Fantasy

Kingdom of the Cursed

Kingdom of the Cursed

  • Downloads：5164
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-10-02 07:19:27
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Kerri Maniscalco
  • ISBN：B08W4YY6NC
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

From #1 New York Times bestselling author of Stalking Jack the Ripper Kerri Maniscalco comes the sizzling， sweepingly romantic sequel to Kingdom of the Wicked！

One sister。
Two sinful princes。
Infinite deception with a side of revenge…Welcome to Hell。

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。。。

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Reviews

bern ⸙͎ ˀˀ ，

when this comes out the day before your exam ？？

ikram ，

Why did the stars appear ANYWAYS I thought this book was released already omg but thankfully it’s getting released next month？？？？，

Mar ，

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange of an honest review！3。75 stars for this one， rounded up to 4。This book was largely better than the first one， specially for Wrath whom we finally came to know （and me personally， fall in love with）。 He was in his element， and so I feel like it was easier for him to develop as a character。 While the aesthetic of this series is immaculate， as is the romance， I do think it lacked a little bit in terms of plot and growth for Emilia。 It was Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange of an honest review！3。75 stars for this one， rounded up to 4。This book was largely better than the first one， specially for Wrath whom we finally came to know （and me personally， fall in love with）。 He was in his element， and so I feel like it was easier for him to develop as a character。 While the aesthetic of this series is immaculate， as is the romance， I do think it lacked a little bit in terms of plot and growth for Emilia。 It was very slow paced and not much happened。 i also wish there had been more female friendships explored， as well as Emilia’s powers。 The last 5 chapters packed in so much that could’ve perhaps been paced out throughout the book。HOWEVER， it has 5 stars on romance。 It was sexy， amazing， comforting， slightly possessive and the theories of what’s to come have me HYPEDDDDDDD。 The ending killed me bc really…。 She ended it ON THE BEST PART LOL。Hopefully Kerri will go in the direction I think， cause it would be amazing。 Fans of Caraval， this book is just for you！ 。。。more

Darci ，

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review！Rating: ★★★ stars As I pulled my cloak on， I recalled Nonna's warnings about the Wicked--how once someone caught a demon prince's attention he'd stop at nothing to claim them。The way Wrath had looked at me made me think those stories were true。 ✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Witch Emilia Maria di Carlo ventures into the depths of hell， under the guise of a betrothal but has a secret agenda to avenge her murde Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review！Rating: ★★★ stars As I pulled my cloak on， I recalled Nonna's warnings about the Wicked--how once someone caught a demon prince's attention he'd stop at nothing to claim them。The way Wrath had looked at me made me think those stories were true。 ✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Witch Emilia Maria di Carlo ventures into the depths of hell， under the guise of a betrothal but has a secret agenda to avenge her murdered sister， and is accompanied by demon Prince Wrath who is temptation personified for Emilia， and has the power to make her world crumble with the secrets he holds。💭 Overall Thoughts: This book was massively entertaining in terms of WrathEmilia content。 I loved the cataclysm of secrets unraveling。 The plot we were given in this book was very disappointing personally， but I think there's a great promise for future books with the direction things are going in。 My mind is racing with theories and this has me immensely excited to read onto the next books！ “One thing I can promise，" his voice was deep and sensual in the dark， "is you won't ever doubt it's real when I touch you。" What I Liked:👍 WrathEmilia: I love these two， even more than books 1。 They've kept their bite and fire from book 1， but with added steam and tension。 For me， the best part of a romance story is when they're still fighting their attraction for one another， and this book SERVES in that regard。 Emilia is a wildfire and Wrath is simply bathing in her glow; my favorite ship dynamic！👍 Clear Consent: This is something so simple and bare minimum， but it lights me on fire when consent is done well。 By that， I mean it's clearly present during sexy times。 Wrath may be a prince of hell， but he's also getting another crown here for consent king！What I Didn’t Like:👎 The Setting: I expected better from Hell。 The imagery （save for one or two locations） was so dull and bland。 Perhaps it's because we had such a lush backdrop and descriptors for book 1 that I felt let down here？👎 The Plot: While I can see the direction of the plot heading to something incredible， I can't bring myself to give credit to this book yet for the possibilities to come。 What actually occurs in this book。。。 isn't much at all。 There were so many tiny actions/events that summed up to something entirely underwhelming （i。e。 the skulls plot line）。 This definitely felt like a middle-of-the-series book that's purpose is to set the plot/characters for what's to come。 If that's the case and this book goes in the direction I think it will。。。 well， I'll be blown away and have to come back to change this rating！ But until this series is full flushed out， I can't give merits just yet。 There is an equal chance this plot goes in the opposite direction， one I would be severely disappointed in。💞 Read this if you liked: Caraval by Stephanie Garber and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor。⚠️ Content Warnings: blood， violence He leaned in close， his voice dropping impossibly low。 "Love and hate are both rooted in passion。" His lips whispered across my jaw as he slowly brought them to my ear。 My breath caught from his nearness， his heat。 He drew back enough to meet my gaze， his attention falling to my mouth。 "Strange how that line becomes blurred over time。" 。。。more

