Reviews tagging Emotional abuse

Kingdom of the Wicked, by Kerri Maniscalco

5 reviews

purplehulk713's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Not that I didn’t enjoy Kingdom of the Wicked, but I had higher hopes for it from reading its preview. Maniscalco’s writing was sometimes confusing—too ambiguous to be understood upon a first or second reading of the section. It was frustrating. But the magic was bewitching, especially the culture of the streghe and their myths (some true, others false) about the Malvagi (the Wicked) and La Prima Strega (the First Witch). The romance was pretty good, I love a good enemies-to-lovers trope, but I hate how Emilia (like many other YA protagonists) judged Wrath so simply every time she saw a new side of him, and didn’t realize that just because he is one of the Wicked, that does not mean he is heartless or totally evil or whatever. Kerri Maniscalco did do a good job of leaving me wanting more, despite if it was for reasons of ambiguous writing on her part. I’m still confused about the details of the devil’s curse. Envy as a character also seemed rather predictable. Basically, as much as I enjoyed Kingdom of the Wicked, it didn’t wholly satisfy me as a reader.
Beware the Malvagi, fellow streghe…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/injury detail, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Self harm, and Sexual content

faitherslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Grief

Minor: Alcohol

politewriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.0

A rather thrilling fantasy novel. The world building had some rather fantastic depths and color to it. It was really easy to see how the author incorporated their personal experience. I really liked how that meshed. Some elements of their story seemed to get muddled at times, and I found myself needing to go back to reread something in order to understand what was happening. Lots of characters, but the author does a good job of keeping them all straight— as well as their alliances and organizations. However, FL seemed to have very little development throughout the story. She made a lot of odd choices, and that really took away from the tension of the story. I liked the chemistry between the FL and the ML tremendously. I hope to see that further developed in the second volume. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Stalking

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Torture

laurenjane's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Stalking

sunsetcity's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence