A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty is the second audiobook in the Kingdom of Lies series, picking up an enemies-to-lovers fae romance built around betrayal, bargains, and a war that hasn't started yet.
Forced into another bargain with Lorian, the fae prince known as the Bloodthirsty Prince, the narrator has to work alongside the man whose reign of terror touched her own family directly, all to save her brother's life and keep King Sabium's scheming in check. A five-star review from Bethany calls the book completely captivating, never boring for a second, and specifically praises Stacia Stark's ability to build a world that pulls readers in and keeps them invested, along with characters layered enough to love and, at times, want to scream at. That same reviewer names the specific elements they came to this series for: found family, slow-burn angst, morally gray choices, and moments described as gutting in the best possible way, and reports the emotional stakes and the world's tension both feel real rather than manufactured for effect. Reviewer Jenny, in a five-star write-up, highlights the worldbuilding and inventive magic system directly, and describes the romance as genuine slow burn dosed with real spice, while insisting the plot itself stays the main focus rather than getting crowded out by either element.
A four-star review frames the book as a gripping dive into political intrigue and high fantasy, crediting the multiple points of view for adding depth and letting readers grasp the layers of deceit and ambition running through the plot, and specifically calling out the introduction of a strong, clever female lead. Another five-star review breaks down the ratings almost like a scorecard, four and a half stars overall with a separate spice rating, and praises the unique premise built around the lead's time magic, along with watching Prisca grow into her role as queen across the book. That reviewer also flags the book as a builder for a third installment, suggesting the plot is laying groundwork that pays off later in the series rather than resolving everything within this single entry, while still insisting the action never slows down enough to feel like pure setup.
Highlights
Its emotional core is explicit in the synopsis: this is a story about a woman forced into proximity with the man responsible for shattering her family, and the tension of that arrangement, working with someone you have every reason to hate while your own feelings complicate the picture, is what several reviewers point to as the book's strongest thread, more than the fae-versus-human politics surrounding it, even though that wider conflict is what keeps forcing the two of them back into each other's orbit. Reviewer Tia, mid-cliffhanger by their own account, writes about typing a review as fast as possible just to get back to the next book, which is about as direct a piece of evidence for pacing and momentum as a review can offer.
Worth noting too are the publisher's own comparison points: the synopsis positions this series for fans of Raven Kennedy, Amanda Bouchet, and Carissa Broadbent, a trio that signals fairly precisely where this book sits within the current romantasy landscape for anyone already familiar with those authors' blend of political stakes and slow-burn tension. Tim Paige narrates at thirteen hours and fifty-one minutes, and Dreamscape Media publishes the title, giving the middle-book plot room to breathe across a substantial runtime. Fantasy and horror are both listed as genre tags on this title, and while the horror label likely reflects Lorian's violent reputation and the wider war brewing across the continent rather than anything closer to a horror-genre listen, it is a reasonable heads-up for anyone expecting a purely lighter romantasy tone throughout.
What to Watch For in A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty
This is book two of the Kingdom of Lies series, and the synopsis leans on prior events, Lorian's betrayals, the loss of the narrator's parents, an earlier bargain already struck, without re-explaining them in detail, which means new listeners will want to start with book one rather than jumping in here first. Reviewer Tia's note that the ending lands as a cliffhanger is also worth flagging directly for anyone who prefers to wait until a series is further along, or complete, before starting it.
Otherwise, this listing is comparatively clean: the displayed rating of 4.4 from 23 counted ratings has no arithmetic contradictions in what I reviewed, and all five visible written reviews are dated after the book's own release, so no timeline mismatch needs flagging here, unlike a few other listings I have checked recently in this genre.
Is This One for You?
Readers already partway into the Kingdom of Lies series are the natural fit here, along with fans of Raven Kennedy, Amanda Bouchet, or Carissa Broadbent specifically, given that the synopsis positions the book directly alongside their work. It also suits romantasy readers who want political intrigue and multiple points of view layered under the central enemies-to-lovers romance, rather than a story that keeps its plot mechanics purely in service of the relationship. Anyone who specifically wants morally gray characters and found-family dynamics, the terms Bethany's review reaches for, over a clean hero-and-villain split will likely find this book delivers on that front too.
New listeners should start with book one instead; the synopsis assumes familiarity with Lorian's betrayals and the narrator's family history in a way that would likely leave new listeners lost on key emotional stakes, since names like Lorian and King Sabium arrive without introduction. And if cliffhanger endings frustrate you more than they hook you, Tia's review is a fair warning that this one closes on exactly that note.
