To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo - Book Review

"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 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?"

3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐✨

I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either. It was like any generic fantasy book, but fun to read. Some parts were kind of cringe though, and the romance was average. Thankfully, there were no long descriptions of muscular body parts, and as such their love didn't seem as shallow as I'd suspected. The climax was drawn out and expected, and I would have liked for there to be some plot twists.

There are minor spoilers in this review.

Everything felt very simple and straightforward. The destination of the Saad was always fixed, and they always docked there, did the business they had come to do, and sailed off. There were no surprises or introduction of new characters, or sudden deaths. We all knew what would happen, and exactly that did. I was sort of hoping for everyone to die at the end, even though that would've been anti-climatic because it would've made the book at least a little exciting.

There was no flow to the writing at all. The book felt like a collection of hastily put-together scenes, with the setting changing abruptly. I don't mean that I wanted filler scenes, but the characters suddenly going from their ship to a palace to a mountain felt very random. The author should have put some more work into making everything connect. There were no references to previous chapters either, except for the one dialogue "Be the queen we need you to be" that Lira kept thinking about. It showed that the author had written each chapter in a different sitting, so maybe some more editing might've helped.

Lira

"I've never been accused of kindness before".

I had liked Lira in the beginning, but she was not developed at all, and I felt like she was very disconnected from the story. She was always thinking about something else- either her underwater memories or silently hating on her mother. The only time it felt like she was really there was when she was looking at Elian's amazingly green eyes or his amazingly lopsided smile or his amazingly amazing- well, you get the gist.

I don't understand how Lira knows what chocolate and honey and pastries are. The only time she comes to the surface is when she enchants the princes sailing on their ships, and I doubt they stand on the deck eating chocolate cake. Yet the first time she entered a city, she knew was alleys, bakeries, and streets were. It seemed she knew everything about the land despite being from a race of underwater creatures.

The whole conflict in the story was supposed to be how Lira was forced to betray Elian and his crew by murdering him, but I saw no need for that. She could've just as easily revealed her identity and intention of using the Second Eye of Keto to defeat her mother, and Elian would've let her stay. In the end, when he finds out who she is, I couldn't have been the only one who found their "fight" annoying. He was quite obviously not going to kill her, and it was just six or seven pages of them trading blows with no intention of harming each other. And then he lets her go and she runs somewhere? If she was on his side, she could've told him that she had power over the jewel and together they could've defeated the Sea Queen. Really, Lira was a master of making things more complicated for herself.

Elian

"I have to be cautious and clever, which is lucky because I like to think I’m always both of those things at any given time."

See, that's where you're wrong.

This dude, I did not like at all. He thought he was too cool with all his gold and swagger and pirate crew, but really he was just a smol prince who wanted to spite daddy by floating around at sea. The way he called his only three friends his "inner circle" was hysterical. He thought he was this great big man who was super skilled at everything he did, and his arrogance got on my nerves. Everyone looked up to him and was at his beck and call.

He kept flaunting his few magical items, and after a few pages, I'd had enough. The author kept shoving descriptions of his blood-drinking sword and truth-discerning compass down my throat every few pages. If anything, that only served to make him more pathetic, as it displayed how little he had achieved in life despite having so many resources at his fingertips. He was also overly proud of the Saad and after all the praising it didn't sound so great.

That brings me to my fifth problem (yes, I'm counting)- How many crew members were there? Elian says that the Saad had two hundred crew members, and he takes half that many on his voyage, yet there only ever seemed to be five people on their ship. Apart from Torik, Kye, and Madrid, Elian seemed to have no crew. He supposedly thought of the whole crew as his family despite the fact that he didn't even seem to know their names.

I'm not sure if this was supposed to be EnEmIeS tO LoVeRs or not, but if you're going into this book thinking that, as I did, don't. It's probably my mistake for assuming that so I'm not faulting the book for it.

Writing this review has made me realise that I didn't like this book as much as I'd thought, but I'm feeling generous, so I'll stick with my 3.5-star rating. Thank you for reading my review.

Mortal Engines : Mortal Engines Quartet #1 by Philip Reeve - Book Review

Book description-

"The great traction city London has been skulking in the hills to avoid the bigger, faster, hungrier cities loose in the Great Hunting Ground. But now, the sinister plans of Lord Mayor Mangus Crome can finally unfold.

Thaddeus Valentine, London's Head Historian and adored famous archaeologist, and his lovely daughter, Katherine, are down in The Gut when the young assassin with the black scarf strikes toward his heart, saved by the quick intervention of Tom, a lowly third-class apprentice. Racing after the fleeing girl, Tom suddenly glimpses her hideous face: scarred from forehead to jaw, nose a smashed stump, a single eye glaring back at him. "Look at what your Valentine did to me!" she screams. "Ask him! Ask him what he did to Hester Shaw!" And with that she jumps down the waste chute to her death. Minutes later Tom finds himself tumbling down the same chute and stranded in the Out-Country, a sea of mud scored by the huge caterpillar tracks of cities like the one now steaming off over the horizon."