Chloe Hodge ，

Review to come

M T ，

I’d love to know how 335 people rated this 4。47 stars without having read it first 😂Don’t get me wrong I loved the first book， but you can’t rate this 4/5 stars without having read it first - and given that there were only about a dozen physical ARCs sent out （in the US only）， despite the publishers in the U。K。 promising copies in March and failing to deliver， I doubt all of these 335 people have read this book。

Shravani ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I can't wait to read this book！I'm not one for theories， but after reading the chapter excerpts NOVL released， I've a feeling Wrath is actually the king of demons！ Pride is talked of as the devil because， well， PRIDE。 😅 I can't wait to read this book！I'm not one for theories， but after reading the chapter excerpts NOVL released， I've a feeling Wrath is actually the king of demons！ Pride is talked of as the devil because， well， PRIDE。 😅 。。。more

m ，

2。5 - entertaining but ultimately a weak plot & too many pick me moments

hininadb ，

I apologize in advance for the person i’ll become when I get my hands on this book

astro ✧°˖࿐ ，

MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BEFORE THIS YEAR ENDS！ LOL， I'm sorry for the person I'll become when KOTC is released。 MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BEFORE THIS YEAR ENDS！ LOL， I'm sorry for the person I'll become when KOTC is released。 。。。more

Lia ，

I liked how the magic system was formed and created it felt tangible， I liked nearly all the characters and found that I enjoyed reading it even if I felt awkward once or twice！ I look forward to reading the next book in this series。

Ry Thorne ，

* singing in the Old McDonald manner*I guess I fucking hate myselfee i ee i ohAnd I'm gonna read this trashEe i ee i ohWith some dumb shit hereAnd some dumb shit thereDumb shit， dumb shitEverywhere dumb shitSo I guess I fucking hate myselfEe i ee i o * singing in the Old McDonald manner*I guess I fucking hate myselfee i ee i ohAnd I'm gonna read this trashEe i ee i ohWith some dumb shit hereAnd some dumb shit thereDumb shit， dumb shitEverywhere dumb shitSo I guess I fucking hate myselfEe i ee i o 。。。more

Ayman ，

Kerri Maniscalco really fucked me up with this one！ she 👏🏽 fucking 👏🏽 delivered 👏🏽 full review will be posted on pub date; thank you to The NOVL for sending me 1 out of the 7 physical ARCs

Mefab✨ ，

Still waiiiitingggggg

Zain ✨ ，

I NEED THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW， I CANNOT WAIT ANYMORE！！

Ayushi ，

Two words: Holy。 Fck。Thank you so much to NOVL for sending me a physical ARC！ RTC closer to pub date。

Emily ，

I remember reading kingdom of the wicked very fast yet not really being into it。 Specifically the atmosphere was good and the beginning was strong and then everything became a detached but feverish blur， possibly because I started skimming。 But of course I'll still read this。 I remember reading kingdom of the wicked very fast yet not really being into it。 Specifically the atmosphere was good and the beginning was strong and then everything became a detached but feverish blur， possibly because I started skimming。 But of course I'll still read this。 。。。more

sophie ☼☽ ，

the author said that this book ramps up in spice from the slow-burn of the first book。*screams*oh my lord i can't wait。 the author said that this book ramps up in spice from the slow-burn of the first book。*screams*oh my lord i can't wait。 。。。more

