Kerri Maniscalco does such a wonderful job of developing characters. While reading "Kingdom of the Wicked" I willingly followed these characters on their crazy journeys and also enjoyed every second. When witches are involved, I am always up for reading, but not every author has the ability to weave in the magical elements that truly make a great plot when it comes to the witches. Witch storylines are always full of culture, heritage, and rich family history. Connecting these aspects in such ways that the reader is able to still relate to the character is a true art.
I also enjoyed the art of movement throughout the story. From secret doorways, to creepy monasteries, to dark alleys on the way back to the normal homestead, Kerri Maniscalco described every detail so that you truly felt like you were there, on this journey with the characters.
The level of romantic intent was also delicately balanced. Personally, I could have had just a bit more attraction with the characters, but I understand that this is a YA story (*wink *wink). If I were to change anything about this story, it would probably be the ending. It felt a little unraveled for me, and I kind of lost the grasp on the story.

Spoiler alert coming >>>>>>. Don't read the next sentence if you haven't read the story. >>>>>>>>>> Seriously.>>>

Ok, so I don't understand how Wrath dies all of a sudden, and then he's back all of a sudden. I know there was a summoning spell, which didn't appear to work at first, but then somehow he ended up coming back. But then there was not more steamy, hot, or sexy Wrath. It was like he just kind of fell flat at the end. Not sure if it was just me, but that's the only thing I would change.

I will definitely recommend this one to others. I love Kerri Maniscalco's writing style and am so thankful for her ability to share her gift with the literary world.

After the Stalking Jack the Ripper series, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on anything else by Maniscalco. I was so excited when I saw this title. It looked just as dark and intriguing. I was not disappointed.

The characters throughout Kingdom of the Wicked are witty, relatable, and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed following Emilia’s adventures. She shows great emotions, some critical thinking, and great wit that, even when getting her into trouble, is so much fun to read. Wrath is an enticing leading man. He is dreamy and terrifying all in one and I just couldn’t get enough of him. The other princes were well portrayed and played well into the plot. Some minor characters fell flat, but they played their purpose and were soo forgotten.

The storyline of this novel was pretty clear cut. There has been a murder, now let’s get to the bottom of it. Of course it is not that easy. The twists and turns are well done and, even though I guessed it early on, the final reveal was well deserved. This at times played more into a love/hate romance, but it was a nice break and quickly refocused on the crime at hand.

One thing I was a little disappointed in was the world building. I loved the scenery of Palermo with the church in rule, ladies in finery, and Italian food everywhere. That I could picture. The magical realm needed a little more details for me though. Many “histories” were mentioned throughout the novel as Emilia recounts the stories that Nonna told her. Some are repeated many times over (La Prima’s Curse) but didn’t get any more detailed so did not further the story and become redundant at times. I would have liked to have known more about these stories and more about the magical lines that Emilia and her family are a part of.

As this was the first in a series, hopefully so much more will be revealed in the next installment(s). I looked forward to them so much. I cannot wait to see Emilia’s next steps and how Wrath and the others will react to them. Looking forward to recommending this heavily to my YA patrons!

Thank You NetGalley, Publisher and Author for this gifted copy.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe - witches 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.

Such a Twisty, Tense, Witty book.
The characters I just fell in love with.
And that ending.
Witches usually are not my thing. But Kerri really hit it out if the ball lark with this one.
Amazing

LOVED this book. I know that Maniscalco wrote a very popular series before this book came out, but I've not read that one yet. Well, now I will. Kingdom of the Wicked is fantastic. There's murder, intrigue, and a lot of sassiness. It's bold, and fun, and even a little cute at times, but not in the OMG way. More like, Ok, I see what you're doing here.



It doesn't happen too often that I find a book I wanted to read in one sitting, but this one absolutely falls in that category. Our main character is a witch, dealing with a demon who was summoned here for unknown purposes. We learn about the layers of Hell. We learn about witches, and demons, and sorcery, and oh god, I can't even go on, but it is damn, damn good (no pun intended - okay, maybe a little).



You sort of want the main character to get in on with a demon, and that's where I'll leave you. Pick up this book as soon as it releases. I promise you'll thank me later!



Kingdom of the Wieked publishes 10.27.2020.



5/5 Stars

If you liked Maniscalco's Stalking Jack the Ripper series, you are very likely to like Kingdom of the Wicked as well. It has an interesting premise and the writing is once again very strong. Having the Seven Sins in this book was definitely a cool concept and the characters were interesting to read about.

In a world of witches and the wicked, nothing is as it seems...When Emilia's twin is brutally murdered, she vows to do whatever necessary in order to exact vengeance on the murderer and avenge her sister's death. Following the trail of clues unintentionally left by her twin, Emilia finds herself summoning the Prince of Wrath and employing his assistance in hunting down the killer. Yet as Emilia delves deeper and deeper into the dark arts, she has to decide: what price is she willing to pay? And just how far is she willing to go?

How prophetic that Kingdom is slated to be released so close to Halloween! Definitely a story for the spooky season, readers now have the choice to make it their Halloween 2020 read thanks to the release date. This story was full of thoughtful details that I supremely enjoyed; for instance, the Princes of hell (at least the ones we met) were written very creatively--it's as though she brought our ideas of each of the seven deadly sins to life. I also enjoyed the details of the restaurant that were provided at the beginning of the book, such as the recipes mentioned. Maniscalco combines her obvious love of family and dark, wicked things in this book and it is something that blends together very well in the way only Kerri seems able to accomplish.

The only minor issue I had with this book is I didn't feel the romance was up to snuff with what I was expecting after reading Stalking Jack the Ripper. At the end of the book I was super confused as to what was going on in regards to that, but nevertheless, I am very interested to see where we go with it all in book number two.

Good books always end too soon. Right from the getgo, I was drawn in. Witches. Italy, dark princes with manners (kind of). Very good storyline. I liked that it wasn't predictable, it had me guessing.

Going into this I only knew 19th century Italian backdrop with witches. So I was pleasantly surprised at the seven Princes of Hell, each representing a deadly sin. We don’t meet them all but I’m intrigued to if we meet the rest in book two.

Due to my reading mood this took a few chapters to get into. But once I sat down and properly read I found myself captivated by this world, characters and story. Not wanting to put it down.

Kerri Maniscalco writing creates an dark intense atmosphere I couldn’t get enough of.

When it comes to the characters created Wrath is a brooding Prince of Hell. Cocky, arrogant, powerful, morally gray flirt you can’t help but love. The instant chemistry with Emilia, the banter and bickering had me at one point blurting out JUST KISS ALREADY. Talk about a potential slow burn romance. At least I hope that’s where its heading. I just love them together.

The added mystery regarding the murders intrigued me. Although I didn’t find myself trying to figure it out. Instead just letting myself enjoy the book and see if anything stood out as a clue. I was surprised by the reveal.

The cliffhanger has left me wanting more ASAP. I need to know about basically everything. The curse, Wrath and Emilia relationship, Pride, the other Princes.

*3.5

I found the book very funny and intriguing but, unfortunately, it wasn't up to my expectations. 
The plot is very simple and a little plain, it reminded me a mix between Caraval and Stalking Jack the Ripper, but I always love witch stories so it felt like coming back home. It was also a very fast read, I'll give it that.

Two other things I liked were the setting and the romance. 
The setting it's a little bit stereotyped (you're talking to an italian here) but overall it was good and I enjoyed finding some words in my native language.
The romance is nothing I've never seen but I found it very entertaining and I always adore Hate to Love.

Let's get to the sore points! Unfortunately I found some elements in the story a a little bit annoying: first of all the characters. 
Emilia, the protagonist and her love interest seems the only ones with some characterization, even If Wrath was introduced as the terrible and evil demon and it's a lamb instead.
The secondary characters are relegated to the background, for example Emilia's family is presented to us and we don't even know her father's name just because it isn't important for the plot.
I know it can seem a small thing, but we get to know the neighbor's name and not the one of an important person in her life?
This thing makes all the story predictable, I immediately guessed the evil guy and the final plot twist because he was the only character that was introduced to us that wasn't APPARENTLY involved with all of this.
I think it's important to give all the characters a little bit more background and not only use them as puppets, don't you think?

