A review by foreverinastory
Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was definitely better than the first. Loved how much darker this one was!

Kingdom of the Cursed brings Emilia to Hell. She has agreed to marry the Devil in order to find out what happened to her sister and protect her family. But the more Emilia learns about her heritage, the more she doubts the deal she made with Wrath.

This was a slower moving book, but I really enjoyed it. We see Emilia develop more agency for herself. She's beginning to trust her body and disregard the sexist and misogynistic human teachings of the church. I loved seeing Emilia embrace her inner darkness, her sensuality and her power. It was intoxicating to watch. And then there's the whole Wrath vs. Emilia dynamic. Oh god, I loved it so much in this book. I don't know what was different, but I was SO invested.

For a lot of the book, we're left wondering where things are going. And I'm still wondering after I finished. There's a lot of exploration of the witches history and their part in the bargain between the first witch and the Devil. While we do get an idea of what happened, I still want to know more. There were quite a few plot twists, some I did call (and was happy about) and a couple that surprised me.

Bottom line is this sequel surprised me and I'm excited for book 3!


Rep: white Sicilian-Italian female MC, white Sicilian-Italian side characters, BIPOC male side character (Indian coded), BIPOC female side character. 

CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, death, gore, grief, murder, sexual content, violence. Moderate: injury/injury detail, cursing, drug use, alcoholism, sexual harassment, torture, confinement, religious bigotry, sexism, misogyny. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings