starofash's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
okay, so i really liked this book!
it was pretty fast-paced and the story began very quickly and had a mostly direct writing style which i really liked. also, the plottwist was unexpected in my opinion, i only guessed it while it was already being revealed lmao
the food themes and witchcraft were amazing, a bit more explantion about the magic system would've been nice but i feel like it's also realistic that emilia doesn't know a lot about it because her nonna seems to keep a lot of it secret
the main characters, wrath and emilia were lovable and i understood them, because although emilias stubbornness in regards to who the murderer was was a bit annoying, it was also understandable and in character. if i only want to scream at the character, that's fine for me. also, emilias character development was amazing
wrath was also really amazing, i loved his character. (i love me a smug asshole and he kinda was that)
but the romance really made me a bit uncomfortable? i really like enemies to lovers, but something about the romance in this book rubbed me the wrong way, idk.
another complaint i had was that i read it in german but the wicked were still called wicked which was kinda weird and definitely took some getting used to
still very excited for part 2!!!
it was pretty fast-paced and the story began very quickly and had a mostly direct writing style which i really liked. also, the plottwist was unexpected in my opinion, i only guessed it while it was already being revealed lmao
the food themes and witchcraft were amazing, a bit more explantion about the magic system would've been nice but i feel like it's also realistic that emilia doesn't know a lot about it because her nonna seems to keep a lot of it secret
the main characters, wrath and emilia were lovable and i understood them, because although emilias stubbornness in regards to who the murderer was was a bit annoying, it was also understandable and in character. if i only want to scream at the character, that's fine for me. also, emilias character development was amazing
wrath was also really amazing, i loved his character. (i love me a smug asshole and he kinda was that)
but the romance really made me a bit uncomfortable? i really like enemies to lovers, but something about the romance in this book rubbed me the wrong way, idk.
another complaint i had was that i read it in german but the wicked were still called wicked which was kinda weird and definitely took some getting used to
still very excited for part 2!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Alcohol, and Vomit
r1vana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Another anticipated book series.
This book was everywhere on booktok and I put it to the side until the last book gets released so I could binge watch it. But..I am kind of disappointed…
The story was really long. At first I was very invested: the magic world, the world building, the characters, the dark magics….
So many things were going on which was kinda hard to keep up.
This book is kinda hard to digest because it emphasizes mainly on grief, pain, “mental health” and deep sadness, probably even depression. But those feeling changes to anger and thirst for revenge:
“Grief carved me in half. And fury honed the pieces into a weapon.
The story is about Emilia who goes on a rampage/vengeful tasks to find her twin sister’s murder and kill him/her/they… but in order to do so, she needs help… from Wrath, the MMC, and my new book boyfriend.
The ending kinda felt rushed. The story had a lot of potential but felt that it was kinda badly executed. Hopefully the other two books are better…
Emilia…. My oh my… she is a stubborn and hard headed character. Which sometimes, I wished I could go into the book, and shake her to wake her the f-up. She can be extremely reckless because she is so blinded by this “revenge” that I feel like she doesn’t think rationally sometimes. Sometimes, there are scenes of hers that felt repetitive.
Edit: I just saw someone say that it feels like reading Bella Swan’s POV…. Lol.
Look besides all that, the princes of Hell are quite interesting. I hope we get to see them more on the other two books:
"There are seven demon princes, but only four di Carlos should fear: Wrath, Greed, Envy, and Pride. One will crave your blood. One will capture your heart. One will steal your soul. And one will take your life.”
"One will crave your blood. One will capture your heart. One will steal your soul. And one will take your life."
Wrath didn’t seem as present as I taught he would be but he did make an impression on me. Especially whenever he bangers with Emilia. The only thing with him is that for a so-called Prince of Hell, we don’t really see the scary side of him. The author probably saved that for later.
And I love Emilia’s grandma, even though she is constantly pestering her granddaughters, is it always for the better. People trust your ancestors stories, they might come true who know…:
"Love is the most powerful magic. Above all else remember that. It will always guide you where you need to go?”
She dropped her hands and stepped back. "Now go, bambina. Go be brave, Your heart will conquer darkness. Trust in that."
Spoiler
The murder was kinda obvious…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Death
Minor: Confinement and Kidnapping
Blood ritual; talk about dark magic; griefsirkeili's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book took me a while to get through, but overall I found it quite intriguing. Watching Emilia comb through clues with her reluctant sidekick was quite amusing, even if her denial of fact was a tad frustrating.
The plot really picks up towards the end, and some lore is actually given, albeit a tad predicatable if you are reading the context clues correctly.
I mean, you're telling me that this-
The plot really picks up towards the end, and some lore is actually given, albeit a tad predicatable if you are reading the context clues correctly.
I mean, you're telling me that this-
Spoiler
“No one knows for certain, (...) Some believe it refers to the use of light and dark magic. Few think it means a prince will fall in love with a witch."
