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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Great start to a series
This book was really good. It was intriguing and the characters interesting. Looking forward to the second book and hopefully more character development and more about the powers.
This book was really good. It was intriguing and the characters interesting. Looking forward to the second book and hopefully more character development and more about the powers.
This review can also be found on my blog.
Actual rating: 2.5/5.
The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King weaves together magic, suspense, mythology, and romance. At the heart of this story is Kalinda, an 18-year-old orphan who is prone to fevers and doesn’t see herself doing anything other than entering the Sisterhood with her best friend, Jaya. However, her serene life is disrupted by the Claiming and she is now set to be the Rajah’s hundredth rani. Thing is, she has to fight for her place among ninety nine other wives, and maybe find out secrets about her past.
The premise of The Hundredth Queen captivated me. Who doesn’t want to read about a strong heroine and her rise to power as she drives the fall of a powerful kingdom? That’s a fantasy lover’s dream. However, while the book was strong in some aspects such as magic and mythology, there were weaker points that I had gripes with such as plot, character development and world-building. It was all rather predictable and a bit lackluster.
Here’s what I have to say about The Hundredth Queen.
King’s writing is captivating, but sometimes it felt like it was too much.
This is just a personal preference, but the amount of descriptions were overwhelming. I also found some areas lacked descriptions – it’s all a matter of balance. I also felt some areas we were spoon-fed what we needed to know in order to move on with the plot whereas things could have been left to the imagination and for the reader to piece together. Despite this, King’s writing is lovely and I enjoyed her writing style. I also enjoyed the use of mythology and magic throughout the novel; it added an edge and a sense of mystery in regards to the politics and dynamics of magic and the court. However, I did find the mythology to be convoluted, especially in regards to the bhuta and the sacred text.
The character development wasn’t as authentic as it could have been.
Our protagonist, Kalinda is weak, suffers from fevers and has no experience with men at all. she is repeatedly described as terrible in combat and unremarkable – yet, what perplexed me was she is suddenly able to defeat one of her strongest opponents during the Claiming, and is described as “beautiful”. The jumps between her character development were confusing, and while she grows rather quickly into a fierce warrior and woman, I found the supporting characters like Jaya and the Rajah to be a bit two-dimensional. I liked the friendship between Jaya and Kalinda, it wasn’t developed enough for me to grow attached.
I also found Kalinda to be rather plain, but her personality improved when in the company of Deven. Their instalove was predictable and felt a little sudden because of a lack of tension and development, but it was rather cute. Overall, the characters weren’t too impressive and that’s what felt a little off with me: there wasn’t enough tension between the characters and dimension.
Also, the world in which the novel is set does not venture further than the journey from the Sisterhood to the palace, and that’s where the reader resides for majority of the novel. There was a lot of potential for world-building not just through lore and textbook history, but through conversations and exploration. I would have liked more details on neighbouring nations and some history on how the Rajah became so powerful.
The concept of the rank tournament was intriguing yet I didn’t see the point?
It honestly felt like the tournament encouraged girl-on-girl hate rather than sisterhood no matter how hard Kalinda tried. I did like how King explained Kalinda’s disapproval of the system, but because of her negative attitude towards it I didn’t enjoy reading any sections to do with the tournament. It made me uncomfortable and the reasoning behind it all is to rise up in rank – it felt superficial and pointless.
Overall, The Hundredth Queen had the potential to shine and stand out as a unique YA fantasy romance, yet it fell into a rut of predictable plot points and underdeveloped characters. While it was enjoyable to a certain degree (the use of magic was definitely fascinating), the gripes I had with it dampened my enthusiasm.
Actual rating: 2.5/5.
The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King weaves together magic, suspense, mythology, and romance. At the heart of this story is Kalinda, an 18-year-old orphan who is prone to fevers and doesn’t see herself doing anything other than entering the Sisterhood with her best friend, Jaya. However, her serene life is disrupted by the Claiming and she is now set to be the Rajah’s hundredth rani. Thing is, she has to fight for her place among ninety nine other wives, and maybe find out secrets about her past.
The premise of The Hundredth Queen captivated me. Who doesn’t want to read about a strong heroine and her rise to power as she drives the fall of a powerful kingdom? That’s a fantasy lover’s dream. However, while the book was strong in some aspects such as magic and mythology, there were weaker points that I had gripes with such as plot, character development and world-building. It was all rather predictable and a bit lackluster.
