Honestly, I was trying to figure out how I felt about this book the entire time. In the end, I can definitely say I enjoyed it. I will also say I love the SJTR series so I was super excited to read Kerri Maniscalco's new book.

19th century Sicily, Italy. Two sisters who couldn't be more different. Emilia is the cautious and not so adventurous twin. Then there is Vittoria who is wild, free, loves to explore what life has to offer. After her sister dies, Emilia is now set on vengeance and gets mixed up with a Prince of Hell, Wrath, and some very dangerous magic. This is a brand new world, new characters but still lots of mystery and murders. It is Kerri Maniscalco after all. This is the type of book that is fast to read. Also those food descriptions. I was salivating and just hungry through the entire book. There was enough going on to keep me on my toes. I for sure couldn't put it down from beginning to end even if had some mixed feeling about certain parts. Demons, Princes of Hell, witches and other creatures, everything from our favorite spooky stories. It was like your favorite supernatural stories come to life whether that may be a good or bad thing is a different issue.

It did take me a little time to get onboard with Emilia. Emilia is dealing with grief of losing her sister and processing shocking new revelations that everything in Nonna's stories are actually real. I felt her pain and sorrow and she tries to maneuver her way through new territory. She makes some risky choices and some stupid ones as well. I really believed she should know a bit more though. I felt like most of the info about demons and the history was like a question and answer game. Emilia asks a question to someone and everyone knows way more than she does. I'm like didn't your grandma teach you anything? She did grow on me before the end. I like her determination to avenge her sister, to stop the murders. She is definitely all about protecting her family and other witches so I will give her credit for that but I wasn't always sold on her capability.

Wrath. I was expecting to love him right away. I was curious about him but he also took a little time to grow on me. He is a gorgeous Prince of Hell (I'm not complaining.) He is right smack in the middle of everything as well but is way more in the know than Emilia. I think I couldn't figure out what his agenda was. Like some things seemed too easy when Emilia was dealing with him and working with him. I did enjoy the banter between the two but haven't completely fallen in love with the romance just yet. I love seeing different sides of him, the unexpected moments of tenderness and then the more rough around the edges of his personality. I can't wait to see more of him in the next book.

The ending does have a cliffhanger and I'm definitely curious to know what is going to happen next. I'm hoping to go to Hell which is not something I say every day. I'm pretty sure there is a lot more to explore in this world. Emilia has set herself on a dangerous path into the unknown and I can't wait to find out what happens next for her and Wrath!

I really liked Kerri Manisalco's Stalking Jack the Ripper series, so I had high hopes for this book and it didn't disappoint. The story hooked me from the first page and I just couldn't put it down, After that cliffhanger ending I need the next book in my life immediately!

I loved this book so much and devoured it in just a couple sittings! I cannot wait for the next one to come out, this author is so good at creating an exciting plot!

I think where Kerri Maniscalco's stories and I differ are that I think things get too convenient for them to be worth anything sometimes. I'll love the setting, the plot concepts, but something in the story will just not work for me. Talk about disappointing.

Loved this ! I'm already a big fan of Kerri Maniscalco's other books so I knew I was going to love this! Magical and gory

Kerri Maniscalco is the author of the highly popular Stalking Jack the Ripper series. I personally never read those books so Kingdom of the Wicked is my first novel by this author. This is the first book in a YA dark fantasy trilogy. I think it will definitely appeal to the fans of The Cruel Prince trilogy by Holly Black. Only in this case, we deal with Italian folklore, witches and demons, rather than Celtic myths, humans and fairies.
Our main character Emilia is a strega (or witch). Witches in this world are not human even though they inhabit the human world. There is some secret surrounding the birth of Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria, some prophecy that their grandmother hints at but does not reveal until much later in the story. Since early childhood, the girls are warned of the Malvagi, the Wicked demon princes of the underworld. Emilia does not really believe any of her grandmother's warnings, until one day her world falls apart. She finds her twin brutally murdered and a mysterious stranger hovering over the body.

