To Kill a Kingdom

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018

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Themes

Trust and Finding Common Ground

Before Lira met Elian and the crew of the Saad, she had been raised to hate humans and thought of them as weak and pathetic, just as the Sea Queen did. She participated in hunting humans and took pride in collecting their hearts, understanding those behaviors to be the siren way. It took an adventure on the Saad and the punishment of becoming a human girl for Lira to learn that she wasn’t as different from the humans as she believed.

To Kill a Kingdom is a story in which characters from two different worlds come together and learn to put aside their differences. In the case of Elian and Lira, what’s at stake is larger than just the relationship between the two of them. The battle between the humans and the sirens, which has been ongoing for countless generations, is about to come to a potentially deadly end, and if either side were to win, it would mean disaster for the other. As young royals who represent their kind, their ability to find common ground means salvation for both sirens and humans. This is a common theme, especially among star-crossed lover tales like Romeo and Juliet. Elian and Lira’s love story is a Romeo and Juliet tale, but unlike the famed tragic lovers in the Shakespeare play, Elian and Lira are able to stop the conflict before it ends in disaster for either side.

It takes Elian longer than Lira to accept that sirens aren’t simply evil creatures incapable of change, but this is only because he doesn’t learn Lira’s true nature until Chapter 35. However, he recognizes the similarities between Lira and himself. Throughout the novel, Elian and Lira both struggle with trusting anyone, but as the plot progresses, Elian places his trust in Lira. He is able to overcome the small betrayal of finding out about Lira’s siren nature because he trusts her and believes that she is on his side, despite what he’s always believed about sirens. By trusting each other, Lira and Elian are able to work together and use the Eye of Keto to finally take down the Sea Queen. Realizing that neither group really wants to fight, and especially that the sirens are only acting out of fear of the Sea Queen, the human crew of the Saad and the siren army follow Lira and Elian’s lead, ceasing their battle with each other and focusing their energy on stopping the Sea Queen. When Lira finally takes over as queen, she opens the Diávolos Sea to the human kingdoms, continuing to foster trust between their kinds and celebrating their differences instead of despising them.

Breaking the Cycle of Abuse

Lira was raised by a violent and ruthless mother who came from a long line of violent and ruthless Sea Queens. In the beginning of the book, it’s implied that sirens are naturally aggressive and cold. Lira has never experienced love, even from her mother, and doesn’t really understand what it is or why the humans are so obsessed with it. The callous ways of the Sea Queen are all that she knows.

Lira, however, shows tendencies towards what her mother considers human weaknesses, such as love, remorse, and compassion. Her ability to feel these emotions before her mother beats them out of her suggests that sirens are not only capable of feeling them but naturally would if the Sea Queen did not violently punish all emotion. Lira was raised by an abusive mother. Her mother punishes her for any perceived slight, and her punishments are severe, often leaving Lira physically injured and bleeding. For example, when Lira let her first prince die before taking his heart, the Sea Queen punishes her by forcing her to kill her younger cousin Khalia.

Ironically, the Sea Queen’s most severe punishment—turning Lira human—is what gives Lira the outside perspective she needs to break the cycle of abuse. Abuse victims are often trapped in the world of the abuser, and Lira’s time with the humans allows her to see a world outside of the violent, bleak world her mother has created. Though it takes her a while to completely shed her mother’s mindset, Lira eventually realizes that her mother’s ways are wrong and that she has to be stopped. Taking over after the Sea Queen’s demise, Lira ends the Sea Queen’s violent rule that was harmful to both sirens and humans. She creates a new sea kingdom that isn’t focused on killing humans and instead aims to coexist peacefully. Lira gets the sirens to side with her during the final battle by helping them realize that the Sea Queen didn’t care about them and promising to be a different kind of queen than her mother was (324). In the final chapter, Lira has fulfilled her promise, permitting the sirens to live freely without the threat of violent retribution.

Changing the World Through the Empowerment of Women

There is no shortage of empowered women in the world of To Kill a Kingdom. Christo showcases women who are strong-willed and never are overshadowed by their male counterparts. However, by the end of the book, the specific and deliberate empowerment of certain women drastically changes the world for the better. Though the sirens are an entirely female species led by a queen, they initially aren’t free. They are physically powerful and have the ability to hypnotize and control humans with their song, but they are only able to use their strengths in ways that the Sea Queen deems acceptable. She is an authoritarian ruler who leads with an iron fist. The Sea Queen is a static character, but she also represents the status quo, which for the sirens is a lifetime of oppression. Lira goes on a journey of self-discovery that ultimately leads her to challenge her mother’s rule. Her empowerment changes the circumstances of the sirens, and through her they all become empowered to live their lives freely and without fear of the retribution of their former queen.

The women of the human world also face gender discrimination, as the kingdoms serve as a reflection of our world. Madrid, before becoming a member of the Saad, was enslaved in her home country of Kléftes. Yukiko and Amara both desire to rule but are overlooked in favor of their brothers, their leadership aspirations dismissed by their royal families. These women each go on their own journeys towards empowerment.

Madrid’s journey towards empowerment largely takes place before the events of the book, by which point she has become the second mate on the Saad. Her position on the ship is well respected, and none of her male companions regard her as anything less than an equal. Amara and Yukiko share similar desires, but they approach them in different ways. Amara is headstrong and outspoken, never afraid to challenge her brother and even stepping in to protect him from uncomfortable social situations. Yukiko, on the other hand, manipulates her way into securing a position of power. Ultimately, it’s another powerful woman, Queen Galina, who gives Yukiko what she wants. By the end of the book, Lira, Amara, and Yukiko have all become monarchs who prove to be competent and fair leaders. In Lira’s case, her leadership has ushered in a new era of peace, ending the conflict between humans and sirens.