My review-

1.5 stars ⭐✨

Up until 75% of the book, I was sure that this was going to be a 1-star review. The beginning of the book bored me to death, and I found the characters very unlikeable. The POVs of some side characters were dull, and the book could have done without them. The ending was slightly better, though. It was sad and tragic and everyone died and we finally got to see some action. But overall, I didn't enjoy the book too much.

There were inconsistencies in the book, and some parts of it didn't make sense. I get that it's a dystopia, and some things have been left to the imagination, but the descriptions of the traction cities felt incomplete and half-hearted. Most of them were only described as large, ugly bulks of metal. The Top Tiers of London were said to be beautiful and bright, with rich villas, yet when Tom looks at it from his aircraft, he is surprised by how gross London is.

I could not make sense of the cities' sizes either. I thought they were almost as big as actual cities, since they supported so many houses and families. But when Tom and Hester were roaming in the marshes, an entire city whizzed by in a matter of seconds. Also, all races of people seemed to be living everywhere, and everybody had a different complexion and manner of speech.

I cannot tell you much about what happened in the book. The beginning was boring and dragged on and on and on and on and on and on until something finally happened in the end. By that time, though, I was too bored to do more than skim through the pages, so I cannot say much about the climax either. It was unfortunate that many people had to die, but I liked that they were killed realistically, and not left alive for the sake of being important characters. Most of the events made sense, and the main characters didn't always get their way.

I liked the writing in this book. I had expected as much from the author, and it was nice how he found unimaginable links between objects and used them as metaphors. The plot was lacking, however, and the pretty language could only keep me hooked for so long. I was soon tired of the unnecessarily long descriptions of people's surroundings. Thankfully Shrike did not have too many POVs, but even the few ones I skimmed looked terribly dull.

I don't get why Northmen are always depicted as wearing furs. Shouldn't they be the ones not wearing winter clothes, since they're used to the cold up north and will find anyplace else hot? And even if furry clothes are the only things they own, I refuse to believe that they chose to wear layers of coats with hoods in a crowded tavern.

Hester and Tom's friendship was nice. The enemies-ish-to-friends transition was good, and seemed plausible. I also liked how Tom thought he had feelings for Katherine because she was pretty, only after meeting her for a few minutes, and how later he came to like Hester despite her scars. Valentine's arc was decent too, and I'd say the characters were well-written. We weren't told much about them and granted, I found most of them annoying, but they fit into the story well.

Alright, enough praise. I don't think I'll be reading the next book. The way the plot ended in this book is satisfying enough, and having to read another slow beginning won't be worth it.

Thank you for reading my review!

Serpent & Dove : Serpent & Dove #1 by Shelby Mahurin - Book Review

Book description-

"Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made."

2 stars. ⭐⭐

I did not know books without a plot could exist.

⚠️ Warning: this review contains a lot of rhetorical questions

For the first three-quarters of the book, the story was going absolutely nowhere. It was just Lou, first running around with Coco, then with Reid, and I could not see anything she was working towards. Of course, there was the constant threat of 'her' being on her way to find Lou, but it was pretty apparent who the 'her' was.

The characters were mostly bland. The only one I liked was Lou, but by the end, I was bored of her too. Her sass was fun to read about, and it was nice when she put others in their place. But later she was sick for most of the time, and she started getting emotionally attached to Reid and the other guys. Her softness was not appreciated. Through all their time in the forest, Reid was carrying her around, and she did barely anything on her own.

And her not-like-the-others-ness was- *shudders* STOP. JUST STOP.

Reid got on my nerves. His blind faith in the Archbishop was said to be excusable because of his father-figure-ness in Reid's life, but that trust was broken in a moment with one short play staged by witches. At least his wrath was portrayed as an issue and not something that 'made him who he was' or whatever other reason is popular in the market. But I could not discern whether he liked Ansel (if that was indeed his name) or Jean Luc, or even Lou because he kept turning on them so easily.

Coming to the part that annoyed me the most: world-building. I cannot, for the life of me, comprehend their world. What century was it supposed to be? Was it France or was it not? I did not understand the relationship between the Archbishop and the King or the witches' lands and the cities.

