Kingdom of the Cursed ♦ Kerri Maniscalco | Review

The level of this book is unquestionably higher than the previous installment. Kerri Maniscalco proved me right in my opinion, once more that the second book of a trilogy is the best.



Kingdom of the Cursed ♦ Kerri Manscalco

Opinion

Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco is a lot more interesting and packed with surprises. Without a doubt, Wrath was my favorite character in this book. Although Emilia had come a long way since the beginning, I believe she still has some growing to do.

I adored the atmosphere of the hellish world Maniscalco created. It was very intriguing to read how the seven kingdoms symbolize the various vices of the Princes of Hell. The magical hidden mysteries which needed to be untangled kept me glued to the pages. I also appreciated how the mysteries had expanded beyond Emilia’s sister’s murder to include a deeper look at her true ancestry and hidden abilities.

I am not a huge fan of sweet dripping romance. But yet the passionate and steamy connection between Emilia and Wrath was very enjoyable to read. Their love-hate tension kept me on my toes. Partly, I wasn’t sure if they just stay together to scheme each other or if it is truly love deep inside, but trust is still to be built up. Now, I can say, it was all of it combined, and it worked great together.

Kerri Maniscalco definitely delivered with Kingdom of the Cursed, and I was never sure, where a new discovered riddle would lead the whole plot. Her writing style is mesmerizing and very fluid.

Conclusion

★★★★★

The enemies-to-lovers trope is still strong and carrying most of the quarrel’s chemistry between the two protagonists. Kingdom of the Cursed drew me deeper into a much darker and more intense passionate romantic crime solving plot, than I expected before grabbing the book. I was so glad, that I already had the next book at home, so I could just keep reading.


This review was first published at The Art of Reading. ( )

Unfortunately, this just didn't hit the mark for me. Where the story began, rooted in Italian folk magic, family, community and the dynamic of a coven, feels as though it has all been thrown out the window. It feels like this has been done in service of the romantic subplot, which is now the most interesting thing about the story.

Hoping that the final book in the series will bring things together. ( )

I also really loved listening to this read. It was another very atomperic read and one that gave me upper Ya vibes and had some steamy elements to it. I also really liked the various twists and turns that was presrnt in this story!! I also loved the new setting from this story!! Some elements of this new setting gave me percy jackson vibes. This was another read that i really loved the audibooks!! I need to tackle the sequel soon as well!! ( )

I also really loved listening to this read. It was another very atomperic read and one that gave me upper Ya vibes and had some steamy elements to it. I also really liked the various twists and turns that was presrnt in this story!! I also loved the new setting from this story!! Some elements of this new setting gave me percy jackson vibes. This was another read that i really loved the audibooks!! I need to tackle the sequel soon as well!! ( )

This story was well, not what I expected and I don't know what I expected. The thing is when I saw this book and decided to get it to read it was because I liked her other books with Stalking Jack the Ripper and well, this book is not like those. Also, I didn't know that this was a second book so I was a little lost when I listened to this audiobook.
After I listened to this for a little while, I started to figure out a lot of the storyline or the idea anyway. Once I knew the basic story idea, I knew this wasn't my type of book. Also, this is more New Adult than Young Adult with the content that can get quite explicit with bedroom scenes and the romance. This story is interesting with Emilia and the Prince of Wrath in Hell. She is going to avenge her sister and while she's working to avenge her sister, she and Wrath continue to develop their relationship. This story is mostly about Emilia and Wrath and their relationship so this is mostly character-driven.
This audiobook was interesting and the narrator did a great job with the story and the book. The narrator did really well doing the voices and bringing this world and characters to life. Thanks to Hachette Audio for letting me listen and review this book. ( )