Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco Series: Kingdom of the Wicked #2
Published by Jimmy Patterson Books (10.26.2021)
Genres: Romance, Urban Fantasy
Format: Audiobook, 448 pages
Length: 14 hours, 14 minutes
Narrator: Marisa Calin
Source: Library
After selling her soul to become Queen of the Wicked, Emilia travels to the Seven Circles with the enigmatic Prince of Wrath, where she’s introduced to a seductive world of vice.
She vows to do whatever it takes to avenge her beloved sister, Vittoria... even if that means accepting the hand of the Prince of Pride, the king of demons.
The first rule in the court of the Wicked? Trust no one. With back-stabbing princes, luxurious palaces, mysterious party invitations, and conflicting clues about who really killed her twin, Emilia finds herself more alone than ever before. Can she even trust Wrath, her one-time ally in the mortal world... or is he keeping dangerous secrets about his true nature?
Emilia will be tested in every way as she seeks a series of magical objects that will unlock the clues of her past and the answers she craves...
One sister.
Two sinful princes.
Infinite deception with a side of revenge… Welcome to Hell.
My thoughts
Before we get into this shit show: THIS IS NOT YA. There is lots of sexual content in this book. If you want an angsty smutty romance with zero plot, LOOK NO FURTHER.
WORST case of Second Book Syndrome I’ve read in as long as I can remember. This year must be all about sequels that disappointed me! This one is the worst yet, though. I think this is the single most disappointing sequel I’ve ever read. I loved the first book and gave it 4.5/5. I almost DNFed this one.
I don’t normally like romance, but it really worked for me in the first book. I adore enemies to lovers romance, and it had that perfect slow burn that I also adore. The steamy scenes had me fanning myself. However, in this book? Good. Fucking. LORD. I was fine with it for a little while, but then it got to be too much – to the point that the plot was completely nonexistent and the book was literally just constant sexual tension and angst. That’s IT. Nothing else. Wrath and Emilia fucking each other with their eyes and denying any attraction because duh, they hate each other and obviously can’t have any feelings. It was EXHAUSTING. And disgusting, too, with gems like this: The need to bed him was overwhelming, the ache unbearable. Can you HEAR my eyes rolling? Because they just rolled pretty damn hard. (-insert Facebook tag group “I just cringed so hard my vagina dried up” here-) By halfway through the book I was huffing and puffing and eye rolling and saying “UGH” out loud out of sheer frustration because it was so cringe and I was so SICK of it.
Listen. If I wanted a smutty romance with zero plot, I’d pick up something marketed as such. WHERE is the amazing atmospheric world, cool magic, badass MC, and mouth-watering food descriptions I loved in the first book?! Also, I saw a couple people talking about Chapter 17 and how cringe and disgusting it is, and I agree. It didn’t bother me to the extent it bothered some others, but what struck me is that I’m pretty sure the author meant it to be sexy and it straight up wasn’t. What TF is sexy about mental abuse and sexually humiliating someone?! (And I think it was in front of someone else, no less.) Try to contain yourself, ladies.
And then. AND. THEN. View Spoiler » Don’t even talk to me about this book. I will be forever saltier than the entire ocean that I hated this so much. So salty that I doubt I’ll ever touch book 3. I’m just going to pretend the first book was a standalone.
Overall Assessment
Plot: 0/5
Premise: 3/5
Writing style: 2.5/5
Originality: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
World-building: 1/5
Pace: 2/5
Feels: 0/5
Narration: 4/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Overall rating: 1/5
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