2,5 stars
I really wanted to read some Kerri Maniscalco´s books and when I had the opportunity I have not hesitated.
I´ve liked the story at times, but I miss something.
The magical world in which is based the story is explained little by little, through the main character point of view, which I did not like very much, Sometimes I found it very unclear. The plot and the way the misteries are solved are a little messy too. The love relationship is not very well achieved either (I can't see that both have a love interest in the other).
However, I really want to read the end of the story, because without a doubt the end of this book leaves you wanting more.

This book was good, I thought the idea was great, but it did take me a while to get into. I also found the romance kind of cringey. The ending definitely has me interested in reading the sequel though to see where this story goes next.

I really enjoyed this book!

The story follows Emelia, who summons a Prince of Hell, Wrath, to help uncover who has been responsible for her twin sister's brutal murder.

I absolutely loved the character of Wrath, and really wished we got to see more character development with him. That was actually my main criticism of the whole book, was that there seemed to be these interesting characters introduced, but we don't get long enough with them to have some amazing character development.

I feel like this book could have benefitted from being around 100 pages longer, as it would have given us the opportunity to become even more invested in the relationships formed by the characters. It would also have allowed us to spend slightly longer at certain plot points, as at some points it felt a little rushed.

All in all, I really enjoyed this novel, and I cannot wait for the next one!

Thanks to NetGallwy giving me a copy to review - though I also managed to get my hands on a stunning Fairyloot edition.

This book was a sesational read - loved every moment of it. The writing was fast paced and took me very little time to read, I feel in love with Emilia and Wrath instantly! I enjoyed that romance though hinted at in this book did not take over the narrative and that the protagonist really did grow and was not extremely naive.

This Italian story of magic and devila and otherworldy creatures is one I would love to visit often and over and over, though it was not my favourite first book for a series it does seem to have perfetly set up a narrative for the second book - the cliffhanger really does have me so excited for the second book in the series, 'Kingdom of the Cursed'.

After the brutal murder of her twin sister, Emilia vows to seek revenge through the use of dark magic. As a powerful witch, she has magic on her side, but her rage leads her on a path to destruction as she summons Wrath - a prince of the Kingdom of the Wicked. A trickster demon who will steal her heart and soul, she must team up with him to find the one responsible for her sister's murder and stop them from committing further murderous acts within her beloved Italian city.

I will start by saying that the pacing for this is really quite slow. At 70 pages in I still wasn't past the main turning point described in the synopsis of the book, and I was starting to get bored. Also the world building is messy. I was never entirely sure how the magic system worked or what the relationship between the different demons was. Throughout the plot we are given little drops of info about the kingdom of wicked and its inhabitants - which were really interesting, but because we don't get enough information it just ends up being confusing and the plot overly convoluted. For most of the story I had no idea what was going on, or why. The sudden appearance of a new group of supernatural beings towards the back end of the story only further added to this confusion. There is literally no mention of their kind at all until they suddenly end up in one conversatio.n that helps further the plot.

Beyond the twins and their grandmother I also know nothing about Emilia's family. Her father is essentially invisible, uttering two sentences at best. I would have liked to have seen more interactions between the family unit to build this deeper connection amongetbthem all to make me care a bit about them. Unfortunately we don't really get this, and as a result I didn't get that sense of sisterhood I've seen in other witch books, or feel anything for Emilia's family. Any threat to them, and I wasn't bothered in the slightest. The writing at the beginning is also a little off-putting, with similies galore it just feels like the author is trying a little bit too hard to be lyrical and whimsical, and it doesn't quite work.

What did draw me in however, is the relationship between Emilia and Wrath. Theres a lot of sexual tension there right from the get go, and it simmers. A lot. There's plenty of loaded, heated looks to keep the reader entertained, and it all feels pretty genuine. The development of this relationship is interesting too, as they both need to learnt to trust each other and get use to the other being around as they're both quite solitary, independent characters. I also really liked the few other Princes we meet. They're all quite stereotypical of their 'sin', but this made them a bit more fun to read about. I only hope we get more of them all in the sequel.

Speaking of the sequel, this book is basically designed as set up for the next book. There's no real conclusion to the story, plot points are left hanging with no answers and I still know next to nothing about the mysterious kingdom. It lef me feeling very flat and unsatisfied, as one of my pet peeves is cliff hangers without any resolution. However, I'm hoping that this will mean the sequel is even better than this one as the door is left open to a lot of potential drama and romance and sinful demons.