Here’s what I have to say about The Hundredth Queen.
King’s writing is captivating, but sometimes it felt like it was too much.
This is just a personal preference, but the amount of descriptions were overwhelming. I also found some areas lacked descriptions – it’s all a matter of balance. I also felt some areas we were spoon-fed what we needed to know in order to move on with the plot whereas things could have been left to the imagination and for the reader to piece together. Despite this, King’s writing is lovely and I enjoyed her writing style. I also enjoyed the use of mythology and magic throughout the novel; it added an edge and a sense of mystery in regards to the politics and dynamics of magic and the court. However, I did find the mythology to be convoluted, especially in regards to the bhuta and the sacred text.
The character development wasn’t as authentic as it could have been.
Our protagonist, Kalinda is weak, suffers from fevers and has no experience with men at all. she is repeatedly described as terrible in combat and unremarkable – yet, what perplexed me was she is suddenly able to defeat one of her strongest opponents during the Claiming, and is described as “beautiful”. The jumps between her character development were confusing, and while she grows rather quickly into a fierce warrior and woman, I found the supporting characters like Jaya and the Rajah to be a bit two-dimensional. I liked the friendship between Jaya and Kalinda, it wasn’t developed enough for me to grow attached.
I also found Kalinda to be rather plain, but her personality improved when in the company of Deven. Their instalove was predictable and felt a little sudden because of a lack of tension and development, but it was rather cute. Overall, the characters weren’t too impressive and that’s what felt a little off with me: there wasn’t enough tension between the characters and dimension.
Also, the world in which the novel is set does not venture further than the journey from the Sisterhood to the palace, and that’s where the reader resides for majority of the novel. There was a lot of potential for world-building not just through lore and textbook history, but through conversations and exploration. I would have liked more details on neighbouring nations and some history on how the Rajah became so powerful.
The concept of the rank tournament was intriguing yet I didn’t see the point?
It honestly felt like the tournament encouraged girl-on-girl hate rather than sisterhood no matter how hard Kalinda tried. I did like how King explained Kalinda’s disapproval of the system, but because of her negative attitude towards it I didn’t enjoy reading any sections to do with the tournament. It made me uncomfortable and the reasoning behind it all is to rise up in rank – it felt superficial and pointless.
Overall, The Hundredth Queen had the potential to shine and stand out as a unique YA fantasy romance, yet it fell into a rut of predictable plot points and underdeveloped characters. While it was enjoyable to a certain degree (the use of magic was definitely fascinating), the gripes I had with it dampened my enthusiasm.
Predictable and juvenile but I still put Book 2 on my list.
This book was free last month on Amazon. That should have been a hint. Too many YA cliches. Can we please stop with instalove? I could tell this was not written by an Indian woman and I'm not even Indian myself. I won't be continuing with the series.
This was just ok - I wanted more. More personality from Kalinda and less instalove.
Skip this one
Skip this one
An absolutely stunning, original fantasy. Loved the strength of the female relationships, and of course, King's beautiful writing.
Surprisingly more deep and profound than I expected. It starts a little slow but its necessary to give readers the exposure to the world, characters and severity of the horrible way women are treated. It picks up about 6 or 7 chapters in. I was impressed with the subtlety of the main character and that she wasn't written to be an immediate bad ass. She is full of insecurities and finds her way through situations because she has to not because she ran head first into conflict. I'm unsure about reading the next as I've read reviews about a love triangle and I dont want to taint the purity of the love felt In the first book.
I made the mistake of reading reviews just after I started reading this, and I was surprised by how many low ratings there were. Yes, it can get a super tropey at times, and that romance was nothing exciting, but I quite enjoyed this!
Overall, it was a solid story. The beginning was a bit rough to get into, but once Kalinda left the Sisterhood, I was flying through it. I enjoyed the setting (not so much the polygamy and man-centric world, but it served its purpose). The magical element was intriguing, and I enjoyed how it slowly came to light, even though I had my suspicions from the start. The Hunger Games-esque championship between queens and courtesans is ... different, but not bad once you get over the "Excuse me?" moment. There was even a plot twist that I didn't see coming.
Really, the only thing that disappointed me was the romance, or rather the lack thereof. There was no build-up, and I found that a shame. We went from stolen glances to full blown declarations of love, and I wasn't here for that.
