My University Essay Archive: The Shakespeare One

Posted October 11, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Bookish Adventures / 0 Comments

I studied English at university a few years ago and on the whole I really enjoyed it. As most of my old essays are sitting around gathering dust I thought I would share one today. This is all about Shakespeare plays.


PATROCLES:   Then tell me, I pray thee, what’s Thersites?

THERSITES:   Thy knower, Patroclus .                        

(Troilus and Cressida).

Do Shakespeare’s characters really know themselves or each other?

The characters ‘know’ themselves and each other to be actors. The nature of ‘self’ in Shakespeare’s plays is shown to be layered, fluid, artificial and unstable. Consequently a character’s self is difficult, if not impossible, to know.  Shakespeare’s characters, such as Malcom and Hamlet, often devise methods of performance and observation in order to understand other characters. These methods often reveal the dynamic and intangible nature of self. To ‘know’ is to ‘be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information’ (Oxford English Dictionary). ‘Self’ is ‘a person’s essential being that distinguishes them from others, especially considered as the object of introspection or reflexive action’ (Oxford English Dictionary).  To know requires activity and in Shakespeare’s plays the activity characters use to interrogate self is performance and observation in the fictional world of the play and as actors on a stage. Each character is performing a self, truthfully or misleadingly, and each character is performed by an actor who has their own self. As ‘all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players’ (As You Like It, Wells and Taylor, 2005, 2.7.139-140; all subsequent quotations will be from this edition, unless otherwise noted) the nature of a character’s essential being is a fabricated and fluid fiction.  The fact ‘self’ is a blurry concept is the truth characters ultimately discover.

The natural fluidity of self under the pressure of performance and observation is particularly striking in Richard of Gloucester’s soliloquy in act three of 3 Henry VI.  Shakespeare strips the scene down to leave Richard alone on the stage. The audience are reminded that they overwhelmingly outnumber the actor as he switches to an introspective mode of thinking.  Richard’s soliloquy allows an actor to play with the audience as he shows them just how fluid a character can be. He shows the limits of fluidity by lapsing into a performance of self-delusion as he imagines himself making ‘heaven in a lady’s lap’ (3.3.148) and charming ‘sweet ladies with my words and looks’ (3.3.150). The delusion turns out to be conscious self-mockery. The discourse challenges the audience to laugh at the discordance between the charming identity he imagines and his appearance, but also makes the audience feel uncomfortable. There are identities Richard cannot convincingly perform because nature prohibits it.  His fiction can only be as convincing as its container (the body, the actor) allows it to be. But Richard then challenges this notion by suggesting a strongly performed fluid fiction can defy nature, ‘I can add colours to the chameleon,/change shapes with Proteus’ (3.3.191-192). He shows intent to defy nature with the liquidity of a water god. The soliloquy becomes a balance sheet of the limitations of nature versus the force of his fictions; an audit of his ability to gain the crown. Richard, under the gaze of an audience, ends up revelling in his ability to perform against nature through developing a dynamic and slippery vision of his identity. Richard is an example of how characters are willing to sacrifice a static identity in favour of a fluid one that is innately unknowable due to its changeability.

