User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Fairyloot's October 2020 Box - My Rep Code: MELANIE5 ❤️
ARC provided by the publisher "In the end, the monster we feared didn’t come from Hell. He came from privilege."
Oh, this review is going to be a wild ride. The range of things I feel for this book is very unreal. Listen, the atmosphere of this? The settings? The premise? I couldn’t get enough. Dare I even say close to perfect? And the plot had me so very invested in every single way. But this actual story and the plot conveniences, the characters and their lack of critical thinking, the obvious plot twists? The Lord might be testing me. The whiplash I felt while reading this was a full experience and deserves a star rating of its own, truly.
When you open this book for the first time, the prologue will transport you to a stormy night in 19th century Italy, where two little twin girls are being gifted very special necklaces while slowly learning their witch powers and history from their grandmother. There are seven demon princes but only 4 the witches should fear, but somehow their necklaces will keep them safe, even though they are instructed to never place them together.
"One will crave your blood. One will capture your heart. One will steal your soul. And one will take your life."
Then the story actually takes place ten years in the future, where Emilia and Vittoria are now eighteen-years-old, but we see how that night has shaped their lives for the last decade in so many different ways, but for sure centering on those necklaces that were entrusted to them. Both girls are trying to help their family with their restaurant, find and follow their dreams, and lead normal lives, but they soon find out that normal and safe and happy was never in the cards for them.
Again, I do not want to give much away, because I think I very much benefited from not reading the synopsis of this story. But the gates of hell are weakening, and their city and family are no longer safe. Not only do they have to worry about hiding the fact that they are witches, but now they have to worry about demon princes, witch hunters, and other creatures that go bump in the night! But Emilia is thrust in the heart of it all, with her witchcraft on full display, when she makes a deal with a demon when she is most desperate.
Together, Emilia and Wrath (be still, my BDB heart) are forced to work together to investigate brutal and mysterious murders that are happening, but they are both looking for clues for very different reasons. My favorite part of this book was truly going alongside Emilia and seeing all these different settings. From secret casinos, to her family’s kitchen, surprise palaces, spooky beaches, to the scary and dark corridors within the church, I couldn’t get enough of all the different adventures in all the different places.
"Grief carved me in half. And fury honed the pieces into a weapon."
I really loved the depiction of grief and depression in this book, too. How the weight of sadness can be unbearable, especially alone, when your world and future are taken from you right before your eyes. I also think Kerri Maniscalco did a really good job portraying not only the different stages that can be held within grief, but to also tell the reader that there is truly no wrong way to grieve. Heartbreak can be sadness and pain, but it can also be anger and revenge.
I also did really enjoy the romance and I think if you are looking to indulge in a new OTP that will remind you of 2015 then you are in luck with this one! I did enjoy Wrath a lot more than Emilia for the most part, but I feel like the plot convenience (and Emilia acting stupid) was the downfall of this book. I am not good at unraveling mysteries, but I truly unraveled this one instantly, I only wish Emilia could have a little sooner and it made the reading experience a bit annoying. Also, she gets upset at the strangest things, and wholeheartedly accepts the wildest things for no reason. I truly feel like her character was mostly used to move the book along conveniently instead of actually making her feel like a main character with depth and identity.
Also, I’m just going to say it, the grandmother in this book is one of the most infuriating characters I’ve read about all 2020. Like, regardless of prophecies, how are you going to be this mysterious with eight-year-old little girls and then really not fill them in on any blanks for the next ten years of their lives too? The grandma is really written to look like this cool and wise character who helps save the day, but I truly could not stand her or her shocked reaction when things would fall apart around her.
On top of the mysteries in this book being a bit of a letdown, I will also say that I felt like so many big events in this book kind of happened just for (hopefully) set ups for the next installment. I’m all for setting up things in early books, but it just kind of feels bad when absolutely nothing happens regarding these big chapters after the scene has ended. I feel like if this book felt more cohesive throughout, instead of just setting up for what is to come, I would have gotten so much of a higher rating from me, but I have to rate and review off the material that is given to me and it made for a bit of an infuriating reading experience.
"Man had a funny way of blaming the devil for things he didn’t like."
