honey involvement).

The ending is a good 1! A tiny fleck bittersweet though not in the way you lot're probably thinking. Information technology's a happy ending with a shred of bittersweet as well it. I thought information technology worked well for a standalone, and I hope this story stays a standalone. I honey how everything wrapped up!

What I Did Not Similar:

The only big complaint I have is that I think the author or publisher (whoever makes this conclusion) should have labelled capacity with whomever was narrating that affiliate. There is no articulate indication per chapter, and since both characters have offset-person POV, it was sometimes difficult to initially discern who was narrating the chapter. Sometimes I had to flip alee to run into whose proper noun would be mentioned (Elian, or Lira) and that is how I would know who was narrating the chapter (whoever's name wasn't the 1 mentioned). It just would take been easier if it were clearer who was narrating the chapter, like having the name at the very showtime of the chapter.

Would I Recommend It:

I do recommend the book, specially to fans of unique YA fantasy! This book is very interesting and I was never bored while reading it. It besides wasn't too romance heavy (a good or bad thing, depending on your preferences), though the romance was definitely there by the cease of the story. And information technology'due south a standalone novel, so there is low delivery! Information technology's definitely worth the read!

Rating:

4 stars. I'k very content with this book! To Kill a Kingdom is riveting, thrilling, and romantic - definitely a book I'd reread and recommend to my friends. If you lot're looking for a standalone story with a clever pirate prince, a vehement princess, and a bloodthirsty villain, look no further. I'm excited to read more than by this author!

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