Rating: 3.5 STARS Genre: YA/Paranormal/Fantasy Series/Standalone: Kingdom of the Wicked #1 How I got this book: Bought 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 that 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… Review by Sophie.
TW: Murder, grief, self-harm (for spells), loss of a loved one, magical compulsion. “Whatever you do, you must never speak to the wicked. If you see them, hide. Once you’ve caught a demon princes’ attention, he’ll stop at nothing to claim you” I’m so glad that I finally got around to reading this beautiful book! We’re first introduced to Emilia and Vittoria – twins who are also witches, living in secret amongst humans. They’ve been told stories of The Wicked since they were young - a constant warning and reminder of the danger posed by Demons and the underworld. The girls live in Italy with their family and also work at their parent’s restaurant ‘Sea & Vine’. The food described in this book sounded delicious and literally had my mouth watering more than once! One-night, Vittoria is late for work at the restaurant, and Emilia is sadly the one who discovers her sisters mutilated body. I thought the author did an incredible job here of describing the grief of losing a loved one, and how truly consuming it is, the darkness and weight of it, especially when dealing with it alone. “Grief Carved me in half. And fury honed the pieces into a weapon”. Emilia sets out on a hate fuelled mission of revenge to find her sisters killer and deliver the justice they deserve. Unknowingly, she accidentally summons a demon prince. Wrath – the god of war himself, and together they agree to find the killer together. Now, I must say, I’ve never had whiplash from a book like I did this one. The Constant bickering and love/hate relationship going on here is unreal and truly comical in places. “I wanted to offer a twig of trust”. “You mean an olive branch”. “Same concept, Witch” Wrath was by far my favourite character, and I really wish we had even more of him the story, I found him totally compelling, wrapped in all his mystery and darkness. Emilia’s character as we progressed was kind of a downfall for me. There were times where I questioned why she did certain things, and she would lose it and completely flip out over the strangest of things, to the point where I almost found her too annoying. The plot was easily guessable – not something I’m normally good at doing, I just wish Emilia had figured it out sooner too. The ending was a completely horrifying cliffhanger, and I’m now at the point where I can’t stop thinking about it, or the need to start reading the sequel. There are a lot of unanswered questions in here which I’m hoping the second book will shed some light on, and also hoping that Emilia’s character is able to grow into the badass we all know she’s capable of being. The style of writing was easy to read and I jumped straight into the story. Most of the time I absolutely couldn’t put this book down. The mystery and suspense had me gripped from the off, and I loved the whole Demons, Witches and dark magic setting. I'll definitely be reading the sequel to find out what happens next when its released in October this year! “Magic is a living, breathing entity, it thrives on the energy you give it. Like all forces of nature, it is neither good nor bad – but it simply becomes based on the user’s intent. Feed it love and it blossoms and grows. Nourish it with hate and it will deliver hate back to you tenfold. I think this book is perfect for fans of The Underworld Saga – by Chani Lynn Feener. Rating: 4.5 STARS Genre: LGBT/Fantasy/Paranormal Series/Standalone: Standalone How I got this book: April 2021 Illumicrate Box! A pansexual bloodmage reluctantly teams up with an undead spirit to start a rebellion among the living and the dead. In Thanopolis, those gifted with magic are assigned undead spirits to guard them—and control them. Ever since Rovan’s father died trying to keep her from this fate, she’s hidden her magic. But when she accidentally reveals her powers, she’s bound to a spirit and thrust into a world of palace intrigue and deception. Desperate to escape, Rovan finds herself falling for two people she can’t fully trust: Lydea, a beguiling, rebellious princess; and Ivrilos, the handsome spirit with the ability to control Rovan, body and soul. Together, they uncover a secret that will destroy Thanopolis. To save them all, Rovan will have to start a rebellion in both the mortal world and the underworld, and find a way to trust the princess and spirit battling for her heart—if she doesn’t betray them first. TW: Murder, death of loved ones, violence, blood, gore, body horror, alcoholism, forced marriage, threat of rape/abuse, enforced gender roles.
A note before I get started: I always try to include TW/CW for any books that I read as I know they're really crucial for a lot of people BUT I know if I'd seen the warnings above before opening this book, I might not have read it and honestly, that would have been awful since this book turned out to be fantastic. So, without trying to spoil the book, I just want to say that this book doesn't have a tragic ending and 'murder/death aside' a lot of the warnings above are quite mild and just made the story more powerful. I've also seen several people commenting on the fact that queer characters die in this book, but pretty much all the main characters are queer, and things happen in a way that I don't for a second think this is an attack on queer identity. Okay, on to the review. ------------- I LOVED THIS BOOK! At the moment, standalone books are really my thing. I'm really tired of series, especially really long series which are feeling a bit tedious right now as I'm swamped with work and don't have as much time to read as I used to. So, I love that this book is a standalone. The ending was perfect and while I'd really enjoy a novella, I think things wrapped up pretty well. In the Ravenous Dark starts with a pretty epic prologue, where we're introduced to our main character, Rovan, as a young girl, forced to hide and watch as her father is captured and killed by the blood mages who serve the king. This opening scene was truly epic, bloody and a perfect way to open this book. We then jump forward in time to see Rovan at nineteen years old, passed out from drinking too much on top of a building after fooling around with a girl from the village, when an accident leads to her magic being revealed for all to see. I think Rovan is a really fun character. She's feisty, unashamed and reckless to a fault. She adds a lot of humour and spice to the book, and she's realistic in that she's a complete mess. She's pansexual and openly queer (as are most of the main characters), which was a refreshing take, and this book has a ton of great representation incl. lesbian relationships, pansexual characters, polyamory, and non-binary characters. The pacing of the book was great, if almost a little too fast, as certain things felt a bit rushed, mainly the relationships, but I'm so glad the author didn't drag things out unnecessarily and turn it into a series. I basically couldn't put it down once I started and read it in a few sittings. When Rovan is captured and taken to the palace, we meet a variety of characters incl. the lovely and friendly Japha, the beguiling Lydea (a princess trapped in a life she doesn't want), and dangerous Ivrilos (a centuries-dead spirit bound to Rovan against her will). The palace is a dangerous place, full of dark secrets, and Rovan must work out who she can trust. Overall, this is a really dark, gripping book. I love how the author blends blood magic, ghosts, found family, and a really great and unique queer relationship to create a blood-thirsty, darkly funny and tense fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I personally feel that this book would be better suited to an older YA/adult audience. It feels like, if it were a film, it'd be rated either 15 or 18 as it does contain some gore and heavier themes, but I loved it and will definitely be on the lookout for other work by this author. Happy June book lovers!
June is one of my favourite months of the year, because it's PRIDE MONTH!! I have SO MANY books on my TBR this month, I feel a little overwhelmed, but first, I want to wrap-up all the fun stuff I read in May. This was a great reading month as I had absolutely no DNF's or books I rated less than 3-stars! As always, just click on the book title to head over to my full review, if there is one. |
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About Kay (She/Her)
Book addict, film mad, music lover, business owner, writer and mum (not necessarily in that order), living in the UK. About Sophie (She/Her)
Sophie loves books (obviously). She has a passion for photography and spotting wildlife, and is interested in anything made with passion and creativity. THIS BLOG IS SPOILER FREE!
Rating system: 5 Stars - AMAZING!! 4.5 Stars - Almost perfect! 4 Stars - I really loved it 3.5 Stars - I liked it alot 3 Stars - I liked it (I don't typically review books that I rate below 3 stars)
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