Goodreads Monday (10/11/21) – Kingdom of the Wicked

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.

Continuing with some more spooky reads for spooky season, here’s one that I’ve seen everywhere! I’m hoping this one lives up to the hype—I do love books with witches and demons.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (10/11/21) – KINGDOM OF THE WICKED by Kerri Maniscalco

Blurb from Goodreads:

Two sisters.

One brutal murder.

A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself…

And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…

So why do I want to read this?

There are a few things that are making me think that parts of this book could go wrong very quickly, but I’m willing to stick around and see what happens.

What’s hooking me here is the premise of a witch-centric murder mystery! I love the idea of Emilia attempting to avenge her sister and all of the other murdered witches, and it seems like something that could move the plot steadily along and make for some suspense. Something about it is making me think of Serpent & Dove, which I liked, so hopefully that’s a good sign.

However, this whole “prince of Hell” could go either way. Wrath sounds like just the kind of character that could fall into that creepy, romanticized bully of a love interest that happens all too often in YA fantasy (see: the Darkling from Shadow and Bone, Cardan from The Cruel Prince, Mirnatius from Spinning Silver, etc.), so I’m a little hesitant. On the other hand, I do like his potentially demonic origins, and I think that could be an interesting twist in the story.

I guess I’ll have to see for myself, won’t I?

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!