 Hamlet in Hamlet and Malcom in Macbeth both attempt to mislead and at the same time expose others through performance, in doing so they become examples of the fluid nature of self-representation they want to see through. Hamlet takes on an ‘antic disposition’ (Hamlet, 1.5.173) and Malcolm pretends to be a villain.In act four of Macbeth Malcom is presented with a problem: is Macduff his ally or foe. Macbeth, a ‘tyrant’ who ‘was once thought honest’ (4.3.13), is an example of the power of disguise that Malcolm has learned from. Surface appearances are, for him, no longer enough to know a man by; he now seeks to know the true internal selves of others. To test Macduff’s true character Malcolm uses observation and performance.  Malcolm airs his thoughts on disguise; he says ‘all things foul would wear the brows of grace’ (4.3.23), a statement that bears a similarity to Hamlet’s comment ‘one may smile, and smile and be a villain’ (1.5.108).  These lines reference disguise as a device used by the wicked, but Malcolm repurposes disguise for his own ends. Disguise is a fiction used to gain power. A sign of power is, as Greenblatt describes, ‘the ability to impose one’s fiction upon the world’ (2005, p.13). Malcolm creates a fiction to overpower any fictions Macduff may be hiding behind. Malcolm builds a tyrant king persona through a list of vices. He claims to be ‘bloody,/ Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful,/Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin/ That has a name.’(4.3.57-60). Macduff is forced to break under the power of this fiction. ‘Fit to govern!/ No, not to live!’ (4.3.103/4) Macduff says. The exclamation marks emphasise the force with which the actor is persuaded to perform the line. A Lord is pushed into questioning whether a divinely chosen future king of Scotland should be allowed to live if he is possessed of such vices. ‘Angels are bright still though the brightest fell’ (4.3.22), Macduff appeared good on the surface, but so did Macbeth. It is the self Macduff keeps within that Malcom wants to see. Malcom acts differently to how he naturally is because he no longer trusts surface self-representation, he will not ‘submit to another’s narrative’ (Greenblatt, 2005, p.237). Malcom’s performance is itself an example of how deceptive self-representation can be in the name of power.

Characters do not have to be consciously disguising themselves in order to hide elements of their internal self. In Hamlet, Hamlet becomes intent on discovering if Claudius is really a murderer. The complicating factor is that the un-guilty self Claudius presents when he is not known to be a murderer is not a deliberate disguise but perhaps a subconscious one. Claudius does not constantly perform the guilt that comes with murder because he internally dissociates himself from it. ‘My fault is past’ (3.3.51) Claudius reasons, as he prays to be divinely cleansed of his sins. The play scene in act three forces Claudius into exceptional circumstances where he is forced to act uncharacteristically and perform the guilt he does not perpetually feel, which is a performance structure Edgar (2009, p.51)  discusses in relation to building characters through drama. ‘The plays the thing/ wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king’ (2.2.606/7), Hamlet claims. The play is Hamlet’s active attempt to gain knowledge about Claudius through ‘performative activity’ (Edgar, 2009, p.49).  The shift in Claudius’s persona that Hamlet is looking for happens in a short line: ‘give me some light. Away’ (3.2.257). Claudius refuses to let the murderer part of himself into his public persona. Nevertheless, his sharp reaction is an obvious product of his guilt. The sharpness of the line highlights how unused he is to consciously burying this murderer identity. Rather than perform a conscious disguise of it in public, he chooses to exit the public performance space completely, both in terms of the play world and the stage world. Claudius is ‘possessed/ of those effects for which I did the murder’ (3.3.53/4), ‘possessed’ means ‘held as property; owned’ (OED Online). Claudius’s current identity is owned and shaped by what he gained through being a murderer, regardless of his internal hope to be cleansed of sin.  Parts of Claudius’s essential being are unclear in ordinary circumstances even when there is not a conscious decision to deceive because he genuinely ‘imagined he could trick something more than men’ (Bradley, 1969, p.138). Characters sometimes unconsciously deceive because they do not want to truly know themselves for what they are.

Some characters seem to gain an uncanny awareness of how they are a character in a play and exist only as a constructed-self performed by an actor on a stage. This awareness demonstrates how the concept of identity becomes fluid for actors. During the main body of a play characters often use the language of performance in a way that reminds the audience it is make-believe, but Shakespeare crafts the language with enough subtly so as not to jolt audiences out of believing in the stage world entirely. In Hamlet, Hamlet discusses the time when Polonius acted ‘I’th’ university’ (3.2.95), ‘what did you enact?’ (3.2.97) he asks. ‘I did enact Julius Caesar. I was killed I’th’ Capitol. Brutus killed me’ (3.2.100), Polonius replies. Shakespeare wrote a play called Julius Caesar that is generally thought to have been performed around 1599, which helps date the version of Hamlet containing the dialogue discussed above.  Interestingly, ‘it is generally assumed that John Heminges acted… Caesar in the first play and Polonius in the second, and that Richard Burbage acted both Brutus and Hamlet’ (Edwards, 1983, p.148). The dialogue between Hamlet and Polonius, which was performed by Heminges and Burbage, works in relation to the world in and on the stage as it references another self both the characters and actors have previously performed. Polonius’s line presents an uncanny reference to the real world in a way that blurs the lines between whether the actor is representing himself or the character, but the answer is perhaps that he is performing a combination of both selves intertwined into one body in that scene.