Stella Grace ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I really loved this！！ I’m a huge fan of detailed writing with beautiful， sweeping descriptions and Kerri delivered。 Whenever there was a cooking scene I got SO excited cause I just loved those in KOTW， and seeing them make a reappearance in KOTC hit just right。One of the few things I didn’t enjoy was the lack of romance between Wrath and Emilia。 It seems that their relationship had moved from longing to only lusting after each other， which is fine， but didn’t seem to blend in as well with KOTW’s I really loved this！！ I’m a huge fan of detailed writing with beautiful， sweeping descriptions and Kerri delivered。 Whenever there was a cooking scene I got SO excited cause I just loved those in KOTW， and seeing them make a reappearance in KOTC hit just right。One of the few things I didn’t enjoy was the lack of romance between Wrath and Emilia。 It seems that their relationship had moved from longing to only lusting after each other， which is fine， but didn’t seem to blend in as well with KOTW’s sweeping elements of romance。 I think physical and emotional attraction can blend well together， but we only got a glimpse of their physical attraction for the most part。Hell has the potential to be a very exciting landscape， with lots of shifting characters， but any character that wasn’t Wrath and Emilia felt like a plot device not a person with their own motives， which made it harder to get into the society and social element of hell。 The story could have moved forward just as well if the side characters were nameless as they didn’t serve any other function except for Emilia to talk to someone other than Wrath。 The twist at the end made me YELL。 I cant believe Vittoria is alive and at that hiding something seemingly sinister from her twin。 I didn’t see that coming！！ I think the ending sets up book 3 perfectly。Kerri left the perfect amount of unanswered questions at the end of the book so that the third book can close out the trilogy with a bang。 。。。more

tori ☼ ，

if emilia and wrath don't get spicy i'm suing。 i'm not waiting until october for no smut， sorry。 if emilia and wrath don't get spicy i'm suing。 i'm not waiting until october for no smut， sorry。 。。。more

Lea （drumsofautumn） ，

listen， sometimes "easily consumable" matters more than "good"。Buddy read with Melanie ♥Instagram | Blog | Booktube Channel | Twitter listen， sometimes "easily consumable" matters more than "good"。Buddy read with Melanie ♥Instagram | Blog | Booktube Channel | Twitter 。。。more

Christine Manzari ，

Kingdom of the Wicked was one of my favorite books last year and I desperately wanted more Wrath and Emilia， but I didn’t know how much I NEEDED this story。 Absolute perfection。 This is romantic fantasy that will get your heart swooning and set all your fancy parts afire。 I had so many theories after the first book and 🤐🤐🤐 but let me just say that if you’re anything like me you will be cheering at the revelations， swooning over the declarations， blushing at the temptations， and giving a fist pum Kingdom of the Wicked was one of my favorite books last year and I desperately wanted more Wrath and Emilia， but I didn’t know how much I NEEDED this story。 Absolute perfection。 This is romantic fantasy that will get your heart swooning and set all your fancy parts afire。 I had so many theories after the first book and 🤐🤐🤐 but let me just say that if you’re anything like me you will be cheering at the revelations， swooning over the declarations， blushing at the temptations， and giving a fist pump to that final line in the book。 。。。more

sof ，

i am SCREAMING。 i love this book so much？1？？1everyone say thank u ms kerri ！ （except for the last page pls i was so — and boom！ acknowledgments 😭）this book was so hot i couldn’t breathe， i cant breathe and i will not breathe until i read kotw 3 <3editing review just to add this: cannoli man