Decent YA fantasy, but just don't expect too much in the way of world building or plot development. Just lots of sexy demons and angry witches.

This book was one of my most anticipated releases this year. What I can say? I'm italian, and I was a bit scared, because when American authors try to set a book in my country I usually see random (and badly translated) italian words only because we have to understand that the story is set in Italy. I was a bit sad to see that this book did the same, especially because Kerri Maniscalsco is so proud of her sicilian heritage. that doesn’t mean that she was wrong, just that the italian words needed to be checked out by an italian speaker. Aside from that, I liked the book. It takes its time to explain the story, maybe too much in the middle of the book, which is a bit slower, especially if you look at the faster ending, where a lot of questions are answered and we end up with a lot of theories. The spotlight is obviously the relationship between Wrath and Emilia, really well done. I can't wait to read the second one.

I don't know on this book. I had really high hopes, I love Kerri's other work, I love the synopsis, but something just felt a bit flat.
Lets start with the characters. Emilia irritated me. She's one of those typical YA protagonists who is suddenly amazing at everything, and therefore does not need to listen to anyone. Literally the world says, Emilia No, Emilia says yes. At the beginning she was quite sweet, really cared for her family, but by the end we'd completely forgotten about poor old Nonna and parents. Lets be honest here, if they were worried when Vittoria was an hour late coming home, and then she gets murdered, do you really think they'll be ok with Emilia disappearing for days on end without even a note? Then we have Wrath, the sweetest, softest cinnamon roll demon ever. I wanted him to be more, well, Wrathful.
Atmosphere. I can get over the butchering of the Italian language, but I really needed more world building. Everything was very coincidental, and I just wanted a bit more from the world.
Writing was good, I enjoy Kerri's style, so I don't have much more to say on that.
Plot, great premise, but it was pretty predictable and I worked out who the murderer was fairly early on. However, this is similar to the SJTR series, so I wasn't surprised by this.
Intrigue, Yes it was intriguing as in I wanted to know more because the world building was lacking, but in terms of driving the plot forward, not so much.
Logic. Absolutely not. For example, telling two young children, to never touch your necklaces together- what will they do? Touch them together. Again, this is down to the lack of plot, where things are set up to drive the plot forwards rather than to make sense in the world. The demon summoning and the necklaces were the most illogical to me. I won't go into detail though to avoid spoilers.
Finally enjoyment. Yes I enjoyed the book. I will read book two. I will roll my eyes throughout it and rant that we didn't get enough smutty scenes (because, why describe how sexy all the demons are if you're not going to do anything with that! A kiss does not cut it!)
I gave this a high 3.5 stars.

If you're looking for fun, dark, romance-focused YA+/NA fantasy, look no further. It's perfect for the fans of SJM and, of course, anyone who loved Msrrk Maniscalco's Stalking Jack the Ripper series.

I loved Stalking Jack the Ripper and the moment I found out that Kerri was publishing another book - and about witches and demons! Which is precisely my jam! - it went straight to my tbr list. I wasn't disappointed.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I tried very hard not to read it critically - I just wanted pure enjoyment of YA fantasy, to refind my joy of reading. And it worked! It took me out of my reading slump and got me reading again.

I suspect that Italian readers might not like it very much - we don't like it when Americans take random parts of our folklore and geography and try to make something out of it. So for the purpose of enjoyment I pretended that it's an imaginary world and not Sicily. Also, I'm not sure if I missed this information or it wasn't mentioned at all when is it based? It's definitely a hundred or more years ago and it bothered me that I didn't know. Knowing Kerri Maniscalco it was probably 19th century.

I really enjoyed the romance (though if I try to look too deeply at it, it was probably problematic so just putting it out there), I loved both main characters. The turns and twists were unexpected and exciting. There was lots of magic and demons and food, so all the best things about books.

Overall, if you're looking for a fun read and want to dim your critical lenses for a little bit, it's a good choice.

TW: Family death, body horror

“Why do villains always wear black?”
“Better to hide the blood with, witch.”

Kingdom of the Wicked was a book right up my alley and aligns with my interests, so it’s no surprise that I really enjoyed this novel.