In conclusion, it wasn't a bad book at all and I still believe a lot of people will appreciate it and even love it, but I wasn't entusiast about it.

Kerri Maniscalco has done it again. She has written a vivid world full of characters that draw you right into their stories.

Emilia's transformation throughout this story was a thing to behold. I loved her, and hated her, and cheered for her.

The Princes of Hell were beautifully terrifying. I love that Maniscalco didn't try to make them something they aren't.

This story was not sweet or soft, it is a fierce exploration of grief and vengeance and how far we are willing to go for justice. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book!

Kingdom of the Wicked is a highly entertaining paranormal murder mystery set in Italy, complete with swoon-worthy demons, witchy vibes, and all the food descriptions you could ask for. While the historical elements aren't the most accurate - language, attitudes, and beliefs are largely modern - it has great Italian-inspired atmosphere that makes this a fast and immersive read. It doesn't do anything wildly inventive with the genre, but it's a lot of fun and has all the makings of a "ship" that readers can obsess over. A slightly rushed and confusing ending was a little jarring, but a cliffhanger will leave readers wanting more.

Recommended for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and paranormal romance.

This was good but somewhat repetitive. I found myself skimming some pages because I felt like I had already read some of the material. It was still enjoyable and had an excellent mystery component to it. I will still purchase for my library.

Witches, Demons, Curses, Religion, Dead Bodies and Mediterranean Food Delights. I don’t know which held my attention more the story or the glorious foods. Just wait, you’ll see.
This is my 4th book from this author. She loves strong women who don’t follow societies rules and limits well. This one stared a witch, one whose family owns a restaurant, a Mediterranean month watering one. The story follows Emilia, a young witch who finds her twin sister’s body deep in a church with a man dipping his fingers into her open chest and he’s tasting her blood. There are rumors, ancient stories and and lot of danger as to what is going on. Someone is killing witches, the why and who are a tricky thing. Emilia will do anything to find the killer, and does unleashing Wrath. Nothing comes easy, nothing comes without cost, nothing is as it seems.
Oh this was fun. I really loved the characters, they all fit so well into their parts. They were written well I felt I knew even the smallest one without a long backstory. Wrath, my favorite naughty character. I was left gasping, that ending ! I can’t get my hands on the next book fast enough, well right after I eat my cannoli. :P

Did I have amazingly high expectations for this book? Obviously. Did it live up to them? Absolutely. What I did not realise until later was that these expectations started changing as the book went on. It was as if my mind commenced asking for different things as I read, to fit the story better. Which is something that has never happened to me before, and I love that!
What first caught my attention was the prologue. It was engaging and absorbing on a level that I have not seen in YA in such a long time. It made me what to continue reading until the end. The same happened with the first couple of chapters. Flawless.
Then we get to the middle, and this is where my issues begin. Around the 50% mark, the plot started feeling repetitive. After all, they were solely investigating murder after murder without moving forward. But it soon picked up once more.
The ending was INCREDIBLE. There was a moment of convergence where everyone involved came together. But it was sufficiently vague for me to not be able to make any assumptions about what could happen next. I was really confused with Wrath's behaviour, and can't wait for how exactly will Emilia's choice change their relationship dynamics.
I would like to think that Kerri Maniscalco went hard with the foreshadowing in this first instalment, for what I believe is to be a trilogy. Because, even though we get to meet the characters, the only one we truly know is Emilia. And she goes through a vast number of changes through the book. We know her deepest desires and her strong wish for revenge. But besides her, we are pretty blind on what the other characters think and want. And, we also got the prophecy, the Horns, the Grimoire...
Plot aside, the writing was beautiful, incredibly atmospheric. We get engulfed into this Sicilian port city atmosphere. I haven't read any of the Stalking Jack the Ripper books, but I'm quite motivated to after this experience.
My only problem had to do with Sangria. I am not an expert about Italian culture, far from it. But what I do know, as a Spanish citizen, is that Sangria is an alcoholic beverage originating in Spain and Portugal. So, I have my doubts about whether it was historically accurate for 1800s Sicilian residents to drink it.