You are really better off going into this not knowing much beyond this. This novel is a mix of fantasy, mystery thriller and dark romance. As such, it is compulsively readable. This is one of very few books that I could not put down well into the night even though I had to get up for work early the following morning. Maniscalco is great at monopolizing the reader's attention. Each chapter has just enough of a cliffhanger in the end for you to want to quickly move on to the next one, and then the next one, until it is 2AM and you have to finally turn off the lights.

I really liked the plot and the pacing. But I did have a few problems with the characters. First of all Emilia herself with her bouts of anger and irrational behavior, seemed a little too unhinged. The book does depict grief and depression in a very realistic way, but I always have trouble connecting to the characters who can blindly fly into rage, or believe the words of an unreliable character while distrusting others who have built up a record of credibility. That seems to me as poor judgement at the very least or plain foolishness at the worst.

Now, the demons. They were truly glorious, except... too human and vulnerable, especially Wraith. Since the book is written from Emilia's point of view, we spend a lot of time in her head and thus, get only her jumbled view of his motives and actions. I do wish we could learn more of what he was doing while not with Emilia - that part of the story was never revealed. I hope we will learn more in the sequels.

Another aspect that bothered me was the family dynamic. In the beginning of the story, we have a very overprotective grandmother and a seemingly close-knit family circle. About a third into the book, everyone inexplicably allows Emilia roam the city on her own even as the witches begin to die. Her parents even though mentioned in the book, have no role in the story whatsoever other than being held as hostages by an evil demon who is trying to bargain with Emilia. Disappointing.

The romance was probably the best part of the story, although with the cliffhanger ending, it is really hard to say where it is going. And yes, this is another thing to be aware of: the book ends on a cliffhanger. Not my favorite type of ending, especially since we'll now have to wait for at least a year to see what happens next. But, at this point, I think we might have a Hades and Persephone type story set up for book 2.

4 out of 5 stars. Very enjoyable with a few minor flaws.

An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com

Mystery combines with witches, demons, and curses to form a tale, which is darkly beautiful and sinfully dangerous.

Although they help their family run a restaurant in Sicily, Emilia and her twin sister aren't humans. They are witches, born in a special bloodline and constantly hiding from those who would do them harm. Their strongest charms are the pair of necklaces around their necks. They never remove them or allow them to touch because their Nonna claims that doing so would bring Hell to Earth. Not that they completely believe Nonna's tales. But when Emilia finds the body of her sister sacrificed with the heart ripped out of her and a man licking her blood, Emilia is determined not to let the murder go despite the warnings of approaching evil and eternal fires. But even Nonna and the others aren't aware of the true scope of terror about to be released.

From the very first page, this book grabs and refuses to let go. Emilia and her sister are a wonderful pair—love each other fiercely but yet have their own personalities and secrets. And their Nonna is simply a treat. When this group appears in the delicious setting of red wine, oranges, tomatoes, fresh bread and spices, it's hard not to want to get lost in their world. The author paints a rich culture and family scene before allowing the darker contrast to settle in. And then, the hook is so deep, that it was impossible to put this one down.

This is a world of magic and secrets...of monks chanting while dangerous creatures lurk in the shadows, promising to fulfil every heart's desires but with terrible costs. Lies weave with half-truths and trust is a commodity which no one can afford. And it was simply fun to join Emilia as she heads so determined from one cursed situation to the next, but not encountering anything with simplicity or direct results. The evil is twisted and cunning and has a long term goal. It creates a tight weave and made it hard to guess what would happen next. Even when the book ends, it's unclear if it's for good or worse.

I also found it intriguing that the seven demon princes (the ones in this book are all super hot and amazing, of course) each carry simple names like Lust, Wrath, Greed and such. The author allows the temptations to flow free, and it's understandable why they have an allure, and yet, it's clear that each one is deadly and has their own scheme in place. It's simply a wonderful mix, which shows how hard it is to resist sins.