Maniscalco has a wonderful way of writing mysticism that shows a great level of understanding and / or research. I loved the way that the witches beliefs, rituals and stories were written and interwoven into the world. I’m not streghe so I can’t speak to how close it is to that practice, but I can speak to a generic sense of witchcraft and was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy.

Emilia is a relatable MC who is weaving her way through grief and vengeance, while at risk of slowly being consumed by both. I felt like her mannerisms and choices were reflective of the situations she found herself in and nothing was odd or out of character for her. I enjoyed witnessing the developing, reluctant, working relationship between herself and Wrath and I have a few suspicions about where we may be taken in book 2, and I’m going to enjoy that ride.

Kingdom of the Wicked contains all the things I loved about Escaping from Houdini and Hunting Prince Dracula mixed together.

*I was provided an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, however I ended up purchasing the published copy on release date and read purely from that one.

YouTube review linked. Full written review to come soon.

I absolutely adored this book, I can already tell this is going to be one of my favourite series ever. Kerri Maniscalco wrote such a beautiful book and characters and I cannot wait for the sequel!

This was the novel that broke my reading slump. I was thoroughly impressed with it and captivated from the start. The way in which Maniscalco writes is beautiful and she provides the novel with impressively constructed characters that feel real, developed, and authentic. My personal favourite character, Wrath, had all the cocky arrogance as you could expect from a prince of hell, but Maniscalco wove in kindness and a softness that was so subtle but integral to his personality. The addition of grief into the story was also well done, being ingrained beautifully into the characters to create such realistic feelings and actions as a result.

The plot itself was very enjoyable and engaging. I felt myself constantly turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next and what new revelations I was going to encounter. It was quite slow at the beginning but as it was laying down the storyline for a series, it can be forgiven. The only qualm I had with this novel was the pacing. At times it felt rushed and I was left craving some more from certain scenes. Overall though, I fell in love with this story and the characters and I am beyond excited to delve into the next instalment.

I wasn’t really sure what I was going to think going into this as while I love anything to do with witches but I have also seen some mixed reviews so was definitely a bit apprehensive however I’m glad that I gave it a shot as it was an enjoyable read. This was really fast paced and I was never once bored while reading it. My favourite part of this was definitely the setting and atmosphere you really felt like you were there while reading. Kerri also did a really good job at exploring loss and grief. I also liked the characters and found Wrath intriguing however the romance didn’t really pull me in, it was just sort of there. Overall I did enjoy this and plan on picking up the sequel when it’s released. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

A few months ago, I decided to read Stalking Jack Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco because I kept hearing many good things about the series. After finishing reading it, I quickly bought the other three books in the series and devoured them in about a week. I was completely captured by the author’s writing, the gripping plots, and the fantastic characters she created. So, you can imagine how excited I was to read her new novel, Kingdom of Wicked, and I wasn’t disappointed. Very far from it.

The protagonist of Kingdom of the Wicked is Emilia. She is eighteen years old and she lives in Palermo, Sicily, with her twin sister Vittoria and their family running a successful restaurant. Emilia and Vittoria are witches and they grew up surrounded by their grandmother’s protection spells and her warnings to hide from the Wicked/Malvagi. The Wicked are demon princes who appear human, with red eyes and skin as hard as stone, and they “stalk the night, searching for souls to steal for their king, the devil”. However, when Vittoria is brutally murdered, Emilia wants revenge, even if that means making a deal with the devil:

“Vengeance was now a part of me, as real and necessary as my heart or my lungs.”

The first thing I did after I finished reading Kingdom of the Wicked was to go online and see when the sequel is coming out because I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!! Sadly, there isn’t a publication date yet, but I am really looking forward to it. I think it’s impossible not to love this story. The world-building is incredible and there are witches, demon princes, mysterious murders, dubious characters, magic, and delicious food.

The author created rich and extraordinary characters. I especially liked the protagonist, Emilia, and Wrath, the demon prince she summoned. While her twin sister Vittoria was more impulsive and intrepid, Emilia likes to play safe. She likes to cook and experimenting with food, but her sister’s death and her search for the truth and revenge make her fearless and feisty. I loved her relationship with Wrath. Wrath is handsome, mysterious, “his beauty was an affront to what evil ought to look like”, and I enjoyed the chemistry and the witty banter between these two characters.

Kingdom of the Wicked is an addictive and mesmerizing story

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for allowing me to read this!

