To Kill a Kingdom

March 1, 2018

Gr 8 Up-Princess Lira is a siren and collects the hearts of princes. Having claimed 17, she is in search of another. She is ruthless in her approach-stealing the hearts with her bare hands. Lira was raised to abhor humans and finds it to be a cruel punishment from her mother, the Sea Queen, when she is turned into one. Her quest is to claim the heart of the heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world, Prince Elian, or Lira will remain human forever. After being turned into a human, she is rescued from drowning by Prince Elian, her prey. The Prince is one with the sea as well as charming and conniving. While a romance buds, can this pair learn to trust one another? This narrative is told with alternating points of view in the first person. At times, this might be confusing to readers, who have to consider who is speaking in the first paragraph of each chapter. Fantasy fans will like the idea of sirens and piratelike princes as the characters who are imaginative and well developed; however, the romance does clutter up the plot. VERDICT Those looking for nuanced characters caught up in a tough situation will enjoy this one, providing they can look past the confusing shifts in perspective. An additional purchase.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton High School, Linden, MI

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 12, 2018
In a dark debut novel inspired by The Little Mermaid, a human prince and a siren transformed into a human embark on a perilous journey filled with blood, gore, and treachery as they struggle with a sense of duty and thirst for freedom. As a siren princess, 17-year-old Lira knows that every prince she kills is a means to an end: namely, proving to her people that she's strong and cruel enough to become queen one day. But everything she has worked for is wrenched away from her by her vindictive and power-hungry mother, who transforms Lira into a human after Lira allows a prince, the siren-killer Elian, to escape. To redeem herself, she must return with Elian's heart, so she joins him on a quest to find the Eye of Keto, a magic-granting crystal that could help Lira win back her mother's favorâor free the sirens of her tyrannical rule. With well-crafted fight scenes and vivid descriptions, Christo has created a world of beauty and monstrosity that will draw readers in. Ages 13-up. Agent: Emmanuelle Morgen, Stonesong.