Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco

75 reviews

bookwitch's review

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dark emotional 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

4.75

The pacing was a little off for this one. At 100 pgs more than the first, this one I knew would have a lot more information about the mystery, but was kind of surprised with the direction it took. Honestly, I am more confused now about the plot than I was before. This volume also took a large step up on the spicy scale, than the first one (though I don't particularly mind, it is a hard sell for YA).. 
Emilia is escorted to Hell by Wrath, to wed her "Prince" though its not exactly the one she thought it would be. She is still deep in her personal investigation of what happened to her twin sister, and why, and felt that the only way she would be able to get the answers she sought out, would be to infiltrate the prince's circle herself. What she gets though is an unquenchable desire for the demon she swore was her enemy, and more questions than answers. Emilia knew that the truth would be hard to come by surrounded by demons, but she wasn't counting on her only ally being the keeper of one of the biggest secrets about her part in this blasted curse. 
Now she must learn the many ways in which to defend herself in this new realm, while continuing to unraveling the tangled web that is happening in real time around her at this moment. Can she trust Wrath? Can she even trust herself?

Some of the biggest reveals at the end were not total shockers. I had a feeling that Wrath was always the King of Sins, not Pride, and that Vittoria had a bigger part in this than was originally thought. Though, I was not counting on her potential heel turn (?) and the added question of whether or not Emilia (and Vittoria) had their memories erased or not. It is definitely pointing to Emilia being the First Witch's daughter (the one who fell in love with a demon and died, supposedly, or something) although, it is now starting to feel like Vittoria is actually the First Witch, and instead of cursing the demon Princes for co-mingling with her "daughter" its actually her sister?

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instalovewithbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

I'm obsessed. Buying book 3 right now.

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spatterson7's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0


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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: violence, blood, sexual content 

Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco is book two in the Kingdom of the Wicked series. I think this book suffered from second book syndrome. It was a lot slower than the first book, but we got more character moments and a lot more spice. The ending made it up to me though. Possible spoilers for book one ahead.

We follow Emilia as she enters the underworld with Wrath so she can marry the devil. She must fight through many sins, and her character and strength are tested. Although she seems most aligned with wrath, I felt that lust was a close second with the way she desires Prince Wrath the entire book. Emilia is still set on her scheme to figure out her sister's murder, while solving the mystery of enchanted skulls that keep getting sent to her. 

We get to see more of the other princes in this book, but mainly we learn the most about Wrath. He gets a lot of development along with Emilia in this book. I also like him a lot more in this book than I did last time. I appreciated Emilia exploring her sexuality and coming to terms with the shame she has been taught to have about it in the mortal world. There were some deliciously spicy moments in this book that I quite enjoyed. Some parts of the book were so slow, those moments were what kept me engaged. 

The ending made up for the weird pacing in the story, and definitely had me intrigued for how this will all end. 

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thebookaddict's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious tense 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

3.0

Ik wou dat ik dit boek meer sterren kon geven. Ik begon hier vol goede moed aan, omdat ik deel 1 echt geweldig vond. Helaas was dit boek een tegenvaller. Het draaide om verlangens en spice die slecht werd neergezet. Emilia wist niet wat haar keuzes waren... de ene keer haat ze Toorn en de andere keer vind ze hem geweldig en sexy. Toorn zelf is gwn top hahaha. Als ik deel 3 niet zo graag wou lezen had dit misschien zelfs een dnf kunnen worden. Er zat tot 300 pagina's totaal geen verhaallijn en plot in, alleen slechte smut gedachtes. Na 300 pagina's werd het al een stuk beter. Ze bedacht zich ineens weer wat haar doe was en ging doelbewust te werk. Ze werd zelfs badass. Al mag ze Toorn best wat meer credits geven voor zijn gedrag..... het einde maakte het meer dan goed. Er kwamen ineens vet veel twists in. Hopelijk komt deel 3 sneller op gang....

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britbrat26_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


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disnelyse's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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


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kitkat562's review against another edition

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

2.75

This book was a lot of nothing in between 2-3 really big reveals honestly. It felt like the plot would go in a direction, then nothing would come of it for hundreds of pages until the end. The ending felt rushed and like she was trying to tie up all the loose ends scattered through the book. Also, beware of chapter 17 if you struggle with SA content. 

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mlh95's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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maximran17's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0


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