Review: Kingdom of the Wicked

 

Title- Kingdom of the Wicked

Author- Kerri Maniscalco

Pages- 372

Genre- Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical, Romance

Rating- 3/5

ISBN 13- 9781529350449

Review No.- 55

Synopsis-

Two sisters.

One brutal murder.

A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself...

And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are strenghe - witched who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria 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 find her sister's killer and to seek vengeance at any cost- even if it means using dark magic that's been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia's side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women's murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems...

Review-

I have not read Jack the Ripper series or any other book by Kerri Maniscalco before and this book is my first. I had high expectations for this book since it is so hyped. Though I enjoyed the next book in the series (Kingdom of the Cursed), I was not a fan of Kingdom of the Wicked. 

Emilia and Vittoria are twin sisters but they are as different as twins can be. Vittoria is bold, outgoing and likes to experiment whereas Emilia is the innocent, prudent girl who loves cooking. They are secretly witches but they live as ordinary people, running a well-known sicilian restaurant. Everything goes on as usual, until one day, Emilia finds Vittoria murdered, her body mangled beyond recognition. Wrecked with grief and anger, she sets out to find Vittoria's murderer. Even if it means using dark magic or teaming up with one of the most dangerous princes of Hell. As she uncovers secrets of her sister and grandmother, she begins to doubt if her sister's murder is indeed what it seems to be or if it's just a play in a greater scheme.

I absolutely adore the 19th century Sicilian Palermo setting. The writing style was easy to understand.  The descriptions of food is just mouth watering. I loved the concept of Hell, its gates and princes of Hell (not literally though) being named after the seven deadly sins. The banters between Emilia and Wrath were hilarious. Wrath is the most well-mannered, gentleman-ish morally grey character I have ever read. The fact that Wrath, being a prince of hell- loves Cannoli, is cute as hell too. And the mere mulishness of Emilia, the I-may-want-to-kill-my-sister-at-times-but-I-would-definitely-kill-the-person-who-kills-her-even-if-I-have-to-make-a-deal-with-a-prince-of-Hell thing? LOVED IT! I would be pretty pissed off if someone even thinks about harming my sister (bet she'll read this and at least then treat me like the gold that I am). 

The biggest reason I gave this book 3 stars is because I was not able to get involved with the plot. It was like, I was aware of reading, instead of feeling like watching the events unfold (I don't know if I making sense now). Anyway, that made it harder to remember the course of the story. Everything beyond the basic information about hell and its princes felt like information dump and I was truly not able to remember them. By the time I finished the book, I had to skim through it all over again, because the ending just didn't make any sense. The pace was a bit inconsistent too. The ending was predictable but it also promises a good storyline in the next book. 

Overall, I feel that Kingdom of the Wicked is a good one-time read. Moreover, now that I have read the next book in the series, this series is totally worth it!

I thank Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Jimmy Patterson Books for providing me with an advanced reader's copy. I requested for this book at both the publishers' netgalley page (just in case one of them rejects) but both of them approved my request. All opinions are my own.