REVIEW: Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
After reading Kerri Maniscalco’s previous books, Stalking Jack the Ripper, and loving them, I knew that this book was one that I wanted to read. Luckily for me, I saw this on Netgalley and knew that I wanted to request this book and so I did never think that I would actually get the chance to review it. And thanks to the publishers and netgalley, I’m now just writing my review so let’s dig in, shall we?
In Kingdom of the Wicked, we meet our main character Emilia. Emilia is a young witch who lives with her family in Scily. These witches are Steghe, witches that live among humans secretly to avoid notice and persecution. Emilia has a twin sister named Vittoria which will play into our story later. When witches start turning up dead people don’t know who to blame. The situation becomes even worse for Emilia’s family when her sister, Vittoria ends up being one of the victims. Emilia is the one that finds her sister and is absolutely distraught at the sight of her sister desecrated beyond belief. Now, Emilia grieving with so much pain decides to channel it elsewhere by finding her sisters killer even if it means it is at a cost.
When Emilia meets Wrath, one of the wicked princes of hell who tells her that he is on her side, she doesn’t quite believe him. But when he reveals that he was tasked by his master to find who is killing these young girls, she starts to warm up to him even though she knows that she cannot trust a prince of hell as they are the ones that scheme and lie there way through anything. But Emilia is determined nonetheless with or without Wrath’s help, she will find her sisters killer.
As with Stalking Jack the Ripper, Maniscalco seems to write the perfect eerie setting and one that definitely fits around Halloween when this book was released. The action within the book definitely propels the plot forward whilst managing to also make the moments within the book make it seem like time is standing still so that we can enjoy the moments between the characters. She really does transport you to a beautifully wicked world where you don’t want to leave.
3 out of 5 stars