“Did Your Wish Come True?” // “I Am Not Entirely Certain Yet.” // “You Shall Have To Let Me

Things I wanna see less in fantasy~

Female protagonists having the best character arcs and personal growth only to lose their powers for the "greater good". Like? Let them be happy WITH POWERS?? ALINA'S LIGHT??? AELIN'S FIRE???? NESTA'S DEATH MAGIC??? TESSA'S SHAPE-SHIFTING??

convincing you to read kingdom of the wicked because the sequel comes out in 10 days!

this post won' t contain any major spoilers, but a few slips might happen-

Let's start out with the premise :)

It's basically a historical fiction- a murder mystery, based in the 1800s in Italy. BUT IT'S NOT JUST ANY OTHER MURDER MYSTERY, it has witches and super hot demons and not so hot hunters and- and chefs<3 AND POSSIBLY THE BEST FANTASY ENEMIES TO LOVERS I'VE SEEN IN A WHILE.

I cannot begin to explain how beautiful the entire ambience of this book is,,, the town in Italy is a very warm, cozy, and welcoming place. So that makes the whole murder situation even eerier and more intriguing. This isn't one of those mysteries where you can guess from the start who it's gonna be, and the murder part isn't that IN YOUR FACE. It's delicately woven throughout the rest of the plot. There's a lot of chilling stuff going on, everyone has secrets and everyone is super sexy and scary- all in all this makes for the perfect autumnal read :)

PLOT!!

We start out with two twin witches who's family owns a restaurant (i mean those lucky bitches get to COOK AND BAKE AND DO WITCHCRAFT ALL DAY LIKE- *dream life*)

Emilia and Vittoria dicarlo- one of them is super outgoing and loud and EDGY- she isn't like other girls!! she has secret affairs and gets in trouble all the time,,, the other is kind of chill and reserved and loving.

BUT THEN SOMETHING LIFE CHANGING HAPPENS- one of them makes a mistake and ends up six feet under.

Now, witchcraft is like super illegal because women with gifts and knowledge are a threat to society!! Witches have been ending up dead in many towns across Italy and since witchcraft is super hush hush, our protagonist can't exactly ask the police for help. So she does one better- SHE ASKS THE FUCKING PRINCE OF HELL- wrath. Go big or go home honey :)))

The magic system in this book is really interesting because it's quite realistic- they use herbs and blessed candles and chalk and really aesthetically pleasing things. Some witches practice dark magic and go nuts because they have these visions which is so cool. The twins come from an ancient family of witches and their nonna is super badass and grumpy i love her.

The villains(seggsy antiheroes?) are the malvachi aka the princes of hell. Each prince has domain over one deadly sin(pride, envy, wrath etc). And they can like control those emotions which IS SO SICKK aaahhhh. Throughout the story, the main characters meets these princes and gets influenced by them but also learns new things to uncover the bigger mystery going on and they're all very intriguing and sexy.(I've used the word sexy so many times like is that not reason enough to read it?)

The restaurant- I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS ARC. It just enhances the reading experience by adding these touches of how invested the characters are in their recipes and flavours which makes it so comforting and also hilarious because one moment someone is like "OMG NO LOOK A CORPSE aaahhh" and the next they're like "hmmm i want your recipe for cannoli *puppy eyes*"

vibes you can expect- mysterious, spells, herbs, candles, witches, church, family love, demons, betrayal, forced alliance, grumpy + sunshine trope, revenge lotsss of revenge, angsty, comforting yet also somehow on the edge of your seat feeling, secrets and darkness, hidden agendas, AND LOTS OF ITALIAN CUISINE.

The romance<333

aka the reason I picked up this book. At this point the romantic interest could be like "aahh you're ugly i hope you die" and then two seconds later be like "you're the most beautiful thing in this world you are the sky and the sun and you could walk over me do you want something to eat? do you want a kitten or a blanket or a cup of tea??maybe we could bang and get married????" and you have the AUDACITY to call that enemies to lovers????

BUT THIS BOOK PORTRAYS that hate to forced alliance to secrets to betrayal to mistrust to slight understanding to maybe some hints of romance. The slowburn is just *chef's kiss*

I ADORE how you can never tell what the love interest is gonna do and you're like daddy??sorry-daddy?? sorry. NO DON"T MAKE ME HATE YOU.....da-

ALSO there's a slight corruption arc because the main character is so driven by her rage and that for me is the cherry on top.

AT ONE POINT, THE DARK ANTIHERO kisses the protagonist to save her life(?) AND SAYS "LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO HATE ME FOR THIS" LIKE SIRRRR??

Quotes you might like-

“I feel your gaze on me when you think I’m not paying attention. You track the dagger every time I move. You need to know where it is." No ma'am he's looking at you-

"Young women died. Life resumed. Such was the way of the world, at least according to men." I didn't come here to cry but okay-

"I couldn’t begin to understand why Wrath had said “my Emilia’s.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure if the demon even remembered my name since he only ever tossed around “witch.” EEEEEHHH THE POSSESSIVENESS TROPE

“You have something I want.” “If it’s my still-beating heart, I’m afraid I must decline.” “No, but I imagine you’ll end up giving that to my brother one day.” excuse me WHILE I GO SCREAM.

