Kingdom of the Wicked interesting idea but failed to get to the point


I recently finished reading “Kingdom of the Wicked,” by Kerri Maniscalo the same author who wrote the Jack the Ripper novels. Its about a Sicilian witch named Emilia. Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria live carefree lives as witches helping their grandmother and parents run a successful restaurant. One night that all changes when Vittoria was brutally murdered. Emilia thinks its one of the Wicked, which are the princes of Hell, with Satan being the king obviously. Emilia then is on a quest to find out who murdered her sister and why. Honestly the writing was Emilia was so unlikeable.



The plot was a great one. I enjoy books about witches. I enjoyed that the setting was in Sicily and that Emilia and her family all lived under one roof. Many cultures unlike America, still live with their parents, siblings and grandparents even when they become adults. Really out of the entire story Nonna, Emilia’s grandmother was the only character I liked. Nonna was the wise one that no one listens to. As to who murdered Vittoria at first I thought it was a bit random, but then I understood the motivation and thought back thinking, yes it makes sense since during this time that people feared witches.



Emilia beats Bella Swan as the most stupid heroine ever honestly. Emilia I understand wants to find out who murdered her sister, but when your grandmother is warning you, and you have a friend who can break the spell on your sister’s diary to lead to clues before summoning something from hell, I would listen to them. Instead Emilia gets herself almost killed, twice and her grandmother almost killed because of her inability to think things through and make smart choices. The chemistry between her and the demon Wrath was not there I didn’t think Wrath did much in the story it was more of his brothers Envy and Greed making appearances. The story failed to get to the point. The book either needed more work or it needed to be a shorter book.




The book had potential and there were things I liked, but unfortunately like her previous book it didn’t deliver. I probably would have liked it if the main character was likeable and if the book didn’t drag on and on and just got to the point.