Kingdom of the wicked-Book 1 review

Kingdom of the wicked is the first installment of the kingdom of the wicked series.

The story follows twin sisters, Victoria and Amelia, who are witches and the center of a prophecy about the Devil's freedom from hell (none of the twins is aware of said prophecy or the history of their bloodline). The story takes place in Palermo, a small town in Italy, where the sisters grew up and currently live with their nona (grandma) and their parents. They run a trendy restaurant, where they use magic to enhance the food (regular humans are unaware of the spells).

Each sister received a "Cornicello" (an amulet), which they should not remove no matter what. The purpose of this Cornicello is to keep the wicked away from them. Early in the story, we learn "The Wicked" are princes of hell, devil brothers, and are represented by each of the seven sins, so there are seven wicked (including the Devil himself).

On the other hand, you have the witches. Some only practice "White magic" (like our twins and their family), avoiding the dark arts; these witches are dedicated to cooking, perfumery, and chants that do not require blood sacrifices. You also have the Dark witches, such as other families across Palermo, which are the ones who practice the dark arts and do spells using bones and blood. For the sake of clarity in this story, dark skills are not equivalent to the Devil's adoration; both types of witches are against the Devil and the wicked.

Going back to Victoria and Amelia, they are unaware of the prophecy and are prohibited from doing any dark magic or magic training.

The book begins strong with Amelia discovering Victoria's dead body under the monastery, which leads her to seek revenge over the "monster" who killed her sister and other witches in Palermo. To do so, Amelia decided to retrace her sister's steps and tried to open her diary (to find it closed by a blood spell). After that, she decided to summon a lesser demon to help her with the bidding (what can go wrong, right?). In her attempt, she ended up summoning none other but the prince of Wrath, which happens to be one of the Wicked, and the "monster." lurking over her sister's body the night of her death. But that is not it. She not only managed to call upon one of the Wicked, but she also bound him to her for eternity (even due she did not fully comprehend the extent of that bond).

After that night's events, Amelia needs time to think about her options. Even though she is impressed by her abilities and knows she is in complete control of one of the Wicked (at least for three days), she is scared and does not want to engage with forces she has been told not to since she was a little girl. She wants to solve her sister's death mystery without compromising her soul. At this point, I was like, "Yes, this is a smart chick. She knows better than to act on an impulse; I liked her".

Somewhere between summoning Wrath and trying to get as much information as she can before he disappears from the magic circle in which she trapped him, she encounters two other of the wicked rummaging on Palermo. The first one is Envy, and the second one is Greed. Both Wicked asked her to join their respective house in exchange for helping her discover the mister of her sister. She didn't commit to any places, knowing better than to thick herself to such horrible creatures, but found some interesting facts about her and her sister's past.

The wicked are pretty interested in her Cornichello.

The Cornichello are meant to keep the gates of hell closed.

As per Envy, she and her sisters are star witches, a powerful kind of sorcerer.

Her sister was killed for supposedly being willing to become the Devil's (aka Pride) wife.

Her sister had encountered at least one of the Wicked before her death.

Amelia ended up discovering (with Wrath's help) that:

1. She had lived a lie most of her life.

2. She is more powerful than she believed.

3. Maybe the Wicked isn't the awful creatures they are said to be.

4. Werewolves and Vampires are real.

At the end of the book, Amelia decides to join house pride, go to hell and seek revenge over the whole underworld for what happened to her sister and her family.

My thoughts:

I loved this book; I devoured it in two days. I recommended it to my husband; however, the more I think about it, the more insane Amelia's speech sounds. She speaks as if she is not afraid of anything; she talks to Wrath as if he is shit, and then in the next paragraph, she is a scary cat, second-guessing herself, shaking in fear. She was a living contradiction.

You can tell she and Wrath were falling for each other, but she constantly misinterpreted his intentions (even though he clearly stated and proved he could not lie, even when he continually saved her life, she still doubted him).

What broke me the most about this book was that by the end, even when he sacrificed himself for her, she chose the house "Pride." She decided to go to hell and marry Pride instead of staying with Wrath cause her thirst for revenge for her dead sister was more significant than her feelings for Wrath. I think she didn't want to admit her love for him because she was a witch, which would be like the final betrayal of her family. Amelia can justify marrying Pride to seek revenge by becoming the underworld queen, but she cannot explain marrying Wrath.

I'm hooked on the story and want to keep reading this series. Something tells me Amelia will find her sister's soul in the underworld. Maybe Victoria married Pride and is ruling there. My theory is based on a phrase that kept showing in the book "As above, so below."

Have you read this story?

Was it what you were expecting?