Overall, I couldn’t put this book down. Truly. And I would bet you a great sum of money that I will also pick up the next one, because this book ended on a very perfect cliffhanger set up that I greedily want to know everything about. This book really did give me nostalgic feels for some reason, it made me very hungry most of the time, and it made me truly never want to put it down. The writing is so easily consumable, and I really did fall in love with the setting and plot set up. I only wish it felt a little bit more like a full story and not just a set up book. I still predict that this book will do really well, and I think most people will have a very good reading experience with this with.
Trigger and Content Warnings: gore, violence, blood depiction, self-harm to get blood for spells, loss of a loved one, grief depiction, murder, death, brief mention of unwanted touching, and magical compulsion.
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Buddy read with Maëlys & Lea! ❤
Rating: really liked it
2 stars for the interesting concept but poorly delivered narrative with a dumb main character whose only personality trait is being good at cooking.
It would’ve been more fitting had this been marketed as a creative cookbook rather than YA fantasy.
I’ll start with the world-building which was lackluster and quite lazy. We know this was set in Italy, but the time period was unclear. We never got fleshed-out descriptions of the buildings, the clothing, and the people. This was also one of those books that “tell” rather than “show”. Almost everything about the world was explained and introduced through dialogue such as Nonna’s stories and Wrath’s answers to Emilia’s questions. That would’ve been fine if I were invested enough in the story and characters to look past it, but I wasn’t. The different “Houses” weren’t developed either. If Maniscalco put as much effort into describing the world as she did for describing the food, the world-building would’ve been great and I wouldn’t have had to piece together information that I didn’t have.
As for the plot, I just needed them to shut up and stop talking about food for the entirety of the book. It was almost as repetitive as the word “mate” in the ACOTAR series. Granted that the plot did pick up when we finally met Wrath, the bulk of it was still quite the snoozefest. The whole plot just fell flat. I was expecting this to be a well-developed enemies-to-lovers story with dark, witchy vibes that would get me hooked, but all I got was half a story with dark, witchy vibes where not a lot happened. The ending resolved absolutely nothing and left me confused, but I guess that sets us up for the next book which I know for sure I will not be reading because I just don’t give a fuck. I am thrilled to announce that this book will be the first addition to my new collection of “books to read before bed so I can fall asleep in less than 30 seconds.”
Moving on to the characters. Emilia was boring, annoying, and reckless. It bothered me how she almost always managed to get away rather unscathed despite her recklessness. It also seemed as though everything clicked too quickly with the clues she found. Emilia didn’t even really have to try for anything and everything was way too easy; there was little conflict between plot points. Wrath was the only character that was at least a little bit entertaining to me, however, he was a pathetic manifestation of a sin. One would expect the Prince of Wrath and War to be wrathful or warlike, but he was neither. Instead, he was just a generic “hot, dark and broody” love interest who actually didn’t have much of a personality and was also quite the bore like Emilia. Gotta love how they match each other’s energies, I guess. As for the Wicked, they should’ve been terrifying as hell, but were all relatively weak and easily defeated. It also seemed like they were placed in random events throughout the story—especially in the beginning—just for the shock factor.
Overall, this book felt rushed and drawn out at the same time. While the idea of the book is good, the execution was not. The plot was undefined and scattered much like the characters. Although I complained about the overwhelming amount of times that food was mentioned, the food still had more personality than the actual characters. This book is the epitome of wasted potential and I can’t wait to read another book so I can purge this one out of my head.
Rating: really liked it
****** REMINDER: this series is being written as “new adult.” Book two, KINGDOM OF THE CURSED, jumps significantly in romantic content based on plot reveals and worldbuilding. *******
***AUGUST 18th UPDATE***
my publisher has a very fun announcement regarding a book trailer! details can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CECn6JRAB...
UPDATE: the working dedication is now a novel itself :)
"For my grandmother Victoria Maria Nucci Maniscalco
and my aunt Carol Nucci Belasco.
And for my great grandma Josephine—who immigrated from Sciacca, Sicily to America with my grandpa—and whose restaurant inspired much of this story.
This may be a fantasy,
but the love of family found within its pages is very real."
1/13/20 UPDATE:
The cover and first chapter are here!!!!!!!!!!!! https://www.pastemagazine.com/article...
1/8/20 UPDATE:
the cover reveal is happening on Monday! (1/13/20)
to celebrate, i shared the playlist. hope you enjoy! https://kerrimaniscalco.com/2020/01/0...
9/13/19 UPDATE:
to celebrate the harvest moon + Friday the 13th, i revealed my secret Pinterest board! check it out here:
https://www.pinterest.com/kerrimanisc...
August 2019: i've been sitting on this secret ALL YEAR and am thrilled to finally share it with you! news, details, cover reveals, and pre-order links will all be coming in the following months. i hope you're as excited as i am!!! please note: this series is being written as "new adult" and will progressively get steamier and more romance heavy as the series goes on. xoxo
Rating: really liked it
So I've read the first chapter of this book, and now I have...
questions.
Here are the first ones that came into my mind:
1. If this book is set in late 1800s Sicily, why is one of the main characters named Victoria (nickname Vicki)? Why is a working class Italian girl named after a British queen?
Edit July 2020: it looks like the author ended up changing the main character's name. If that is the case, I'm glad she listened to readers' concerns and took steps to fix at least some of the historical inaccuracies in her book.
2. Why is the main character's mother named Nicola, a common
male Italian name? Is she questioning her gender identity? Is this book secretly about a trans cook in 19th century Italy? (If yes, I'll preorder it right now)
3. Why do the characters drink sangria? Is this set in an alternate universe where Sicily is actually in Spain?
4. Why do they talk of the "ocean breeze" when the closest ocean is several thousand miles away? Again, does Maniscalco know where Sicily is?
5. Why do they use balsamic vinegar, a product that is exclusively sourced in northern Italy and has never been used in traditional Sicilian cuisine, to prepare bruschette? Who tf puts balsamic vinegar on tomato bruschette, anyway?
5. How does no one notice that an entire family of women never goes to church and constantly talks of demons, at a time and place when social life revolved around Catholic rites and most people genuinely believed in witches (whose advice was not only feared, but also sought and respected)?
6. Why do American authors feel the seemingly insuppressible urge to write historical novels about cultures and countries they know nothing about, without even bothering to hire a sensitivity reader before they release them into the world?
7. Am I just being an oversensitive, whiny little bitch? Or does this book really have no research behind it?
Advice on all of the above is appreciated.
Rating: really liked it
oh, you guys arent even ready for how much you are gonna love this. prepare yourself for a halloween season full of witchy black magic, a brooding prince of hell, and a spooky murder mystery.
i really love seeing KMs creativity shine through in this story. with her SJTR series, theres only so much originality that can seen because its based on historical events. but with this unique magic system and the different classes of witches and demons, i think it shows a much more interesting side of KMs writing. its still just as easy to devour as ever, but i found it to be a lot more entertaining.
my only critique would be the cliff hanger. i hate when authors have to rely on them to convince a reader to pick up the next book because it creates a lack of closure, but oh well. i have at least a year until the next book comes out, so im sure i will get over by then. lol.
thanks jimmy patterson books for the ARC!!↠ 4 stars
Rating: really liked it
I’m in pain! I’m dying to learn what’s gonna happen next! Arggggggggkkkk! Yes, if you google “drunk and angry damsel in distress”, you may see my bloody face right now! I just finished this fascinating, heart throbbing, riveting , addictive story and after reading the last words as like an addict I wanted to get more literature intake. I’m honestly craving for the next book now!
The things I fell hard for:
A witch and a demon’s sizzling, pant melting chemistry : they’re like gasoline and fire! They will be end of each other! Yes, Emilia and Wrath (the name of the sin and household he represents, we still don’t know his real name so we gotta wait for the next book) are one of the hottest couple with undeniable amazing chemistry you enjoy to read.
A serial killer theme who is targeting the witches: The killer’s one of the victims is unfortunately the twin sister Vittoria of our heroine and narrator Emilia!
The Sicilian trattoria and those mouth watering recipes Emilia’s family shares and cooks during the book: OMG! I already ate three cannolis and barely hold myself to say the catchy famous quote: “keep the gun, take the cannoli!” Emilia’s family own this special family trattoria and they cook ancient Italian meals with pouring their skillful art and magical power into them!
Creative world building: 7 deadly sins represent different households of hell and those 7 princess can travel through different realms. After Wrath, it seems like Lust is my favorite sinful prince!
Enemies to reluctant partners theme: after losing her twin sister, Emilia wants to find out the perpetrator by deciphering the dark magic spell her sister put at her diary. As soon as she realizes her sister summoned an evil, she followed the same way but as soon as hot as hell, charismatic, coolest evil Wrath appears, she finds at their bound is more intense and eternal that she’d ever imagined.
Quick summary: A serial killer targeting witches. Emilia seems like more introvert, book smart, obedient girl of the family as her adventurous, bold, brave, straightforward twin Vittoria completely opposite of her. But after her sister is murdered, she turns into vengeful, angry, hot blooded witch who stops being cautious, getting more risks including summoning a demon and letting him be her partner to find the identity of the killer who is responsible from those murders. But this means one of the seven evil princes must be behind those vicious crimes!
The cliffhanger at the end makes you jumpy because you want to know what’s gonna happen next immediately! Well, I cannot wait to read the next book! I’m already sold! This is such a great start for the series!
Special thanks to NetGalley and JIMMY PATTERSON for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
I loved it so much!!!
Rating: really liked it
I did not see this coming.
I know a lot of readers loved and devoured it, so I apologise in advance. It's just that I waited for a long while for this book to come out but was seriously disappointed after having read it.
There were so many inconsistencies in the plot, Emilia as a character was super annoying and did illogical things most of the time, there was zero chemistry between the leads and the mythology could've been explained in a better way (her writing style is very different from her
Stalking Jack The Ripper series) and I was left confused.
Rating: really liked it
Buddy read with my sweet friend Vickie
The FairyLoot edition is amaze balls!! Click the link under the pic to see the goodies!
GOODIES LINK:
https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot....
Holy shit on s saltine kracker!!! This book rocked!! Ye, God’s! I need the next one 😫
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Rating: really liked it
**4.5-stars**Emilia and her twin sister, Vittoria, belong to a family of witches secretly living among humans on the island of Sicily. Their family runs a renowned local restaurant, where both girls work.
At 18-years old, they've been raised hearing the lore of their family, and other beings of the underworld; mostly at the knee of their beloved Nonna.
But these stories become all too real after Emilia discovers Vittoria, murdered and mutilated.
Overcome with grief, Emilia's saving grace seems to be her need for vengeance. Her overwhelming compulsion to find her sister's killer keeps her from wallowing in despair for too long. She has things to do.
Pairing herself with a Prince from Hell, Wrath, Emilia begins to follow clues through the shadow-ridden Sicilian streets, as more and more witches fall to the same fate as Vittoria.
In the beginning, I'll admit, I wasn't sold. It started out a little slow for me.
The first couple of chapters seemed generic. Emilia felt like many YA characters I had read before. I was skeptical.
However, I am happy to report, I had no reason to be. Once Emilia and Wrath met up, everything began to fall into place and I ended up really enjoying this.
While the format was slightly typical, as far as enemies-to-lovers tropes go, I still thought it was special; and besides, I love that trope.
I thought the evolution of their relationship was perfectly paced and the way they worked together, two thumbs up. Until the bitter end, I was with them, hook, line and sinker.
As the story unfolds, Emilia displays impressive levels of guts and determination. She's up against some super scary forces, yet never backs down.
Pushing herself to the limits, her ability to stare straight in the face of danger was admirable. By the end, she was one of my new favorite heroines.
As far as Wrath goes, we stan. Everything about him, from his snarky attitude, his knowledge of all things dark and hellish, his tattoos, his sexy outfits, I loved it all.
I also feel like we have so much more to learn about him. Fingers crossed this happens moving forward in the series.
The atmosphere is top notch, as well, and I like that Maniscalco didn't shy away from including some very dark images and scenes. The last bit of this book was absolutely wild and I cannot wait for the next one to be released!!!
Seriously, is it too early to request a copy!?
Thank you so much to the publisher, Jimmy Patterson Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.
I truly appreciate it!
