Prince Elian heir to one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world, but he couldn’t care less. Ocean is his calling.Princess Lira is a royal siren is known as The Prince’s Bane. What happens when these two, who hunt and prey on each other finally meet?
Two kingdoms that come with responsibilities we each have trouble bearing. Him, the shackles of being pinned to one land and one life. Me, trapped in the confines of my mother’s murderous legacy. And the ocean, calling out to us both. A song of freedom and longing.
~Lira
Undoubtingly this is an enemy to lovers trope a dark and rich retelling of ‘The Little Mermaid’.Elian and Lira are different in many ways yet similar somehow. Both are well known for what they do…Elian for hunting Sirens and Lira for collecting Prince’s heart (literally in flesh).
In order to be worthy in the eyes of The Sea Queen, her mother she has turned into the ghastliest of her kind. On the other side Elian, the future heir to his kingdom finds himself sailing in the sea more than his kingdom…He’s more Pirate than a Prince.
“Even the empty ocean is prey to him, and he regards it with a mix of suspicion and wonder.”
“I’ve made a mistake. It started with a prince, as most stories do. Once I felt the thrum of his heart beneath my fingers, I couldn’t forget it.”
To find the key to destroying the Sea Queen and her reign he has to pay a huge price. As her mother punishes her by turning her into a human depriving her of her song and siren abilities, Lira has till the winter solstice to deliver the princes heart to The Sea Queen.
When the Prince rescues the red-haired girl from the sea he takes her in for the quest as he realises that she knows more about sirens than he ever had.
“How strange is that instead of taking his heart I hope he takes mine“
Though they barely trust each other ..they develop slow subtle affection and respect for each other. They weren’t mushy in the slightest sense. As the quest moves on both of them find themselves questioning their decisions and insights. Lira realises that there is so much more to be a human than her mother have ever told her. Much more than than the emotions her mother told made them weak.
“How can the Sea Queen see it as a weakness when it’s the very thing that binds them together, ensuring their strength as a unit? A family“
“Love is a word we scarcely hear in the ocean. It exists only in my song and on the lips of the princes I’ve killed. And I have never heard it from my mother’s mouth.”
This book tackles what it means to be human and how mercy,kindness and loyalty are part of a family. All of the children want to be loved and be cared for by their family and the people they love. But sometimes parents fail to provide that or understand how something may mean to their children. The secondary characters Madrid, Kye, Torik, Kahlia were also very amazing. Kye being my favourite.
“Is that what it means to be a human? Pushing someone else out of danger and throwing yourself in?“
It also looks into how,many things we grew up hearing can be extremely wrong and the perspective in which people see things matter. It takes nothing to just try to see what the other person is going through and not misinterpret everything. The sarcasm-laced banter between Lira and Elian was an added bonus (am a simp for those). Highlighting the well-written lines weren’t enough that I read them again and again just to get the feel of it (okay I admit am weird).
”Lira,” I say. “I don’t suppose you’d be kind enough to translate?”
“I’ve never been accused of kindness before.”
…………………
”What would you be losing?” he asks.…
“If I married you?”
I stand to tower above him, pushing away the unravelling thing inside me.
“I suppose it would be my mind.”
It is one of the amazing stand-alone fantasy that I ever read. Both the world were so much fun knowing about. I wish the book had a sequel to follow through. Nevertheless, this was a 5 star read for meジ.
Readwizz 
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