To Kill A Kingdom

Hey there friends!

I love a good classic fairy-tale retelling. Growing up on Disney movies, these stories hold a special place in heart. But although the classics are great, I love it when an author takes the bones of a fairy-tale and runs with it. It’s always exciting to see familiar characters and events but in a whole new way, there are so many directions the story can take us! To Kill A Kingdom is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, but I think you’ll find things a bit darker than you may remember it being under the sea.

To Kill a Kingdom

By Alexandra Christo

Retelling of The Little Mermaid

Synopsis

His heart will make a fine trophy.

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 sirens 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 Elain 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 Elain have to broker to eliminate humankind’s greatest enemy?

My Thoughts

I was initially interested because it was categorized as a fairy-tale retelling and I just can’t resist those. Some of the major points of The Little Mermaid story remain the same. The main female character lives underwater then transforms into a human and has a task to complete. The main male character live above water, but loves the sea and his life becomes entwined with the female character. But that’s about where it stops.

The main character is Lira (love the musical name), who is 17 years old and a princess of the sea. But forget mermaids, this girl is a siren and extremely deadly. She is known as the Princes’ Bane due to the fact that she only seduces princes to their death. The lovely singing voice that we know and love from the original story is, in fact the sirens song that entrances humans and leads to their death by drowning. In this story it is taken from Lira, not bargained, as punishment. Her task is to kill without the her hypnotic ability. The entire story Lira is pretty much a bad-ass and is not discouraged by any turn of events, but rather adapts her plan for the best chance of success.

The unlucky guy she has her sights set on is Prince Elain (and it even starts with an E). He is a prince but also somewhat of a pirate set on ridding the kingdom of sirens. At 17 years old and the heir to the throne, he spends very little time on land and prefers the open sea to his princely duties. He is portrayed as a roguish and likable man with many loyal friends. But is actually hiding an insecurity and doubt he can be what everyone wants him to be. He’s pretty much the typical good guy who thinks he not good enough.

When our two “lovebirds” meet, is it anything but love at first sight. They spend most of the book in a distrustful and wary companionship. Amidst Liras personal task, a much bigger mission arises and the two must work together for a common goal. Each chapter is told through either Liras or Elains point of view, so you get to be inside both of their heads throughout the story. There is little romance, but the ending is definitely the turning point for not only the main characters, many of the lesser players as well.

To Kill A Kingdom has so many amazing details that the author plugs from the original Little Mermaid; the name Lira, her red hair, her voice, an evil octopus, the seashell, the initial encounter washed up on the shore, a contender to the princes heart, and an intense battle to name a few. I highly recommend this to any Little Mermaid fan, who might want a darker and more grown up version of the tale.

Happy reading!