Challenge Corner discussion

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?

oooo I loved this book the first time I read it and I'd be down to dive back into it.

Started this one yesterday, very promising start, liking it so far

Chapter 1 - 7
I like it so far. There is more like an introduction and some world building. But I can see that the story is picking up from here. (view spoiler)[ The sea queen seem really mean and ruthless. Lira too. But is she really, or it's just something to be expected from her. Like a role she is following? Hm. I am still trying to get the feeling about the prince-pirate-siren hunter. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 15
(view spoiler)[ Does Elian know the girl he saved is Siren? I mean, she said something in her own language then he saved her. I thought he knows she is one of them, but now I am starting to think he doesn't know...
I can see that this is kinda a little mermaid retelling. But this is way darker than I expected. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 19
(view spoiler)[ Hm. She has to get Elian to trust her, so she can go look for that secret "gun" against queen of the sea. Of course, no wonder Elian do not trust her. But he will I assume. Overall, I already think I know how this book will end. But I really hope I am wrong and the ending is hiding some suprise. (hide spoiler)]

Ch 14 (25%) - (view spoiler)[ Yes, things are about to get interesting!!! I love the set up so far. Siren Prince Killer vs. Prince Siren Killer - how can these two not get together in the end?? (hide spoiler)]
Ch 21 (50%) - (view spoiler)[ I love the tit for tat between these two. Although, I am wondering Kye (or someone else) hasn't asked how she knows so much about the Sirens. Her story about her family being slaughtered doesn't mean she would know so much about their world. (hide spoiler)]
Ch 33 (78%) - (view spoiler)[ Even I want to slap Yukiko silly. Lira is right, he is giving up too much. I can't believe he is willing to give up the crystal afterwards too - won't it give whoever holds it the power over the ocean and possibly the power to enslave everyone? How does that fit with his overall goal?? (hide spoiler)]
Finished - I love how it all came together at the end. (view spoiler)[ I was shipping those two from the beginning and am glad they trusted each other enough to achieve their goal of killing the Sea Queen.

I must admit that I couldn't help comparing it to Daughter of the Pirate King and I liked that book/series more. To Kill a Kingdomis more PG, which has its place too, but I like to see the results of some of the sparks between two passionate characters - at least a good kiss! (hide spoiler)]

Ch 10 (15%) - (view spoiler)[ Surprisingly enjoying this at the moment! I wouldn’t have picked this up normally but wanted to get the team more points and it was only £2.48 on amazon 😂. I’m not usually a stand alone fantasy novel reader so it’s been a nice change to read a fantasy book which actually finishes on an ending and not a cliffhanger! (hide spoiler)]

Ch 21 (48%) - (view spoiler)[ I just really like the friendship and love between Lira and Kahlia, even if Lira has no idea what it is. I’m also liking the slow burn nature of Lira and Elian, it doesn’t feel forced. Maybe a slightly cliche match which I would prefer to remain as friendship by the end, but I don’t actually mind the build up. (hide spoiler)]

Ch 24 (52%) - (view spoiler)[ Omd that flesh eater thing looks terrifying I can’t deal. (hide spoiler)]

Ch 31 (68%) - (view spoiler)[ I know this is a sort of little mermaid retelling but I’m liking the fact that it’s different enough that Lira taking a bullet for Elian was still a surprise. This book has been such an unexpected enjoyable read which has really shocked me. And I’m really looking forward to an ending where I don’t need to read a sequel to get it. Also, something is definitely up with Elian, him not drowning is definitely not a coincidence - I feel like sirens saved him or something and that he now has some ocean blood in him (hide spoiler)]

Ch 37 (86%) - (view spoiler)[ I was worried this was going to happen. The romance, I know it was meant to be slow burn but somehow it still came off as forced and rushed 😢. It sort of went from bridging mutual respect to full on fancying each other within a couple pages and it was pretty confusing to read. The book is taking a downhill turn and I’m slightly worried it’s no longer the 4 star read I thought it could be. (hide spoiler)]

Finished - (view spoiler)[ Gaaaah I was so rooting for this book and up until the 80% mark it was totally a 4 star book. But that last bit, man it let the novel down and I hate that it happened. It felt rushed, nothing felt explained, for some reason everyone suddenly gets along way too quickly, there’s no closure regarding the side characters. The book needed another 50 pages or so to tie things up and create a satisfying conclusion. It had potential but that ending did let it down, 3 star read for me. (hide spoiler)]

Finished.
(view spoiler)[I feel like I was cheated. lol
I was really enjoying this book, but at the end it went down. Till like maybe 70 % of the book I was sure it will be like 4 stars read, but the ending wasn't as good as I was hoping for. Even tho I had a feeling all though the book that I know how the story will end, I was hoping for something more, a suprise, idk - something. And it wasn't here. (hide spoiler)]

23%: (view spoiler)[ So far it's been mostly buildup. A very dark retelling of the Little Mermaid. Lira was just turned by her mother the Sea Queen. Interested in what's going to happen when Elian sees her. Is he going to know her because he knew her when she was a siren? How ever will they fall in love? (hide spoiler)]

48%: (view spoiler)[ I do like how Lira is sticking to her "I hate princes" thing and didn't just fall for Elian the minute she became human. I also like how she's determined to take her own mother down and isn't above using the prince to get what she wants. Elian on the other hand is just baffled over Lira. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7
(view spoiler)[I wonder if Sakura is going to have a bigger role in all of this, maybe in the trip towards the mountains or maybe some other big secret about her ? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 12
(view spoiler)[Ok so Sakura is important to the whole story like I thought, I had hoped for a little bit more of a twist though, since it was a little obvious (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17
(view spoiler)[I cannot believe Lira looks so extremely different from her mermaid form that literally nobody recognizes her, like come on, long red hair, same blue eyes only now 2 blue eyes, probably rest of her appearance also the same, only literally instead of fins a pair of legs, I would rather have had at least the siren recognizing her immediately (hide spoiler)]

75% and it's 3am ... I guess I dont need sleep
(Too much suspense for the ending to stop now D: )

Finished and oh boy, that was an experience

74% (view spoiler)[ Looks like Lira isn't so gung-ho about taking Elian's heart as she thought. I like that she's finally realizing what "be the queen we need" means and it's completely different from what her mother is. Let's just hope she can come to some sort of agreement with Elian cause I'm pretty sure he's not going to be too happy with her when he finds out she's the siren (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[ I almost expected this to end like the original Little Mermaid story ends because it seemed like the perfect kind of dark. But yet, the story ended rather upbeat. The fight between the Sea Queen and Lira was pretty epic and it was nice to see Flesh Eater get it cause he was just gross. (hide spoiler)]