The Kingdom of the Wicked REVIEW

The Kingdom of the Wicked - Kerri Maniscalco

Netgalley Review (thank you to Netgalley for a review copy in exchange of an honest review).

4/5 Stars!

This was an intoxicating, atmospheric and dark story that kept me reading, eager to see what happened next. It had its faults yet I continued to read, page after page to unravel the mystery and see how everything came together. 

I felt fully immersed in the world, in the 19th century Italian setting. The setting of a quaint Italian village really had me. The winding, cobbled streets and bustling market came alive and transported me to a historical, fantastical Italy. And also the main thing this book made me? Hungry. Wow, was this book a ride for the senses. Whilst reading I could smell the garlic, the aroma of freshly baked bread, taste the sweet lemony pancakes, and hear the hiss of pancetta cooking. From bruchetta, to ricotta, to mozzeralla, this book was a food lover's delight. The combination of the enchanting setting and the dark atmosphere truly made this a fun and thrilling read.

I also enjoyed the mystery. This book was a dark and witchy murder mystery story. A mystery surrounding several gory, brutal murders. I did have this nagging feeling who the culprit was but I enjoyed the twisted ride nonetheless. Emilia and Wrath were like a witchy demonic duo, working together to unravel the mystery and reveal the sadistic murderer. 

Now the romance. If that's what you can call it. I feel like it was more of a dark, simmering pot of water, boiling slowly but not quite ready to boil over the top. It had me intrigued and the love interest is the perfect brooding character (that we a love to see). I really hope to see more of the couple in question in the next book and hope the pot boils over like crazy as I'm here for it. 

While I liked Emilia's character and loved her headstrong, fearless attitude and fierce loyalty to her sister, she was also infuriatingly reckless. I lost count of the amount of times I rolled my eyes at her complete disregard for her safety (and others) after several warnings. I understand that she was willing to do anything to get to the root of the murder mystery, but she just seemed so reckless and naive really. Also, everything she did seemed to just work out perfectly as if the stakes weren't 100% high for her atleast. A little too lucky really. However, I did love her close bond with her twin sister and her vengeful quest for answers and justice. It's just that she annoyed me at times! 

At times I also felt like the 'magic system' and the whole demon world felt a little loose and not fully fleshed out. I felt a little confused by what exactly was going on with the whole demon side of things and what exactly fuelled certain individual's actions. Hopefully more will be explained in the next book about the magic and the whole lore behind it all. It intrigued me so I'm eager to understand it on a deeper level.

Overall I felt really immersed in this intricately dark tale. Witches, demons, family, loss, romance and betrayal; this book has it all. I'm hopeful that the next book helps to flesh out elements of the story that I found lacking but I was invested in this story and this delightfully dark world.