Maëlys ，

☆ 3 / 5 ☆Kingdom of the Wicked （Book 1） : 2。5 / 5 “He chose this。 Just as I did。 And choice was power。”This instalment of the series picks right back where we left off as Wrath and Emilia make their way into Hell after she sold her soul to the devil。 She then discovers a world of sin， luxury， and secrets。 We see Emilia have to stand her own not only against the Princes of Hell， but also their subjects。This reading experience started out with a bang for me， going in with just vibes and the int ☆ 3 / 5 ☆Kingdom of the Wicked （Book 1） : 2。5 / 5 “He chose this。 Just as I did。 And choice was power。”This instalment of the series picks right back where we left off as Wrath and Emilia make their way into Hell after she sold her soul to the devil。 She then discovers a world of sin， luxury， and secrets。 We see Emilia have to stand her own not only against the Princes of Hell， but also their subjects。This reading experience started out with a bang for me， going in with just vibes and the intent of having an entertaining time。 And I did！ Or at least for most of the book。 The story was enjoyable， we’re discovering new settings of Hell， Emilia wasn’t annoying me like she did in the first book， and I was even rooting for her romance with Wrath。 However， that all came crashing down in chapter 17 when the lines of consent were very dubiously crossed and things were brushed away as if nothing happened。 Worse of all， up until that point Wrath had been presented as the hailer of choice and consent， trying so hard to place him morally above all other possible male interests or mere mortals， and obviously that did not change after the events that transpired and even redoubled。 This complete disregard for boundaries was justified by it being a “training session” which wouldn’t have really saved the scene for me， but it was truly the nail in the coffin when it turned out that training wasn’t even needed and all that had been done was actually pointless。 The excuse of “he is a Prince of Hell” can truly not be used when choice and consent， especially in situations with sexual undertones， is the biggest tenet of his moral compass。 Supposedly。 This really ruined Wrath’s character and his relationship with Emilia for me and had me roll my eyes at all the times he would mention always giving her a choice， or not letting anyone make her do anything against her own wishes。 Apparently he’s the only exception to the rule。 In the aftermath everything was brushed off， and it was like nothing had ever happened。 Which was really strange considering Emilia’s tendency for grudges and how long she took to forgive him for other things before or would at least antagonise him about them for a while。 Not only did that scene make me feel gross and made my skin crawl， but it is just truly so annoying that it also made no sense narratively and could just have been avoided。 It all turned out to be so unnecessary and it opposed everything Kerri Maniscalco has tried to build with this series in terms of owning your own sexuality and always having a choice。For a brief recap of the scene: （view spoiler）[Wrath strolls into the room in an angry mood before first subduing Emilia with Sloth， making her feel sleepy， and then switching to Wrath， Lust and Envy。 Once she understands he is using his powers on her， she clearly states “I did not consent to this。” but he brushes it off saying they have a bargain and he needs to train Emilia to fight off his brother’s powers。 Which， okay， I guess。 However， he doesn’t stop at making her feel Lust or Wrath but actually makes her undress herself， sway her hips， be on her knees in front of him， call him master， and feel up his leg。 Oh， and stab him。 But that was my favourite part of the scene。I think that overall everything would’ve been the same with her just stabbing him since that was the biggest issue she had with everything that happened apparently and was only mad at him for that。 And if Kerri Maniscalco wanted to add Lust’s influence， we’ve already had scenes where she’s had very vivid sexual visions， so something similar without her having to undress and humiliate herself grovelling at Wrath’s feet wouldn’t have been amiss。 It was just so overly unnecessary ESPECIALLY when entering the Feast she was supposed to train for， Wrath says “No one will touch you while we’re here， Emilia。 It would be an act of war and we’re all gathered with the understanding of temporary peace。” It left me speechless。 Yes she can use that knowledge and training for other times when she’d have to meet alone with the Princes but。。 That never happened either。 （hide spoiler）]Other than this whole mess that dampened anything involving Wrath for me going forward， I actually had a really fun time reading this book。 I absolutely loved exploring a few different parts of the Kingdom of the Wicked and seeing how the different Houses interacted in their own homes。 We get to meet the other Princes of Hell and delve deeper into their personalities。 The true standout for me in this book was Envy and his mysterious schemes。 We had met him previously but seeing him in this different light， I just truly enjoyed whenever his character was meddling in anything。 We also get to see Anir again and make the acquaintance of the very endearing Fauna。Another pleasant surprise for me was that I enjoyed Emilia so much more in this book than in the first one。 I think a lot had to do with her not making as many stupid decisions and the plot having way less convenient pivotal moments， hence actually making it seem like she was putting thought into her plans。 Don’t get me wrong， there are still many very convenient plot points and loose ends that need to be explored in the next book， but they didn’t bother me this time around and it was easy to just follow the flow of this story - even when it’s going a little off the rails towards the end， but as long as it’s fun， I’m here for it。I think what I really enjoyed is that it was somewhat more magical。 Not with tons of new spells or curses， but I think due to the setting alone， the atmosphere was more mysteriously fantastical and it felt more immersive。 In a sense， the halls of Hell felt more realistic and fleshed out as a setting than our original small town in nineteenth century Sicily。 This was once again a very consumable book， and I will definitely be reading the last one in the trilogy。 I’m sure it’ll be a roller coaster in terms of plot， but I am intrigued to see how everything wraps up。 If it hadn’t been for that one scene， I think this book truly could’ve been a 4 / 5 for me。All quotes are taken from an arc and aren’t final。 Please refer to a finished copy。Youtube ☆ TwitterBuddy read with Melanie ♡ 。。。more