My only complaint is that book two won't be out until next year because I would have snatched it up already and been lost in the next stage of this adventure. In other words, I enjoyed this one.

I don’t know where to even start. I wanted to love this book, but it just fell flat for me. I kept going back and forth between “I love this book” to “ugh”. Wrath was my favorite character but I felt we didn’t get enough of him. I really had a hard time liking Emilia. She just annoyed me much of the time. The story felt unfinished but I’m guessing it’s because so much of it is a lead up to book two. This book had a lot of potential it just felt a little all over the place for my tastes.

This has witches, demons, devils, spooky vibes and a whole lot of food descriptions. So if any of that apple as to you, for sure pick up this book!

I found myself making time to read this book as I was so invested in the story and with the characters. However this did dip around the middle of the book for me.

This is my first book by this author and would totally pick up another.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to the wonderful publicist at @jimmypattersonbooks for sending a widget for me to read and review!
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Trigger warnings: blood, brief mention animal slaughter, violence
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This is the fastest that I have read so far this year. I sped through this book because I couldn't put it down. I was very immersed in the story that kept me turning the page to find out what is going to happen next. Because the writing was very simple, it was very easy to read. I also love how fast-paced it was as it was gripping from the start, the plot was engaging, and I loved how dark the atmosphere was throughout. I also found it funny and amusing how passionate the author probably was with food because they sure did spend a lot of descriptors every time.
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What I did not like is how some of the characters fell flat for me. I just wished they were more distinguished and fleshed out because I found them two-dimensional and not interesting at all. I was excited about the romance that was bound to happen in this book, but it was not as well done as I thought it would be. I just did not find any justifiable reasons for it to exist yet at least in this first book. There could have been more moments of development for the relationship to happen but sadly it fell short with that.
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Although I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, I also found that the plot was sometimes silly and a bit ridiculous but I got pass through that because it is Young Adult, the main character is a teenager, and sometimes I just need to add a little fun like that in reading. And the ending was such a cliffhanger that it added more to my curiosity and anticipation for the next installment.
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Overall, I expected more from Kingdom Of The Wicked but I had a really fun reading experience with it. I can see this to be enjoyable to a lot of Young Adult readers and I recommend it if you love a dark and fun mystery novel!

What a dark, twisty and dare I say, wicked novel.


Emilia is a witch in Italy who, with her twin sister, was raised on tales of the wicked princes of hell and taught all of the ways to avoid them. But avoiding them becomes impossible when Emilia finds the body of her twin sister, brutally murdered. She must face demons and humans alike in her quest for vengeance, while discovering who she can trust and honing her own power.

If you are in the mood for something dark and nefarious, this is definitely a great choice. The way that the plot develops and the different forces of the world intermingle is beautifully written.

If you are like me and cannot stand the MC in the first few chapters (honestly she is repetitive and annoying with her inner monologues), stick with it because it gets so much better. Emilia really develops as a character the further you get in the novel and begins to learn from her weaknesses.

I know this isn't even out yet, but I already have so many theories for book two and I can't wait for it.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. My views and opinions are wholly my own.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book.

This is a very difficult review for me to write because I cannot actually tell whether or not I liked this book. It was my first Kerri Maniscalco book and I absolutely loved the look and sound of it.

I thought Emilia was an interesting character to follow around and I found myself being sucked into the story and being on the edge of my seat to see what happens next, how book one will end. And I just love a really good whodunit plot.

I am also not mad at hot demon princes from hell. Absolutely not. However, as charming as Wrath is, I couldn't help but feel a little squeamish and uncomfortable at the relationship between Wrath and Emilia. He gets her consent to save her at one point, which results in a kiss and a naked bath, which left me utterly confused. I also felt like Emilia was constantly a damsel in distress and in need of rescuing. The fact that Wrath laid out dresses for her and followed her around... all of that just gave me a bit of a weird vibe and it isn't a relationship I am invested in. Rather on the contrary. However, I know that a lot of readers like this exact brand of fantasy so if you are not at all mad at anything I just described this is going to be the book for you!

