Kingdom of the Cursed

Overview

Kerri Maniscalco's "Kingdom of the Cursed" picks up the story of Emilia, who has bargained away her soul and her future to claim a throne among the Wicked. The novel sends her down into the Seven Circles under the guardianship of the Prince of Wrath, a figure whose loyalties she can no longer take for granted now that they share a court instead of a quest.

Grief sharpens into strategy as Emilia pursues the truth behind her twin sister Vittoria's murder, a search that pulls her toward the Prince of Pride and the uneasy bargain his courtship represents. Hell's aristocracy proves to be a maze of flattering lies, coded invitations, and princes who each have their own stake in what she discovers.

The book leans into its gothic romance inheritance, pairing opulent, decadent settings with a mystery plot that keeps reshuffling who can be trusted. Emilia's isolation becomes the engine of the story, as every alliance she forms doubles as a possible betrayal.

Context and Reception

This novel continues the "Kingdom of the Wicked" trilogy, extending Maniscalco's shift from the Victorian true-crime inspired world of her "Stalking Jack the Ripper" series into witchcraft, demonology, and infernal court politics. Where the first installment focused on vengeance against her sister's killer and an uneasy pact with a demon prince, this sequel widens the scope into palace intrigue, inheritance, and the question of what Emilia is willing to become to get answers.

The series sits within a crowded, popular wave of YA and new-adult fantasy romance built around morally ambiguous supernatural love interests, a category that has drawn a devoted readership precisely because it treats desire, jealousy, and power as inseparable. Maniscalco's hell is rendered with lavish, sensory detail, and the romantic triangle at its center is written to be genuinely uncertain rather than a foregone conclusion, which has kept readers invested across the trilogy's installments.

Why Kingdom of the Cursed Has Been Challenged

Sexual content and romantic material involving demonic characters are the main source of objection to this title. Reviewers and parents raising concerns have pointed to scenes depicting physical intimacy between Emilia and her suitors, along with the book's overall preoccupation with seduction as a narrative device, as unsuitable for the younger end of the young-adult audience the series is shelved for.

Some objections also extend to the book's occult framing, since its setting and characters are drawn explicitly from the iconography of Hell, demons, and infernal bargains, which some challengers view as promoting or normalizing imagery tied to witchcraft and devil worship. In this catalog, the title has been formally challenged or restricted in 4 states and 4 school districts, reflecting both the sexual content concern and, in some cases, discomfort with its supernatural subject matter.