shadowrain's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Gore, and Death
moonchild_cos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Murder, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Torture and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Vomit
courtnoodles's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The only things holding this book together were vibes, and honestly those were threadbare.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit and Religious bigotry
giulianalb99's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.0
3⭐️
Empezaré diciendo que este libro no me ha parecido malo, pero es de estos que tienen tanto potencial que la autora lo ha malgastado de una manera increíble.
Creo que lo mejor sería empezar por lo que más me ha gustado, y es que me parece que Kerri Maniscalco tiene una pluma buenísima que ha hecho que me haya leído el libro súper rápido sin ni siquiera darme cuenta de las horas que pasaban. Cuando leí la sinopsis lo quise agregar a mis lecturas porque me pareció una idea estupenda: ¿quién no quiere leer sobre brujas y demonios? Emilia, la protagonista, me ha gustado bastante por lo fuerte y segura que es, al igual que Wrath (que encima tiene tatuajes, qué más se puede pedir). Que esté ambientado en Italia también es un punto a favor del libro, nunca había leído un libro situado allí y me ha encantado.
Como siempre, ahora vengo a hablar de cosas que me han tocado la moral bastante: para empezar, no sé a quién se le ocurrió catalogar este libro como enemies to lovers cuando simplemente se odian porque Emilia es bruja y Wrath un demonio: no hay más razones a porqué son esos supuestos “enemigos” así que, para mí, esto sería más bien un haters to algo porque es que no hay romance casi. Odio cuando no evolucionan como “pareja”, básicamente han ido de odiarse a querer arrancarse la ropa en dos páginas: ¿perdón? No, así no vamos; antes he dicho que la pluma de Maniscalco me parece increíble pero también me parece que hay demasiada información innecesaria: perfectamente podría haberse ahorrado cien páginas o más; sabemos que está ambientada en Italia, como he dicho anteriormente, pero ¿en qué época? ¿tiene eso influencia en el libro? bueno pues aparentemente eso te lo inventas tú, porque nunca se sabe, simplemente das por hecho que es en el siglo XVIII-XIX por cómo se describen las ropas que llevan los personajes, poco más se sabe, y creo que podría haber añadido eso y quitado unas cuantas recetas, que ojo, amo la comida italiana y puedo entender que me quieras explicar algo de su cocina ya que los padres de las gemelas son dueños de un restaurante, pero no hacen falta tantas, me ha quedado claro que les gusta comer, muchas gracias; el libro empieza con las gemelas Emilia y Vittoria siendo inseparables y, de repente, Vittoria está muerta y ni me he enterado. La protagonista da mil vueltas al mismo tema para luego irse por las ramas con otro asunto y luego se vuelve todo un lío porque simplemente este libro está desordenado; tampoco me ha gustado cómo han aparecido los hermanos de Wrath, me ha parecido demasiado fácil la manera en cómo pueden moverse del infierno al mundo de los humanos, y sin hablar de cómo conoce Emilia a Lust, que me ha parecido un capítulo de relleno que no tenía sentido alguno; hay tantas preguntas sin resolver que sé que probablemente no serán resueltas, pero si me pongo a enumerar todo lo que está mal del libro me tiro el mes entero con esta reseña.
Si quieres leer un libro sobre brujas para pasar el rato, este es tu libro, pero no esperes una obra de arte impresionante porque como ya he dicho, este libro tiene un potencial malgastadísimo. Seguramente (100% probable) seguiré con la trilogía, pero ya mis expectativas no son tan altas como las tenía con este.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I’ll start by saying that this book wasn’t bad at all, but it’s one of those that have so much potential that the author just wasted it in an incredible way.
I think the best thing would be to start with what I liked the most, and it seems to me that Kerri Maniscalco has an amazing way of writing that made me read the book super fast without even noticing the hours that passed. When I read the synopsis I wanted to add it to my tbr because the premise looked amazing: who doesn't want to read about witches and demons? I really liked Emilia, the main character, because of how strong and confident she is, just like Wrath (who also has tattoos, what more could I ask for?). The fact that it’s set in Italy is also a point in favor to the book, I’d never read a book set there and I loved it.