In the end, I did like it but I didn't love it. However, I liked it enough and am intrigued enough to be excited for the next book in the series to see where the story goes!

3/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this e-arc

This was such a fun read for me, being someone who has lived in Palermo before and is aware of surface level sicilian culture. This also factors in why i didn't rate it higher. I loved the worldbuilding but j felt like it wasn't developed enough. The few moments mentioning places i've been to was a delight. Ireally wish she did more deep building of the lush culture. Also a slight tic is arancini being written as so and not as arancine, Palermo's spellong of the delicacy.
The magic was good too, surprisingly.

The 7 deadly sins as hot men trope ibtrifmgued me. Although not being a stand alone, i'd hope that the author focused on a few as i didn't separate them consciously. Except for Wrath who had a meh relationship with the protagonist.

The ending wasn't the most clear and the twists weren't developed enough. Despite these, the author had amazing action work i have to praise them for

Short version - I loved this book and shall be flailing like a chicken while thrusting it at every customer when it finally releases

I actually really enjoyed this one, more so than I thought I would because me and Hunting Jack the Ripper have a bit of a love/hate relationship. So where to start and how to keep it concise.

First off the cover is gorgeous. I can't wait to hold it in my hands and gently caress what I assume will be A LOT of gold accents.

We start off by meeting twins Vittoria and Emilia when they are 8 years old and being raised on their Nonna’s own brand of life lessons about demons. The two possess special necklaces which they have been told to never let come together because the gates of Hell will open, which will apparently bring about the end of the world but seriously what do 8 year old’s care? Flash forward ten years and each has their own special power that they have kept secret from their family as well as each other. The two have never again tempted fate by bringing their necklaces together, nor have they told anyone about that night. From here the tale hits the ground running with people dying, demons spawning, and some outright delicious sounding meals being made – be warned, the first 15% is literally mostly people talking and either making or eating food, they’re all Italian sooooo.

Usually I would gush about loving certain characters throughout, but everyone had their purpose and I kind of liked them all for their own reasons. Wrath is kind of mean but also marshmallowy soft at the same time (its a YA novel, teens love bad boys with hearts of gold). Emilia is determined and strong but also so clueless at points that I found myself shaking my head and reminiscing about my younger self. Nonna is everything a good grandmother should be - from caring to prickly this is a woman who knows things and refuses to take people disregarding her life experience.

I really enjoyed the aspect whereby the princes can affect the feelings of those around them. Regardless of their particular talent, they all seemed deliciously dark and manipulative. I especially loved Lust because, honestly he's horrible but I loved to hate him.

Being new to Maniscalco’s writing style, I found Kingdom easily flowed onto the page and there was really no question as to whether the intended audience would understand where the whole thing was going. Yes, it was a little predictable and the love interests were a little gag-worthy, but I grew up in the age of loving Twilight (I still do, don’t judge me heathens) – I definitely see how it could draw in the young adult readership. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of certain Italian phrases; while it was educational in some parts, others had phrases with vague hinting at the translations which made me giggle.

Overall, I just found this an easy read that I would definitely read again. While it was a little predictable, in a year full of curve balls, we could all do with something reliable. The prose flowed well and easily communicated the subject matter. The love interests while a little stereotypical will definitely cater to those of the intended age group. Supporting characters were all well rounded and pretty much perfect in their intended roles. Basically, its just an easy read with some interesting subject matter and a badarse protagonist.

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco is about twin Emilia and Vittoria who are witches living in Sicily. One day Vittoria is murdered, and in order to find out who murdered her, Emilia aligns herself with Wrath, one of the Wicked – princes of Hell. Together they are trying to solve the murders of witches, though Wrath seems to have an agenda of his own.

First of all, the idea for this book is a masterpiece. Witches and princes of Hell in beautiful Sicily? Count me in. I really liked the world-building and the murder investigation. I had my suspicions about who the murder is, but I enjoyed the story despite that. I liked the depiction of Seven Deadly Sins as the Princes of Hell, and the idea of them having their own Houses in Hell.

Obviously, I found the character of Wrath intriguing, though we don’t really get to find out more about him. At the end of the book, I only knew that he was arrogant, so I wish the author elaborated on that a little bit. Emilia was trying to be fierce, but a lot of her problems were created because she didn’t talk to anyone. She thought she could do everything alone – solve her sister’s murder and deal with the Wicked. Every problem in the book would be solved if Emilia talked to Wrath a little bit more instead of constantly lying and avoiding the truth (though Wrath could have been more open too).

The plot was amazing, and I’m not gonna say more because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone. The whole idea for the book was incredible, and the ending really surprised me
I loved the world-building and the plot, and I’m really excited to find out what happens in the next book. The only flaw I saw in the book was the characters, and I wish we got to know them better, and it’s a shame that they were stereotypical.

Okay, Kingdom of the Wicked has an awful cover. I hope the paperback gets a new one because this series opener is quite good for a YA historical fantasy novel--it is not set in England, but in Italy (yay!) and Kerri Maniscalco's writing is smooth and sure. I also got very hungry reading this because the food descriptions are amazing!

I thought this one would be a solid, familiar YA fantasy read, and it is, but it's bumped up a level by the setting and the food. (Just please, please give it a new cover in pb!)

As a big fan of Kerri Maniscalco's previous books, I was absolutely thrilled to receive this ARC! While the chemistry between characters and general fantasy aspects were absolutely perfect, it was the descriptions of grief and heartbreak that truly sold me to Emilia and her story.

Emilia and Vittoria have been raised on stories. Stories of of witchcraft and stories of the Wicked, Princes from hell who their Nonna has told them to stay well away from, and instructions to never let their 'Cornicello's' off, special protective charms they wear around their necks. They spend their days cooking at their parents restaurant, but its their nights where their activities differ. Vittoria tends towards the brighter parts of life, parties, romance, danger. Whereas Emilia is more than content to stay at home trying out new recipe's. One night Emilia is forced back to the monastery to recover a basket she had left the night before when she feels a pull she can't explain, a pull that leads her deeper into the monastery, to a room with a man leaning over a dead girl, a dead girl who, when Emilia gets a closer look turns out to be her sister Vittoria. Buried with grief Emilia knows she has to find out what happened to her sister, but the more she looks the more she realises that Vittoria was keeping secrets from her, big secrets, secrets that could effect the whole world. It will take Emilia working with that that she has been forbidden to go near if she is to find out the truth behind her sisters death. That is if she can survive the pull of the Wicked.

Emilia is such a strong character. She has always been the quieter twin, the one who preferred the shadows over the spotlight. But when it comes to avenging her sisters death, she will do whatever it takes to make sure the killer pays. It did take me a while to get into the book and to bond with her as a character as Maniscalco gives us a lot of introspection. The benefit of this is we get to work out the clues right along side Emilia, coming to the conclusions at the same time as the MC whilst she still manages to give us some spectacular plot twists.

Kingdom of the Wicked completely draws you into 19th Century Sicily with it's gothic setting and mouth watering descriptions of food it is easy to find yourself swept away into the magical setting she creates. Filled with witches and demons as well as the Wicked, the seven princes of hell, each of which coincides with a deadly sin. We are introduced to four in this book, and each of their personalities screams the sin they are named for. Maniscalco wrote them brilliantly, each able to manipulate the emotions of those around them for pleasure, or more nefarious reasons.

