Kingdom of the Wicked is a lot of fun. It intertwines familiar aspects of Catholicism with a new twist with the sins as Princes of Hell. While the magic system could have been fleshed out further, it felt more balanced than many others, showing some of the consequences of using too much power. The banter was bantering for sure. The more tender moments were very sweet, and I can't wait to see how the relationships develop in the sequels. It's fairly obvious who the original enemy is, but there were enough twists and turns and additions along the way that it didn't matter as much that that was predictable. 

I loved this book! It was mysterious, sexy, well written, dark, enemies to well enemies in this book, great banter, and hard to put down!

Overall: 4.5/5 stars 
Spice: 0.5/5 (kissing and some descriptive language) this ramps up in book two! 

The only reason I removed half a star was because the ending felt rushed. Other than then that unbelievably good read!  

The writing in this novel was serviceable at time, but lacked any real beauty. At times, the writing felt robotic: the rhythm of the sentences were unvaried, the word choices odd and chunky, and the emotion lacking from vital moments. It’s a shame the writing was so poor, because elements of the story were definitely compelling but lacked execution.

I wanted to like the characters more than I actually did. Emilia had a very cool conception, but I wanted more depth with her emotions. While her personality itself was interesting, it wasn’t brought to life as well as I would have wanted on the page. I thought there were a couple of great character moments between Emilia and Wrath, yet I wish so deeply there could have been more. I also think that while Emilia’s family was relatively well-rounded, I would have loved more than a passing glimpse at her sister’s personality. It felt mainly like Maniscalco wanted her to be fun and quirky, and yet it came off as a bit chaotic and underdeveloped. 

Plot: 3.25⭐️/5 

The concept of this story is fascinating. And, while its execution was a little clumsy in spots, it read fairly well. A few snags, slow parts, and plot holes aside, I did fly through the story fairly quickly. At first glance it was fun; on deeper analysis, it’s definitely lacking depth and nuance. I do want to say that if you’re looking for a fun, fast-moving plot, this definitely might be for you! 

World: 3.75⭐️/5 

The world of this novel really grabbed me. On a personal level, I’ve heard many aspects of Sicilian folklore before, so it was rather fun to see them brought into this world as real-life magic. I enjoyed a lot of the references to Italian culture. I do think certain elements could have been introduced and explored a bit more deeply, but I did have fun with the world. 

Readers looking for a fast and fun book; Those who know some elements of Italian/Sicilian culture; fans of a decent, fast-paced fantasy romance mystery novel.

Blood, murder, injury, injury detail, murder, gore, body horror, sexual content (mild), 

The ending felt a bit forced to me. I didn’t enjoy it near as much as I did aspects of the middle, and I don’t feel a huge pull to read the next one.

First thing first, to me this book is NOT young adult. I know KOTW was marketed as such before it was changed for the sequel, but I think this first book was already not accessible to young readers. Not necessarily because of the sexual content, there’s no *actual* scene of intercourse between the two characters despite a heated kiss, even if Emilia has a lot of sexual thoughts regarding several male characters; but more because of the violent and gore descriptions. Yes, this is a murder mystery, but I thought most of the descriptions would be lighter than that considering it was YA and not adult.

Jumping back to the story in itself, it had an interesting concept, but the poor writing and the insufferable MC ruined my reading.

I was hooked by the murder mystery, even if I’m disappointed we don’t have a clear conclusion to it by the end. Many questions remain and I’m scared the author forgets about it for the sequel. It was fast-paced, and I have to admit I enjoyed that. But the downside of it is, the plot felt rushed sometimes. I was also very interested in the worldbuilding, especially about the witches families, their history, their powers. Sadly, it felt set aside, and all the info dumping is focused solely on how sexy the princes of hell are rather than interesting facts about covens or even the Houses in Hell. Sometimes, the author herself seemed lost in her worldbuilding.

As for the characters, I hated Emilia. Her character was so unbalanced, her actions never stick to her personality (does she have a clear one?) and most of the time, she’s just dumb and horny. Also, the consequences of her actions aren’t relatable, I couldn’t believe she kept getting away without a scratch after being so disrespectful with literal demons that are supposed to kill her in a second. By the way, such a choice of writing dismissed Wrath and the other princes' characters because not once did they felt *that* dangerous. I’d also prefer more confrontations, especially with Envy, so that the plot twists could have a real impact on the reader experience. 

Emilia's relationship with her twin and then her grief suffer from the same treatment. Their bound isn’t well described enough to me, I didn’t feel like they were that inseparable, and honestly Emilia could have grieved on her own for a few months, there would be no story. I can’t tell if I liked Vittoria, we don’t see her much (a problem when her death is the very reason of the book) and Wrath was okay (always humbling Emilia, I loved that) but I’m scared the author changes him too much in the sequel regarding his behaviour at the end. 

Moving to the writing, it was a nightmare. I didn’t remember the author’s writing in "Stalking Jack The Ripper", but in this book? I really thought at some point it would be a DNF because of that. It was all "I do this, I do that, I think about this, I’m scared of that". It felt like reading a diary. The author kept losing herself in her descriptions. I know people liked all the food aspects, but I didn’t. I’m reading fiction, not a cooking book. I don’t care about recipes, I want to know more about the worldbuilding, the characters dynamics, what is happening and where. 

By the way, we have no clue where and when the story is taking place. The author kept talking about "The Kingdom of Italy" which is very vague and not necessarily true depending on the time you’re focusing on (history student speaking here oops). I’ve also noted a lot of anachronisms, especially in the way of talking/thinking ( use of words such as "creepy", "cringe" or "nerve receptors" just after mentioning herbal medicine). Every description was unclear, you don’t know how the scenery and people look like, as if the author was waiting for you to fill the blanks by yourself. 

Also, this book is the definition of "tell" rather than "show". Every needed information is introduced through dialogue (Emilia’s dumb questions, Wrath’s semi-answers, the grandma's stories). Even when Emilia dreams about something, the author makes her character re-thinking about her dream rather than making the reader live the dream at the same time as Emilia. And when I see how much effort the author put into describing food and recipes, I tend to think descriptions aren’t, in fact, such a problem for her. This brings me to the conclusion the writing is just lazy and could have been done way better. 

In conclusion, a very disappointing book despite all those promises. I mostly feel angry after finishing this book, especially towards the author’s writing because it could have been so much better. The concept had a lot of potential but all of it was poorly executed. However, I see why and how it works. Because yes, I still enjoyed the murder mystery, despite having to endure pages of Emilia being annoying and reckless for nothing. And even stranger than that, I want to read the sequel? This is a weird feeling that definitely needs to be scientifically studied! That’s why I think I’ll give a try to the second book, and I hope the sequel will be a bit better. Because delulu is the solulu 🫠

📌 CW/TW: emesis, gambling, magical compulsion/mental manipulation, mutilation, non-consensual touching, self-harm (blood magic)

I wanted to like this. Fan art really appealed to me and so I read this. But it’s just so boring. I skimmed so many sections. The plot was slow burn. The end was cliff hanger. I lost interest in finding out who kills these young women. I lost interest in emilias vengeance and her interactions with wrath. 

I really disliked the way fancy fashion is used to make characters special. It highlights lack of depth in characterisation, dialogue and interpersonal tension.