Endings deal with the relationship between a character’s and an actor’s identity in a slightly different way in comparison to the rest of a play because the friction between the overlapping selves of actor and character reaches a peak. Rosalind during the epilogue of As You Like It is directed to speak ‘to the audience’ (p.680). She comes partially out of the play to recognise ‘it is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue’ (p.680). Rosalind shows she is conscious of the fact she is contained in a genre with generic expectations. The young male actor who would have performed the role in 1600 shows through in the line: ‘if I were a woman’ (p.680). ‘If’ sharply highlights that Rosalind’s character, further to being trapped in a play, only physically exists when the male actor wishes to perform her. The dual selves embodied in the actor’s person rub against each other in this epilogue. The audience are jarred into remembering they are watching a boy actor perform the cross-dressing Rosalind, whose performed masculinity as Ganymede in the main body of the play bought the character closer to the actor’s male self. Characters cannot really know themselves during their time on stage without recognising their fictional nature. But a careful balance between awareness and ignorance is usually maintained in the main body of the play because if characters fully recognise their fictional nature then they will cease to exist, which is why the scene between Polonius and Hamlet limits itself to dramatic irony rather than break the play’s world, even Richard’s revelry in his own fictionality works within the world of the play. Fiction has power as long as it can suspend disbelieve. Endings, however, are where boundaries are pushed and as a result characters become more like shadows as their fictional power dwindles and the actor becomes more prominent. The epilogue is where the fiction of the play and characters dissolve.

Characters in plays come alive through performance and observation. In act five, scene one of A Midsummer Night’s Dream the audience watch as Hippolyta, Theseus and the lovers become an audience to the mechanical’s play. The audience on the stage perform as actors and observe as characters. The scene sharply reminds audiences that the definition of who and what you see on stage is blurry and complicated. Performance and observation are at the heart of quests to discover truth. In the case of ‘self’, a somewhat liquid and intangible thing, there is one essential truth Shakespeare’s characters reach: because they ‘are players’ in and out of the play’s world they have no set form of self. As Puck says in the epilogue, characters in plays are but ‘shadows’ (l.1). Because identities are dynamic and artificial no character can truly grasp ‘self’ in regards to themselves or each other, but they can understand that the fluidity of performance is why they cannot precisely define who they are besides being actors.

Reference List

  • Bradley, AC (1969) Shakespearean Tragedy. 2nd edn. London: Macmillan
  • Edgar, David (2009) How Plays Work. London: Nick Hern Books
  • Edwards, Philip (1983) ‘Shakespeare and Kyd,’ in Muir, K., Halio, J. and Palmer, D.J. (eds)  Shakespeare, Man of the Theatre. London: Associated University Press, Ltd., pp.148-154
  • Greenblatt, Stephen (2005) Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From Moore to Shakespeare. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
  • Shakespeare, W. (1591)3 Henry VI in Taylor, G and Wells, S. (eds.) (2005) The Oxford Shakespeare: The Collective Works. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Shakespeare, W. (1595)A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Taylor, G and Wells, S. (eds.) (2005) The Oxford Shakespeare. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Shakespeare, W. (1599-1600) As You Like It, in Taylor, G and Wells, S. (eds.) (2005) The Oxford Shakespeare. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  
  • Shakespeare, W. (1600-1) Hamlet in Taylor, G and Wells, S. (eds.) (2005) The Oxford Shakespeare. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  
  • Shakespeare, W. (1606; adapted 1616) Macbeth in Taylor, G and Wells, S. (eds.) (2005) The Oxford Shakespeare. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  
  • “know”. Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/know (accessed December 22, 2013).
  • “possessed, adj. and n.”. OED Online. [online] Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/148346?redirectedFrom=possessed (accessed December 22, 2013)
  • “self”. Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/self (accessed December 22, 2013).

