To Kill a Kingdom

This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I rarely read fairy tale adaptations, but I thought this one was really well done! First of all, I loved the author's writing and her attention to detail. I was immediately drawn into the story and the plot was incredibly captivating. The characters were wonderfully developed, and I simply couldn't put the book down! "To Kill a Kingdom" is definitely a dark retelling of The Little Mermaid, but it also gave me Pirates of the Caribbean vibes. The story was grim, wild, and full of twists and turns. I thought the siren theme was very intriguing, as I've rarely encountered it in books before. I loved it, though, and I've decided to read more books like this! Overall, I really enjoyed Lira and Elian's story, so much so that I read the book in one sitting.

What would happen if both main characters want to kill each other? That is the premise of "To Kill a Kingdom" and the author really makes it work. From the start you are drawn into this interesting world full of pirates, magic and loveable characters. Lira and Elian, though they want to kill each other in the beginning, have such great chemistry and the banter between these two is just awesome. Once started I could not stop reading this book and felt that it was almost too short for my liking - I just wanted to spend more time with Lira, Elian and the whole crew surrounding them. The romance is nuanced and quite a slow-burn, but it really works and really pays off at the end. Overall "To Kill a Kingdom" is a great fantasy, especially for those who don't read a lot of other fantasy books.