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To Kill a Kingdom
- Narrated by: Jacob York, Stephanie Willis
- Length: 12 hrs
- Categories: Teen & Young Adult, Literature & Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of 17 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?
What the critics say
"Dual narrators heighten the drama of this fantasy... Stephanie Willis delivers Lira's vicious, impassioned narration with theatrical relish, allowing the character's fierce tones to soften as she begins to understand how deeply she's been warped by her mother, the merciless Sea Queen. Jacob York gives rakish swagger to Elian's drive to protect both his kingdom and his beloved ship's crew." (AudioFile Magazine)
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What listeners say about To Kill a Kingdom
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Steph Marie
- 2018-09-14
Prefectly Chilling!
I absolutely LOVED this book! the story itself was so chilling and well written! The characters are easy to connect with and diverse, and the thought and care that went into the world is wonderful. I also loved to narrator's voice, it was smooth and calming and really added to the chill of the story! I highly recommend! #Audible1
4 people found this helpful
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- Brianna
- 2018-09-14
Nothing happened
This book really didn't impress me. The idea was there and was great but the romance was hardly believable, they hate each other and then all of a sudden they're in love? they hardly had much interaction to progress there, I just couldn't see what he would have even seen in her. The performance was pretty good however, I would listen to another of her books. #Audible1 #justok #notworthit
3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-05-25
I Expected More.
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all, it's only natural that she become the next Sea Queen. Raised by an unrelenting and ruthless mother, Lira is proud of the 17 hearts she has acquired in her 17 years of life. Each heart belonged to a prince from a kingdom who wasn't smart enough to stay clear of its dangerous oceans. Lira became greedy, however, and took the heart of a prince which forced her to kill one of her own before her 18th birthday and must suffer her mother's wrath for this insolence. 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. Stripped of her fins, Lira finds herself human and on a mission. Her goal is to acquire the Siren Killers heart without magic in order to prove herself to her never satisfied mother that she can make a ruthless queen in her stead. Elian is heir to a golden throne that he has no intention of sitting on. He loves his kingdom, but feels his life is better spent a Pirate than a diplomate. Elian knows the dangers of the sea and wants to rid it of the monsters they call Sirens. He will kill all the Sirens and their queen but on his journey to do it he stumbles upon a naked woman about to drown, alone in the middle of the ocean. Drawn by her beauty and charm he saves her, he knows she has secrets and can't be trusted but finds her too valuable an ally to get rid of. How much will Elian have to sacrifice in order to end this war between land and ocean? Obviously this has high potential. The concept of this book is great. It’s both gorgeous and brutal. The descriptions are great but I had some issues with the writing style. Somewhere in trying to maintain that dark atmosphere... it just became too much. Every single verb is heightened and at some point it leaned towards melodrama. People don’t just laugh, they cackle. They don’t just walk, they storm. They don’t shout, they bellow. Even the most mundane actions and descriptions were written with an illustrious intensity. Eventually.... if everything is intense.... NOTHING is.I never felt invested in the characters and I never believed in their romance. Let me explain, the world-building is limited, the action scenes various but short (not enough intensity), the romance pleasant but not romantic, and the Sea Queen the stereotypical mother who can never be pleased because she has high expectations… on crack (so a not-so-surprising version of Ursula). Elian and Lira narrate the book in alternating chapters, and even though they are devoting their lives to heroic ends, they seem incredibly self-centered and melodramatic. Perhaps my own heart is siren-cold, but I thought that the end was naïve (among other things, Lira argues that humans just want to be left alone, which suggests to me that Lira hasn’t met enough humans). This kind of story is all about the journey, and the journey was, I hate to say it – boring. By the time the MacGuffin showed up and the climactic battle took place, I did not care. I was just in a hurry to move on to the next book in my pile.
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- Bobbi-Jo Juniper
- 2019-10-02
No ending
The story was well written and I expected some type of ending, but was disappointed as there was not. .
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- Vera.Rasmussens
- 2019-08-02
Liked it but it could have been better.
