“That was the thing about sirens. They always went straight for the heart.”
To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo – 5 Stars!
There’s one thing you should know before I start this review. I have been utterly obsessed with mermaids since I was a kid. The Little Mermaid? I watched it about 378,475 times. My bedroom? Covered in Little Mermaid memorabilia. Every. single. birthday. cake. until I was like 20? (shut up and don’t mock me, I told you I loved mermaids) – Yep, you guessed it. Little Mermaid themed.
So when I heard about this book, a dark re-telling of my most favorite childhood movie? YES PLEASE.
This was everything I hoped it would be. I was BLOWN AWAY by Alexandra’s talent. Her writing does not read like this is a debut novel. It was so lush and wonderful and the way she weaved this tale made it almost impossible to put down. Do you ever read a line in a book and just think “dammmmn that was good. Let me go and read that again.”? This happened so many times. Alexandra- you just got yourself a new stalker. A forever fan. A loyal follower. I can’t WAIT for the next thing this woman writes.
My FAVORITE PART that I read like 9 times (edited slightly to remove spoilers):
“I’ll ask you something instead, then.”
“To keep a secret?”
“To keep a favor.”
Elian nods, and I forget that we’re murderers and enemies and when my identity is revealed, he might very well try to kill me. I think of my human heart, suddenly beating so fast—too fast—and the crease between Elian’s eyebrows as he waits for my answer.
“Are you ever going to kiss me?”
Slowly, Elian says, “That’s not a favor.”
His hand moves from beside mine, and I feel a sudden absence. And then it’s on my cheek, cupping my face, thumb stroking my lip. It feels like the worst thing I’ve ever done and the best thing I could ever do and how strange that the two are suddenly the same. How strange that instead of taking his heart, I’m hoping he takes mine.
^OMG. *brb* need to read that part again….
Someone asked me how closely this follows The Little Mermaid. My answer was this:
If Ariel was actually a siren (not to be confused with a mermaid) named Lira who is infamous for ripping out and collecting princes’ hearts by luring them to their death with her siren song and her mother was like Ursula, and ruler of the sea, and Eric is actually a prince called Elian who has no desire to be King and would rather spend his time sailing the seas in search of sirens to kill because of a lifelong feud between humans and sirens and Lira is cursed by her god awful mother and turned human and in order to return to the sea she’s tasked with taking Elian’s heart….then yea..it kind of is similar?
BUT. Alexandra’s twist on the tale is beautifully creative and totally unique.
“It’s you.” My eyes shoot upward. The Prince of Midas stares down at us, horrified and awe stricken. His lips tilt a little to the left.
“Look at you,” he whispers. “My monster, come to find me.”
If you like forbidden – enemies to lovers – romance, the slowest of slow burns, pirates, savage heroines, awesome world building, some brutal action, fantasy, and a dash of drama thrown in, READ THIS. I honestly went into this with such high expectations and I was SO pleasantly surprised each one was met.
I ADORED THIS BOOK!
To Kill A Kingdom releases March 6th! | http://amzn.to/2sOyi0Q
thecrazyworldofabooklover 
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