-isn't the plot of every enemies to lover's romance, I am supposed to remain oblivious??? I think the fuck not, and I honestly love and respect that it doesn't shy away from the trope, but rather embraces it wholeheartedly.
Overall, this book was a tad slow on the uptake, but it was quite a nice starting point for the series. Emelia's revenge has only just started, and I am eager to see the wrath (yes, I went there) she brings down upon the princes, and those who ultimately have caused Vittoria's death. I am also keen to see what Wrath's part to play will be, as he was little too quiet and unnaturally withdrawn at the end. I know he's strategizing, but how he plans to fulfill his plan is something look forward to watching.
Overall, this book was a tad slow on the uptake, but it was quite a nice starting point for the series. Emelia's revenge has only just started, and I am eager to see the wrath (yes, I went there) she brings down upon the princes, and those who ultimately have caused Vittoria's death. I am also keen to see what Wrath's part to play will be, as he was little too quiet and unnaturally withdrawn at the end. I know he's strategizing, but how he plans to fulfill his plan is something look forward to watching.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, Death, Grief, Mental illness, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Genocide, and Kidnapping
rensreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
there was a plot, but whether we stuck to it or not was another thing. emelia was annoying and also an idiot, not gonna lie. i don’t like her character but i do understand her initial reasoning for trying to solve her sister’s murder. i too would unleash hell if someone ever laid a hand on one of my siblings’ heads. i can only imagine how much more intense that fury would be if it happened to be my twin who was hurt. also nonna telling emelia to deal with the fact that vittoria is gone and move on already is a pretty crappy thing to say. emelia described her twin as her other half and to be expected to keep going after losing that is cruel, especially by someone who had a hand in raising both those halves.
it makes sense why its wrath who she summons. her twin is dead, her grief is choking her daily, and no one is doing anything to try and solve her sister’s murder. summoning rage and fury itself? that’s a given.
emelia’s moods give me a lot of whiplash though. her character didn’t have any substance and she played the damsel-in-distress role so often that i hardly think her capable of figuring out who ate the last cannoli, much less a murder and bringing hell down to its knees.
wrath was a complex character and it was pretty clear who the author’s favorite was. if she had put even half as much of an effort as she put into wrath’s character into emelia, then maybe she would be decent instead of all-around pathetic.
that ending was meh and i could tell from the moment vittoria scared them in the monastery’s kitchen and he just stepped in front of emelia while holding up his rosary, unfazed.
also pride x emelia? as if. she’ll be back in wrath’s arms soon enough. doesn’t help that he’s acting like such a dick though so i guess we’ll see if they even deserve to be together in the next book.
this gets 3.25 stars from me. it had promise but the execution of it all was terrible.
it makes sense why its wrath who she summons. her twin is dead, her grief is choking her daily, and no one is doing anything to try and solve her sister’s murder. summoning rage and fury itself? that’s a given.
emelia’s moods give me a lot of whiplash though. her character didn’t have any substance and she played the damsel-in-distress role so often that i hardly think her capable of figuring out who ate the last cannoli, much less a murder and bringing hell down to its knees.
wrath was a complex character and it was pretty clear who the author’s favorite was. if she had put even half as much of an effort as she put into wrath’s character into emelia, then maybe she would be decent instead of all-around pathetic.
that ending was meh and i could tell
Spoiler
the murderer was antonioSpoiler
that was kind of a dead giveaway that he wasn’t the innocent boy next door emeila always thought of him as.also pride x emelia? as if. she’ll be back in wrath’s arms soon enough. doesn’t help that he’s acting like such a dick though so i guess we’ll see if they even deserve to be together in the next book.
this gets 3.25 stars from me. it had promise but the execution of it all was terrible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, and Injury/injury detail
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Vomit, Stalking, and Confinement
the sexual harassment and violence happens after emelia meets lust, so do with that what you will.tjhusdan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Toxic friendship, Grief, Confinement, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, and Child death
roosveld's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Slavery, Confinement, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting
bookcrushin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed the witchy ways and the demon banter....but a lot of the plot was internal dialogue, and I never wanted more to scream show me not tell me....but I definitely want to read book 2!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Grief
Minor: Confinement
dhwani's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Grief, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Excrement, and Vomit
baexlee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I really wanted to like this book, and there certainly are parts that I enjoyed. But overall I'm just disappointed. Despite the fact it is established early on that Emilia and her twin are supposedly the best of friends, the impact of the Vittoria's death was lackluster. Where the plot was trying to be mysterious and clever it was convoluted and confusing. I often found myself detached from what I was reading because the descriptions felt flat on the page. I had a hard time caring about Emilia's motivations, or even really understanding what they truly were in the first place, they seemed to change and get lost so often. The timeline is both frantically paced with a day of action packed plot where everything occurs and simultaneously dragging with long stretches of weeks where nothing happens, despite catastrophic threats hovering over the characters heads.
