Now living in the underworld with Wrath, Emilia’s whole world has (literally) turned upside down. Surrounded by evil things like three-headed hounds, steel-toothed horses, and seven wicked princes that want to destroy her while still reeling from her sister’s death, Emilia is more confused than ever, not knowing who to truly trust.

Wrath graciously allows Emilia to live in his manor while she waits for contact from Pride about their betrothal. During Emilia’s stay, she gets an invitation to the Feast of the Wolf hosted by Gluttony. At the feast, she will be the guest of honor and offer one of her greatest fears to the whole underworld. Together, Wrath and Emilia must come up with a plan to save Emilia from her impending fate.

“Kingdom of the Cursed ” by Kerri Maniscalco started off slow which made it hard to get past the first few chapters. The copious amount of angst between Emilia and Wrath becomes redundant through the chapters, leading the novel to carry the same tone throughout most of the story. With this novel being the second book in the series there was hope for more of a trusting relationship between Emilia and Wrath. Sadly that wasn’t the case.

There were some positives to the book; after about 250 pages, the book started to pick up the pace, making the novel hard to put down. Surprisingly, the politics of the story were fascinating. The way Emilia grew to be incredibly cunning was the best part of the novel. She truly learned to hold her own throughout the story. The shocking end of the novel left me intrigued at what will come next in the series.

Even though the novel could be predictable and redundant at times, the ending made up for it. However, it is nerve-racking how much of the story is still to be told and there is only one book in the series left. The first book in the “Kingdom of the Wicked” series is so far the best and the second book is cursed with just an okay rating. The third book is expected to be released in September 2022 and hopefully it can redeem the series.