Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked, 1) Paperback – September 7, 2021

The Kingdom of the Wicked Series had me binge reading with a ferocity! I managed to get through all 3 books in a matter of 6 days and absolutely loved everything about it. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I decided to review series as a set as to not give too much away.The series follows Emilia, a witch, who finds her twin sister brutally murdered on an altar in her hometown of Sicily. Emilia’s search for clues leads her to experimenting with magic she has been warned against by her family her entire life. In her attempt to summon a demon for information, Emilia summons the Prince of Wrath, one of the seven Princes of Hell who she begins to develop a conflicting attraction to. With the help of Wrath, Emilia gets closer to solving her twins murder, but begins to get pulled deeper into the court of the wicked, where there are secrets that may cost Emilia her soul.Emilia’s family owns a restaurant and the author’s connection with food recipes is integrated throughout the series, which I thought was a nice touch. The series takes place in both Sicily and within the seven circles of hell where the princes of Wrath, Pride, Envy, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, and Sloth make up the Kingdom of the Wicked. The world building within the court of the wicked and how each circle represents its assigned sin was one of my favorite parts in reading these books. There was mystery, spice, fantasy, and paranormal elements, all which are big wins for me as a reader. I loved Emilia’s character development and enjoyed seeing how fierce she became with each passing book. The author has a spin off, Prince of Sin series, set within the same universe which I will be moving onto shortly.TW: Murder, Grief, Death, Open Door

I will not lie to you, I devoured this book within 48 hours, but I am out of town without much to do, so do with that information what you will.Let me start by giving a spoiler warning- I won’t be giving up the entire story, but will definitely spoil some good plot twists so if you plan on reading this book- and I recommend this you do- the TLDR is: I thoroughly enjoyed it, but the writing can be a little lacking.I’ll start with the positive- the story is absolutely dripping with the tantalizingly forbidden. From witches dabbling in forbidden magics, to terrifying demons invading the earth, to mysterious and violent murders, to handsome princes from hell- this story by all means has good bones and a sturdy foundation to work with.Now here’s why it didn’t all work for me.The writing feels like it’s shooting for SJM and just falls flat. There’s points where it’s unclear what actions are actually being taken, and what’s being imagined by the main character. There’s points where very important and dramatic events are happening and the writing does not offer the emotion and drama to match- moments that should be tense, frightening, or exciting that are explained with only a few dull sentences. Do not get me wrong- there’s some beautifully written moments, and great imagery, but it is NOT consistent. For instance- when an invisible demon attacks Emilia’s grandmother, the writing does a great job expressing how unexpected the attack is and how Emilia emotionally handles the aftermath in a way that invokes the feelings in the reader perfectly. But then you get Emilia’s two weeks of crippling depression brought on by Lust’s emotion draining magical influence. The entire two weeks are summed up in just a few pages and simply cured by Wrath throwing her into an elemental bath (why it took him this long to help her, I’ll never understand). I would hope the writing would put the reader through that emotionless, motivation-less time as well- forcing us to experience a bit of that alongside Emilia- but it was quickly resolved and moved past.It does not feel like Emilia has to face many consequences- as before mentioned, her falling into Lust’s trap and being influenced by his powers, being childhood friends with a witch hunter, mouthing off to princes of hell, and dabbling in dark magics she once thought to be forbidden… there aren’t really any lasting consequences until the end of the book when she agrees to align herself with (MAJOR SPOILER) the house of pride and sell her soul, and even then that was ultimately her choice to make.When it comes to the characters, it feels like everyone has depth except for Emilia. Now I’m holding out for some character development in her as the series goes on, but for now she feels a bit two dimensional. I will say there is change! She does goes from quiet and safe to vengeful, courageous, and power hungry but there isn’t much build up- she does have the motivation to become this way, but it goes from 0-100 quickly. Emilia went from fearing dark magic to summoning a demon. Normally I’d appreciate some work on the MC’s part that takes her from a weaker witch only interested in peace to a courageous witch with the magic to back it up, but as some others in the reviews have noted, Emilia has no business being as bold as she is. She never seeks out other witches- including her grandmother, and her friend and her friends aunt who practice the dark arts(and both have names starting with C and ending in A which gets confusing and easy to mix up)- to expand her magical prowess. Even Emilia herself admits she knows little when it comes to magical attacks and defenses, especially ones meant to protect her from the powerful demon princes she’s facing, but she does little to fix it.Plot wise, things feel a little too convenient. There are multiple times when Emilia happens to stumble upon the very thing or person she’s seeking out(or events that push the story along.) I get that the horn leads her to it’s matching half- that much makes sense- but she just happens to find things because some disembodied whispers guide her to it a little too often.Don’t get me started on the romance. Wrath and Emilia go from hating each other to passionately making out. I definitely feel the narrator hinting at Wrath having a soft spot for her from pretty early on, but there’s not enough to back up the sudden switch for me. I know there’s a fine line between love and hate, but the line was just a little too fine for my tastes. I feel their friendship developed nicely, but the romance came and went quickly.To wrap things up, I will be reading the second book. It’s probable I will recommend this series. There’s been quite a few books/series recommended to me lately that have been downright unbearable, but this series is one I’ve enjoyed despite my harsh critique. I know I just spent a good while tearing this book apart, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless. I’m still holding out hope for some character development and some plot holes to be resolved in the second book though, but all in all I’m excited to start it.

Kingdom of the Wicked is a traditional Romantasy: It has a strong female lead who encounters a morally grey shadow daddy that shows her a whole new world. The romance is YA but plentiful and top notch. It had enough unique moments and events to keep it interesting. It was a page turner and very fun to read.

✨ 🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦 🅣🅘🅜🅔! ✨Book: Kingdom of the WickedGenre: YA - fantasy⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 /5I truly enjoyed this book. The story line was intriguing from the start. Witches, curses, and Princes of Hell… what’s not to love?Emilia is a witch who battles between doing good and doing what she thinks she needs to do for the greater good of her people… no matter the price it costs her.Wrath is one of the seven Princes of hell. Wrath is everything his name indicates he is. He is dangerous and he is fear.When Wrath and Emilia find themselves accidentally bonded they don’t have many options but to work together. But can they learn to trust one another? Or will their worlds set them too far apart?This book has been high on my TBR list for a while now. The intriguing story line and concept kept my attention. Page after page I was waiting for what I anticipated being a steamy romance between enemies turned lovers. I mean honestly… Princes of Hell there is bound to be some right? Wrong.. unfortunately the romance I was hoping for never came. The potential was there literally lingering on every page just waiting to make its appearance. With that being said, that potential, despite my 3.5 rating I have high hopes for book two as the ending left me wanting more! 😃