thefebruaryfriday's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-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
Usually, when I finish a terrible book I feel so much hate and disappointment but this time instead of hating I laughed my ass off with this one.
First things first, let's talk about the plot. Cheerfully this book had one, but it was a complete mess, there were so many things happening and a lot of it was just random, some really bad stuff popping out of nowhere and being solved in the blink of an eye. I'm sorry, there was so much telling and not showing that it was hard to appreciate the feeling of being desperate to know what was going to happen on the next page. The dialogue made me cringe at many parts, it was more like Emilia asking stupid questions about something no one cared but the author wanted us to, than an actual conversation. And the way that something was suddenly important, like Emilia's parents, but it disappeared until it was convenient to appear again, like what?
But even though I hated these aspects, every awkward conversation made me laugh and the fact that every time you flip a page there's something different happening made me go through this very quickly. The ambience and the world-building are actually interesting but could be more explored and better explained.
Wrath is actually kind of funny with all of his lessons and grumpy personality, I like him.
Emilia is just like every other fantasy character, completely stupid and dull, she doesn't have a personality other than 'solving the mystery of her sister's death'. And what a hell of a plot twist, I found out everything in the middle of the book and wasn't even a little surprised.
Will I read the sequel? Of course, wasting my time is my favourite hobby.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol
raypaws's review against another edition
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Gore and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Vomit
traceyanderson's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Gore, Grief, Death, Blood, Body horror, Injury/injury detail, Vomit, Violence, and Torture
_ohheyisabella_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/injury detail and Blood
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Death, and Gore
flaviapaniza's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Addiction, Gore, Blood, and Violence
vanyavampi118's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
Excellently written. Something unlike anything I have ever read. An amazing story full of love, deceit, bargains and betrayals. It has multiple well placed plot twists and great character development. Would recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gore
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…
Beware the Malvagi, fellow streghe…
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
empathreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It was adventurous for most and gave plenty of thrills, as each journey by Emilia seemed to call for danger. She was weakened and forced to a pivotal point of making decisions for herself and for her loved ones. Gone are the peaceful days and pleasant memories; vengeance was the theme, and her emitting wrath joined in on those who've harmed the human world (no pun intended). It was definitely all-consuming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Death, War, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Torture, Violence, and Gore
januaryt123's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Gore, and Religious bigotry