Rating: really liked it
I heard "enemies to lovers" and came running
Rating: really liked it
"One day you'll call me Death.
For now, Wrath will do."
I want a
hot demon prince
Wrath for myself, please and thank you.😏🖤
Nonna gave many warnings to guard thy heart from the Wicked, but the endeavor was futile....
It was stolen anyways.🥺 altho is it really any surprise that happened?
I
LOVED Kerri's
SJTR series , so the second I finished it and heard that she was making
another series set in a world of demons, witches,
and with an enemies-to-lovers trope—oh I just knew that I'd fall in love.
AND WRATH DID THAT TO ME.
Emilia di Carlo leads a perfectly normal life
at least, as normal as you could get being a witch and all with her twin,
Vittoria , her parents, and Nonna, helping around and about at the family restaurant,
Sea & Vines (omg the descriptions of the food was just mouth-watering).
Sure, they all have to hide the fact that they're witches lest they be burned to the stake by others
(ha doesn't sound bad at all), but other than that, everything's as good as it can be.
Until,
one night —Emilia stumbles upon a horrifying scene.
Her sister.
Murdered. Heart torn out and all. *shudder*
Yeah...that obviously didn't go well with Emilia.
Heartbroken and hell-bent on revenge, she begins her journey in solving the mystery behind Vittoria's death, and will go to any length to avenge her. Even use dark magic and
accidently summon one of the demon princes of Hell—
Wrath.
Starting to feel like I'm mentioning him too much haha “There are victors and victims. Decide who you want to be. Or the choice will be made for you, witch. And I doubt you’ll like it.”
I threw my head back and groaned. “It’s a game of scopa, not a battle between life and death. Are you always this dramatic?”
Ahhh this is just
one of
many hilarious conversations between
Emilia and
Wrath. Their constant bickering was one of my favourite parts wheezee
honestly, just seeing Wrath made me happy.
Emilia was once the quiet and "I-avoid-trouble" kind of girl, but once the death of her twin occurs, she goes through some major character development and is forced to take risks she would've never done before. I do love how most people could probably relate to that
not the death causing character development part. I myself am always afraid to take a step out of my comfort zone, for fear I'll fail/do terrible.
With Emilia, she would constantly take new risks, and even when she did fail, at least she'd eventually get back up again and continue to grow. It's a nice motivator for those who fear trying new things
at least for me haha. That's what I loved most about Emilia ahhhh
And then there's
Wrath. It was love at first sight meeting Wrath.🥺 You can always count me in when it comes to tall, dark, and handsome demon princes—
especially the
suspicious ones . So many secrets.... but you still can't help but love Wrath
at least I couldn't.
(ahhhh and the candle scene was just so sweet <3)
I've said this many times, but I really should
never be a detective in charge of a murder scene. I'd get fired on the first day lol. I just can
never guess right when it comes to who the culprit is
I'm not even close. I saw that some others who read
KotW say that it was pretty predictable, but I was honestly just shocked and didn't even
think of suspecting a certain someone.
Ahhhh yes, I'm a very bad mystery solver.😌Note-to-self: Don't trust my judgement on characters when it comes plots with mysteries involved. 
asdfghjkl it felt like
centuries waiting for
Kingdom of the Wicked to come out and now I have wait
another few centuries for the next book. *sobs*
My only complaint with this book would be that it felt waaaay too short. Maybe a little too fast-paced? But it's not really a big deal, it's more of "I wish it lasted longer" feeling. I want more
Emilia and Wrath mostly just Wrath heheAnd after that ending omggggg I can already tell the 2nd book is going to be even better!!! Especially with where it's going to be taking place.😏 (view spoiler)
[It's actually going be taking place in the Kingdom of the Wicked. Makes me wonder why there was a map of the kingdom in the 1st book, if the setting doesn't even take place there lol.🤔 (hide spoiler)]Aghhhh now to wait. My least favourite word.
still haven't given up on getting my demon prince btw "Aevitas ligati in aeternus protego."
Rating: really liked it
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A lot of YA fantasy these days reads like it was churned out of the same word salad factory, if you know what I mean. Like, there's a
vibe, and if you cobbled together a handful of quotes from a dozen or so of these authors, I'd be hard-pressed to tell you which is from where because the whole lot of them feel so
samey.