Lauren x


Book Inspired Looks

Posted October 10, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Bookish Adventures / 0 Comments

Today’s post is about the time I dressed as Jude Duarte for Bookstagram.

I have been experimenting with Bookstagram over the past few months. I have a long way to go before I can increase my photo taking and photo editing skills to a level where I’m happy but I’m not going to get there unless I practice.

Bookstagram has been a super fun experiment so far. I would like to try a few different styles and themes before I figure out what works best for me. My most recent experiment involved putting together book inspired looks. My first bookish victim was The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B15hEzVgzaP/

I aimed for a look inspired by the main character, Jude Duarte. I tried to do my hair in a way that is reminiscent of Jude’s signature look, ‘braiding my hair into an elaborate style that makes me look as though I have horns’ (The Cruel Prince by Holly Black).

I used one of Britney Spears perfumes as a prop to represent poison. Throughout the book Jude takes doses of poison to build up her resistance to it. I also put on my butterfly ring because 1) it’s pretty and 2) it seemed thematically appropriate.

I chose the Beauty and the Beast tapestry I got in a Fairy Loot box as the back drop because it seemed appropriately dark and moody for the tone of Black’s series.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1-u5Pggd7S/

I really enjoyed putting these photos together and I can’t wait to do it again when Queen of Nothing comes out next month (can you believe it’s so close now?!!). I think I would put more effort into the hair next time because I did it super quickly. Jude is one of my absolute favourite characters. It was a lot of fun to try and dress like her briefly.

I have a few more books on my wish-list for book inspired looks:

  • Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
  • King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
  • Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I have done some test photos of looks for each of these books but they aren’t quite right yet 😛


Have you ever tried to go for a book inspired look or would like to try it in the future? Let me know in the comments.

Lauren x


The Autumn Tag

Posted October 9, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Blog Tag / 0 Comments

Today I will be answering the prompts Jenn created for her Autumn blog tag. Check out the link for more info about Jenniely’s Autumn Tag and feel free to respond to the tag on your own blog (or on any other social media space) x

1. Hot Chocolate – what is your comfort book?

This is a great question. I have a lot of comfort reads that each calm me down in a particular way.

The book that has been on my comfort read list for the longest time, though, would probably be Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. I have a soft spot for time travel story lines. I also loved that Harry’s circle of found family grew in this volume and that he got to reconnect with his parents through the memories of his father’s best friends.

I also have fond memories of reading this book late into the night. I remember being caught by my parent’s and told to go to sleep more than once 😛 . I’m so glad I managed to convince my mum to buy this for me from Tesco all those years ago.

2. Pumpkin Carving – what is your favourite creative outlet?

Writing. I love writing stories. When I was a teenager and not enjoying school I spent a lot of time distracting myself by writing radio play scripts, fan fiction, short stories and poems.

I have two writing projects simmering at the moment. One involves faerie court politics and the other is a twist on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

3. Falling Leaves – changes that appear bad but you secretly love?

Moving somewhere new. On the one hand you have to say goodbye to friends and places but on the other hand you get to start a fresh chapter in your life, make new friends and see new places. You can even use it as an opportunity to reinvent yourself, if you want to.

Moving has always evoked a mix of emotions for me.

4. Pumpkin Spiced Latte – something you love that others tend to judge

Just staying at home of an evening with my dog and a book . I don’t enjoy parties and I’ve never gone out to get drunk-it just does not interest me. I’m also terrible at small talk and socialising with people I don’t know very well.

5. Bonfire Night – what makes you explode with joy?

This fluffy face. She’s my little princess 💙

6. Fright Night – favourite scary book or film

I do not watch horror films, generally speaking. The only one I’ve watched and really enjoyed is The Woman In Black. I like it because it has a strangely happy ending. I also like how it is essentially a supernatural period drama.

7. Halloween candy – favourite thing to eat

At the moment I adore Cadbury’s big white chocolate bar. It’s amazingly delicious and perfect picking at on a rainy afternoon, curled up with a book.