They somehow wrote to each other using quills and parchment, but they had newspapers? I mean, how much brains does it require to print newspapers without print and get the paper to write on? (Since they evidently do not realise that they can write directly on paper.) And their world was old-fashioned in every way, but they had popcorn? I was just very confused throughout. The French added a nice touch to the book, but apart from their language, and pastries, there weren't many similarities between them and France.

The book also had its flaws. If the mAgIc sword of the Chasseurs protects them against the witches, why not just give the mAgIc in the swords to the entire kingdom? And if it is expensive or rare, just give the swords to the royal family and you negate the requirement for Chasseurs? Literally how hard is it to figure out that the thing that prevents witches' magic from working should be given to the people who are to be protected from it?

The whole thing to do with eye colours was a big mess. Somebody please tell Lou that emerald is green, while turquoise is a shade of blue. It was also annoying how she was said to have blue-green eyes, just because her mother had green eyes and her father had blue. Maybe that is how it works, but it's more likely that she would have normal green eyes.

Also, the whole marriage thing was the most unnecessary part of this whole book filled with unnecessary happenings. Lou is a thief, and Reid is a Chasseur, trying to protect their land from the likes of her. So basically a policeman chasing a robber. Now, by some fantastical twists in the fantastical tale, they happen to fall onto a stage, with him on top of her, and her face covered with bruises. To prevent (keyword PREVENT) any misunderstandings from spreading among the crowd and to save Reid's reputation, the Archbishop announces that they are married? I mean, wouldn't it be easier to tell them the truth? The dude was doing his silly job?

And even if he did make that announcement, it was not like anyone followed up. If Lou had been sent to prison afterwards, nobody would have cared. After a few more pages, everybody seemed to have forgotten that Reid had a wife.

But nooooo. Marriage.
Sure. That was absolutely the only way.
*sigh*

I wanted to rant about many things, but honestly, this book was so immemorable that they all slipped my mind.

Oh yes, that brings me to the predictability. The you're-my-daughter/son-and-I'm-your-long-lost mother/father fiasco? Didn't everyone already know about that? I mean there were plenty of hints before they "revealed" it? And that was the only plot twist this book had to offer?

And please don't get me started about the "smell of magic" thing.

Oh, too late.

Not a single one of the Chasseurs were smart enough to understand when somebody used magic. What happened to the cloying smell of it when Lou used it? All she had to do was fill the room with smoke and somehow the "overpowering" smell went away. At one point she walks into the room with the smell pouring off her, and Reid does not suspect a thing. A single thing. Guy, you had one job.

And can we talk about how Anel was so incompetent? Everyone kept flirting with him and talking about how kind and cool he was, but he was just a sixteen-year-old little guy who knew nothing about what he'd signed up for.

If Coco and Reid were supposed to be in their mid-twenties, their personalities were falling short of it. All Reid ever was, was the tallest, most handsome person in all the land (naturally) who took orders from the Archbishop, and made it the goal of his life to not question anything he was taught. I think Lou was supposed to be eighteen? Oh, and of course she was very short and very thin so that the tallest dude in the world could tower over her. I'm fed up with these books.

The chap should get an award for using the maximum possible vowels in his names, real and false. I just pronounce Reid as 'reed'. And isn't Raoul the same as Raul?

Regardless, I'm going to be reading the next book because this series is too popular to not. Let's hope the rest of the series is better 🤞🏻

Thank you for reading my review! 

The Betrayed : The Betrothed #2 by Kiera Cass - Book Review (No spoilers)

"Can you follow your heart when it’s already broken?

After fleeing Coroa and leaving the memory of her beloved Silas behind, Hollis is unsteadily adjusting to life in Isolte. The Eastoffe family’s affection is a balm on her weary spirit, though Etan, a surly cousin with a deep distaste for Coroans, threatens to upset the uneasy peace she’s found.

While tensions at home ratchet up, disquiet in the kingdom of Isolte is reaching a fever pitch. The Eastoffes may have the power to unseat a tyrannical king—but only with Hollis’s help.

Can a girl who’s lost it all put the fate of her adopted homeland over the secret longings of her heart?"

Kiera Cass, otherwise known as the Mistress of Creating Despicable MCs is back at it with her talent. This time, she delivered a predictable, unconvincing story of two crowns, two kingdoms, and two lovers.

If I had to describe this book in one word, I would call it expected.

I know a lot of reviewers start with a quote from the book, but I'm terrible at doing that, so you'll have to bear with me. Honestly, nothing from this book even stood out to me enough to make a quote out of it. It was all so very dull.

Writing: 2/5

After writing so many books, one would expect the author to have learnt to use punctuation. Yet she continues to give us books filled to the brim with bothersome sentences and long ponderings of the characters which force us to have to read every sentence very carefully to puzzle out its meaning and such sentences make us want to give up on reading completely... as this one might've done for you.

