Quick Synopsis

After two women swap identities, they find themselves caught in an even bigger crime—a murder case.

Publisher’s Synopsis

He is the king of mafia kings.

She’s the risk. He’s the ruin. Together, they unleash the storm.

Elio 
They call me “The Wicked.” 

I’ve earned that name with blood, silence, and the weight of every secret I carry.

As head of the Marino Family, nothing slips past me. Not lies. Not weakness. Not fear.

But when she enters my world…everything tilts.

Zahra 
I’m dangerous―and I’ve had to be.

I grew up with men who treated bullets like sugar cubes. 

I’ve risen from the streets to create the most notorious gang of thieves in the country. But after a job goes wrong, my crew and I are held captive by The Wicked, and I’ll do just about anything to take advantage of it. Even if it means working with the most deadly man I’ve ever encountered, and pulling off the biggest heist I’ve ever dreamed of. 

I’m dancing with the devil, and the cost might be my body–my very soul. 

But I’m willing to pay the price if it means I get him…

Book Review

The Wicked is officially the worst Book of the Month (BOTM) book I have ever read. (The previous worst was Butcher & Blackbird.) I cannot believe I stuck with to the end. I kept waiting for it to become better, but that point never arrived.

The Wicked epitomizes how BOTM has gone downhill in the last few years. It is clear that the service has tried a few different things to appeal specifically to Gen Z, like selecting more romantasy novels. BOTM has also taken to featuring newly traditionally published BookTok favorites that were originally independently published. This includes The Wicked as well as the Ruinous Love series. I have tried to broaden my horizons and given these novels a chance, but I have been extremely disappointed. The quality of book I expect from BOTM is nowhere to be found in these selections – from the plot to the writing quality. I guess I should actually use the BOTM guarantee policy. In the future, I will most definitely be careful to avoid these type of selections in the future since BookTok and I are definitely not the same wavelength.

The Wicked is billed as a spicy, dark romance about a band of thieves kidnapped by a mafia boss to commit a giant heist. This is essentially the only plot that can be found in the book’s entirety.

The Wicked is essentially chaos with a cover. It is the book equivalent of throwing spaghetti at a wall to see what sticks. This novel is a mess with no coherent plot line. Rebecca Johnpee’s storyline almost works for about 15 minutes until you are thrown into a disjointed, underdeveloped wannabe mafia novel. There are plot holes galore but also portions of the book where the plot ceases to exist? There is attraction between characters but too little interaction for a romance to develop. Johnpee was trying to do so much within one book and not pulling off any of it, despite 500+ pages. The book provides no twists, zero shocks, and absolutely no payoff.

The characters of The Wicked are severely immature and quite unlikeable. The female protagonist is almost completely insufferable and speaks like a kid. The male protagonist is an enigma in a trench coat who is purportedly brilliant but numb. He does little throughout the book, but somehow the female lead is drawn to him. The dialogue between characters is mostly bickering and dreadful. When this novel is labeled as dark, I think it is referencing the unredeemable main characters who could use some emotional growth and perhaps a lot of therapy.

Having read a few of these self-published to traditionally published books now, I am questioning if any editing takes places place post-self-published edition (during the traditional publishing process). I would think that editors would be the draw along with a marketing budget. But perhaps publishers are picking these books up solely based on popularity and making no improvements before binding.

Overall, The Wicked is essentially emotionally stunted vibes and little else. I would only recommend this book to those who like books with “vibes” but little else or who enjoyed Butcher & Blackbird.