This book needed to be longer to do the story and characters justice and give the ending more time because it was rushed which cause it to be disappointing. I really enjoyed it and it had good potential but I have to admit the last segment of the book was disappointing.
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- ymattie
- 2018-11-06
From the story to the narrator's, just fabulous!
The story was engaging throughout it all. I absolutely loved the voices of the narrator's. So glad I purchased it. Highly recommend. I hope for more from the author and narrator's in the future.
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- Sofie
- 2018-11-03
4 stars
I really enjoyed this audiobook. I felt like Stephenie Willis was the stronger narrator. Jacob York was definitely good but not with female voices. He often made them sound old and frail especially with Yukiko/Sakura. But I still enjoyed his narration. He did great with Elian. Stephanie Willis blew me away though. She is very talented. The supporting characters were enjoyable, although underused at the end. This is a great retelling of the original Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid story (sorry if I spelled his name wrong) and to my delight, it loosely incorporates several other fairytales.
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- Shilo Pearle
- 2018-10-31
Beautiful
Loved this book from beginning to end. It hooked my heart and never let go. I hope we see a lot more from Christo in the near future.
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- Sharron
- 2018-10-28
Interesting and Fast Paced
I had purchased this book as a Daily Deal, as I needed something to fill in the time until my next Credit arrived. Was not aware of this author and very surprised at how quickly the time flew, listening to this novel. As there were two narrators, it was so easy to follow the tale, and the love/hate relationship between the two main characters. I found myself extending my automatic shut off time more often than not and was beginning to believe I would have to purchase yet another book before my monthly credit became available. I was a bit sad to come to the conclusion of this audio book, wishing it would continue. This is only because it was a 'good listen', not because it NEEDED a different ending. I am very happy I made this choice as a follow up purchase. Hopefully you will feel the same.
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- Keith Cruz
- 2018-10-25
If you like mermaids, you’ll like this book.
The performance is the best thing in this book. The voices really bring it to life. The story is good, even if it sounds oddly too similar to The Little Mermaid. There’s some dialogue that’s funny. My main issue with it this that the writing is a bit sloppy and could’ve been better edited. The characters too are one dimensional, except for the Siren. Overall, good, but not great.
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- Bookworm
- 2019-03-11
Promises more than it delivers.
The skinny: You have Lira, a beautiful siren princess who rips royal hearts from their chests with her bare hands, and Elian, a witty pirate prince who makes a successful career out of hunting Lira's kind. How awesome is that??? The story takes off when Lira makes a mistake that pisses off her one-dimensional, evil queen mother, who turns her into a human as punishment. Lira now has to bring back Elian's heart to win her mother's favor and become a siren again. Dun-dun-dun. Thoughts: This book starts off with a bang. It's dark and different, and it paves the way for what I thought would be a fantastic story. I was riveted through the first quarter of the book, but my enthrallment slowly faded away as the story sailed on (pun intended). I was expecting a lot more from Lira's complex darkness, a nail-biting romance, and some fun pirate swashbuckling to top it all off. But both Lira's transition to humanity and her slow budding romance with Elian were underwhelming. And, you guessed it, no swashbuckling shenanigans. My rapt interest briefly returned toward the end of the story, when Elian finds out who Lira really is, but those scenes were followed by the final battle and ending which can be best described as lackluster. Let's just say it was an undeserving finale and wrap up for this book's potential. Bottom line: It wasn't what I was hoping it would be, but I still enjoyed the story, even with all its disappointments.
13 people found this helpful
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- Lexa Slater
- 2019-02-10
One Great Narrator, One Not-so-much
The story was interesting. A bit like a dark retelling of the Little Mermaid, if Ariel was a siren and had killed over a dozen men and taken their still-beating hearts. The biggest kicker for me was the male narrator. the female did her parts really well but the male-- I was cringing through his reading. He read the male voices fine enough, but whenever he read a woman's part he spoke in the most halting manner, like he was learning to read each word as he read it. "I... don't... think... that's... a ... good... idea..." I know it's hard to read for the opposite sex, but this was awful! It wasn't even just a poor accent, it was terribly done and I was rolling my eyes through every chapter he read. I'm not sure if it was the narrator or also just the character himself, but Elian was so freaking annoying. He whines about everything-- unless he's talking about how GREAT he is and how SKILLED and LUCKY he is. I really was about hoping Lyra would just take his heart, honestly. The unwilling prince is already a tired trope, bit Elian took it to a whole new level. He was constantly whimpering about how awful it was that he had to be a prince and couldn't just be a pirate. Boo hoo. I'm normally not this negative, but I truly couldn't manage my disdain for his character. The female main was better and I wish we'd have just gotten the book through he perspective alone.
