Who doesn't like a good sea story? ...probably someone. I don't know.
An amazon summary, "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?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Princess Lira is a siren. Siren's are supposed to kill and capture the heart of a human each year. Her mother, the sea witch, would kill and capture the heart of a prince every year to keep her alive. So when Lira became old enough, she also hunted down a prince every year to keep herself alive. With 100 kingdoms in this world, there seem to be enough princes to continue the tradition. She became known as the Prince's Bane.
Which brings us to Prince Elian, who has made it his mission to hunt down sirens. He loves the sea, he wants to be out on the oceans, and when he's on land he's just incredibly sleepy. He's hunting the oceans to rid the ocean of sirens, and hopefully the sea queen that controls them all.
Who happens to be Princess Lira's mother. Princess Lira's mother, is kind of an awful variety of being. She's ruthless, she cares nothing for other's lives, and she will murder to make a point. So when Princess Lira harvests a prince's heart too early, she sees it as defiance against the decrees she has set. As punishment, the sea queen turns Lira into a human and charges her with taking Prince Elian's heart while she's a human, then she can return back to the sea kingdom.
Prince Elian comes across a naked woman floating in the ocean by herself who is drowning. He plunges into the ocean to save her and brings her aboard his ship.
So the story begins. That's enough summary.
I really liked this book. There was a stunning contrast between the narrations of Lira and Elian, the contrast of cultures, and there was also such a great world building. How the 100 kingdoms came to be in the state that they are, how the struggle with the sea kingdom was born, and so much more.
I was rooting for Lira, I was rooting for Elian, and they were on two sides of the same struggle coin. That is good storytelling.
I also really loved Lira's entire character; seeing her as a siren, seeing her as a human, and seeing how it all played together in the end.
I also really liked Elian, understanding where he came from, understanding what he was doing to get to a future he could live with, and how his crew came to be the way they are. The supporting characters were just as good as the main characters.
This was a rich tapestry of a story, and I definitely want to see more in this world. Maybe not a sequel with how the story wraps up, but just more within this world. Definitely an author to watch.
Happy reading!
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