As always, now I come to talk about things that have touched my morale a lot: to start with, I don't know who came up with the idea of classifying this book as “enemies to lovers” when they simply hate each other because Emilia is a witch and Wrath is a demon: there is no more reasons why they are those supposed "enemies" so, for me, this would be rather a “haters to something” because there is almost no romance. I hate when they don't evolve as a "couple", they've basically gone from hating each other to wanting to tear each other's clothes off in two pages: sorry? No, that's not how we go; as I said before, Maniscalco's pen seems incredible to me but it also seems that there is too much unnecessary information: it could have perfectly been a hundred pages or more less; we know that it is set in Italy, as I said before, but in what era? Does that influence the book? well, apparently you make it up by yourself because you never know, you simply assume that it is in the 18th-19th century, because of how the clothes worn by the characters are described, little else is known, and I think the author could’ve added that and removed a few recipes: don’t get me wrong, I love Italian food and I can understand that you want to explain something about their cuisine since the parents of the twins own a restaurant, but you don't need that many, it has become clear to me that they like to eat, thank you very much; The book begins with the twins Emilia and Vittoria being inseparable, and suddenly, Vittoria is dead and I didn’t even noticed. The MC goes around the same topic a thousand times and then goes off on another subject and then it becomes a whole mess because this book is just simply messy; I also didn't like how Wrath's brothers appeared, the way in which they can move from hell to the world of humans seemed too easy to me, and not to mention how Emilia meets Lust, which I thought was a filler chapter that it didn't make any sense; there are so many unanswered questions that I know probably won't be answered, but if I start to list everything that's wrong with the book, I'll spend the entire month with this review.
If you want to read a book about witches to pass the time, this is the book for you, but don't expect a masterpiece because as I said, this book has a very much potential. Surely (100% likely) I will continue with the trilogy, but my expectations are not as high as I had it with this one.
Empezaré diciendo que este libro no me ha parecido malo, pero es de estos que tienen tanto potencial que la autora lo ha malgastado de una manera increíble.
Creo que lo mejor sería empezar por lo que más me ha gustado, y es que me parece que Kerri Maniscalco tiene una pluma buenísima que ha hecho que me haya leído el libro súper rápido sin ni siquiera darme cuenta de las horas que pasaban. Cuando leí la sinopsis lo quise agregar a mis lecturas porque me pareció una idea estupenda: ¿quién no quiere leer sobre brujas y demonios? Emilia, la protagonista, me ha gustado bastante por lo fuerte y segura que es, al igual que Wrath (que encima tiene tatuajes, qué más se puede pedir). Que esté ambientado en Italia también es un punto a favor del libro, nunca había leído un libro situado allí y me ha encantado.
Como siempre, ahora vengo a hablar de cosas que me han tocado la moral bastante: para empezar, no sé a quién se le ocurrió catalogar este libro como enemies to lovers cuando simplemente se odian porque Emilia es bruja y Wrath un demonio: no hay más razones a porqué son esos supuestos “enemigos” así que, para mí, esto sería más bien un haters to algo porque es que no hay romance casi. Odio cuando no evolucionan como “pareja”, básicamente han ido de odiarse a querer arrancarse la ropa en dos páginas: ¿perdón? No, así no vamos; antes he dicho que la pluma de Maniscalco me parece increíble pero también me parece que hay demasiada información innecesaria: perfectamente podría haberse ahorrado cien páginas o más; sabemos que está ambientada en Italia, como he dicho anteriormente, pero ¿en qué época? ¿tiene eso influencia en el libro? bueno pues aparentemente eso te lo inventas tú, porque nunca se sabe, simplemente das por hecho que es en el siglo XVIII-XIX por cómo se describen las ropas que llevan los personajes, poco más se sabe, y creo que podría haber añadido eso y quitado unas cuantas recetas, que ojo, amo la comida italiana y puedo entender que me quieras explicar algo de su cocina ya que los padres de las gemelas son dueños de un restaurante, pero no hacen falta tantas, me ha quedado claro que les gusta comer, muchas gracias; el libro empieza con las gemelas Emilia y Vittoria siendo inseparables y, de repente, Vittoria está muerta y ni me he enterado. La protagonista da mil vueltas al mismo tema para luego irse por las ramas con otro asunto y luego se vuelve todo un lío porque simplemente este libro está desordenado; tampoco me ha gustado cómo han aparecido los hermanos de Wrath, me ha parecido demasiado fácil la manera en cómo pueden moverse del infierno al mundo de los humanos, y sin hablar de cómo conoce Emilia a Lust, que me ha parecido un capítulo de relleno que no tenía sentido alguno; hay tantas preguntas sin resolver que sé que probablemente no serán resueltas, pero si me pongo a enumerar todo lo que está mal del libro me tiro el mes entero con esta reseña.
Si quieres leer un libro sobre brujas para pasar el rato, este es tu libro, pero no esperes una obra de arte impresionante porque como ya he dicho, este libro tiene un potencial malgastadísimo. Seguramente (100% probable) seguiré con la trilogía, pero ya mis expectativas no son tan altas como las tenía con este.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I’ll start by saying that this book wasn’t bad at all, but it’s one of those that have so much potential that the author just wasted it in an incredible way.
