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lavdisy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.0
I can't believe this is the same author who wrote my favorite book Stalking Jack the Ripper. This is soooo different in many ways.
I'm not going to write a lot about this. The plot that solves the games should have received more focus, development, and detail instead of being rushed. It disappointed me because this part interested me. Other than that, the characters seem to only lust after each other all the time, everywhere. I also didn't feel any chemistry between them; it was as if these two were just thrown into a room and, a second later, were already hungry for each other. So yeah, the romance was not my favorite at all. This book could have been trimmed by 400 pages and packed with a more necessary and better plot.
Overall, I did not like this one and just wanted to finish it as soon as possible. Thank you so much for that experience.
I'm not going to write a lot about this. The plot that solves the games should have received more focus, development, and detail instead of being rushed. It disappointed me because this part interested me. Other than that, the characters seem to only lust after each other all the time, everywhere. I also didn't feel any chemistry between them; it was as if these two were just thrown into a room and, a second later, were already hungry for each other. So yeah, the romance was not my favorite at all. This book could have been trimmed by 400 pages and packed with a more necessary and better plot.
Overall, I did not like this one and just wanted to finish it as soon as possible. Thank you so much for that experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gore
j_day's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual content, Blood, Deportation, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Gore, Cursing, and Torture
edilyaaang's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It was enjoyable enought. Though there were times were I got super frustrated on what was happening, especially how the two MLs can never cooperate enought to focus on the game at hand. It made me want to throttle them both from time to time. But other than that, I enjoyed it. Enought to make me curious about the author's other works
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Dementia, Cannibalism, Confinement, Bullying, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
steen19's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I loved this. Pulled me right into the world. It felt like a mix of the best of SJM and Carissa Broadbent.
I didn’t read the Kingdom of the Wicked seres first. (After reading Stephanie Garber’s Caraval prior to OUABH, when I only was interested in Once, I decided to jump right into the series I was most interested in).
I didn’t read the Kingdom of the Wicked seres first. (After reading Stephanie Garber’s Caraval prior to OUABH, when I only was interested in Once, I decided to jump right into the series I was most interested in).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death, Blood, Body horror, Murder, and Gore
slight419's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Torture
haley_mil_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Gore, and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent
roziereads's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Confinement, Blood, Murder, Death, Sexual harassment, and Violence
vireya's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
If I could rate this book higher I would. I love KM. I own all of her books. I’ve been following her since she first released Stalking Jack the Ripper. (if you haven’t read it go do it!) I was super excited when Kingdom of the wicked came out and I adored the books. And now she’s done it again as an adult novel. I was thrilled.
MMC:
Keri Maniscalco is incredibly talented when it comes to world building and plot. Her characters are always fascinating and the princes in Kow are some of my favorites. The way they lean into and are so tied with the world itself is incredibly written. They were side characters and yet I wanted more of them and this book delivered. Seeing Envy’s thought processes and motivations be expanded upon so thoroughly was absolutely wonderful. Throughout kow we got all these snippets of him and seeing it fulfilled and put under a microscope was exactly what I needed. I was practically giddy to be back in the world of Kow and to know all his secrets finally. We knew from that series that all the princes had individual curses as well as the one that held them all and seeing Envy’s was everything I wanted from him.
FMC:
Km writes amazing female main characters and Camilla was another. She was at times predictable. It’s a problem I had with KM’s other 2 FMC’s as well and I figured outshe was a fae princess pretty early on. But her headstrong I know exactly what I want and I will get it attitude made me love her. So often in romantasy we see these fmc that seem that way at first and then end up becoming so connected to the relationship that they lose their spark of individuality(looking at you feyre) Camilla didn’t do that even as she fell in love with Envy. She remained her own person with her own desires and motivations.
World building(only complaint):
While I don’t think it’s necessary to read Kow and this can be read as a stand alone where you will get what you need to understand the world as it pertains to this story; I do feel like a lot of the world building is lost if you haven’t read them. She really develops the world there with all the different courts and the histories that are so crucial to that series and she knew coming into the prince of sins series that most people were coming over from Kow. I think she shoved off a little of that extra work she usually puts into her books to really build the world and relied a bit too much at times on the idea that people would have previous understanding of where they were.
Spice:
Oh lord ms maniscalco knows how to write smut. It was hot. And I thought the buildup to them finally having sex really paid off. Especially with how it played into Envy’s character development and accepting the chance to be hurt again. It wasn’t just sex for the sake of sex. It added to the story. It wasn’t randomly thrown in there like it’s so easy to do with romance novels as a whole. I loved the dual perspectives and how sometimes we would see and experience it through her enjoyment and at others we got to see the way that envy takes so much pleasure from pleasing her. I don’t think it took away from the story. I don’t think it was overly done. It was very well written and tied into the story in a significant way.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes romantasy. Especially if you’ve read Kingdom of the Wicked.
MMC:
Keri Maniscalco is incredibly talented when it comes to world building and plot. Her characters are always fascinating and the princes in Kow are some of my favorites. The way they lean into and are so tied with the world itself is incredibly written. They were side characters and yet I wanted more of them and this book delivered. Seeing Envy’s thought processes and motivations be expanded upon so thoroughly was absolutely wonderful. Throughout kow we got all these snippets of him and seeing it fulfilled and put under a microscope was exactly what I needed. I was practically giddy to be back in the world of Kow and to know all his secrets finally. We knew from that series that all the princes had individual curses as well as the one that held them all and seeing Envy’s was everything I wanted from him.
FMC:
Km writes amazing female main characters and Camilla was another. She was at times predictable. It’s a problem I had with KM’s other 2 FMC’s as well and I figured out
World building(only complaint):
While I don’t think it’s necessary to read Kow and this can be read as a stand alone where you will get what you need to understand the world as it pertains to this story; I do feel like a lot of the world building is lost if you haven’t read them. She really develops the world there with all the different courts and the histories that are so crucial to that series and she knew coming into the prince of sins series that most people were coming over from Kow. I think she shoved off a little of that extra work she usually puts into her books to really build the world and relied a bit too much at times on the idea that people would have previous understanding of where they were.
Spice:
Oh lord ms maniscalco knows how to write smut. It was hot. And I thought the buildup to them finally having sex really paid off. Especially with how it played into Envy’s character development and accepting the chance to be hurt again. It wasn’t just sex for the sake of sex. It added to the story. It wasn’t randomly thrown in there like it’s so easy to do with romance novels as a whole. I loved the dual perspectives and how sometimes we would see and experience it through her enjoyment and at others we got to see the way that envy takes so much pleasure from pleasing her. I don’t think it took away from the story. I don’t think it was overly done. It was very well written and tied into the story in a significant way.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes romantasy. Especially if you’ve read Kingdom of the Wicked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Gore
taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent
Minor: Kidnapping, Grief, and Body horror
rondasue27's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Gore