If there's one thing Maniscalco can do well it is writing a swoon worthy and heart tingling romance. I can see this one being a major slow burn and I am here for it. Wrath is a character that, as much as I didn't want to trust him, I easily found myself falling for him ( I know, I'm a sucker for what is sure to be a torturous romance.) He isn't a good guy, we see this from the start but it's the little moments with Emilia where we see his softer side come out.

Anyone who was a fan of her Stalking Jack the Ripper series will be easily swept away on this fast paced fantasy, filled with adventure, romance and brilliantly described characters and setting. Though a little slow at the start Maniscalco clearly used this book to give us the rules of the magic she created as well as the world, and after the shock of an ending I am eagerly anticipating getting my hands on book two.

I feel like how much people enjoy this depends entirely on how much they liked Caraval. Or more precisely how much tolerance they have for fast-paced YA with little to no substance. I gave to this the same three stars that I gave to Caraval, and my feeling is exactly the same: It was a fun and addictive read. But I don't buy the supposedly deep sibling relationship, I'm not invested in the character, and I don't find the world building anything especial.

This is the first time I read anything by this author. From what I've seen so far she seems like a competent writer, but not a very original one. Okay so let me first cover the 'competent' side. On a sentence by sentence basis, this book is well-written. The prose is strong and sometimes flowery, without falling into purple category. The dialogues were very good. Actually, they were my favourite part of the story. Especially the ones between the heroine and the love interest. This book is very readable and I honestly couldn't put it down from the moment I started it.

Now to the 'not original' part. I love demon lore and I was expecting the author to use it to create something refreshing and original. But sadly I've already seen almost everything here in other stories. For instance, the fact that the seven deadly sins are manifested in 7 demons was very interesting, except that I already saw that in Supernatural. Same goes for the 'kiss' after the deal. The ideas about demons making deal and being summoned by humans has always been around. So basically, this book didn't do any new contribution to the whole demon lore. I wish it had because the whole lore is not overused like that of the vampires or shifters. There's still much more room for creativity and a part of me wishes that this book could be more inventive.

My other problem with this was that I wasn't really invested in the whole sibling relationship that was the basis for this plot. Using the death of a loved one to start the plot is a very common plot device, especially in fantasy. But it has to be very well-written for me to buy it. I was actually surprised about how soon the 'accident' happened and how little time was dedicated to the sisters. This is where the Caraval comparison comes on. I couldn't buy the whole 'sisterly love' in any of these books.

My third problem with this was that I just didn't care that much for the main character. I feel like I didn't get any sense of who she is. It's kinda ironic since Wrath was the love interest ( and not the POV character ) but I feel like I know him way more than I know her. It seems to me that she just acted the way the author wanted her to act, so that the plot could be moved forward. I think most of the readers who read primarily YA tend to be okay with this style of characterisation ( since it's more common in YA ). But If you're a character-first type of reader like me, then it might just annoy you.

Okay now that I'm done with the negatives, let's go for the positives. Apart from being very readable, it also has a very nice enemies-to-lovers act. Despite my problems with the other aspects of this story, I think this part was very well done. The combination of tension and the clear mistrust between them was very interesting. The humour helped as well.
So basically, this was enjoyable but nothing memorable or exceptional.

One last thing, this ends on a massive cliff-hanger so if you can't stand them, then maybe wait for the series to be completed.

I received an Arc of Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco from NetGalley for my review.

Kingdom of the Wicked follows Emilia who has recently lost her twin sister. Emilia is seeking answers and searching for those behind the death of her sister and other local witches. Along the way she uncovers secrets and truths. She discovers what she has been lead to believe is not true.

I was pretty torn over this book. I do enjoy books with spooky/witchy vibes and paranormal romance. The pacing seemed to be off and there are several gaps in the story. I get they were setting it up for a book 2, but we're given information at several points that is portrayed as vital, but is never brought up again. I'd give a book 2 a try.