Review: To Kill A Kingdom

To Kill A Kingdom
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

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? 

To Kill a Kingdom drew me in right from the start, and I finished this in two sittings, it was so hard to put it down! I'd have read it in one if I wasn't reading it on set! The descriptions and writing style where beautiful and fit the story and characters so well, like how Christo describes Lira's lips as the colour of sailors blood and so on! I loved the imagery so much! 

The first chapter itself actually gives you quite a bit of information on the world of the book and how things work all woven concisely in to the plot. The book then expands and adds in details throughout the book as the story progresses, something that I enjoyed as it kept me on my toes! I particularly liked the difference between the mermaids and the sirens, it was an original and intriguing one and helped this book stand out from any other. 

As for the characters, I loved Lira a hell of a lot! Her attitude and her narrative voice where brilliant, as where her quick comebacks. In the world of the sirens, awfulness is valued over friendship and that having been drilled in to Lira, along with various other things by her mother, made for an interesting MC, especially as living as a human changes Lira. I really enjoyed seeing her character develop and change over the course of the book but still maintain her attitude right up until the end! She's basically you know...kind of a villain but I loved her and rooted for her completely! Christo wasn't afraid to embrace the darkness for Lira's character. 

Elian is our other narrator and I loved him from the first sentence, "Technically, I'm a murderer, but I like to think that's one of my better qualities". I really empathised with him and how he felt when he was at home and so on. I think a lot of readers will be able to relate to him, and I liked that he was actually quite similar to Lira. They had some brilliant banter, and I loved the entire romance and relationship between the two of them. It could quite easily have been cheesy and fairy tale worthy to match The Little Mermaid, but it wasn't and their relationship really fit them. The author didn't try to make them something they weren't to make the romance work. Their sarcasm and piratey-ness was just so brilliant and I just really freaking loved them okay! They where morally grey and I loved how they where written together and separately! 

Along with our main two characters, we have Kye and Madrid who where also completely brilliant and I kinda wish we'd gotten to see more of them! They where hilariously sweet together. I actually loved all of Elian's entire crew to be honest, and their bantering with each other had me smiling. 

To Kill a Kindgom is brilliantly paced, with a vivid and imaginative world that sucks you in. There's action, and the final part of the book has you on the edge of your seat. Elian and Lira have their cute moments but they're morally grey characters, and Christo hasn't been afraid to embrace the darkness when it comes to them, they're equals and so similar, and so suited to each other and you can't help but end up loving them and rooting for them and shipping them so hard! I'd been super excited for this book since last year, and it didn't disappoint at all!