Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

31 reviews

valreadssometimes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.5

In this book, the seven deadly sins are each incredibly handsome princes of hell. They all hate each other and want to be the most powerful. However, the power is not fully explained , so the reader never understands what’s really at risk. Like, the main character is trying to save the world from demons and get revenge, but like, what do the demons want with this power? Plus, what’s the difference between one demon winning and another? Nobody knows, not even them.

The main character, a witch named Emilia, has bad problem solving skills, sucks at reading people, and is way too into cooking. So much so that it kinda messed with the pacing of the story when she randomly starts talking about recipes during an important moment. Also, the plot armor was crazy in this book, and I felt like Emilia was in no real danger or hurry to do anything. Like, there never seemed to be any real consequences for any of her actions. Ever.

In the end, nothing seemed to be revealed even though the book had a couple hundred pages to do so. However, it wasn’t a terrible read when I wanted something light and silly.

Was this book objectively good?
No, not really.

Was it exactly what I expected when I picked it up ?
Yes. Don’t pick this book up if you want great writing. But it’s not a bad YA kind-of-romance if you enjoy series like Shatter Me and Throne of Glass.
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moonchild_cos's review against another edition

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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

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excritos's review against another edition

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

4.25

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supremeburrito's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I don’t know how I got a hold of this book, but man so I love me some Obey Me Fan Fiction. 
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g_monaghan's review against another edition

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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 
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leahfoko's review against another edition

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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!
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mirandahedvik's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.25

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clairew97's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? N/A

4.25

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traceyanderson's review against another edition

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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

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purplehulk713's review against another edition

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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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