5 people found this helpful
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- Alicia Postigo
- 2018-04-04
Fairly original
The story is original and fresh, but there are a few chapters in the middle wi th some teenage love-hate banter that is sooo old, used and stereotypical that it was painful to listen to. Also the male main character could be slight less whiny. If you can tolerate those minor issues the story is innovative in its retelling of the Little Mermaid story
12 people found this helpful
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- Shawscribbles
- 2018-05-15
A bit predictable ...
The premise of this book was intriguing. The protagonist is a siren who steals (literally ripping them out) prince's hearts for her birthday. Prince Elian is a siren hunter. And they are thrown together in a bid to defeat the sea queen. But I have to say it was a bit predictable. Lira hides her identity from Elian. When he finds out who she is their budding romance is threatened. Adventure, danger, star-crossed lovers - yadda, yadda, yadda. This book had potential but for me it was missing the unique quality that makes me devour a book.
15 people found this helpful
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- Deborah
- 2018-10-10
Eh..
The story seemed to be alright. The female narrator was awesome. But I didn’t quite like the male part. His version of women’s tone was annoying with the pauses between words as if he was struggling to get them to talk. And I could barely differentiate between which female character was talking. So it was a struggle to listen to at times. I think I might have enjoyed it better if I read it on my own.
2 people found this helpful
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- R. Havens
- 2018-04-17
A fun fantasy ride
What an enjoyable debut novel! Alexandra Christo's fairy-tale-reimagined story has a strong protagonist gal, my favorite kind of pretty sailor prince, and rich world-building that made me love reading as a tween and pre-tween, while being solid enough to hold up to adult reader scrutiny. This is my favorite kind of YA fantasy novel. I'll be watching for what Christo makes in the future. I wasn't sold for the first two or so chapters, but I think that was mainly the voice actors' interpretation of the story (which quickly balanced out and became manageable by around ch. 5).
11 people found this helpful
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- kathy Marquard
- 2018-11-12
not a great story
The performance was the best it could be for the story. The characters were not very developed. The plot was shallow, juvenile and predictable. There was very little drama, conflict or any reason to feel anything for the characters. I was not able to finish this book. #defiantteen #mermaid #MythologyInspired #Nostalgic #adventure #tagsgiving #sweepstakes
1 person found this helpful
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- chr bart
- 2018-05-09
never peaked my interest...
i listened to the whole book and i could not get into it . i would not listen to it a second time
3 people found this helpful
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- April McDermitt
- 2018-04-18
If I could give 6 stars I would.
The story was nothing but amazing. And the narrator's made it an amazing experience. The narrator's really brought the story to life and really made me feel all of the emotions. They really made it feel like more than just a book. I loved the darkness in fierceness of the main character. I also liked her transformation, it seemed very natural and not overdone. I also liked how language was a big part of the story.
5 people found this helpful
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- Raquel Costa
- 2018-09-02
Best YA I've read in a while!
This book was surprisingly gritty, deliciously wicked and amazingly heart-warming! What Alexandra Christo did with the little mermaid story is out of this world perfect! I'm simultaneously happy it's a stand alone (it REALLY didn't need to be more), and sad I won't get to see more of this world. As a matter of fact, I hope Christo does write more stories using different characters within this world. There is so much there to be explored! I would only not recommend this if you don't like romance. But if you do, or even don't mind it, it's a very very good one, complex and full of nuance. I will definitely look forward to what this author comes up with next!
2 people found this helpful