“Kingdom of the Feared” by Kerri Maniscalco (“Stalking Jack the Ripper”) is the third and final book in the “Kingdom of the Wicked” series. It is a thrilling ending to the trilogy and will leave readers satisfied. This review will have small spoilers for the first two books in the series. 

“Kingdom of the Wicked” starts out the series with chilling murders of young witches throughout the City of Sicily. Emilia’s twin sister, Vittoria, is one of the witches who had her heart torn out. Determined to get revenge on who did this, Emilia accidentally summons Wrath, one of the seven demon princes. 

Throughout the first two books, Emilia and Wrath are forced to work together to solve who is murdering these witches. Emilia has been warned her entire life to never trust any of the Wicked, and Wrath has spent his whole life hating witches. Their unlikely partnership results in a lot of entertaining banter.

By the middle of book two, it is revealed that Emilia has accidentally bound herself to Wrath for eternity. At first, Emilia is not happy with this turn of events, but she slowly starts to fall for Wrath. 

“Kingdom of the Feared” shows them finally happy together, but there are a lot of problems within its setting, the Seven Circles of Hell. Emilia’s twin sister is revealed to be alive and is causing trouble with all the demon princes. Emilia is determined to clear her sister’s name and reunite with her.

Maniscalco did an amazing job with the first two books, but “Kingdom of the Feared” falls a little short in comparison. It feels like it tries to tie up too many loose ends throughout this book.

There is a lot of excitement when readers finally get to meet all seven demon princes. However, the ending also leaves a lot unanswered. It seems a bit rushed, and it appears as though there is a lot more she could have done with the series. It would be interesting to see a spin-off from Vittoria’s point of view so the readers can see her past. It is clear she has a bigger storyline than is shown in this one book.

The plotline seemed a bit all over the place at times, with Maniscalco having many of the characters written as villains. Though each of the seven princes are part of the Wicked, they do not live up to their reputation in this book. Maniscalco showed them giving in to defeat too easily.

That being said, it was great to finally see Emilia and Wrath happy. The ending was a typical happily ever after, despite the story taking place in Hell. There is peace for now between the Seven Circles and House Vengeance. 

The story focuses a lot on Wrath and Emilia in the beginning of the book, but it turns into a journey of self-discovery for Emilia. It is nice to see her accepting her true self and learning what her powers truly are. 

The story seems to go in a completely different direction than the first two books, changing Emilia and Vittoria’s identity. It is a welcome change and it is nice to see two women become even more powerful. 

Maniscalco does a great job of tricking the reader into thinking  Emilia had made a huge sacrifice for Wrath, but she does not play into the typical stereotype of a female giving up everything for someone else. The last chapter shows a beautiful scene between Wrath and Emilia where she is rewarded greatly for her sacrifice. 

Image from Kerri Maniscalco via Goodreads