"My sister was the adventurous one—I was satisfied with safe, clean fun. Give me a steamy romance novel with forbidden love and impossible odds. That was the kind of adventure I could get behind." same, literally same.

This book as Taytay songs because why not?

•Look what you made me do

•No body, no crime

•Treacherous

•Dancing with our hands tied

•Mad woman

•I did something bad

•Wildest dreams tv THISSS SO MUCH

•Delicate

•Haunted

•So it goes >>>>

Just before you go,, THE SEQUEL HAS THE "I DON'T WANNA KISS YOU UGHHH"// "LIAR" trope and also the "YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T GIVE AF ABOUT ME"// "I LIED." trope

so you don't wanna miss out.

Once, there was a young prince who was born in a castle. His mother was a princess scholar, and his father was the most handsome, feared knight in all the land. As a boy, people would bring him everything he could ever dream of wanting. The most beautiful silk clothes, ripe fruit from the orangery.

At times, he was so happy, he felt he would never grow tired of being a prince. He came from a long, long line of princes, but never before had there been a prince quite like him: born with his heart on the outside of his body. When he was small, his family would smile and laugh and say he would grow out of it one day. But as he grew, it stayed where it was, red and visible and alive. He didn’t mind it very much, but every day, the family’s fear grew that the people of the kingdom would soon notice and turn their backs on the prince.

His grandmother, the queen, lived in a high tower, where she spoke only of the other princes, past and present, who were born whole.

Then, the prince’s father, the knight, was struck down in battle. The lance tore open his armor and his body and left him bleeding in the dust. And so, when the queen sent new clothes, armor for the prince to parcel his heart away safe, the prince’s mother did not stop her. For she was afraid, now: afraid of her son’s heart torn open too.

So the prince wore it, and for many years, he believed it was right.

Until he met the most devastatingly gorgeous peasant boy from a nearby village who said absolutely ghastly things to him that made him feel alive for the first time in years and who turned out to be the most mad sort of sorcerer, one who could conjure up things like gold and vodka shots and apricot tarts out of absolutely nothing, and the prince’s whole life went up in a puff of dazzling purple smoke, and the kingdom said, “I can’t believe we’re all so surprised.”

When I was reading the part where Alina does that vision-mind travel-connection thing with the Darkling for the first time I was like ugh this is gonna be the same old him making her feel stupid but DAMN

The "You might make me a better man." "And you might make me a monster." !!!! The "We would be equals till the day I dared to disagree with you." !!!! The "You are stronger, wiser, infinite in experience...But I am an apt pupil." !!!!!

Imagining that conversion happening in the show.

Brb screaming into the void.

“Apologies, Lady—” “I’m twenty-two,” she said flatly. “And I think we city guards see a great deal more than you palace princesses.”

But Nesryn turned back and leaned a hand on the table. “I saw her face last night, Brullo, and it’s as pretty as before. Don’t you have a wife to ogle, anyway?” Aelin snorted. “I think I rather like you, Nesryn Faliq.”

“How good’s your accuracy, Faliq?” “I don’t miss,” Nesryn said.

Nesryn said, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Stay the course, but also plot another one. Adapt.”

"Dorian would fix the world, make it better. But if he’s gone, then I will find another way to attain that future. And another one after that, if I have to. I will keep getting back up, no matter how many times those butchers shove me down.”~ Nesryn Faliq

Nesryn Faliq appreciation post>>>>>

I love how Kos is supposed to be about demons and alliances and how Zoyalai literally have to run a kingdom but then there's this-

“No man is worth more than another, wherever he is from.”

“But what if he is your friend?” Achilles had asked him. “Or your brother? Should you treat him the same as a stranger?” “You ask a question that philosophers argue over,” Chiron had said. “He is worth more to you, perhaps. But the stranger is someone else’s friend and brother. So which life is more important?”

We had been silent. We were fourteen, and these things were too hard for us. Now that we are twenty-seven, they still feel too hard. He is half of my soul, as the poets say.

He will be dead soon, and his honor is all that will remain. It is his child, his dearest self. Should I reproach him for it?

I know, now, how I would answer Chiron. I would say: there is no answer. Whichever you choose, you are wrong.

~The Song of Achilles

Many boys will bring you flowers. But some day you'll meet a boy who'll learn your favourite flower, your favourite song, your favourite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart.

~Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows.

“Most of us can hide our greatest hurts and longings. It’s how we survive each day. We pretend the pain isn’t there, that we are made of scars instead of wounds."

“Most women suffer thorns for the sake of the flowers. But we who would wield power adorn ourselves in flowers to hide the sting of our thorns.”

~Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

no but remember when Marco Alisdair asked Celia Bowen if she remembers all her audiences and she said she only remembers the ones who look at her the way he does and then he asked her what way might that be AND THEN CELIA SAID THE ICONIC "LIKE THEY CAN'T DECIDE IF THEY ARE AFRAID OF ME OR IT THEY WANT TO KISS ME" AND MARCO HAD THE ABSOLUTE AUDACITY TO ANSWER WITH "I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU"-