“‘I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive. There are seventeen hidden in the sand of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle just to check they’re still there. Buried deep and bloody.’ Princess Lira is siren royalty and revered across the sea until she is cursed into humanity by the ruthless Sea Queen. Now Lira must deliver the heart of the infamous siren killer or remain human forever. Prince Elian is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world, and captain to a deadly crew of siren hunters. When he rescues a drowning woman from the ocean, she promises to help him destroy sirenkind for good. But he has no way of knowing whether he can trust her…”
What is the book about?
Princess Lira is a siren, but not just any siren, she is the Prince’s Bane and next in line for the throne. She has always tried her best to make her mother proud and prove to her that she is worthy enough to be the next siren queen. But the Sea Queen finds her weaknesses, no matter what she does, and will do anything to keep the crown for herself. Lira has followed her rules and done her best to be the daughter her mother wants, but it’s not in her nature to be obedient and she soon finds herself in more trouble than she had though. Now Lira must steal the heart of the infamous siren killer, or remain human forever. But Lira may find that her punishment does more good to her than expected, and that what her mother thinks as weakness is really what makes her strong. Prince Elian is heir to the most power kingdom in the world, but he cares nothing about that. He is the captain of a crew of siren killers before anything else and the ocean is his home. He sets off on a new adventure to save humanity and destroy sirenkind for good, but his quests turns out to be harder than he thought. After he saves a strange drowning woman from the ocean, he discovers that she holds the answer to his problem and that she will help him with his mission to stop the murderous sirens forever. But can he really trust the girl who seems to want nothing but his death…
What were your initial thoughts on the book?
To Kill a Kingdom was a book that I saw often when looking at book recommendations and was interested but I hadn’t really thought about reading it until my friend brought it to me and told me that I had to read it. Unlike all the other books my friend asked me to read, To Kill a Kingdom was one that she disliked immensely. She had also seen it recommended a lot and saw how popular it was but she hadn’t enjoyed reading it at all. She wanted to see if she was the only one who thought it was terrible, or if I would have the same opinion, and I was happy to comply. I started the book with low expectations and was happily surprised when I found that it began really well. The blurb was really interesting and I knew immediately why I had initially been interested in the story. The very first sentence already had me hooked and I thought, at first, that my friend was crazy to not have liked it. The start was full of suspense and I found myself desperate to read on. However, as I started to get nearer to the middle of the book, I quickly lost interest and found that it felt as if the author had almost given up on writing and just went with the most expected plot. At the beginning the book was amazing, just as amazing as many of the books I read, but the more I read the more disappointing the book got and I soon found that I was forcing myself to finish so that I could properly review the story.
Who was your favourite character and why?
Usually when I read a book there are so many really remarkable characters that I find choosing just one almost impossible. However, To Kill a Kingdom made choosing a favourite character impossible because there were no good characters in the book. There was zero character development throughout the book and I thought that most the characters were annoying and just plain boring. At the start I had like Lira because of her strength and power and how she needed a prince – not to love but to kill. I thought she was a very interesting character because of how she tried to impress her mother in everything she did and make her proud, which makes her very relatable because most children want to make their parents see that they are worth something. However after a little while Lira started to get a bit annoying and I thought that she switched too much between the kind-hearted side of her to the cut-throat, unstoppable, brutal side. I feel like she was sometimes two different people and that her romance with Elian was too far-fetched. I understood her protective relationship with her cousin and how that made her caring but I don’t think it seems very likely that a murderous siren could just fall in love after only a few weeks. I don’t think any character was my favourite but, if I had to look at the whole book and at my opinions throughout it all, Lira would come out as one of the top few.
What was your favourite part of the book and why?
In most books I read I find this question rather difficult to answer because there are just so many amazing parts to consider as my favourite that I can’t choose between them. Sometimes I even write more than one part as my favourite because the book is just so incredible that I cannot decide. To Kill a Kingdom was the exact opposite. I cannot choose a favourite part because I basically hated the whole book and didn’t like a single bit about it. I guess if I had to really look at the book and choose a favourite part I would say it was the beginning 2 chapters, which are in Lira’s perspective. The opening sentence was amazing and it made me feel like the book was going to be marvellous – which was a bit annoying seeing as it wasn’t true. However the first few chapters were really good because they gave an interesting new view on humans and at first it felt like a twisted version of The Little Mermaid. I really enjoyed Lira’s chapters because she was nothing like the stereotypical princesses who need saving – when she was near it was the princes who needed saving, but it was impossible to help them. I feel like the book could have been much better if the romance was better or not there at all as it would have provided a story where the princess didn’t need a prince to feel complete or to save the day.
What was your overall impression of the book?
Overall To Kill a Kingdom wasn’t one of the best books I have read and I didn’t really enjoy it. The book started off really well and I found it very interesting at the beginning. The starting sentence – “I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive” – caught my attention really well and I enjoyed learning about the sirens. However, the more I read the less I enjoyed it and I found that I had to force myself to finish the book because I hate leaving a book without finishing it, no matter how terrible it is. I think that a book so terrible should not be allowed to have such a good first sentence because it confuses so many readers and makes them expect a wonderful book. I took literally centuries to finish this book, which is really unlikely, and found that I basically didn’t like anything about it, other than a few chapters at the beginning. It was a very stereotypical enemies to lovers romance novel, only with sirens also involved. One of the reasons why I disliked the book was because there was no character development. It was very difficult to see how Lira was changing because of Elian and how the same was also happening to him. Although their romance was expected, it was hard to tell that they were actually beginning to like each other and the start of their romance was extremely abrupt. Also their first kiss was extremely random and I thought that Lira’s personality in that part of the book was nothing like the one she had had throughout the rest of the book. Another reason why I didn’t enjoy To Kill a Kingdom was because of how everything that happened was exactly what I expected. There were no plot twists, no interesting discoveries and no surprising problems in their journey. I was able to predict basically all the events in the book before they even happened and I disliked not being surprised. This is what made the book so boring and what made me so uninterested in Lira and Elian’s story. One last reason why I didn’t like the book – probably the main reason – was because it didn’t connect with me on an emotional level. While I was reading To Kill a Kingdom I knew I was reading and I hated that. Usually when I am reading a really good book I forget that I’m reading, I forget where I am and who I am, and the only thing that is real is the fictional adventure I am going on and the fictional characters that I have met, but this book was nothing like this and I hate not having that feeling. To Kill a Kingdom didn’t make me sad, or angry, or happy – I didn’t feel anything at all for the characters – and for once it actually felt like that characters weren’t really there and were only figments of my imagination. The best thing about reading is when it makes you feel something, when you cry, or laugh, or scream, because of the characters and I missed that when reading this book. I really don’t see how To Kill a Kingdom could be such a popular book and I feel like reading it was a waste of my time. I really disliked the book but I didn’t regret reading it because at least I can stop anyone else from making the mistake of buying it. I am looking forward to reading another book that is apparently similar to To Kill a Kingdom so I will be able to compare the two siren stories.
Would you recommend this book?
I do not recommend reading To Kill a Kingdom, especially for people who find it difficult to concentrate on reading a slow, boring book. However if you would like to try the book out I suggest you read it from ages 13 and over and it would be best for people who enjoy fantasy and romance (enemies to lovers style).
Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict)
A slow-paced fantasy romance story full of action and adventure.
Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego
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