Oh my goodness I loved this book so much! The main character Emilia was sweet, brave, witty and loveable. I love how her character developed through the book. And how she never romanticised her relationship with Wrath and thought that he was something he was never going to be! I cannot wait for the next book I need it now!! !

Kerri Maniscalco’s ‘Kingdom of the Wicked’ has been such a rollercoaster of emotions. I haven’t read anything by the author previously, but I have heard great things about ‘Stalking Jack the Ripper’ series, and I certainly will be reading it after that.

‘Kingdom of the Wicked’ follows Emilia as she tries to find a person (or supernatural being) responsible for her twin sister’s death. Emilia and Vittoria have been raised on their grandmother’s stories that were meant to make them more careful. That were meant to keep them safe, even if their grandmother has known what’s coming. I really loved the setting of ‘Kingdom of the Wicked’. Witches in the 19th century Italy, with all the delicious food around, created such a lovely atmosphere in the book and added charm to both characters and the story itself.

Emilia is an interesting character. Quieter and calmer than her sister, she would rather help out in the family restaurant or get lost in the book than wander around in the search of the adventure. But filled with anger and desire for vengeance in the aftermath of Vitorria’s death, she definitely changes. While understandably revenge, anger and grief are what fuels her the most, it is also great to see that she becomes more confident in her abilities as the story unfolds.

The dynamic between Emilia and Wrath, one of the Princes of Hell has been ever changing and kept the reader on his toes. Similarly, I found Emilia’s interactions with other Princes of Hell interesting and full of action and drama. Although there have been moments when the characters felt a bit unbelievable or acting out of the character, at most parts, it has been explained or uncovered by the end of the book. I have enjoyed the ending, even if the cliff-hanger makes me slightly regret reading the book now… I think you know you have enjoyed the story when you turn the last page on your Kindle, and you just want more immediately.

I really enjoyed ‘Kingdom of the Wicked’, with its fast-paced story and interesting characters, and I would definitely recommend it to YA fantasy lovers.

DNF 40%

I usually try to read and finish every book, but sometimes some of them aren't my cup of tea.
Kingdom of the Wicked is one of these books. I didn't love Stalking Jack the Ripper but I wanted to give the author another chance. Unfortunately, I had my confirm: Kerri Maniscalco and I, we aren't made for each other. My main problem is her writing style: it isn't captivating enough and I feel nothing while reading her books. Plus, the characters are poor developed and I couldn't care less about them. Also, the mysteries are always too easy to solve and you can guess the killer after 4/5 chapters (yup, here I read the last chapters to see who was the killer and I was right). So, after this one I'm done with this author.

It's been a while since I read a book that utilised a more traditional approach to witchcraft and this definitely filled that void in my life. It beings with two sisters, Emilia and Vittoria, who are witches that live secretly among humans. Emilia is good with cooking and spices, Vittoria is good with perfumes. Emilia spends her evenings working in her family's restaurant, whilst Vittoria ventures out after dark, mixing with all kinds of dark magic. When Emilia finds Vittoria murdered, she will stop at nothing to find out who did it and why.

I really liked Emilia's character - she was fun to read due to her passionate and fiery nature. I liked her interactions with the 7 Princes of Hell, and how she grew more hard and fierce as the book progressed. The setting is also beautiful - the descriptions of food were some of the best I've read. The plot is good, but I wasn't really a fan of the cliffhanger because now I have to wait to see what happens. It does suitably change the circumstances which should mean for a second book that covers a lot of new ground, so I am excited for that.

Overall this was fun to read. I enjoyed the magic, witches and demons, and I look forward to reading more about Emilia. More romance next time please!

Book of the Year?
Well, whilst a lot about 2020 might suck, something that hasn’t is the books I’ve read. As I was rating this 5 stars on goodreads (that’ll give you a hint of the review to come!) I took a look at my other books read in 2020. Only one book DNF’d, one rated 3 stars and the rest 4 and above. And then to get granted this earc at 12pm on the 7th September and have it finished by 3pm the same day? Yeah, this book was good. This book was amazing. This book is in contention for my book of the year and honestly, it’s got stiff competition so I’m not sure how I’m going to decide or what else may join it in the next 3 (that’s alarming) months.

From the very first page (yep, I’m talking the title page), I had a feeling I’d love this book. Turn the page (or tap the screen, as the case may be) and I was then greeted by a map. I’m used to ARCs having blank pages where the map should be along with something like ‘map to come’. Not this time, and this map in particular was gorgeous. Definitely the best I’d seen in a book this year (and I’m a sucker for books with maps, just look at the background for all my IG posts.)

The First Book to Make Me Hungry
My first suggestion to you, if you’re yet to read this book, is don’t start it when you’re hungry. I started it at 12 and hadn’t had lunch. This was a mistake as I read about the glorious Italian food and wished desperately to be sharing in the food they were making as they casually discussed devils. Well, mostly casually. Also, the pre-order incentive involving pasta makes a whole lot of sense. Oh, and I’ve never tried cannoli and now I seriously need to. Sorry, I’m writing this review 4 hours after starting it and I still haven’t eaten. My hunger is spilling out.

Brilliant Descriptions of the Everyday
Anyway, the food discussion was supposed to be a segue into discussing the writing and the way Kerri Maniscalco describes things is such a delight to read. Some descriptions are almost lyrical and the first paragraph of the prologue gave this away immediately and it continued, where relevant, throughout. A few chapters later, one very simple description stuck out to me, simply because I loved the way it was worded:

“In moments, condensation bloomed like morning dew across the glass.”

Kerri is describing a drink being poured into a glass, not exactly exciting, right? And yet such short descriptions of normal, everyday things is what drew me into this book, the world she’s created and I loved every moment of it. Each time a small description like that happened, I marvelled in the enjoyment of something so simple and yet brilliant.

Characters to Love
But of course, beyond the description is the characters in this world. The three characters that stuck out most were our main point of view character, Emilia; a prince of hell, Wrath and then, perhaps unexpectedly, Emilia’s grandmother, referred to as Nonna, as this story is inherently Italian.

From Good to...
“I could either be a victim or a victor.”

Emilia experiences a character arc that was glorious to read. She’s a twin with her sister Vittoria and there was the classic archetype of one twin being good and the other being, I won’t say evil, but rebellious. Emilia was the more well-behaved of the two, as we’re introduced to Vittoria not being home in time and other things like that as the story begins. However, without saying too much, Emilia doesn’t stay the pure and good one for very long and reading her path from being so good and innocent to where she ended up was one of the many highlights of this book.

A Wicked-Prince of Hell
Wrath is a Demon Prince of Hell, as his name may suggest, the princes are centred around the seven deadly sins, and we meet most of the others during the story as well, although Wrath features more centrally. I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for a bad-boy with some hidden depth in fantasy books. I love the complexity, and Wrath is no exception to this.

There’s definitely more to him than we truly get to meet in this book. He’s clearly powerful, which I don’t think we get to experience enough of, and there’s something else about him that, well, I don’t want to say too much, but I’m intrigued to read more of him and I’m slightly frustrated we’ve got to wait a while before book 2! It’s the eternal problem with ARCs, the pleasure of reading early, but then the painfully long wait for the next book!

A Grandmother with Secrets
Emilia and Vittoria’s grandmother is referred to as Nonna throughout. I don’t recall if she was ever named beyond that, but she was a fantastic character. I enjoyed each scene with her in it. She is a fierce matriarch for the family and is hiding much throughout. Some secrets are ultimately spilled, but I don’t think everything is out. She’s a character with more to come and I’m looking forward to what other surprises her character will bring.

Read This Book
The summary of my review is pretty simple: Read the book! I thoroughly enjoyed every page. From the fascinating characters, to the magical story and the gorgeous writing. I don’t see a reason to not read the book. Witches, Witch Hunters, Magic, Demons, Italian cooking. What more could you possibly want?

I met Kerri Maniscalco's pen thanks to Stalking Jack the Ripper. A magnetic writing, which immediately fascinated me.
When I saw the Kingdom of the Wicked review request available, I knew it had to be mine!
Surplus that convinced me to read it? It is set in Italy, specifically in 19th century Sicily.

Everything revolves around a family of witches who live secretly among humans. The family is made up of two twin sisters: the first, Vittoria, is the loudest and most reckless, while the second, Emilia, is the calm one, who thinks before acting. She likes to stay at home reading and certainly not out solving witch murder cases.
But when one of the victims is her sister Vittoria, Emilia demands revenge.
She begins the investigation to find the culprit, dabbling in the dark arts and alliances with demonic princes.