Now I don't know what to do with my life, I need to know what else is going on!

I have enjoyed this book, it has so much darkness, but this makes the intrigue prevail throughout the story.

The love story is quite atypical, considering the kind of protagonists that the story has, I really loved them and I want more of them especially with that ending!


Thanks for this arc!

This book was received as an ARC from JIMMY Patterson in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love fantasy novels and mystery novels and this one had the best of both worlds. As I read on secrets were uncovered, true colors literally and figuratively shined through that it left my body in complete shock and my jaw wide open. I also love books with a twist and there were many of them that came just as the right time when you had the mystery figured out. Also, the characters were so creatively written and very relative to the story. I know our teen book club will enjoy and have many discussions on this book.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I am in-between 3 an 4 stars for this book, but I always round up in my ratings so 4 stars it is.
As a fan of the author's previous series, I was really excited to get a chance to read this book early. I love the premise and the magic system of this book! The Italian setting is interesting and the food descriptions are amazing. I enjoyed the characters, but like most first books of a series, they are not as developed as they would be in a stand-alone. What I struggled with a little bit was the pacing of the story and the occasional repetitiveness of certain ideas. Obviously, some of that might be slightly different in the final version so I do plan to read a finished copy of this at some point. I should also say I probably wasn't very fair to this book because I was reading several other things and was super busy.

The premise of this book sounded amazing to me which is why I was so happy to be asked to be a part of the book tour. The premise of this book was so interesting and I have to say it pulled it off. I ended up loving this book.
I’ll start with the plot which was really engaging and I could not put this book down without constantly thinking about it. I really enjoyed the mystery in the book and the romance was good. I’m not usually a fan of romance but I really enjoyed how it worked in this book. The story is intriguing as the main character is trying to find out how her twin died but she has demons, magic and family detracting her. The writing style was easy to read and it flowed really well. I really enjoyed the deliciously dark descriptions and the writing just worked for me.
Another part I relay enjoyed was the world. It is set in an old Italy where there are several witch families. I really enjoyed the magic system of the witches and how dark magic was shown. I love books with witches. I also enjoy books with demons and summoning. There is a history to the witches and they have their own myths which I enjoyed reading about, I found the magic interesting and I would love to know more about it. The author excels in this book and her imagination shines. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series.
The characters were okay. I found that I really enjoyed the main character Emilia who is the main POV in the book. I liked her and loved that she was strong, caring and determined to find out what happened to her twin. Her twin I didn’t really like but there isn’t much of her in the book. Wrath is a demon Prince and is the other main character. I liked Wrath and I enjoyed his personality, although I would say it is what you expect in a demon prince. One of my favourite characters was Nonna and I would read a book about her. There are plenty of other characters as there are seven demon princes, lots of witches and non magical people.
The only complaint is the ending, it ends on a sort of cliffhanger and why leave it there? I need the next book! That’s all I will say as I don’t want to spoil anything.
Overall this is a wonderfully dark read with witches, demons, mystery and romance. I enjoyed it way more than I expected and I did expect to like this. I would highly recommend this book!

I adore Maniscalco, so my expectations were high; I was not disappointed! Yet again, she captured me with interesting characters, complex (at times frustrating) characters, and a very cool setting. Excited to continue in this world!

I dont even know where to begin with this review. I am shook, I am in love, I am a mess!

Where to begin? Well I loved the setting and the sense of family I felt from Emilia; the family dynamic, the restaurant, the food...it was all superbly done.

For me, the absolute prize of this book is the way grief changes Emilia into someone she wasn't before. It twists and warps her through rage and wrath until she is almost unrecognisable. I absolutely loved reading about her journey, and was addicted every step of the way.

The dark and seductive magic was so compelling, so hard to tear your eyes away from that this read became something I was willing to loose sleep over...and no, I do not regret that decision at all.

This book has since kept me wondering, made me want to reread from start to finish and made me despair that I have to wait so long for book 2!

Truly a joy to read and I just know I'm going to be absolute fangirl trash for this series.