Hardback: 384
Published: 2020
Rating: 5 / 5 stars
So I just finished this book and I am not okay.
I love this author's writing style a lot - a very lot - I'd go so far as to say. The Stalking Jack the Ripper series is a favorite of all times for me so when I heard that Kerri Maniscalco was releasing a new book series, I was intrigued.
Now as per usual, the author loves to take us all around the globe, and this time is no exception.
Kingdom of the Wicked takes place in Italy - Sicily to be exact - and follows the story of Emilia di Carlo and her pursuit of revenge after she discovers the body of her twin sister, Vittoria, who was murdered in cold blood.
Devastated, Emilia vows to do anything in her power to find and stop this murderer once and for all, even if that means allying herself with her worst enemy, a Prince of Hell.
The story is filled with grief and pain and we accompany our anger driven main character in all the risky and dangerous situations she finds herself in trying to uncover the truth. There are demon summonings, surprise meetings with a few more princes of Hell and of course, trying to keep her identity a secret while witch hunters are rumored to be lurking in the shadows.
And speaking of Princes of Hell, let's talk more about that, shall we?
This particular part of the book is one of my favorites, for it made the story a hundred times better. The author took the seven deadly sins and turned them into handsome, immortal princes that steal your heart away with a glance and all I can say about this is who gave her the right?!
The first one we meet is the Prince of Wrath who is - to put it plainly - sin incarnate.
"His chest and torso were chiseled in a way that indicated he was well-acquainted with weapons. (...) Dark gold irises with flecks of black stared back at me."
He is the partner our dear Emilia works with in order to solve her sister's murder and let me just say, the constant tension between them can be cut with a cleaver. They despise each other and yet every single route brings them back together, working in sync. I'd go so far as to say it's the best enemies to lovers representation I've ever read.
And all the time my brain kept bringing up Thomas Cresswell for some reason.
I guess the author has a gift for creating perfect male main characters worth swooning and simping over.
But that is beside the point here, because characters aside, the book itself is worth swooning over. The world building is so amazingly shaped that I'd really wish to visit it at least once. We have the small town of Palermo with a cozy restaurant owned by the di Carlo family called Sea and Vine and to me, that setting sounds like a relaxing summer afternoon that I would never forget. We also have a lot of food and recipes mentioned throughout the book - definitely worth trying out later.
The magic system is not far behind on the amazingness either, seeing as we have countless magical creatures presented such as witches, demons, shapeshifters, werewolves, even vampires and perhaps the devil himself.
I fell in love with this book from page one and that feeling never faltered, it actually intensified as I read more and more of it.
This story is magic made paper and I am more than excited to get my hands on book two and continue this journey alongside my new favorite main character, a badass witch that I admire for her resilience and determination, for the way she took all that wrath and anger that seemed to get control of her and honed them into a purpose.
"I had something to focus on aside from falling apart and relieving that night over and over."
In my opinion, this book is worth giving all the chances and I truly hope you do and enjoy it just as much as I did, or maybe even more. If you have read it, please let me know in the comments below what are your after thoughts on it and if you plan on continuing with the series.
And happy reading everyone!