I think the best thing would be to start with what I liked the most, and it seems to me that Kerri Maniscalco has an amazing way of writing that made me read the book super fast without even noticing the hours that passed. When I read the synopsis I wanted to add it to my tbr because the premise looked amazing: who doesn't want to read about witches and demons? I really liked Emilia, the main character, because of how strong and confident she is, just like Wrath (who also has tattoos, what more could I ask for?). The fact that it’s set in Italy is also a point in favor to the book, I’d never read a book set there and I loved it.
As always, now I come to talk about things that have touched my morale a lot: to start with, I don't know who came up with the idea of classifying this book as “enemies to lovers” when they simply hate each other because Emilia is a witch and Wrath is a demon: there is no more reasons why they are those supposed "enemies" so, for me, this would be rather a “haters to something” because there is almost no romance. I hate when they don't evolve as a "couple", they've basically gone from hating each other to wanting to tear each other's clothes off in two pages: sorry? No, that's not how we go; as I said before, Maniscalco's pen seems incredible to me but it also seems that there is too much unnecessary information: it could have perfectly been a hundred pages or more less; we know that it is set in Italy, as I said before, but in what era? Does that influence the book? well, apparently you make it up by yourself because you never know, you simply assume that it is in the 18th-19th century, because of how the clothes worn by the characters are described, little else is known, and I think the author could’ve added that and removed a few recipes: don’t get me wrong, I love Italian food and I can understand that you want to explain something about their cuisine since the parents of the twins own a restaurant, but you don't need that many, it has become clear to me that they like to eat, thank you very much; The book begins with the twins Emilia and Vittoria being inseparable, and suddenly, Vittoria is dead and I didn’t even noticed. The MC goes around the same topic a thousand times and then goes off on another subject and then it becomes a whole mess because this book is just simply messy; I also didn't like how Wrath's brothers appeared, the way in which they can move from hell to the world of humans seemed too easy to me, and not to mention how Emilia meets Lust, which I thought was a filler chapter that it didn't make any sense; there are so many unanswered questions that I know probably won't be answered, but if I start to list everything that's wrong with the book, I'll spend the entire month with this review.
If you want to read a book about witches to pass the time, this is the book for you, but don't expect a masterpiece because as I said, this book has a very much potential. Surely (100% likely) I will continue with the trilogy, but my expectations are not as high as I had it with this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Confinement, Death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Moderate: Vomit, Addiction, Child death, and Animal death
pages_of_sav's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Gore and Religious bigotry
l_e_lavalle's review
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Murder, Blood, Death, and Gore
g_monaghan's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Nearly a dn but it picked up at the 90% mark and feel the sequels will be more interesting now the groundwork has been laid
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Torture
kellyjaed's review against another edition
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
Kingdom of the Wicked felt to me like a great introduction to an intriguing world, and I am eager to pick up the next instalment to continue on the journey. I have many questions! Some of the scenes where the storyline takes a sharp turn felt rushed to me and could have been fleshed out more. That being said, I feel like I could make a great Italian sauce with the level of detail in the cooking musings of the FMC (not necessarily a bad thing except that I was hungry for a large portion of the book lol). Sidenote, go Nonna - who doesn't love a powerhouse matriarch :)
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Murder, Violence, and Gore
jessannderson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
Not what I expected but ended up enjoying it more than I thought. An easy read but got me hooked pretty quickly. I’m kinda scared this is leading into a love triangle though…. But overall loving the series
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Death
leahfoko's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I decided by the end of the book that this reminded me a little bit of the Folk of The Air series. Which is genuinely one of my favorite series’ so this is high praise. While I wouldn’t say it is as good as that series so far, I felt the dynamic between Wrath and Emilia kind of reminded me of Jude and Cardan, and the unraveling of the mystery full of demonic political intrigue and such just felt very much like the political machinations of Elfhame. Sometimes the way the chapters flowed felt a little clunky because they would kind of just end all of the sudden and then the next chapter would take place in a completely different point without a whole lot of transition which was a little weird but you get used to it. Sometimes Emilia got on my nerves but in the same way that Jude did at times and yet I still love those books so it didn’t bother me too much overall. I felt like the book took a bit to get started but once Emilia and Wrath started working together it got much more interesting to me and the second book feels like it’ll be like the Wicked King where now that the players have been introduced and the main character has come into her power, all of the political scheming and mystery will begin and I cannot wait. Looking forward to reading the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore