Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Review: Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Wicked
(Kingdom of the Wicked #1)
Publication Date: October 27, 2020
Hardcover, 448 pages, JIMMY Presents
Genres: YA, Paranormal/Fantasy

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…

My Review

Unlike a lot of people, I didn’t really know a whole lot about this book (or that it even existed) until October’s FairyLoot theme was announced. And actually, I’m glad it wasn’t a book that was on my radar. Surprises for book bloggers are hard to come by in these days of Bookstagram, Booktube, and Goodreads.

All that being said, I did very much enjoy this one. Kingdom of the Wicked reminded me of a cross between Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Dark Elements trilogy and Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series. Two series I enjoy very much.

Like most paranormal romance books, there are two main characters in this one. The heroine is Emilia, a witch who just lost her secret-keeping twin sister, and the love interest is Wrath, a prince of the underworld. Emilia is a decent character, she kind of just ran around making bad decisions 90% of the novel. However, she accomplished what she set out to do. It just seemed like every time she stepped out of her house, she’d run into demon creature goon #99 and discover a clue to her revenge plot. It was almost a little too easy and quick sometimes. Now Wrath, he was cool. Not the best demon prince I’ve ever read about (that title goes to Roth), but sexy, nonetheless.

So the characters are fun, but not super unique. The author did manage to create an awesome world, though. Using the seven deadly sins as demon princes is super similar to Lords of the Underworld, but there’s a different vibe, since these are witch-based demon princes and not demons from Pandora’s Box. Unfortunately, I am still kind of confused about what the time period in Italy was when this book takes place, since there are no cell phones yet the clothes for Wrath reminded me of an early-1900s gentleman. Maybe it was mentioned and I just missed it. Not sure. Oh, and why was there a map of a certain demonland at the beginning if the characters never actually visit it..?

As for the ending, the book concludes on a pretty big, annoying cliffhanger. Gah! I hate it when authors cut the book off when things just get really good. But I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel. Oh, and a random quirk I noticed was Emilia’s parents, who just let their daughter run around talking with demons. Very odd.

All of my nitpicks aside, Kingdom of the Wicked is a fast-paced, addicting read. If you love any kind of paranormal romance, this is for you. In fact, I wish it had been New Adult versus YA. I think it really could’ve been better with a higher page count and some darker scenes.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

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