The pacing was pretty decent though. The story moved quickly, and that was one aspect I liked about this book. It was quite addictive because of its fast pace

Apart from using half of the first book as a filler, the author also did not bother to come up with anything original. This book was short enough for me to finish within twenty-four hours, despite not being too interested in it, and yet it failed to provide content different from anything I've previously read. Hollis kept reminiscing about her life back in Coroa, and thinking about Silas and Delia Grace and gowns and flowers and Keresken and every little thing that one can possibly remember about their life in a different city.

This drawn-out book was completely unnecessary. The author could have just as well added it as part 2 to the first, and equally short, book.

Plot: 3/5

As I've said before, this book was everything I had expected it to be, but not in a good way. There were no surprises or plot twists. It was sort of a comfort-read, where you already know what's to come and you're only reading for the happy ending. Except, here, I neither liked the characters nor the writing.

The climax was satisfying in a way, and also sort of frustrating. Everything happened too fast without any conflicts or challenges. I would have liked for maybe a small battle, or for some to turn traitor at the last moment. The basic setting of the book remained the same throughout, with the same group of people attempting to overthrow the same enemy. Nobody changed sides, nor did anything drastic happen in their lives.

Characters: 3/5

Did I hate Hollis with all my being? Yes.

But am I still rating the characters a 3? Guilty.

Apart from the dislikeability of the characters, there was nothing actually wrong with them. Their personalities stayed mostly the same...a little too same in fact. Hollis appeared to have learned nothing from anything and remained the same foolish girl throughout. I was hoping for a character arc, but this book did not deliver.

Romance: forgive me for being unable to rate something that didn't exist

I think the rating speaks for itself, but everything with Ethan was very rushed. Maybe I read the book too fast, or it was just the length and pacing of the book that made it appear so. I'm not mad that it wasn't drawn out, but it was the only thing in the book that wasn't, so might as well have worked some Kiera magic on that.

It wasn't all that bad though. The author's books are just very easy to hate on. The overall plot of both the books was good, and I don't regret reading this duology.

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve - Book Review (No spoilers)

"Gwyna is just a small girl, a mouse, when she is bound in service to Myrddin the bard - a traveller and spinner of tales. But Myrdin transfroms her - into a lady goddess, a boy warrior, and a spy. Without Gwyna, Myrddin will not be able to work the most glorious transformation of all - and turn the leader of a raggle-tagglear-band into King Arthur, the greatest hero of all time."

3.5 stars

I did not enjoy this as much as I would have liked, but it was still fun to read. I hadn't tried any of the author's books before, so I didn't know what to expect. The writing was good, but the book lacked a solid plot, and I would have liked it if something more had happened. It was a unique take on the Arthurian legend though, and even as someone who has read many of those, I have not across one such before.

There are no spoilers in this review.

Plot - 2/5
The pacing was really good, and a lot of things seemed to be happening, but none of them was of actual consequence. The same events took place over and over again, with different groups of people riding off to war, and a few of them dying along the way. I cannot say anything about its overall predictability, as some happenings were surprising, while most were expected. I liked that everything felt real though, and nobody was forcefully killed nor unnaturally saved. To add a twist to something on which so many stories have already been written takes creativity, and the author's imagination showed.

Characters - 5/5
I liked reading about the characters. Gwyna's transition from a scared slave to an independent survivor was well-written. In the beginning, she was shown to be scared of wars and being awed when she saw warriors riding past. By the end, she was used to all of it and could ride a horse as well as anyone else. The author has also kept her basic nature constant throughout the book. She was never a great warrior and knowing that, she hid from battles rather than risk her life in them. All her actions made sense according to her personality, and reading the whole book from her point of view was better than I'd initially thought.

Myrddin was fun to read about as well. His character stayed constant throughout the story, and I was interested in knowing about him. Arthur has been depicted differently in this book, but it all makes sense with the backdrop of the story. He was said to be a bearish man, only interested in raids and conquests, and the spoils of war. He marries a woman on the advice of his men, for political advantage, without the intention of ever being good to her. During the narration, Gwyna hints that she is perhaps being kinder to Arthur than he really was. The distinction between Arthur as a person and the one in Myrddin's stories has also been made clear, to account for the difference between him and how is he is remembered.

Writing - 4/5
I like the writing style of the author, but I thought a few parts were rather repetitive. The pacing was good, without too many descriptions or dialogues, and the chapters were kept short. The story was concise and to the point, and I liked how the author did not delve too much into the character's histories and narrated the events in a simple, straightforward manner.

All-in-all, though I liked reading the book, it would not be my first recommendation. The writing was good, and anyone interested in Arthurian legends should check this book out. Thank you for reading my review!