That is why it is such an exceptional treat when you find something that actually cracks, if not breaks, the mold.
I was a little leery about reading the KINGDOM OF THE WICKED because I didn't really care for this author's other series,
Stalking Jack the Ripper. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't good, and I had no plans to revisit the author again. But then I started hearing
whispers-- that this new series of hers was a villain romance, that it featured a ruthless heroine, that it actually had stakes-- and I was like BYE MONEY.
Now that I've read the book, I can 100% assure you that the rumors are true. This is such a good book. It's about two sisters, who are witches and twins, who are part of a prophecy about these legendary demon princes who each embody one of the seven deadly sins. Neither of them take it seriously, but one day, they cross the streams-- I mean, the amulets-- and something bad happens because of it. And Emilia, the slightly more practical of the two, ends down a labyrinth of secrets and lies and magic, as she looks to avenge a terrible wrong done against her family, with the reluctant assistant of Prince Wrath, one of the demon princes of hell.
Emilia was such a great heroine. She was every bit as ruthless as I was promised and her relationship with Wrath gave me the kind of enemies-to-lovers fix I've been craving since I finished Holly Black's
Folk of the Air trilogy. The magic system in this book is interesting and we're immersed in it gradually rather than being info-dumped in. And the descriptions of food in this book? OH MY GOD. Don't read this on an empty stomach, is what I'm saying, or you'll be guzzling pasta, cannoli, and wine. The only reason this doesn't get a higher rating is because the pacing felt just a tad uneven and as others have complained, Emilia's inner monologues ran on too long sometimes. But apart from that this was truly excellent and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
4 to 4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
“Never forget: forging a bond made from love is as dangerous as those made though hate.”
september 2022I re-read this because I finally got book 2, and I need to finish that one before the third book comes out.
I'm so glad I did, because I didn't remember this book being so amazing and it only got better with this re-read.
I was able to appreciate Emilia's character even more, this time around, and I had the chance to properly dissect her trauma and emotions. It was a cathartic journey.
I also noticed some of my favorite books/series feature a main character who has a sister or a twin. I wonder what that might mean.
Diving into Kingdom of the Cursed asap because I'm already missing Emilia and Prince Wrath.
🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘
january 2022 
Hear me out: the hype on this, was 100% justified.
I might be a bit biased because a) this book takes place in Italy, b) it's an enemies-to-lovers kind of novel, and c) the main character and her family own a restaurant and treat cooking the same way I do: with infinite love and passion.
But these are only small tips of the gigantic, complex and well-written iceberg that is this book.
Kerri Maniscalco earned my respect with her Stalking Jack the Ripper series, which, fair, I didn't finish (I actually only read the first book but I definitely plan on catching up with the sequels), but when you've read as many YA novels as I did in my humbly long reader life, you gain some rights in deciding when an author is worthy of their fame, and Maniscalco certainly is.
In Kingdom of the Wicked, twins Emilia and Vittoria Di Carlo come from a notorious and long-lived dynasty of Italian witches, or streghe. Their family own a famous and renowed restaurant and their Nonna keep them and their powers safe from humans who don't know they live among them. When Vittoria goes missing and is later found brutally murdered, Emilia summons Wrath, one of the demonic Wicked, and goes against everything her Nonna always warned her about to find whoever killed her sister and make them pay. I'm not really a witch novel person, if I have to be honest. Aside a few exceptions (the Worldwalker Trilogy by Josephine Angelini, for example), they're usually my latest pick in the fantasy world, but I'm glad I gave this book a chance, because it was one of the most entertaining rides I've had in a long time.
I flew through it and fell completely in love with the main character and her male counterpart. I loved the setting, the writing (all that talking about food and spices and
cannoli made my heart melt and my tummy rumble), and the way the author handled the whole enemies-to-lovers situation without making it cringe-worthy.
On this note, there is a fine as wine hint of romance, but it doesn't take over the entire plot that revolves around the murder of young lady witches and the search of whatever hellish creature is haunting the Sicilian streets.