☆ sana ☆ ，

4。5 stars。 this was better than the first book。 i can’t wait for the last book。 kerri maniscalco knew what she was doing when she gave wrathemilia the redacted trope！

Tzuprint ，

AUG 30TH: AHHH IM SO EXCITEDDDDDDD

Melanie ，

ARC provided by the publisher➽ 1。） Kingdom of the Wicked ★★★ "And there is nothing more dangerous than love， is there？ People fight for it。 They die for it。 They commit acts of war and treason and all manner of sin in its name。" Whew， what a rollercoaster again！ Kingdom of the Cursed picks up immediately after the events of Kingdom of the Wicked， and with Emilia trying to pick up the falling pieces of her life。 Her main priority is to still avenge her s ARC provided by the publisher➽ 1。） Kingdom of the Wicked ★★★ "And there is nothing more dangerous than love， is there？ People fight for it。 They die for it。 They commit acts of war and treason and all manner of sin in its name。" Whew， what a rollercoaster again！ Kingdom of the Cursed picks up immediately after the events of Kingdom of the Wicked， and with Emilia trying to pick up the falling pieces of her life。 Her main priority is to still avenge her sister and discover who was killing witches in her Italian town， but this time she is looking for clues in the land of actual heck， where she is promised to one of the seven demon rulers， and not the one she already has feelings for。 Yet， Wrath escorts her back to his personal heck kingdom， and Emilia soon realizes there is much more she has to be in search of if she ever really wants to live a normal life again。I feel like talking about my thoughts on this series is just so difficult。 Let me start out by saying that this was the most easily consumable book I’ve read all year， and there wasn’t a moment I wasn’t thinking about it while not reading。 The atmosphere， setting， and entire vibe is perfect， especially for the autumn time！ The main character and her quests for vengeance and for her own discovery really is phenomenal。 The writing is lush and descriptive and feels like its own sort of magical teleportation。 And the story itself feels enthralling at every turn， and plot points are constantly being set up to leave the reader anticipating that next page， while also begging for the next book。 "When the demon responsible for Vittoria’s death finally felt the flames of my fury， I’d hopefully have burned this House of Sin to ash。" But there was just a horrible chapter that really dampened my entire reading experience and it really breaks my heart because this is one of those situations where I truly believe if publishing houses would just hire beta readers who review critically， this could have been such an easy chapter to fix。 I actually believe that if chapter 17 did not happen， this could have been a five star book for me and you could have seen me holding it up as a new profile picture in 2022。 But that scene just 1。） made me wanna throw up and 2。） made it so hard to root for the romance after， even though the author constantly tries to make an excuse for the behavior， but it honestly just makes it feel even worse。 Also， I wouldn't make excuses for anything that happened in that chapter， but once I finished the book I realized that the “training session” was so unnecessary， at least in this book， and again it just ruined my reading enjoyment。For the sake of the rest of this review， I’m just going to ignore this chapter。 But in my review of Kingdom of the Wicked， I said how this series is the first series in so many years to remind me of those fantasy series I read when I was younger and truly could not put the books down， and I would look forward to their next installments being released months and months in advance， while trying to devour to story when it hit my kindle at midnight！And this story was extra reminiscent of those feelings because this second book takes a very large jump in the adult or new adult fantasy genre。 This book is very steamy， and Emilia and Wrath have very sexy thoughts on the brain 24/7。 This author also makes full use of this series being about demons inspired off the seven deadly sins， and this story uses very public displays to showcase this。 （I do scream at Emilia not knowing about oral sex though， especially when she claims to have read such naughty romance books in her past though！）Overall， again， this is just a hard one for me to review and rate。 I will for sure read book three and see how it all wraps up， because I am actually unhingedly invested in everything， especially with how this second book closes！ I really loved all the new developments with Emilia’s powers and with all the witches and the history of witches， actually。 I loved a lot of the side characters we were introduced to too， and maybe one demon prince will actually pull a Rhysand， which would be insane but I’d really welcome it at this point。 I also want to see all of the different lands and castles of hell， too， because so far every exploration has felt magical and so exciting！ I do apologize for this review being all over the place; middle books are always a bit more difficult for me to review， especially ones where I am trying to pretend an entire chapter didn’t happen。 I’m going to be very curious what everyone thinks of this book once it releases！ "Not all stories end happily， Emilia" Trigger + Content Warnings: a lot of blood descriptions + depictions， grief， gore， violence， mention of loss of a loved one， brief mention of the topic of rape， drugging， a lot of sexual themes and scenes， and a full warning that chapter 17 has very questionable physical consent involving mind control powers using magical compulsion - truly full dubcon vibes but sex does not ultimately happen， but it is just a very uncomfortable scene that actually made me nauseous， so please use caution while reading。Blog | Instagram | Youtube | Ko-fi | Spotify | Twitch Buddy read with Maëlys & Lea！ ❤ 。。。more

