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Book Review: Kingdom of the Wicked

KINGDOM OF THE WICKED by Kerri Maniscalco
3 stars
Verdict: Excellent start, then descends into Q&A. 

*Content warning for gore.* 

It's 19th Century Italy. Emilia and Vittoria are twins witches entrusted with powerful necklaces that should never touch. When Emilia's twin is murdered, she wants revenge and will even go as far as secretly summoning a demon in pursuit of finding her sister's killer.

The atmospheric setting combined with the use of Italian such a natural, smooth way made it very easy to love. I also loved how Emilie started out as the cautious twin but became more adventurous through necessity. The best bit about the book is the killer opening with all the right gothic witch vibes. It was insta-love for me with this book, and I thought I was preparing to write a raving review. 

The story descended into Q&A pretty quick after the blurb hooks were done. It made sense at first: capture a demon, question him. Then go find another demon, question them...repeat. Then it became the story crutch, where the only plot progression was a Q&A or rhetorical snarky questions to disguise the Q&A.

I wanted to live more in the fabulous world set up in the few first chapters - not read an FAQ about it!

I've seen a lot of reviews say that the writing is very easy to get along with it, which I guess is true...but I found the writing kind of meh. It straightforward and heavy on internal thoughts, with most of what happens explained several times with different musings, theories, and little sense of urgency, especially during action scenes. It has voice, but not much spark, which I think ultimately affected the pace for me. 

The book felt loooong too. It has some great moments but it's a tad predictable. Also, the drama could have possibly been avoided if the Nan acted to protect her grandchildren - which given her character, I think she would have. So the plot is kind of thin in that respect.

That said, it ended in a very interesting place. I have a feeling book two might be where the story really kicks off, and I'm curious to see where it's heading. I think the next book might be everything I wanted from this one, so I might not be done with this series yet.

Source: Thanks to publisher for a review copy via NetGalley. 

Buy the book using an affiliate link.

Comments

  1. DJ Sakata21 November 2020 at 15:35

    Sorry - not my genre - I am such a wimp I can't even get pasted the cover

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kate @ Bitch Bookshelf22 November 2020 at 22:50

    I love the cover but I don’t think this would for me. Your review was excellent!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lady In Read23 November 2020 at 16:54

    while the cover looks cool, i very rarely end up reading this genre.. loved your review

    ReplyDelete

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