The most redeeming aspect of this book was the setting and Wrath. I found myself rooting for Wrath far more often than I was rooting for Emilia, even though I didn't really know what Wrath was doing throughout the novel. Ultimately though, even he ends up disappointing me. This book didn't feel like it had enough substance to be a series and even in the final few pages there are so many loose ends that I'm incredibly dissatisfied. I'm certainly not opposed to a book series, or a good cliffhanger, but I want the climax of the book to at least offer some satisfying payoff and a sliver of answers, something to hold onto while I wait for the next installment. I knew about as much on the last page as I did halfway through the novel, and that doesn't motivate me to pick up the next book. I liked Wrath enough that I might pick up the next installment to see if the author can save him from the absolute disservice that is done in the last 20 pages, but my expectations are low.
The most redeeming aspect of this book was the setting and Wrath. I found myself rooting for Wrath far more often than I was rooting for Emilia, even though I didn't really know what Wrath was doing throughout the novel. Ultimately though, even he ends up disappointing me. This book didn't feel like it had enough substance to be a series and even in the final few pages there are so many loose ends that I'm incredibly dissatisfied. I'm certainly not opposed to a book series, or a good cliffhanger, but I want the climax of the book to at least offer some satisfying payoff and a sliver of answers, something to hold onto while I wait for the next installment. I knew about as much on the last page as I did halfway through the novel, and that doesn't motivate me to pick up the next book. I liked Wrath enough that I might pick up the next installment to see if the author can save him from the absolute disservice that is done in the last 20 pages, but my expectations are low.
Spoiler
The ending of this book is so frustrating. We spent 300+ pages getting to know Wrath, our hearts warming up alongside Emilia's, all for him to sacrifice himself to save her life and really sell that he's not the demon we believe he is. Just to show up in the final chapter when Emilia believes he is truly dead to help her sign her soul away to Pride. Not to mention, what was the point of the whole marking if he won't actually come when she summons him? Why would he decide to mark her and then we can reasonably assume he ignored her summons after his 'death' since he appeared in the final chapter like he wasn't injured at all. Why give her the ring to help her summon him? Why the castle? Why move in with her? What was Wrath's motivation for ANYTHING in this book, why didn't we get even a glimmer of payoff on this to tempt us into the next novel? There were so many secrets dangled out in front of me and absolutely none of them were answered aside from Antonio, and even he was a red-herring of sorts because he was acting for the will of another house. This felt like a fever dream.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Gore, Blood, and Vomit
Minor: Confinement and Religious bigotry
becandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Featured on bec&books!
Sadly, this was never going to be a five-star read for me. As much as I adore the storytelling, I feel like I have been here before.
The "bad-guy" love interest is something that has been done to the grave [no pun intended]. Don't get me wrong - I loved the chemistry and the character building itself was so enjoyable and well done. But at times I felt like I was reading Sorcery of Thorns all over again.
There just wasn't a great deal of shiny new plot ideas presented by this book that hasn't already been written in young adult fantasy.
But my thoughts on this story is not all doom and gloom. I gave the book 4 stars after all.
You can not fault Kerri Maniscalco on her ability to write gorgeously, enriching settings and backstories and truly engaging characters. This is something that I loved in the Killing Jack the Ripper series and this new story didn't disappoint.
While the trope-iness of the love interest was something of a letdown, I still truly adored the characters that Maniscalo created and the way she weaved their plotlines together.
And this book ticked a lot of boxes for an engaging story heavy in dark, atmospheric witchcraft - something I've previously stated is lacking in the young adult sphere. The traditional and family elements was something that really played a powerful part in this depiction.
Oh and then there was the ending. Which has me well and truly dedicated to the upcoming sequel. It hinted something much darker coming our way...
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. This does not impact my opinions, whatsoever.
Sadly, this was never going to be a five-star read for me. As much as I adore the storytelling, I feel like I have been here before.
The "bad-guy" love interest is something that has been done to the grave [no pun intended]. Don't get me wrong - I loved the chemistry and the character building itself was so enjoyable and well done. But at times I felt like I was reading Sorcery of Thorns all over again.
There just wasn't a great deal of shiny new plot ideas presented by this book that hasn't already been written in young adult fantasy.
But my thoughts on this story is not all doom and gloom. I gave the book 4 stars after all.
You can not fault Kerri Maniscalco on her ability to write gorgeously, enriching settings and backstories and truly engaging characters. This is something that I loved in the Killing Jack the Ripper series and this new story didn't disappoint.
While the trope-iness of the love interest was something of a letdown, I still truly adored the characters that Maniscalo created and the way she weaved their plotlines together.
And this book ticked a lot of boxes for an engaging story heavy in dark, atmospheric witchcraft - something I've previously stated is lacking in the young adult sphere. The traditional and family elements was something that really played a powerful part in this depiction.
Oh and then there was the ending. Which has me well and truly dedicated to the upcoming sequel. It hinted something much darker coming our way...
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. This does not impact my opinions, whatsoever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Confinement
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