![]() ![]() And this is what a good, character-driven romance looks like. Once Elian accepts that he can love a siren, a monster, his narrow worldview is changed and he also becomes more responsible and better as a person. Once Lira learns to accept that she isn't a monster, that she can and does love (loves Elian, loves her cousin), she grows as a person and turns good. If anything, the romance teaches them to be better people. Love eventually wins? Check.Īnd just in case you're wondering: yes, the romance is a significant part of the novel and their character development, but it's not all there is. ![]() Extreme consequences and stakes pressuring each side to not fall in love, but they do anyway? Check. Slowly falling for each other and knowing that it's impossible? Check. ![]() Surprising themselves when they actually save each other's lives? Check. Constant exchanges of witty banter and death threats? Check. Their first meeting involves trying to kill each other? Check. I will repeat: this novel is enemies to lovers done perfectly. Which brings me to the enemies to lovers part. They are so fascinating as characters, and their dynamic is just so good. Lira and Elian both have great agency in this novel their motivations are so believable that not once did I feel bored. But I'm into that! It has no smut in it though, which is proof that you don't need sex scenes or objectification to make fiction dark and mature. It has violence, death, swearing, and all matter of dark themes that I never thought would be in a YA book. Second, this is on the more mature side of YA. When I was writing my novel, I would read passages of To Kill a Kingdom every now and then to inspire me. First, I want to say that the prose is so beautiful and stunning. I'll try to keep this review spoiler-free so I'll stop there for now. Elian is very charming too, and this novel is his story as much as it's hers, as it's told in a dual POV. She's sharp and witty and so unapologetically dark that it's refreshing. She fights strangers at once, even though she's weak in a human form. When Lira is cursed into human form, she's forced to team up with Elian, but as much as she pretends to be a human girl, she does not pretend to be less vicious than she really is. So of course, since both of them are legendary below and above the sea, they already know that they want to kill each other. And above water, Prince Elian is known as the fearsome siren killer, more pirate than prince. Princess Lira, an ambitious girl that's next in line to be Sea Queen, has a taste for royal hearts only. Tradition dictates that a siren steals a human heart once every year on their birthday. ![]() Sirens aren't beautiful maidens they're monsters and creatures of the deep. It's a savage retelling of the Little Mermaid story, except that sirens and humans are at war and each side aims for genocide. To Kill a Kingdom is a dark fairy tale at its core. 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? When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby-it’s his calling. The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. 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. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most-a human. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. ![]()
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