Yutong ，

HELP I NEED THIS SO BAD I WONT BE AT PEACE UNTIL I HAVE THIS BOOK IN MY HANDS WSKDWJDHJ

Em ，

What the hell is that cover

Tracy （Cornerfolds） ，

Hold onto your butts！ Unpopular opinion incoming。 Kingdom of the Wicked was one of my absolute favorite reads of 2020。 I was obsessed and had to acquire every edition I could find。 Needless to say， I was SO excited to get access to an ARC of Kingdom of the Cursed and jumped in as soon as my brain would allow （mood reading sucks）。 Based on other reviews I expected a lot of spice and， coming off of a spicy book binge， I was definitely here for it。 Kingdom of the Cursed picks up immediately after b Hold onto your butts！ Unpopular opinion incoming。 Kingdom of the Wicked was one of my absolute favorite reads of 2020。 I was obsessed and had to acquire every edition I could find。 Needless to say， I was SO excited to get access to an ARC of Kingdom of the Cursed and jumped in as soon as my brain would allow （mood reading sucks）。 Based on other reviews I expected a lot of spice and， coming off of a spicy book binge， I was definitely here for it。 Kingdom of the Cursed picks up immediately after book one with Emilia traveling to the Seven Circles with Wrath。 Upon arriving at his palace she begins to search for clues about her sister's murder while resisting the sinful influence of the realm。 Honestly， the plot of this book is a bit all over the place and a little confusing at times。 Kingdom of the Wicked set up a mystery that I was eager to figure out。 There are multiple new mysteries on top of the ones that are ongoing from that book and， where book one had a clear focus and goal， this one tried to do too much at once。 Emilia seemed to jump around constantly to new theories， mysteries， and plans and I struggled to understand what she was even trying to do。 There were some interesting reveals in the last 10%， but I wish there had been more clear plot earlier on。 Truly though， I'm just here for the romance between Wrath and Emilia。 This book has been marketed as New Adult （or at least the word of mouth has implied that it is） and the spice was really not what I expected。 While there are certainly spicy scenes， Kerri's way of writing sexuality has always been off to me and it's no different here。 Emilia constantly talks about how empowered and sexual she is， but there is always a sense of shame surrounding sex in this world。 This was also an aspect of Kerri's previous series that made me uncomfortable。Mild spoilers to further my thoughts about the weird handling of sexuality:（view spoiler）[Two things in particular really make me question what Kerri's feelings towards sex before marriage are: First， the actual act of sex between Wrath and Emilia has massive， life changing consequences。 Second， when Emilia actually sees other people having sex， it's at a party thrown by one of the princes and is written as one of many sinful indulgences put on display by Gluttony。 （hide spoiler）]The world itself is fascinating。 We only visit three of the Seven Circles， but each one is unique and well written。 The brothers Emilia meets are a bit one dimensional and perfectly fit their sins， but I did really enjoy Pride and Envy。 All that said， I wish that Kerri spent significantly less time on her descriptions。 I frequently found myself skimming multi-page long descriptions of rooms， clothes， gardens， etc。 I understand world building， but her overly descriptive style is not for me。 I definitely plan to continue with book three because the end of this one does feel like it's leading to something better。 In the meantime， I think this series will be moving off my favorites shelf。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Kingdom of the Cursed

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Kingdom of the Cursed&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Kingdom of the Cursed&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0