Shockingly, I consider this to be the best book out of the three. In the first two books, Emilia's naivety got on my nerves. While there were moments that certainly happened in this one—such as thinking you could subtly interrogate a duke of hell while writhing in his lap—thankfully this story wasn't introducing her to new characters and situations left and right, leaving her all but completely out of the loop. Her relationship with Wrath is more settled, she understands the politics of this world, and has grown into her power. All good things! That being said, the main criticisms I have revolves around the plot was moved forward, Emilia's overpoweredness, and especially the ending. I had no investment in the murder mystery—why would I care about some random side character we never met?—and while Vittoria's goals made sense, the execution of her plans did not, particularly when viewed retroactively. Without any spoilers, I was disappointed by the "sacrifice" of the ending, but more particularly about how that sacrifice was "corrected." Women aren't allowed to have power of their own, it appears. I've also seen some criticisms regarding the amount of sex in this book. Because it was marketed as YA, there are certain expectations that go along with that. This entire series should have been NA, given the hellscape setting and themes. While the language used is not "adult" (euphemisms abound) it's very clear what is happening without it. As an adult reader, I didn't have a problem with it, but someone else might. I also don't understand the reaction of "Wrath is boring now"—what is boring about loving, supporting, (and basically worshiping) your badass wife? 📸 Scroll through for some brief thoughts I posted on my Tumblr as I read along. EDIT: apparently it didn't like my photos. Sorry. 📚 Maniscalco, Kerri. Kingdom of the Feared. Little, Brown and Company, 2022. 🍂 #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #readersofinstagram #readmorebooks #kingdomofthewicked #kingdomofthefeared #kingdomofthewickedseries #kerrimaniscalco #libbyapp https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwYhF5vrxD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