One of these principles is Wrath (there are seven demonic princes and each of them has the name of one of the seven deadly sins). He is the classic arrogant and powerful protagonist who will make you fall in love and end up in a jujube soup (I have a soft spot for her male protagonists, as it happened with Thomas Creswell).

Emilia and Wrath can't stand each other, but in my opinion this is what makes the story more interesting!

The books are really super intriguing! Murder and magic give that extra pinch to the story.
As for the magic, the theme is not very deep, but I didn't think much of it.
Another fact that I loved? The escalations in Italian. When I found "vaffanculo a chi t'è morto", there I decreed the Maniscalco one of my favorite authors!
I am Italian and sincerely finding a part of Italy in one of the books of a super established author, makes me a little bit proud.

The Kingdom of the Wicked is a must to read. If you loved the Stalking Jack The Ripper series, you will undoubtedly love this one too.

Arc privided by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Twin witches Emilia and Vittoria grew up listening to their Nonna’s stories about the Wicked - the Princes who ruled hell and who had not been seen on earth in 100 years - and helping out in their family restaurant. But when brutal murders start to occur and Vittoria fails to turn up at the restaurant one night Emilia’s quest for vengeance has the power to both unleash the darkness of hell (along with a couple of those vice-filled Princes and their lesser demons) upon their island and trigger one of the most intoxicating romances I’ve read in a while...

This really is a wonderful book. Kingdom of the Wicked has everything Maniscalco’s previous books have, plus witches and magic, under a very traditional magic system set against the lush, richly depicted island of Sicily past (because we don’t really do witch hunting these days, and because gowns are so much more magical than mere dresses!)

I really, really loved it, so why just 4 stars? Well I thought it was brilliant, but not as brilliant as Stalking Jack The Ripper, and while I loved reading it, it did not have that addictive quality that had me trying to sneak off during the day to read. I don’t give out 5 stars lightly!

This book spoke to me on another level, too. As some of you may not know, in my day job I’m a professional recipe developer and cookbook author so this book was not just a brilliant fantasy YA from an author I already enjoy. Good food is such a reoccurring theme in this book - the descriptions are beautiful, and Maniscalco has really captured in Emilia what it is like for creating recipes to be your main creative outlet, and I’ve actually got a few recipe ideas scribbled down from reading!

While I don’t think I’m going to love this series as much as Stalking Jack The Ripper (and I still need to finish the last one!) I am already really looking forward to the next one!

Oh my god, I really enjoyed this! If it wasn’t for my impromptu trip away, I would have definitely finished this book in one sitting. I was addicted.

I went into this book loving the idea behind the premise and this delivered so well. I was sucked in and the cliffhanger left me gasping for more. I need the second book now!

What did I like?
- Great writing, consistent and detailed plotting and pacing and the world building worked.
- I loved the characters. Wrath was interesting and the dynamics between him and Emilia were funny and worked. Emilia was strong and level headed and her actions made sense with how she was feeling. I saw her develop a lot over the book.
- THE ENDING. Lord have mercy and grant me book two please & thank you.

Overall, a well written, fun, supernatural fantasy that will have you gripped!
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and Kerri Maniscalco for my arc of Kingdom of the Wicked in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Set against a 19th century italian backdrop, witches live secretly among humans. Vitoria and Emilia are twin sisters, from a long line of witches, their family run a beautiful italian restaurant in Sicily hiding who they are from the humans around them. All their lives the twins have been warned against the risks of the Wicked, Prince's of Hell with kisses which can leave you bewitched and eyes that draw you in to steal your very soul, but they've never truly believed their Nonna's warnings. But when Emilia finds her twin's desiccated body and ends up summoning a prince of hell she has no choice but to believe that all the stories are real.

5 super bewitching stars to this! I was highly anticipating it anyway on account of my love for Kerri's Stalking Jack the Ripper series, but Kingdom of the Wicked just blew me away. I don't really like witch stories usually but Kerri brought something brand new and enticing to the story, I loved the Hades & Persephone vibes, I loved the Strega, I loved the different princes of hell and I adored the descriptions of Italian food which took me right back to fond memories of holidays in beautiful Italy. Emilia was a great character and I loved the tension and flirting between her and Wrath, dark romance is my thing and this was just perfect. All I can really say is READ THIS BOOK you won't regret it!!