8. Scarves – your autumn ‘must have’ accessory

Easy! My Gryffindor scarf. My mum got it for me when she was working in London a few years ago. I adore it and can’t wait for it to be cold enough for me to wear it more often.

9. Fire – a book or film that burns your soul

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Honestly, this book burned a hole in my heart. It’s tragic and poetically beautiful.

10. Toffee apples – a book or film that seems one thing but really has a different inside

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. This book blindsided me. When I read the blurb I assumed it would be a light, fantasy read with a splash of teenage, tragic romance. The key points I picked up on in the blurb were about true love and destiny. It seemed interesting (that’s why I picked it up, after all) but there is so much more depth and quirkiness to it than I picked up on in this blurb.

Romantic love is not really the focal point. It’s more about the complex relationships the titular ‘Raven Boys’ have with each other. They are, in summary, a dysfunctional family on a quest for a dead Welsh king . The Raven Boys is also about what happens when the boys collide with Blue and her tight family of psychic women.

The character dynamics are 👌. The writing style is quirky and brilliant. I also loved that I could make a lot of connections to The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper (which is one of my favourite series ever).


Have you tried Jenn’s tag? If not, feel free to consider yourself tagged by me 🙂

Lauren x


Ten Qualities I Love About Maia Drazhar from The Goblin Emperor

Posted October 8, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Top Ten Tuesday / 2 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

That Artsy Reader Girl

This is posted as part of Top Ten Tuesday, a blog feature where That Artsy Reader Girl provides prompts for top ten lists.

Today’s topic is about top ten qualities/traits we love in a character. I will be focusing on things I love about Maia Drazhar, the main character in Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor.

Ten Qualities I Love About Maia Drazhar from The Goblin EmperorThe Goblin Emperor (The Goblin Emperor, #1) by Katherine Addison
Published by Tor Books on April 1, 2014
Pages: 446
Goodreads

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne–or his life.

Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor is an exciting fantasy novel, set against the pageantry and color of a fascinating, unique world, is a memorable debut for a great new talent.

Kind, Strong and Brave

These traits to me really define Maia as a person.

He has a great capacity for kindness in the face of adversity. And, gosh, does he face a lot of that when he enters the Imperial Court.

Maia has a lot of things stacked against him when he begins his reign. There are people who want to puppet him, destroy him or just plain ignore him. He shows incredible strength to fight on in the name of what he thinks is right and not to let other people’s ambition derail his task of being a good Emperor.

He’s never been brought up to rule and he himself has been shown little kindness by anyone until he comes to court. It would have been so easy for him to take the path of least resistance and let others win. Or, on the other hand, to be vengeful and misuse his power. But he doesn’t and that shows both strength and bravery.

Imperfect and Self-Aware

Maia is not strictly speaking ‘human’ as, after all, this is a book about goblins and elves, but he shows a lot of humanity.

He has moments of selfishness, for example there is a particular episode in the book where he leaves the room with a singer who he likes a lot. The situation escalates into one that goes against all kinds of political protocol. In that moment he’s a young man who is innocent and somewhat out of his depth in the face of someone he likes. He steps out of the shadow of his title briefly to be ‘normal’, although that is soon shattered when he realises that he had the singer’s attention because of his title and nothing more, really.

I like that he shows his vulnerabilities and his truth. He gets frustrated, angry, disappointed. He makes misjudgements at times. All of this makes him more real.

Maia often acknowledges of his weaknesses. The narrative gives a lot of space to Maia’s introspective thoughts. Sometimes he can be quite tough on himself. He often spends time acknowledging and imagining how others see him. He can’t afford to be oblivious to how he presents himself because his whole existence is under a microscope. Nothing is private for an Emperor and this in itself is a big issue Maia has to deal with.

One of Maia’s struggles is reconciling his private and public image. He has to learn how much of his true self he can show and to who and kill people’s preconceptions. His father had painted and promoted a poor image of him that Maia has to tear down.

