Title: Kingdom of the Wicked
Series: (Kingdom of the Wicked #1)
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Release Date: October 27, 2020
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis
Two sisters.
One brutal murder.
A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself…
And an intoxicating romance.
Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.
Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…
Review
Kingdom of the Wicked was such a sinfully good book full of demon princes, witch magic and a secret curse hidden away for centuries.
Emilia and her twin Vittoria seem like typical girls to everyone in their village. They help run the family restaurant, one dreaming of new food concoctions to try and of expanding the restaurant one day while the other is such a joyous soul captivating the love of everyone she meets. They seem like typical young girls, except for the whole they’re witches and they have to hide themselves from Malvagi (Princes of Hell). It all seems like superstitious nonsense until one day it isn’t and Vittoria ends up dead.
I loved Emilia immediately. She is okay fading into the background while her twin takes the spotlight, content to read at home or experiment at the family restaurant. Vittoria’s death changes her though and we get to see this amazing development in her. She steps up determined to find her sister’s killer no matter the cost. While still a tad naive in the ways of the Wicked Emilia is a fast learner and while she makes mistakes she’s still an incredibly strong young woman. I admired her determination and how she approached situations.
The Princes of Hell were downright terrifying yet simultaneously swoony as hell. Pun intended. Each the personification of sin itself. I loved when a new one showed up on the scene. Wrath, Greed, Envy, Lust and finally Pride, the real devil. Yes they’re bad and you should avoid them but gosh dang it we love our bad boys. The bad boy that’s only good for you trope (if it’s not a thing it should be).
While Emilia isn’t easily swayed by looks lines did get a tad blurred with Wrath. The romance was so swoony that at times it was hard to remember that Wrath was an actual Prince of Hell, the bad guy. I don’t want to give too much away here but the ending between them was quite the steamy yet rude awakening.
While overall I really loved this book and binged it in one sitting, there were a couple issues I had with it. The magic system was never really explained. Emilia seemed naive in the ways of Magic, sheltered almost, but then could pull a spell out of nowhere it seemed at times. So we truly don’t know her experience level with magic, it’s not really explained and that bugged me just a tad at times. My other complaint was how rushed the ending felt. It actually jumped around a bit, to the point where I thought I’d missed a paragraph or even a page about a scene change. It just didn’t seem to fit with how the rest of the book had been written, the pacing felt extremely off and made it a tad confusing.
The ending was brutal, leaving us with some big unanswered questions. It also ended up taking a turn that I somewhat expected but ended up discarding halfway through the book. I do still have some theories though about Wrath, Pride, the curse and how Emilia will fit into it all. A year seems so far though and I’m way too excited to explore the Kingdom of the Wicked.
About the Author
Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.
She is the #1 NYT and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series and the forthcoming Kingdom of the Wicked.
For an extended bio, please read on below!
Follow Kerri on Twitter and Instagram where she’s always ready to talk fictional crushes:
Pre-Order Campaign!
JIMMY Patterson books is running a pre-order incentive campaign. All who pre-order a
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