- Pages: 352
- Age Suggestion: 13+
- Genre: Young Adult Fiction; Fantasy, Romance, Action
- Published 3-6-2018 by Feiwel & Friends
Synopsis
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?
Quotes from the Book
I have a heart for every year I've been alive. There are seventeen hidden in the of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle, just to check they're still there. Buried deep and bloody. I count each of them, so I can be sure none were stolen in the night. It's not such an odd fear to have. Hearts are power, and if there's one thing my kind craves more than the ocean, it's power. - Lira
For the kingdom - for my mother - I am ruthless. And that ruthlessness makes each and every sea creature certain I can reign. Now my mother wants to take that from me. Not just my name, but the faith of the ocean. If I'm not the Princes' Bane, then I'm nothing. Just a princess inheriting a crown instead of earning it. - Lira
When he leaves, I think about whether that would be awful, or beautiful. Could it really be such a bad thing, to become a story whispered to children in the dead of night? - Elian
Either things fall into place, or they fall apart, but either way, I have to keep up pretenses. - Elian
My mission, my kingdom. The world. They exist somewhere other than in this moment, and now there is only this. Me, my ship, and a girl with oceans in her eyes. - Elian
Two kingdoms that come with responsibilities we each have trouble bearing. Him, the shackles of being pinned to one land and one life. Me, trapped in the confines of my mother's murderous legacy. And the ocean, calling out to us both. A song of freedom and longing. - Lira
It was never wrong or right; it just was. But now my memories are cruel dreams, twisting into merciless visions and accusing me of a past I can't deny.
The truth of what I am has become a nightmare. - Lira
"So many tricks," she whispers. " You'll need sturdier sleeves to hold them all."
She pulls me closer to her, her fingers held tight over mine, and together we dive. - Elian
Review
If you've researched this book then you'll see and hear all about how this book is a retelling of The Little Mermaid. Except one of the big differences between the two is that this book is ten times better than that freaking movie.
As you can probably tell I'm not a huge fan of The Little Mermaid. Mainly because I don't like that she is a pretty little girl that constantly wants more (she's the daughter of Neptune for crying out loud,) and it's exhausting just wanting more myself (reaching for the stars, right?) let alone watching somebody else want more. Also, speaking of the fact that she's Neptune's daughter, why the heck does she want a freaking guy whose on land? I don't see the appeal, but whatever. Okay, enough rant time. I think you get the picture.
Firstly, lets talk about the similarities and the differences between To Kill a Kingdom and The Littles Mermaid. Well obviously, Lira's a siren which is still a sea creature, but not a mermaid. Elian is still a prince, but he longs for the ocean instead of her longing for land. It's a change from the movie that I really like. Really their positions (prince and sea creature), the whole and sea versus land thing, and their relationship with each other are the only things that are kind of the same as the movie.
I really liked that Lira is a siren instead of a mermaid. She is ruthless (she is deemed the Princes' Bane because she only takes princes' hearts). She can't afford to not be ruthless because (1) she has to keep her legacy and (2) because of her mother's merciless expectations about what siren (and especially Lira, her heir) should be. There are mermaids, but there more sea-like than sirens are, they speak in riddles, and worst of all; they're fascinated by humans. While sirens are half human-half sea creature, they speak in a sharp tongued, forbidden language that they share with mer-creatures, and they hate humans. Sirens are terribly cool creatures.
If Lira brought aspects of The Little Mermaid, then Elian brought aspects of Pirates of the Caribbean. More pirate than prince, Elian definitely brought the adventure into the story. I liked that he and Lira share the feeling of being suffocated by the expectations of their legacies.
I also liked that the characters were shrewd and deceiving (it made the plot way more interesting.) They provided quick, witty banter throughout the story. You've gotta love sarcasm. Except there is one exception to these wits and that's Elian regarding Lira. I mean all of the facts pointed to her being a siren. I think he was suspicious of that at first, and once he got to know her he just didn't want to believe it.
I didn't really like the fact that the Sea Queen was a weird half human half octopus thing. I get that she is supposed to be kind of undefeatable, and really intimidating, but I thought that she was more disgusting weird than, beautiful weird.
I loved the setting and the tone with it's The Little Mermaid-gone-bad/Pirates of the Caribbean feeling. I liked the plot pretty well. There was nothing super ingenious about it.
This is a normal problem I have, but I particularly struggled with it in this book; it was kind of hard to picture their surroundings. I think the descriptions could have been a little bit more clear and vivid, but, I mean, I would much rather have well developed characters and not so strong surroundings than vice-versa.
I recently did a book review of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and I talked about how there are too many aspects that are shared in the fantasy genre. Although this book is based on The Little Mermaid, I think that it is different from a lot of other fantasy books.
I really enjoyed this book, and I hope that this book review was helpful.
I really liked that Lira is a siren instead of a mermaid. She is ruthless (she is deemed the Princes' Bane because she only takes princes' hearts). She can't afford to not be ruthless because (1) she has to keep her legacy and (2) because of her mother's merciless expectations about what siren (and especially Lira, her heir) should be. There are mermaids, but there more sea-like than sirens are, they speak in riddles, and worst of all; they're fascinated by humans. While sirens are half human-half sea creature, they speak in a sharp tongued, forbidden language that they share with mer-creatures, and they hate humans. Sirens are terribly cool creatures.
If Lira brought aspects of The Little Mermaid, then Elian brought aspects of Pirates of the Caribbean. More pirate than prince, Elian definitely brought the adventure into the story. I liked that he and Lira share the feeling of being suffocated by the expectations of their legacies.
I also liked that the characters were shrewd and deceiving (it made the plot way more interesting.) They provided quick, witty banter throughout the story. You've gotta love sarcasm. Except there is one exception to these wits and that's Elian regarding Lira. I mean all of the facts pointed to her being a siren. I think he was suspicious of that at first, and once he got to know her he just didn't want to believe it.
I didn't really like the fact that the Sea Queen was a weird half human half octopus thing. I get that she is supposed to be kind of undefeatable, and really intimidating, but I thought that she was more disgusting weird than, beautiful weird.
I loved the setting and the tone with it's The Little Mermaid-gone-bad/Pirates of the Caribbean feeling. I liked the plot pretty well. There was nothing super ingenious about it.
This is a normal problem I have, but I particularly struggled with it in this book; it was kind of hard to picture their surroundings. I think the descriptions could have been a little bit more clear and vivid, but, I mean, I would much rather have well developed characters and not so strong surroundings than vice-versa.
I recently did a book review of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and I talked about how there are too many aspects that are shared in the fantasy genre. Although this book is based on The Little Mermaid, I think that it is different from a lot of other fantasy books.
I really enjoyed this book, and I hope that this book review was helpful.
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