Between my cousin's chaotic accusations annotations, whatever the heck was going on romance-wise, and the weird vampire/demon/Strega Nona lore...this felt like a fever dream.

To be honest, if Kingdom of the Wicked hadn't been a book-swap book, I never would have picked it up, and if I did, I probably would have hated it. That being said, I managed to read it in, like, two days? And I kept going back to it even when I had other things to do? It might have been my amusement at the annotations, but for some reason, I didn't despise it as much as I normally would have.
I say this because, until the last section of the book, nothing really happens. Vittoria's murder is early on and then Emilia meets Wrath...and then they just kind of argue for a while. Obviously, other things happen but there wasn't really much action or plot advancement. I don't know how to count whether or not I called the plot twists...because the one thing I did call wasn't really a "twist" and the thing I didn't "call" is stupid (I literally thought to myself "this character reminds me of this other evil character"...and then I ignored that and continued trusting them). And I need answers...but I really don't want to continue the series that much.
I also didn't really feel attached to any of the characters. Emilia might be on the list of one of the least observant protagonists I've ever come across, but I didn't hate her. I didn't really care for Wrath as far as love interests go, although I'd be interested to see more of his dynamic with his brothers. Speaking of his brothers, they're all creeps. The rest of the "human" characters weren't that special to me either; for the most part, I wouldn't have cared if they lived or died.
I'm debating if I should continue the series to get the answers I want or if I should wait for my cousin to read it and have her spoil it for me. Kingdom of the Wicked is the first book in a fantasy series with elements of mystery and romance, and I can see the appeal even if I personally didn't connect.
3.5/5