ARC Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

I received an e-copy of this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, which will follow!

I was super excited to get accepted for this book! It contained mermaids, sirens, princes, and pirates, what else could I want? I'd been hearing about it for a while and thought I'd see if I could get accepted for it, and I did! Yay!

Here it is:

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?

I had such high expectations going into this book, after all I don't think I've actually read a book about sirens and pirates before. It does seem to be the season for books about the high seas and mermaids and sirens etc. though doesn't it? I've seen a few that will be coming out! But that's off topic, I can say now that this book definitely lived up to my expectations - and it even exceeded them!

It's such a fast paced book, and has loads of action in it, especially near the end. Essentially though if I was asked to describe it for someone, I would probably say a lovely dark twisted take on the Little Mermaid - or should I say the little siren considering Lira is a siren?

I can't not mention Elian - he's both a prince and a pirate guys! How swoon worthy is that?! He's one of my favourite characters - a prince who just wants to be on the sea but has obligations back home as the first in line to the throne. We see little tidbits of his dilemma about choosing between his country and his crew in the book, with him accepting certain obligations and responsibilities - and it kept me on my toes wondering just what would happen to him - would he go back to his kingdom after completing his goal of killing the Prince's Bane? Or would he stay on the seas with his crew like his heart wants. He's just an amazing character, and one of my new heart-throbs of fantasy fiction - I hope you all agree when you read this book!

I will say this is a stand-alone book - just the one. I am both loving that, and hating it - loving it because it means you get the storyline all wrapped up nicely and there's no waiting for more books, but also hating it because it means I don't get to come back to this amazing world that the author has created - I really hope that what I'm saying makes sense to you all?

But, overall, I am giving this book 5 cats because it is so amazing!

Have you read or are planning to read this? Comment below! It comes out March 6th and I'm so tempted to buy a finished copy it was that good!