I received this Arc from Netgalley. Thank you for the chance to read this book early. My review is honest and 100% my own thoughts about the book.

This book was an interesting paranormal read. The main character is a human who is cursed by a goblin. She uses this curse to hurt the bad guys who are causing issues. This happens until one of them frames her for a murder.

The world in this book has an amazing real world details of the city mixed with the magical world of magical creatures that are at war trying o tan power and control. I really enjoyed reading this book. It kept me wanting to come back and turn the page.

A fun, fast paced urban fantasy with a likeable lead and an original spin. Unlike the de rigeur werewolves, shifters and vampires, the world building is more diverse and complex. Really enjoyed this and devoured it in two sittings

I thought this was a really cool urban pnr! The writing was really well done in my opinion and the storyline flowed really well. One of the things is you do have to pay attention to what’s going on because a decent amount is thrown at during the book but it’s all important information that comes together. This is definitely a slow burn romance, the characters, or mainly Jess, finally realizes her feelings by the end of the book. Jess is a bit naive with her feelings towards Lucien but I think it has to do with essentially being an outcast within the society and things generally disappointing her.

Book 1 and I'm already addicted to this world.

This is allllllmost a dystopian paranormal book, but is still in a magical land that I find slightly more palatable. In this world, magic is normal and people with magic are sent to become guardians of a sort until their powers either fizzle or solidify. Jessica was one of the "chosen" until she suddenly wasn't. When her powers didn't materialize, they shifted into something more unexplainable. She assumes she was cursed somehow to feed off misery instead of doing normal "magic" things. This classifies her very close to "preds" which in this world feed off "addicts" in various forms. Lucen is one such pred that has somehow found his way (reluctantly) into Jessica's very small inner circle.

With such a black and white moral world, Jessica is shaken up when she is suddenly accused of murder, possibly hoping to start a war between the paranormal races. This puts her in a position where she has to either accept herself, grow, and learn to trust other people, or perish as some sort of misunderstood martyr. It was really wonderful to watch a person who is pretty terrible at making decisions make a comeback by the end. I went from cringing to rooting for her, so hang in there!

3.5 rounded to 4 as it is the first book in the series.

I did find myself a little confused with the world building at times, but because of the complexity and the characters I will definitely continue the series. The second book should definitely shed a lot more light on some aspects, I don't want to give any spoilers away for those who haven't read it.

It was definitely well written and had a lot of thought put into it, and all in all I think it could head to a great series of books, the story has great potential!

This book is very interesting, but I did find that it could be hard to understand the actual job Jessica does and the terminologies with the Grphyns vs preds and how it works. Nonetheless, it’s so good and I loved it. The world created is similar to ours, but it felt a lot more fleshed out and mystical in a sense. The whole soul swapping and cursed plot was so interesting and to be honest that’s what kept my attention.

However, I did find the introduction of romance could be tedious. When she was around Lucen she almost lost all her bad-ass attitude and sensibilities, which is a shame because without it I felt the book shone more.

An original and entertaining urban fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed. The world building is original and well developed, the characters are interesting, and I had fun in reading the story.
I look forward to read the next stories.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a good read that was well written with a good storyline and well developed charcaters, I feel like the world building was there but it was minimal amd so would have benefitted from slightly more emphasis on that, but overall a good read.

I was especially excited by the novel setting of this fantasy novel. There are humans protected by the magic-gifted Griffons and demons who live off various sins of humans and trade their souls in return for wish fulfillment. If someone wants their soul back, Jessica comes into play and looks for someone to replace it - taking only those who truly deserve it. All until she is wrongfully framed as a serial killer and does everything she can to get her life back - even if it means working with the demons she dispises.

this was a fun read, tho I struggled with the pacing and characterbuilding. Or lack thereof. Good first book overall.

A big thank you to NetGalley and City Owl Press for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is the first in a new series. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the world building. I had no idea what was going on half of the time. New terms were not defined. I was confused and lost. I did find the book interesting though. I wanted to like Jess, but I found her a bit whiny. Get over it and be strong! Kick some butt. 3.5 stars I may or may not pick up the 2nd in the series.

I came across this book, and I thought it sounded interesting, so I requested it. I then realized I had read it over 5 years before, but I decided to reread it. I just finished it, and I loved it all over again. Jessica is a wounded soul, and she’s been fighting herself for a long time. She is such a great character, and I love how patient and caring Lucen has been for her since they ran across each other. Add to that an intriguing plot and other great side characters, and this is a great, well-written book. I can’t wait to read the next in the series even if I have read it before. Highly recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Very confusing to understand, the premise sounds good but jumps straight into sylphs, predators and addicts without much explanation.

Fast-paced action, fantastical world building, and a bad-ass heroine makes Wicked Misery a gritty and fun - and dare I say "wicked good" - read.

Set in Boston, humans share the world with a variety of pred races and magical creatures that addict people with their particular flavor of power. Jessica is a human with a weakness for bad boys who flunked out of magic corps and now uses her talents to hunt down horrible people to barter for the release of good souls. Straddling the line between the pred and human worlds, Jessica gets caught in a war between magic races that threatens to take out everything and everyone she loves.

This is the first in an updated and re-released Urban Fiction series and I can't wait to read the rest of the Wicked books!

I was hoping this book would be a bit like Patricia Briggs or Kim Harrison but it wasn't quite as well planned out or executed. Kind of kept getting annoyed by the main character and her whinging and descriptions of her own strange gift but overall it was an interesting world if a little confusing at times.

Not sure I would pick up the second because of how little I liked the main character but I may to see more of Lucian...