As I already mentioned, one of the things I appreciated the most about this book, is Emilia. I really liked how KM potraited her because she's brave, mature, comfortable with her sexuality, funny but still acts her age and has some of the flaws that are typically tied to young adults.
Wrath is just as perfect, but I feel like I'm biased by saying this, as well, because...well, he's everything I usually adore in a male character all wrapped up in a smoking hot and sexy ribbon.
Plotwise speaking, I've got almost nothing negative to say, which is kind of unusual for me. Maybe some parts were a little rushed and confusing, but that could have been my fault for reading with too much ardor and itching to know what was going to happen.
I enjoyed it, really really much, from start to finish, and I totally plan on reading the sequels as soon as I get my hands on it.
ACTUAL RATINGS 4,5/5
Rating: really liked it
I received this complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.This was
absolutely wonderful!!! It also made me
bloody hungry,, due to all the food references … which is
NOT conducive to preventing midnight snacking FYI, but my growling stomach and I still
loved it. ;)
I personally enjoyed this
A LOT more than Stalking Jack the Ripper.
Wrath made for a much more compelling love interest than the adorable Thomas Cresswell and I found
Emilia to be a better protagonist than Audrey Rose. She was a lot less preachy than Audrey, but no less naïve, in my opinion. I think that it made
more sense here though because she and Wrath came from two different worlds. It’s not like you’d expect a human witch to know the ways of the princes of Hell. It also entertained me by how surprised she was to find out that a tonne of other supernatural creatures also walked among them (the “
all the stories are true” quote from the Shadowhunter universe kept popping into my head lol).
Moving onto Wrath, I’ve always had a thing for the
dark and mysterious bad boys, which made Wrath an
instant favourite. The minute he arrived on the page, I was enthralled. His interactions with Emilia reminded me a lot of
Jude and Cardan in the sense that a girl who various supernatural creatures view as weak, ends up controlling the actions of their supernatural love interest. Plus, the
enemies-to-lovers banter was
FABULOUS. Their interactions with one another was the best part of the book, in all honesty. And how could I not mention his
fashionista tendencies? And his
sweet tooth? As I’ve heard people say, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so
GOOD THING Emilia’s family owns a restaurant, haha. :P
*I think that Kerri Maniscalco
shines a lot more in her writing when it comes to
fantasy, rather than lacklustre mysteries.*
I only have
one complaint really about this book and that’s the
mystery aspect.
AGAIN, I found the culprit
SO OBVIOUS that the big reveal was rather disappointing. Now, it may be me because I was raised on
Sherlock Holmes and
Nancy Drew, but I feel like Maniscalco has a tendency to point
bright, neon signs towards the killer when her books begin nearing the end, while I think that her stories would benefit from a
subtler approach. I prefer to be surprised by a final twist, rather than having the answer spoon-fed to me.
Unlike
Stalking Jack the Ripper, I do think that I’ll continue on with this series because I’m
very invested in this story and these characters and I can’t
WAIT to see what happens next!!!
Rating: really liked it
☆ 2.5 / 5 ☆
“There are victors and victims. Decide who you want to be. Or the choice will be made for you, witch. And I doubt you’ll like it.” In all honesty this book doesn’t have much going for it but it was still a lot of fun to get through. Was it riddled with inconsistencies and plot convenience? Most definitely, but it was also a true page-turner and very easily consumable.
I also enjoyed the author’s first book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series and I think it’s because Kerri Maniscalco’s writing has a certain quality to it that makes it easy to be immersed in a story and want to keep reading it despite its flaws.
Kingdom of the Wicked is set in 19th century Palermo where Emilia, a witch, and her family lives and runs a pretty popular restaurant. They live a pretty normal life while hiding their powers from humans until she discovers the horribly mutilated body of her twin sister, Vittoria. Emilia only finds vengeance in her heart and is ready to do anything to find her sister’s murderer. She ends up allying herself with Wrath, one of the Princes of Hell, despite her grandmother’s warnings and discovers that there might be more to her twin’s death than she initially thought.
