I finished Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco in the beginning of September and wrote my review immediately after, but wanted to wait until AFTER the #GetWickedTour ended to post my review. Thank you JIMMY Patterson Books for sending me a copy! We’re so thankful you got to be our first ever tour! 

I’m going to be formatting my post as if I am a part of the blog tour, though technically, I’m not. So if you’re confused, sorry about that! It’s just a fun way for me to include everything and express my love for this book!

If you haven’t been following along, please take a minute to check out the other posts from the tour and give the bloggers and bookstagrammers some love! You can access the schedule here. 

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Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

From the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series comes a new blockbuster series…

Two sisters.

One brutal murder.

A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself…

And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…

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Author Information:

Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.

She is the #1 NYT and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series and the forthcoming Kingdom of the Wicked.

For an extended bio, please read on below!

Follow Kerri on Twitter and Instagram where she’s always ready to talk fictional crushes:

@KerriManiscalco
instagram.com/kerrimaniscalco

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Review: 

If you aren’t aware, I adored the Stalking Jack the Ripper series (although I’m still putting off reading the last book) so when I saw Kerri wrote a dark fantasy, I hoped right on that. 

And I’m so thankful that Terminal Tours got to host the blog tour for this book! 

The book has a dark, mysterious as Nonna, Vittoria and Emilia’s grandmother, talks about the dangers of magic and the princes of Hell. She warns the girls, only eight at this time, to be wary of the dark and to always keep their necklaces on them. 

We fast forward about ten or so years into the future. Emilia has grown into a quiet young woman, while her sister Vittoria is the life of the party! I liked the twin’s dynamic in this book, it reminded me a lot of my own sisters. One is more outgoing and social than the other, but they each have their own social circle, interests, and ways of dealing with things. And I know if one of my sisters was murdered, we would go to the end of the earth to find out who did it and make them pay. 

As we progress into the story, I love how Kerri incorporates the magic. She gives background on their history and culture, while also not info dumping on the reader. We see snippets of how it works, although we don’t get too much into the specifics, it’s more generalized. And of course, Kerri talks about the food and cooking in such depth, that it made me so hungry. I could visualize these dishes being made, how they smelled, and I wanted to taste them so bad. Make sure to have a snack when reading this book because you will get hungry!

Once Wrath is in the picture, I’m done for. I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers and Wrath just made me fall in love. Though I tried not to. 

The princes of Hell were not only creative, but so well done. They are the embodiment of their sin and Emilia’s interaction with them was so fun to read. I loved seeing the effect they had on humans and the princes’ personalities in the story. Though Wrath will always be my favorite. 

There wasn’t much I disliked about this book, but I did want to see more on how the magic works. I feel like we get a lot of history, consequences, and other stuff like that, but don’t go in depth on how it works. What makes it work. I hope we get more information in the final draft! 

Overall, Kerri has done it again with this book. She just has a way of keeping me enthralled with her stories and desperate for more. // 5 stars!

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Preorder Campaign:

JIMMY Patterson books is running a pre-order incentive campaign. All who pre-order a hardcover, ebook, or audiobook edition of Kingdom of the Wicked before 11:59pm ET on October 26, 2020 will receive an enamel pin, signed bookplate, and pair of oracle cards. This offer is only available in the US and pre-orders from subscription boxes are not eligible. Upload your receipt, and see the Terms & Conditions and details here: https://kids.jamespatterson.com/titles/kerri-maniscalco/kingdom-of-the-wicked/9780316428460/bookterminalsocialkingdom-of-the-wicked&utm_content=preorder