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Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Series: Kingdom of the Wicked
Series #: 1
Genre: fantasy, historical fiction
Age Group: new adult/young adult
ARC?: yes

Emilia and her twin sister Victoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Victoria 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 discover who did this, and to seek vengeance at any cost—even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, the outlier among the seven demon brethren, always choosing duty over pleasure. He’s been tasked by his master with investigating a series of women’s murders on the island. When Emilia and Wrath’s fates collide, it’s clear this disturbing mystery will take a bewitching turn…

Review

Thank you to NetGalley and Jimmy Patterson Presents for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

*insert screaming*

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the fall. Imagine this: me biting my fingernails anxiously waiting to see if I’d be approved and then SHRIEKING when I was! Happy days!

Was it as good as I thought it was going to be?

Well?

IT WAS BETTER. This was witches done right. This was demons done right. This was the whole package of evil goodness that I love and is my cup of tea. It was also…pretty much in my wheelhouse of everything I could ever want in a book? Like, this book was magnificent and I am obsessed with it now. I need ALL the merch and good stuff that comes along with it.

Emilia was such a great character and I loved every moment we spent with her. It was a journey from beginning to end – and I definitely did not want this book to end. In fact I was screaming when I got to the end of the book and going “I NEED THE SEQUEL” because HOLY COW was that book just…no words. I feel like I had brain dribbling out of my ears by the end of it.

Things I really liked in the book were Maniscalco’s writing. I loved it in SJTR series, and it was just as good here. I became immediately invested in the book and was over the mood with how everything was written. The pacing was fantastic too, I just kept tearing through the book because I could not stop reading it. It definitely had me on the edge of my seat.

One thing that I enjoyed was the familial relationships in this book. I enjoyed reading about how Emilia interacted with her family and her world and how they came together. I especially loved her relationship with her grandmother. It felt so warm and happy, and it brought about good feelings. It just also, worked.

I also am still laughing about her and Wrath and that relationship. I don’t even know if I’d call it enemies to lovers or enemies to friends or enemies to enemies? All I know is that I enjoyed watching how their relationship progressed and changed and how they went about doing things. Suffice to say, I am invested to see what happens next. Maniscalco has always been good at crafting romantic relationships, and this one feels like it is going to be a slow burn all the way through. I think it is a curious one as well.

What else did I love? Pretty much everything. I loved EVERYTHING. I am so…unable to form a coherent thought about this book because I just loved it so much. It was atmospheric, it was well written, it was beautiful and enchanting, and I love Emilia as a character SO SO much and I am just so excited for the next book in the series.

Things I am excited for: hopefully expansion on the magic system? I definitely want more of it, and I am insanely curious about it. Also more about the princes? Yes please. More more more more is pretty much the one continuous thought I have at the moment.

I am just over the moon happy with this book and I cannot wait to reread it!