Like most people i was first introduced to Kerry Maniscalco through Stalking Jack the Ripper and very much enjoyed reading it. I really enjoyed reading this too and found the characters to be utterly charming!

I love how Italian it is - the world really enveloped you with a sense of culture. I loved hearing about Nonna, the food and imagery. I like how the magic system was explained, ex. You can't use a truth spell on a human, because of the unalienable right to free will. This is a good change to many fantasy books of the moment that want you to just accept magic systems with no understanding or reasoning.
I disliked that there was really heavy-handed emphasis on not taking off the amulet, and the fact that her twin did it once, and this is why she was killed. It felt like the author didn't trust the reader to understand this by themself. This fell into the trope of having a super sassy female character who has no real understanding/apparent skill, which is a personal pet peeve. This was partnered with a brooding bad boy, who teaches her everything about the world. This reminded me of ACOTAR - in terms of predictability, and main character. I disliked that sex/romance was tied into magic, and the relationship bordered on abusive. As the main character was unlikeable (and not in an endearing way) I found it difficult to care about her.
I guessed the murderer, and I wouldn't continue with the series.

Kerri Maniscalco is back with a bang.

Kingdom of the Wicked is a deliciously dark and decadent fantasy novel packed with intrigue and Maniscalco’s trademark flourish of romance.

Emilia and Wrath are such interesting main characters. Their dynamic is complex and ever-changing over the course of the story, with the shifts being particularly interesting to witness. Their chemistry is sizzling at times, with plenty of flirty, witty banter between them. They’re both fiercely intelligent and driven by personal loyalties and motives that take a while to uncover.

Right from the start, you know you’re in for one hell of a ride. The opening is intensely intriguing, laced with danger and magic. That kind of tantalising hook is always going to ensure me and ensure that I will definitely be continuing. Maniscalco keeps this up throughout with plenty of epic twists and turns. The fantastical elements are secondary to a really engaging mystery at the core of the story. There’s a thought-provoking exploration of vengeance and its cost that I really enjoyed.

I feel in love with the Stalking Jack the Ripper series in part to Maniscalo’s utterly immersive writing and deft mix of history and mystery. Here, she shows no signs of letting up. Her writing casts such a spell over you and completely transports you away into her vastly imaginative world where danger lurks in many guises and around every corner. You never quite know what is going to happen next and that means you’re constantly on the edge of your seat. I also love her attention to detail. A real standout of Kingdom of the Wicked is the motif of food and Emilia’s heritage. Her identity is so entwined with her familial history and cultural elements of that like food take on a far more important role. So the book features plenty of mouth-watering food descriptions and it’s those little touches that really capture all your senses and truly engage you.

Kingdom of the Wicked demands every one of your waking thoughts while reading and if you’re anything like me, it’ll leave you demanding the sequel immediately

The setting was phenomenal! I have read a few books set in the 1800s before, but this was on a whole other level! The combination of the time setting with the setting in Sicily, plus the amazing sisters relationship was fantastic. Need the next book immediately!

This book was a middle of the road read for me, which I’ll be honest was slightly disappointing as there has been so much love and hype for it on social media.
There were bits of it that I really, really loved. The legends of the Wicked Princes and the side stories of witches who had lost their minds to dark magic were interesting and kept me reading.
However I didn’t love Emilia and any story struggles when you don’t engage with its main character well. I found her endlessly frustrating with her refusal to work with others even when they had proven themselves to her, her stubbornness often put her in situations that could have been avoided and that was just annoying rather than anything else.
The magic system was a little hit and miss at times. Some times people used their magic and at other times they didn’t for some inexplicable reason, which only added to the feeling of the system itself not quite being fully considered.
There was enough to the story and the plot that I liked to keep me reading until the end of the book but while I can see how others could love it, it wasn’t a book I’ll be shouting about.

This seems like a popular and well liked novel, and my voice seems to be in the mjnority. I just didn't like this book - I did feel compelled to read until the end, but that's about the only nice thing I can say about it. The world building was messy, the voice didn't connect for me and it felt disjointed.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 15%

Although I didn't get on with Stalking Jack the Ripper for a number of reasons, I wanted to give Kerri Maniscalco another shot to see what all the fuss was about! Unfortunately, I think it's clear that she's just an author that's not for me. I really struggle with her writing and her characters and just don't enjoy her books.