Emilia ends up being pretty reckless in her decisions and honestly I don’t think she stopped to think for a second about anything. In and of itself this could’ve been fine but the author is trying to portray her character as smart and competent and she is never actually shown being either of those things. The one aspect that actually made me like her a little more was her relationship with her sister. You can tell they were really close and loved each other a whole lot. Emilia’s determination to solve her murder and put anything else aside is very believable and scenes of her processing her grief a little more outwardly definitely made me feel for her. Aside from that I just didn’t really care for her as a character, I found nothing appealing or anything that really stood out to me as more than a one dimensional character placeholder.
“You might hate it. Or love it. But temptation will surge through those magical veins of yours, obliterating all common sense. You’ll want me to save you from the endless torment by giving you everything you love to loathe. And when I do, you’ll thirst for more.” And this is also why I wasn’t invested in the romance of this book. I just can’t see why Wrath would take a romantic interest in her and there was truly no chemistry between the two of them. I actually enjoyed Wrath’s character and found him intriguing but a lot of his motivations concerning Emilia and the things he did for her just didn’t really make sense to me. The dialogue between the two of them felt really forced while it was aiming for “we despise each other” banter. I feel like if the romance had been more believable to me I would’ve looked past a lot of other things and this book could’ve been an easy 3 star read.
I really enjoyed the setting for the most part especially when it came to the family’s restaurant and all the food descriptions made me feel more immersed, and hungry! This is supposed to be 19th century Italy but it’s all written pretty loosely when it comes to placing the story in a historical context and some elements felt more earlier 20th century to me. It didn’t bother me too much but this feels definitely more like a generic setting rather than an accurate one. I also really enjoyed the city being so lively at night and the descriptions of that, and the recurring trips to the monastery.
And now, for the plot itself. It was very predictable, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was all just very convenient. A lot of information was withheld by characters with no solid motivation to do so, or in accordance with their personalities, but just for the sake of creating mystery in the book. This mostly came up with the grandmother and it just made me dislike her as a character and every scene with her was very frustrating.
There were also a lot of inconsistencies with what Emilia thought was going on and coming back on things she’d said before or being repetitive processing information that had already been put into the book previously. It felt messy and it led a lot of her reasoning to not make sense at all.
“The devil demanded retribution. A blood sacrifice for power stolen.” A lot of things concerning the magic in this book were also pretty inconsistent and unclear. There were a lot of things she could just do just because it was what was needed in the moment for the scene to move forward, the rules applying to demons seemed to shift whenever it fit the narrative best, and overall I don’t think the magic system was well established. I did however enjoy the powers of the Princes of Hell and how their influence worked on people. I would’ve liked to delve into those ways more than this book did because at the end of the day these demons who are supposed to be very powerful didn’t feel all that threatening.
Their powers felt very diminished when compared to minor demons being able to bypass the rules they were subjected to and witches truly having more power than they do. Emilia would very easily “trick” these demons (probably to show how smart of a character she is but it only undermined how powerful these demons supposedly were) or do things that they couldn’t. A teenage witch who is honestly lacking in her skills could easily cast a sleeping spell but a Prince of Hell.. couldn’t? It just felt very nonsensical to me and lessened the threat of any possible confrontation.
I would also like to note that a scene pushed forward with Lust’s power where Emilia expressed her discomfort with the feeling of hands grabbing her was handled very dubiously.
“In the end, the monster we feared didn’t come from Hell. He came from privilege.” The writing itself is pretty easy to read and makes it so the reading experience itself was enjoyable. I do feel though like there were some passages or quotes that sounded good on paper but did not make sense in context. There’s not much point in saying that demonic forces aren’t at work and privilege is the source of evil when this story fully revolves around demons, their world and their schemes, and there is absolutely no commentary whatsoever about any sort of privilege in this whole book. It would’ve been interesting to overlap that with the work of these literal personifications of sin but it’s not really the case here. There were allusions to witch hunts and the killing of innocent women because of that, but it never actually delved into what persecution and oppression truly means. The main character is never shown as being stifled in any sort of way and these remarks just feel off and like a half-hearted attempt at white feminism 101.
The ending of the book was pretty much what I had expected it to be so I didn’t feel either let down or shocked, and I think it gives a definite opening for the sequel. Overall I was far from miserable reading this book but there were truly so many things piling up and taking away from a story that had potential.
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