To Kill a Kingdom

big potential, small delivery

Stephanie aus Neuenhof am 31.05.2023
Bewertungsnummer: 1952356
Bewertet: Buch (Gebundene Ausgabe)

This was a bit disappointing unfortunately. Yes, I might not be the target audience for this story, but I still wanted to write a differentiated review about it. As the last two siren/pirate stories were really enjoyable, I was looking forward to reading it - and the premise sounded so promising: A royal siren who lives in a world where it's common and demanded of her and her kind to hunt for human hearts. One every year. On their birthday. For Lira, the biggest allure is royal hearts - hearts of princes. And though her mother never thought her good enough to be the heir to the throne, she was mostly able to be tolerated by her. That is up until that one fateful day where she makes one mistake so big, it earns her two legs instead of fins and a beating heart of her own. With the order to bring the queen a heart of a pirate. The pirate who happens to stumble upon the seemingly lost girl, however, is none other than the crown prince of Midas. Elian, Midasan prince and killer of sirens. He hears of a jewel that would help him rid the world of the heart-thirsty sirens once and for all. As Lira seems to have something only she can bring to the crew in order for them to succeed with the mission to retrieve the jewel, Elian brings her along. Who of the two wins in the end? It's a classic "enemies to lovers" story, and I had high hopes for it to be very satisfactory, yet, because it was written in two POVs it wasn't as gratifying as I would have liked it to be. Not only the developments of their relationship seemed too obvious, Lira's shift in her values felt a bit too quick for my liking. The whole story seemed rushed and I would have liked to explore the different relationships more. Though I as a reader feel that those four of the crew (without Lira) are very close (they trust each other blindly, they banter, they love and they are loyal), I never fully connected with either of the characters. Which is so sad, as all of them had so much potential to steal themselves into my heart. And unfortunately, having no connection to the characters in a story where you need to feel for them is bound to sour the reading experience. I always wanted to know how they would deal with the jewel, once they had it, but when it was time for those scenes it just didn't really hold my attention. Long story short, this story would have definitely benefited from a slower pacing and more careful character work. I'm sure that I would have liked it more 15 years ago, so I don't say you shouldn't read it - but maybe this one is truly one for the teens ;) Ps: There also were quite a few typos. Enough for them to stick out to me.

Eher enttäuscht

Janice am 20.05.2024
Bewertungsnummer: 2204940
Bewertet: Buch (Taschenbuch)

Ich habe das Buch als Buddyread gelesen und war mega gespannt darauf. Es war in aller Munde und unglaublich gehyped. Aber bereits am Anfang wurde mir klar, dass das Buch absolut nichts für mich ist. Obwohl ich ein Fantasygirl bin. Den Schreibstil finde ich persönlich eher schwach und die Erzählungen auch, manche Dinge machen einfach keinen Sinn. Sehr schade, da die Geschichte wirklich Potenzial gehabt hätte.