Review--Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco

 

From #1 New York Times bestselling author of Stalking Jack the Ripper Kerri Maniscalco comes the sizzling, sweepingly romantic sequel to Kingdom of the Wicked!

One sister.
Two sinful princes.
Infinite deception with a side of revenge…Welcome to Hell.

After selling her soul to become Queen of the Wicked, Emilia travels to the Seven Circles with the enigmatic Prince of Wrath, where she’s introduced to a seductive world of vice.

She vows to do whatever it takes to avenge her beloved sister, Vittoria...even if that means accepting the hand of the Prince of Pride, the king of demons.

The first rule in the court of the Wicked? Trust no one. With back-stabbing princes, luxurious palaces, mysterious party invitations, and conflicting clues about who really killed her twin, Emilia finds herself more alone than ever before. Can she even trust Wrath, her one-time ally in the mortal world...or is he keeping dangerous secrets about his true nature?

Emilia will be tested in every way as she seeks a series of magical objects that will unlock the clues of her past and the answers she craves...

 

Kingdom of the Cursed is the exciting second installment of Kerri Maniscalco's new series, Kingdom of the Wicked! It picks up roughly where we left things in the first book, Emilia is following Wrath into the Seven Circles where she is to meet with her betrothed, Prince Pride. Emilia is still determined to figure out which demon had a hand in her sister's murder and she's willing to do anything to have her revenge.

We start the story off with Wrath begrudging guiding Emilia through the demon kingdoms so that she may be handed off to her newly betrothed husband, Prince Pride. Emilia is simply doing what she must in order to uncover who else had a hand in her sister's murder. Antonio, the priest who actually killed her sister, is being held prisoner by Wrath until Emilia is ready to dole out punishment as she sees fit.

Emilia is realizing just how dangerous the Seven Circles is. Yes, it's where the demons call home and reign in their sinful kingdom, but there are other things to fear in this world as well. I found this place to be quite fascinating as I was not under the impression that it was hell, or a place for dead souls to live. In fact, there were citizens who I believe were just ordinary humans, gifted with being allowed to live in the sinful kingdom of their choosing.

Emilia is to stay with Wrath until her future husband calls for her, and Emilia is less than pleased by this information. When she then learns there's to be a festival where she is the guest of honor, things are looking less than pleasing as being the guest of honor is not a good thing when it comes to the Festival of the Wolf. 

Meanwhile, Wrath is helping to train her to resist the mind-bending powers of his demon brothers. Being able to resist compulsion and such in relation to the sins and it's quite the training process. Throughout all of this, of course, is the undeniable passion that continues to burn between Wrath and Emilia. I can't quite recall how many romantic entanglements Emilia and Wrath had in the first book, but this book pretty much indulges in all of them! The two definitely have something of a hate-to-love-to-hate-to-love relationship going on between them. Perhaps, saying "love" is a stretch as well. There's definitely fire between them but they don't always see eye to eye, but that gradually changes as the story moves along.

There's also a few flashes of events that are definitely foretelling something! I couldn't figure out what they were meant to be or mean for Emilia, but they will definitely be the explanation for something further down the way and I am dying to know what they might mean!

Quite a lot was revealed in this book! Things that were epic, earth-shattering, positively game-changing! If you enjoyed the first book, Kingdom of the Cursed is going to blow you out of the water! This book was spellbind in the way it lures a reader in and holding them captive. The intensity of this story really gets notched up and I say the content is borderline  New Adult/Adult territory. This is definitely for the mature audience of the YA reading level, I'd say like Maas' ACOTAR series, but I believe that's been upgraded to a new reading level based on the new covers.

I feel at a loss to properly describe what happens in this book without touching on spoilers. Emilia's journey to the Seven Circles is far from what she anticipated it to be. Learning new secrets and hidden lies are bound to shake things up come the next book. Emilia as a character is a delight to read! She's tough as nails, yet vulnerable, and is fiercely brave. Then there's Wrath, the epitome of "man of mystery" or I guess, "demon of mystery," if that's even a thing. Wrath was a character who continued to surprise me more and more as the story moved on and I am eager to learn more about him in the series to come--however long this is meant to be.

If you're looking for an edgy new series to dive into, you couldn't choose better than Kingdom of the Wicked! This is a series that blends paranormal, mystery, romance, suspense, and so much more to create a read that will have you eagerly devouring the pages and needing more from this world. Kerri Maniscalco is an expertise in the art of storytelling and I cannot sing her praises enough! This is a book all paranormal fans will want to read!

 

Overall Rating 5/5 stars