I really liked this story and I'm so intrigued to see what happens in the next one. Trust me, you'll be clamoring for the next book in this series. First, let's talk demon. There are seven and they each represent one of the seven deadly sins. OMG, you had me at seven deadly sins. I think using features like this to write your story really sparks joy in me. I think it has something to do with it being a concept that everyone already knows and then iterating on it to make it your own. And these demons are the embodiment of their sins. Wrath is most definitely one of them and if he looks as hot as I imagined him, then we may have some problems.

I was a huge fan of the little romantic chemistry happening between Emilia and Wrath. I wonder if that will build up especially with the way the book ended. I don't know, but the chemistry was definitely there and I feel like that'll be unpacked more in the next book.

The action just takes off right away. Again, you're not going to be bored with this one because within the first fifty pages, someone dies. And then the rest of the novel is spent trying to solve that murder. In many ways, it was a little bit like a mystery novel, but once the mystery is finally revealed, it turns into a dark fantasy. Ahhh, sweet dark fantasy, my dear old friend. I thought it was interesting to see Emilia come up with theories on who the killer could be, investigate it, and find herself back at the old drawing board figuring out who it is. However, in other ways Emilia felt a bit like a Mary Sue. There were a few instances where I was asking more questions on how Emilia got to a certain line of thinking.

But there are some other great components to the book. I love the complex lineage of Emilia and Vittoria's family. Italian witches who protect the world from these demons? Yeah, sign me up for that. On top of that, there's food. So many food descriptions and it made me crave Italian food the entire time I was reading. It also helps that the promotional box the book came in also had a recipe card for shrimp scampi. Mmm...buttery deliciousness. I'm getting off topic. What I meant to say is that the cultural aspects of Italy were definitely prevalent and I really appreciated the look into Sicily and the little town Emilia grew up in.

The one thing I wasn't a fan of was the pacing. The book moved way too quickly. While it definitely brought the action and didn't leave me bored at all, I wanted it to slow down just to explain some things. For example, the decisions Emilia made. Some of those decisions were just made and then she's off about to go summon a beast from Hell without blinking an eye or thinking it through. It made it a little frustrating because I wanted to know the why.

Overall, a very good start to a brand new series that I will try my hardest to keep up with. Seriously, I'm loving all these first novels to some great series, but I'm hating having to wait for so long before I can read more into it.

Thanks to Jimmy Patterson Books for a gifted copy of this book. Kingdom of the Wicked is out on October 27, 2020.