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atsy6's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I enjoyed the FMC, she was clever and wasn't constantly plagued with indecision. She was committed to her goal and wasn't going to let anything even morals get in her way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
aurora4847's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism
The main characters are postitioned against the local church and a religious brotherhood. There are portrayals of people driven mad by magic, displaying signs similar to certain types of schizophrenia. These people are positioned as victims, and are not regarded with kindness from all. There is a relationship between an 18 year old and an ancient demon. There is a lot of sexism from the religious order towards witches and women in general. There is a moderately graphic description of evisceration. Mild sexual content, nothing further than intense kissing. Blood in rituals. Loss of a close family member and multiple forms of grief associated with that. Two brief but lightly graphic torture scenes.kbowles24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
msalexnicole's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content, Torture, and Alcohol
spatterson7's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Kingdom of the Wicked gets barely 2.5 stars from me because of the interesting setting and general premise. The characters were too stereotypical for my taste, and the story is not really clear.
Emilia is a witch living in historic Sicily. Her sister Vittoria gets murdered, and she summons a demon prince which her grandmother has always warned her about. For most of the time in this book, we just spend the time with Emilia and Wrath which was just a bit boring and not engaging. This can work but not with uninteresting characters like those two are. The storytelling wasn’t great either. Conflicts could be solved quickly if the characters just talked to each other, and some things are just not well explained so that there were a lot of moments where I didn’t know what was happening. Like for example I didn’t understand why no one said anything about Emilia being gone for like two weeks, and I didn’t even know where she’s been. Emilia also apparently cares a lot for a grandma but doesn’t even visit her when she’s injured ?
Besides this, this novel had one of my least favourite tropes, the ”we’re suddenly engaged!” trope. It also irritated me that there were randomly some kind of vampires . Towards the end, the deus ex machine moments became more frequent, and it was so obvious who the murderer was.
Like I’ve mentioned, I really liked the Italian and Sicily setting but for quite some time, I wasn’t sure whether this book was contemporary or historical since there were not enough descriptions. Besides this, the timeline and universe were a bit hard for me to grasp. In contrast, the atmosphere created was quite nice and especially her feelings after her sister’s death were depicted so well.
I don’t have too much to say about the characters. Emilia is an okay protagonist, but she felt a bit stereotypical to me. Her love interest Wrath is of course muscular and has dark hair. The side characters are in part not well characterized, I think we don’t hear her parents say one word. Besides this, it annoys me that there are of course only demon princes but not princesses.
Kingdom of the Wicked is probably most interesting for those people that focus on the romance aspects of romantasy. The fantasy elements were unfortunately underdeveloped, just like the story and the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Animal death and Sexual content
gingerlaura's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This book had all the right ingredients but lacked one major thing: world building. After reading this I still don't know the names of all the 7 princes of Hell, what era this book takes place in, what witches and demons are actually capable of, how the magic truly works...
Disappointed. That's what I am, because I was ready to love this book. The beginning started out strong, I was genuinely creeped out. And then I got bored for the rest of it.
The writing wasn't necessarily bad but there was just nothing interesting happening in this book. I also didn't really care for the characters, I thought Vittoria was the most interesting but she was dead throughout most of this book, so I guess that says enough. It just all felt like one big filler book for what's to come, if that makes sense.
I do think the idea of the story is interesting, and I get the picture the author is trying to paint but it didn't turn out quite that well. That doesn't mean I hated this book, it was just meh. Like I said, disappointing.
I don't think I'll be reading the rest of this trilogy, seeing the reviews it doesn't age that well, especially the last book in the trilogy. But by all means do pick this up if you like romantacy, you might like this more than I did.
Disappointed. That's what I am, because I was ready to love this book. The beginning started out strong, I was genuinely creeped out. And then I got bored for the rest of it.
The writing wasn't necessarily bad but there was just nothing interesting happening in this book. I also didn't really care for the characters, I thought Vittoria was the most interesting but she was dead throughout most of this book, so I guess that says enough. It just all felt like one big filler book for what's to come, if that makes sense.
I do think the idea of the story is interesting, and I get the picture the author is trying to paint but it didn't turn out quite that well. That doesn't mean I hated this book, it was just meh. Like I said, disappointing.
I don't think I'll be reading the rest of this trilogy, seeing the reviews it doesn't age that well, especially the last book in the trilogy. But by all means do pick this up if you like romantacy, you might like this more than I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Torture, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Vomit
rangerelik's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Death and Murder
thebookaddict's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
🇳🇱: een prachtig boek. Ik heb hem in drie dagen uitgelezen en ik moet zeggen dat ik er goed doorheen vloog. Van het moment dat toorn in beeld kwam was ik verkocht, wat een heerlijke man. ik vond het jammer dat hij zo veranderde op het einde. Al weet je natuurlijk nooit wat de ware aard is van de prinsen.... Ik vond de bijnamen heks en demon erg aandoenlijk, omdat het zo goed paste binnen het verhaal. Het waren koosnaampjes, die de nodige haat bevatte. Er was veel spanning, al vond ik die wat voorspelbaar. Ik kreeg bij dit boek geen vijf sterren gevoel wat ik erg jammer vond, omdat ik dit wel hoopte vanwege de prachtige special edition. De schrijfwijze is goed. In het begin werd ik wel wat verward door de italiaanse termen en bijnamen. Later heb je door wie ze ermee bedoelen. Ook de personages waren heel goed neergezet, je voelt echt goed met ze mee. De schrijfster zet heel mooi de karakter van de personages neer. Ook laat ze heel goed zien dat je niet iedereen kan vertrouwen.
Al met al een leuk fantasie boek en ik kan niet wachten op deel twee.
Al met al een leuk fantasie boek en ik kan niet wachten op deel twee.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War
Minor: Torture and Stalking
sweetordinary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If you are a fan of a dark mystery filled with self-discovery, love, and adventure, this is a book you need to try. Magic is infused every step of the way.
I love and appreciate the fact that the themes of love, romance, and intimate relationships took a back seat for the main character.
I love and appreciate the fact that the themes of love, romance, and intimate relationships took a back seat for the main character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement and Hate crime