Rereading To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

 I believe it was seventh grade when I first read To Kill A Kingdom. It was one of the first books I read after Margret Owen’s Little Thieves duology, and, at the time, it really helped me get back into reading, so, for that, it holds a special place in my heart. I returned to this book about a month ago and I’m here to share my newer opinions on the novel. But first— an overview:

Lira became a killer when she was twelve. But, then again, all sirens do. To steal the heart of a sailor in the week of one’s birthday has been a tradition for as long as Lira can remember, and she is no exception. Lira has only ever stolen the heart of a prince. Revered and feared as the Bane of Princes, she has seventeen in total, all hidden beneath the sand in her bedroom, and does not intend on ever corrupting her collection… until her mother decrees that she is to steal the heart of a sailor for her eighteenth birthday.

To Kill a Kingdom is a novel written by Alexandra Christo following the story of Lira, daughter of a sea queen after she is cursed and transformed into a human by her own mother. There is only one way she can go back to her old life again, to steal the heart the prince of the kingdom of gold and captain of The Saad, a crew of pirates with a set goal to rid the sea of all sirens, Elian Midas… without the power of her siren song to help her.

I love this novel. To Kill a Kingdom is bloody and dark and morbid in all the best ways, despite its mildly predictable plot. That’s not to say the plot is bad— it’s just to say that the plot follows a common pattern of: “girl and boy raised to hate each other come together and see the beauty and darkness of each other's world for the better and fall in love in the process.” And, least to say, I don’t think the romance aspect of the book took me by surprise either of the times I read the novel. But, in my opinion, that’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes a plot with some predictable elements is just what I need. That way, I can just sit back and enjoy the book instead of trying to invent directions this book could go in and then ultimately be disappointed when the book doesn’t go that way just because I want to see where the author would take that concept. And, just because it has a sort of predictable plot, doesn't mean the novel’s not inventive on its own.

The world building in this book is something that I rather appreciate. It has epic backstory, complex histories, and settings defined by contrasting, diverse, and varying environments, architecture, languages, trades, and cultures. It feels like this world could be real (in some alternative universe with mystical creatures and magic, but you know what I mean.)

And the dialogue is wonderfully written as well; if you’ve read any of my past blog posts, you’d know I just adore witty banter in novels. And the dialogue here feels genuinely so organic and real, like I could sit back and say: “Yeah, in this situation, this is what Lira would say, and that’s exactly how I would think Elian would respond.” Each character just has such a distinct voice to them. Lira is blunt and rude to Elian because she’s not fully fluent in his language and her task is literally to kill him in order to get her life back. Elian, on the other hand, has a sense of humor about him when he’s on his ship with his crew, but his way of speaking becomes confined and uncomfortable when he returns to his home kingdom. Just little details like that make the characters feel like real people.

Overall, To Kill a Kingdom is a wonderful novel for those who enjoy high-stakes fantasy adventures with a side of romance. I really enjoyed getting to read this book again, and I hope you kind of enjoyed reading my opinion on it. Anyways, as always, thank you for reading and until next time.

-Abigail Makela