To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

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 and 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?

Cover: I really like how simple this cover is, I like how it's relevant and the connections to the story.  And I really like that it's not a romantic cover, with a girl in a dress with a handsome boy on it.

I had this book on my kindle for just over a month before reading it, and I'm so glad that I finally picked it up- I freaking loved it.

It's a dark re-imagining of The Little Mermaid and I was hooked from the beginning.

I was worried I wouldn't connect with Lira because she's a killer.  A Royal siren whose mother is the Sea Queen, from a young age her mother has guided her, instructed her.  Shaped her into a killer.  A prince killer.  She lures them in with her song and then takes their still beating hearts from their chest.

So yeah...I did think I would struggle.  But I didn't.  I was drawn to her as a character and I think I recognised that she would be a different kind of protagonist.  And she was.  Not all good and not all evil either.  I really liked seeing her progress as a character.

Elian- the pirate prince.  He's drawn to the sea.  He doesn't want to become king, he'd much rather sail the seas ridding the world of sirens.  Killing isn't easy for him, but he does it for the  greater good.

I loved the banter between these two characters- they were very funny interactions to read, the one upmanship.  I did hope for a romance, and I got one, but what I liked for a change was that it was a very slow burn romance.  It wasn't instalove, and it wasn't the sole focus of the book. 

I loved this book, but I do wish there had been more world building of the underwater world.  We get to hear a lot about Midas -the prince's kingdom.  About how everything is golden and opulent, and some of the other kingdoms but we didn't get much of a visualisation of the underwater kingdom.  We get told that Lira keeps her 17 stolen hearts under her bed- we I couldn't really visualise what I sirens bedroom looked like.

Over all I devoured this book and look forward to seeing what else Alexandra Christo writes.

5/5 stars.