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Kingdom of the Wicked tells the story of a girl named Emilia who is a young witch living in Palermo. Her whole world is flipped upside down when her twin sister, Vittoria, is found with her heart ripped out. Emilia takes it upon herself to figure out who killed her twin and claim proper revenge. Along the way, Emilia meets several princes of hell, or the Wicked, though none are as mysterious as Wrath. This book is a gothic fantasy story about a young girl coming into her own while facing both love and betrayal. 

I was very disappointed in this book. It had been so highly recommended to me, and though it was entertaining, I was not impressed. The main character wasn’t very strong and I felt she was somewhat annoying. This may be because she is still very much a young girl, but most of the things she did were reckless and resulted in chaos. Her character was very righteous and self serving. She refused anyone’s help, which I personally felt made everything worse. I did not like the way she treated the people in the book and I honestly felt like her personality kept shifting. I was not a big fan of her, but also keep in mind this is the first book in a series, so, though I haven’t read the rest, there is a lot of room for growth for Emilia. 

The story felt somewhat rushed and incomplete. There were many instances where I had no clue what was going on. A lot of characters would say things that were meant to justify certain events, but I was honestly just very confused. Additionally, I didn’t like a lot of the dialogue. It felt forced and unnatural. I thought that a lot of it was meant to be witty and funny, but sometimes it just was uncomfortable. I think that the characters could have been developed more, especially Emilia. However, I felt that Wrath was well written. Though his own development also felt rushed, I feel like the author did a good job showing his own compassion towards Emilia and other characters in the story.

The plot of this story was very interesting though. I liked the gothic and dark vibes of the story, and I have honestly never read another book like it. I liked the curses and spells involved as well as the history between the princes of hell. The author definitely took time crafting such a unique world for her characters and I liked getting to experience such a magical book. I loved the various creatures that made appearances. There were vampires, werewolves, demons, and witches.

I also liked Emilia’s family history. I liked the way her family was connected to the magic and the demons. Her family was almost the center of magic in Palermo. Emilia’s grandmother was also very interesting, though I wish we could have seen more of her and learned more about her own personal history. 

I also liked how the story was based in the small village of Palermo. The author did a good job creating a vibrant setting and really placing the reader into this new world. 

I would not recommend this book, as I was personally not a fan. However, if you want to experience a world of gothic creatures and mysterious demons, this book is pretty interesting. 

Check out Kingdom of the Wicked from the Newport Beach Public Library!