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The cliffhanger at the end makes you jumpy because you want to know what’s gonna happen next immediately! Well, I cannot wait to read the next book! I’m already sold! This is such a great start for the series! this is my only adverse opinion, other than that this book was INCREDIBLE. murder mystery, dark magic, different realms, seven deadly sins, hell princes, satan, demons, witches, enemies to lovers, morally grey characters, the tension/banter.. like what else can i ask for???
On top of the mysteries in this book being a bit of a letdown, I will also say that I felt like so many big events in this book kind of happened just for (hopefully) set ups for the next installment. I’m all for setting up things in early books, but it just kind of feels bad when absolutely nothing happens regarding these big chapters after the scene has ended. I feel like if this book felt more cohesive throughout, instead of just setting up for what is to come, I would have gotten so much of a higher rating from me, but I have to rate and review off the material that is given to me and it made for a bit of an infuriating reading experience. At 18-years old, they've been raised hearing the lore of their family, and other beings of the underworld; mostly at the knee of their beloved Nonna. Trigger and Content Warnings: gore, violence, blood depiction, self-harm to get blood for spells, loss of a loved one, grief depiction, murder, death, brief mention of unwanted touching, and magical compulsion. The first couple of chapters seemed generic. Emilia felt like many YA characters I had read before. I was skeptical. My only complaint with this book would be that it felt waaaay too short. Maybe a little too fast-paced? But it's not really a big deal, it's more of "I wish it lasted longer" feeling. I want more Emilia and Wrath mostly just Wrath heheIt would’ve been more fitting had this been marketed as a creative cookbook rather than YA fantasy. Overcome with grief, Emilia's saving grace seems to be her need for vengeance. Her overwhelming compulsion to find her sister's killer keeps her from wallowing in despair for too long. She has things to do. I was decently interested in all the witch stuff, as well as learning more about the princes of Hell, who were all....something. Let's just say, the only one I currently like is Wrath. stars for the interesting concept but poorly delivered narrative with a dumb main character whose only personality trait is being good at cooking. The atmosphere is top notch, as well, and I like that Maniscalco didn't shy away from including some very dark images and scenes. The last bit of this book was absolutely wild and I cannot wait for the next one to be released!!!
I might be a bit biased because a) this book takes place in Italy, b) it's an enemies-to-lovers kind of novel, and c) the main character and her family own a restaurant and treat cooking the same way I do: with infinite love and passion. A serial killer theme who is targeting the witches: The killer’s one of the victims is unfortunately the twin sister Vittoria of our heroine and narrator Emilia! Enemies to reluctant partners theme: after losing her twin sister, Emilia wants to find out the perpetrator by deciphering the dark magic spell her sister put at her diary. As soon as she realizes her sister summoned an evil, she followed the same way but as soon as hot as hell, charismatic, coolest evil Wrath appears, she finds at their bound is more intense and eternal that she’d ever imagined. Wrath i don't get the hype about this man. He wasn't even there the whole time. He'd be there but then he'd go on for days ghosting us Emilia. His presence in this book felt more like a side charcter, rather than the love interest.I really loved the depiction of grief and depression in this book, too. How the weight of sadness can be unbearable, especially alone, when your world and future are taken from you right before your eyes. I also think Kerri Maniscalco did a really good job portraying not only the different stages that can be held within grief, but to also tell the reader that there is truly no wrong way to grieve. Heartbreak can be sadness and pain, but it can also be anger and revenge. I didn't felt the relationship between Emilia and Wrath, there was less banter. I didn't felt any sort of chemistry between them😭 You might hate it. Or love it. But temptation will surge through those magical veins of yours, obliterating all common sense. You’ll want me to save you from the endless torment by giving you everything you love to loathe. And when I do, you’ll thirst for more.”
Wrath is just as perfect, but I feel like I'm biased by saying this, as well, because...well, he's everything I usually adore in a male character all wrapped up in a smoking hot and sexy ribbon. Other than that, I did like Emilia. She is very fearless, which I must admire. Though, she did trust Wrath way too easily. What did she expect, he's a literal demon prince from Hell. A delicious and intoxicating new fantasy by a master of murder and mayhem, not to be devoured on an empty stomach!' -Elizabeth Lim, author of Spin the Dawn I was honestly mildly worried that I wouldn't like this book and that Kerri Maniscalco would break her streak of amazing books but she absolutely did not. This was definitely a new favorite and possibly one of my favorites by her. A muscle in his jaw strained as he held my gaze. “One day you’ll call me Death. For now, Wrath will do.”My favorite part about this book was the romance and Wrath which I felt there wasn't enough of. Firstly, I love anti-hero/villain love interests and also because squeeeeeeee hot demon prince!!! *SWOON* We are thrilled to present to you the FairyLoot exclusive edition of ‘Kingdom of the Cursed’ by Kerri Maniscalco, brought to you in collaboration with @kerrimaniscalco and @hodderscape! this book had so much potential of being a five star read but there is something that bugs me a lot and which is, the writing. fantasy books are hardest genre to get in at the beginning in my opinion, and this one had so many layers of magic, realms, princes, demons etc. and it was all over the place, most of the times i couldn’t understand what the hell was happening 🤡 The writing itself is pretty easy to read and makes it so the reading experience itself was enjoyable. I do feel though like there were some passages or quotes that sounded good on paper but did not make sense in context. There’s not much point in saying that demonic forces aren’t at work and privilege is the source of evil when this story fully revolves around demons, their world and their schemes, and there is absolutely no commentary whatsoever about any sort of privilege in this whole book. It would’ve been interesting to overlap that with the work of these literal personifications of sin but it’s not really the case here. There were allusions to witch hunts and the killing of innocent women because of that, but it never actually delved into what persecution and oppression truly means. The main character is never shown as being stifled in any sort of way and these remarks just feel off and like a half-hearted attempt at white feminism 101.
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