Elian doesn't just look at the stars, but he imagines them, too. He draws pictures of them in his mind, creating stories about gods and wars and the souls of explorers. He thinks about where his soul will go when he dies and if he will become part of the night.” Did you ever think about all of the nights you lived through and can't remember The ones that were so mundane your brain just didn't bother to record them. Hundreds, maybe thousands of nights come and go without being preserved by our memory. Does that ever freak you out? Like maybe your mind recorded all of the wrong nights?”

Speaking of boring, this sh*t had absolutely no right to be and yet here we are. This is the most boring book in the history of ever. I don’t get it! The world-building was god awful, half the characters were flat, there was no setup or explanation or exposition of any kind, and yet NOTHING HAPPENS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK. I got halfway through and thought I was only a fraction of the way in! Nope, just bad writing!

See a Problem?

Lira mentions that Kahlia is so much like her and that maybe that is why The Sea Queen hates her so much. The only reason I actually managed to finish this was because I started listening to the audiobook. Me, who never listens to audiobooks listened to the one for this book because I just couldn't get through the story. It was so boring *sobbing* There's lots I like here: anti-heroines, slow-burn romance, fairy tales that contain prophecies, fun banter and strong friendships. I only hope I don't get burned out on this influx of sea fantasies after I read my arcs of Sea Witch and These Rebel Waves. Stellar world building and nonstop action will keep readers hooked on this twisted reimagining of “The Little Mermaid." — Booklist Online

It’s a well-known fact that sirens are beautiful, but the bloodline of Keto is royal and with that comes its own beauty. A magnificence forged in salt water and regality. We have eyelashes born from iceberg shavings and lips painted with the blood of sailors. It’s a wonder we even need our song to steal hearts.

Did we miss something on diversity?

One scene in particular that I can’t really say (spoiler) just made On a mission to kill all Sirens, Crown Prince Elian is often found at sea. One day he finds a ✨strange✨ girl out in the middle of the sea just... floating there and alive. When I was eventually old enough to venture out on my own, it hadn’t occurred to me to forgo royalty and target sailors like the rest of my kind did, or even hunt the princes who would one day assume their thrones. I’m nothing if not a loyal follower of my mother’s traditions. This is a magical standalone that surrounds two very different people that are both next in line for two very different crowns: I’ve heard things: tales of lost hearts and harpooned women stapled to the ocean bed as punishment for their treachery. Left to suffer until their blood becomes salt and they dissolve to sea foam. These are the women who take the human bounty of their kin. Mermaids more fish than flesh, with an upper body to match the decadent scales of their fins.

SPOILER WARNING]– We learn that The Sea Queen was the one who killed Kahlia’s mother. Her own sister.The level of violence is occasionally intense, usually involving swords but sometimes claws and teeth. Main character is sworn to rip the living heart from her royal enemy. Abusive Parents: The Siren Queen treats her daughter Lira awfully. She instills hatred and prejudice into her and abuses her hoping to mold her into a sociopath like herself. And there is such an important and constant theme of how a new generation can change the world. Which is a message that everyone in The United States should be behind right now. As I’m typing this review, high school kids are changing our world, because the baby boomer generation that’s in office currently think it’s more important to protect assault rifles over innocent kid’s lives. Seriously, these teens, who this book is marketed for, won’t be teens for long. They will be voting, they will activists, and they will be changing the damn world for the better. Do you know how powerful it is for them to have books like this? With themes like this? Seriously, this was probably my favorite thing in this book where there was so much to easily love. She says it as though it’s something to be proud of, but that’s because Kahlia is young and has taken only two hearts of her own. None of them royalty. That’s my specialty, my territory. Some of Kahlia’s reverence is for that. The wonder of whether the lips of a prince taste different from those of any other human. I can’t say, for princes are all I’ve ever tasted. We’ll be the only ones singing,” I say. “It’ll enchant them all, but if you lay your focus on one, they’ll fall in love with you so resolutely that even as they drown, they’ll scream of nothing but your beauty.”

One of the largest threats in the book is that of the sea witch maintaining her reign of the sirens and eventually taking over the ocean. Her ferocity and viciousness has even her own subjects fearful of her. And yet, that threat doesn’t quite feel large enough in comparison to that of how humans and sirens feel about each other in general. While reading the novel, the fear and loathing the species have for each other is palpable and adds a lot of urgency to each moment. And yet, it’s not necessarily a plot point, per say. It’s just a feeling. And how they didn’t try to justify every bad thing they did and they forgive each other is just life💘. I think it’s a good book. I really enjoyed it. If you like romance, fantasy, and The Little Mermaid, I definitely think you should read this book. It’s a darker twist of the classic fairytale, and instead of mermaids, they are sirens. With a gleeful smile, he flings himself into the ocean, and with the splash of his body comes a second, which I know to be the queen, throwing herself to my cousin’s mercy. The sounds of their falls awaken something in the crew, and in an instant they are screaming. Honestly, no. To Kill A Kingdom doesn’t have spice. It is more so filled with witty dialogue between the characters, and descriptions of each character from the others’ point of view.

LISTEN TO THIS OPENING LINE YOU GUYS. And by listen to I of course mean read. But like, come on: “I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive.”