Listener, Empathetic and Wise

One of Maia’s greatest skills is listening which allow him to be both empathetic and wise. When his father and brothers dies in an airship crash his thoughts go to the family of the airship crew who also lost their lives. When he hears of proposals for a bridge that could help encourage trade and boost the economy, he wants to hear how it can benefit his people.

He’s a hands-on ruler once he’s given the chance to learn more about the system he’s working with and the scope of his powers within that system.

He shows the skills you want from a ruler. He wants to know about problems and is open to hearing ideas about solutions. Maia has a big heart and an eye for the bigger picture. He shows a lot maturity for someone so young.

Loyal and Loving

Maia finds a group of allies in the cold halls of Court. They become like family. I particularly enjoyed the chapters relating to Maia’s birthday and his simple joy at receiving presents.

For an orphan who lost his mother at a young age and was pushed away by his father, it’s so touching to see him find a group of people who love him. It’s key to Maia surviving the dark forces that surround him.

But he does suffer one truly deep betrayal. Yet, he stays loyal to that person. He listens to him explain why and even feels guilt. He watches the consequences of their actions and sees it through to the end. He shows the exact kind of unnerving loyalty that was denied him by this person.


Maia is an amazing character and The Goblin Emperor is a magical character study. If you haven’t read it already I definitely recommend it.

Lauren x


‘I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive’ – Review of To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Posted October 7, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Book Review / 0 Comments

‘I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive’ – Review of To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra ChristoTo Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Published by Feiwel & Friends on March 6, 2018
Pages: 344
Goodreads
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

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?

A standalone novel about a siren and a pirate prince who are pushed together despite being bitter enemies?

I was sold on this book before I even read the first sentence (which is killer, by the way). To Kill a Kingdom is such a dark, fun and fantastical novel.

While I was reading it I took it with me everywhere. Unfortunately it ended up getting utterly soaked one weekend while I was working at a very damp flower festival. Turns out a story about the fate of the sea kingdom of Keto is at all waterproof 🤷‍♂️. Thankfully, my dad managed to save my book by re-laminating it. I’ve never been so happy to have a book saved! It allowed me to finish reading this lush tale of a murderous princess and her identity crisis.

To Kill a Kingdom is told via dual narrators, Lira and Elian.

Elian wrestles with two separate personas: one the one hand, he is the heir to the kingdom of Midas and expected to rule after his father. But in truth his heart belongs at sea. His second persona is as the Captain of the Saad. His main quest is to eliminate sirens and the treat they pose to humans at sea.

The ‘Princes Bane’ is the most infamous of these sirens as she rips hearts out of princes. Enter Lira, our other narrator and the Princes Bane in the flesh. She is the daughter of the vicious Sea Queen who has pressured Lira into doing terrible things in order to shape her in her own image.

The plot quickly focuses itself on a quest to find an artefact that could end the Sea Queen’s reign of terror. Elian wants to find it to end things while Lira is tasked with foiling his plans and taking his heart.

What ensues is a story about taking control of your own narrative . At the beginning Elian and Lira seem to already have their paths mapped out for them by their parents. The quest above widens in scope considerably. It takes on the added dimension of searching for a way to define themselves away from their parents shadow. The answers to the latter is what really saves their kingdoms and people.

The found family aspect of this novel also feeds into the ‘control your own narrative’ theme as Elian, and later Lira, find comfort in the devoted crew of the Saad showing that sometimes the best family is the one you choose for yourself.

There are plenty of neatly clever plot twists, betrayals, and double crossings throughout this novel. Which keeps it exciting. So, too, does the satisfying application of the enemies to lovers trope.

One of my favourite aspects of this novel, though, is that it is a standalone story. It is a nice change of pace from my habit of reading lengthy book series to instead enjoy a self contained story.

Lira and Elian’s character arcs felt fully explored within the bounds of this single volume and I found the ending very satisfying. There are just enough enough narrative doors open to allow the reader to run away with their imagination and think of what the future could hold for these characters. I certainly would not be sad if the author chose to write more books in this world but at the same time this ending felt just right.

In summary this book : Is deliciously dark. Features pirates, sirens, found family and the power of the sea. What more could you want for a great read?

One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star