*Afterthought, and I don't know which book this reflects as a negative for, but I was reading Elly Blake's Fireblood at the same time, and there are a LOT of parallels between the two. MC has a fire power that is frowned upon, religious setting, warrior MC has feelings for, chosen to kill the king. I was getting confused at a few points struggling to remember which story I was supposed to be remembering. However, I think it's panning out better in Frostblood, especially the romance.
Overall, it was a solid story. The beginning was a bit rough to get into, but once Kalinda left the Sisterhood, I was flying through it. I enjoyed the setting (not so much the polygamy and man-centric world, but it served its purpose). The magical element was intriguing, and I enjoyed how it slowly came to light, even though I had my suspicions from the start. The Hunger Games-esque championship between queens and courtesans is ... different, but not bad once you get over the "Excuse me?" moment. There was even a plot twist that I didn't see coming.
Really, the only thing that disappointed me was the romance, or rather the lack thereof. There was no build-up, and I found that a shame. We went from stolen glances to full blown declarations of love, and I wasn't here for that.
*Afterthought, and I don't know which book this reflects as a negative for, but I was reading Elly Blake's Fireblood at the same time, and there are a LOT of parallels between the two. MC has a fire power that is frowned upon, religious setting, warrior MC has feelings for, chosen to kill the king. I was getting confused at a few points struggling to remember which story I was supposed to be remembering. However, I think it's panning out better in Frostblood, especially the romance.
SPOILERS
OMG, I want to scoop my eyes out my head with a spoon. I am going to start by saying that lately, all I’ve been reading is one poorly written story after another. I do not write reviews of less than three stars, but this will no longer be my policy.
I kept seeing The Hundredth Queen pup up as a recommended read, and I was asked by a friend to read it and give her a recommendation if to read it or not. So, I found a Barnes and Nobles copy and bought it. I decided to give it a shot. Now I want my money back.
Lord have mercy; this story is one big cliché extravaganza. It has little to no world-building, the characters are flat, and the romance is best described as instalove. You have your share of mean girls and nasty people, but for the life of me I am still wondering why Kalinda was selected to be the hundredth wife if she was described as plain. If she is bad at fighting then how in the world, in the first few chapters she defeats a strong opponent? If she is plain then why is she called "beautiful" by many others?
In the very start of the book, we see Kalinda meeting the guy who will be the love of her life. What did he do to reach that level of admiration? Okay, puppy love, love at first sight, I am willing to accept it. But what about the guy? Deven is supposed to be her protector, and throughout the story, he does a piss poor job at guiding and protecting her. Which begs the question, how did he ever achieve his position? And where is the chemistry between him and Kalinda? There was no romance progression, and I was left thinking this must have been a mistake.
So, this is a story about women fighting to gain status in a royal setting. However, why and what would it be the purpose of moving up in the rank? I still don’t know.
So Kalinda gets chosen to be Rajah Tarek's 100th wife. I am still trying to figure out why. Then she finds out she must compete with the other 99 wives in a rank tournament, why? I am not sure why, so I am going to say, I don’t know. I think it has something to do with a god that had 100 wives.
There is a love triangle that is absolutely nonsensical.
Now, you will find a side plot hidden in between all the tournaments to the death, and the women being bitches to each other in the palace. Why they are bitches? Simple, because everyone hates Kalinda and Kalinda hates everyone, why? I don’t know because the book doesn’t say.
I am assuming that is because when you have 100 bitchy women fighting to the death and for control and one man, you have war. But because this is a fantasy story you must have magic and because the author used India as the basis of the culture the magical creatures are called the bhuta. They want something that Rajah stole, and then I got a brain fart because I did not care what happened to any of them. I was hoping Alien and Predator would come and start fighting in the tournaments and they be the final winners and then Rajah had to use them two as his one and two only concubines for life.
This book is the first I give a review with a one star ever. This book could have been a great story, but it needed the tender loving care of a developmental editor. To be completely honest the last ten chapters I only skim through them; I lost interest. Maybe in the future, I will sit and give those last few chapters my full attention, but it will not be anytime soon.
OMG, I want to scoop my eyes out my head with a spoon. I am going to start by saying that lately, all I’ve been reading is one poorly written story after another. I do not write reviews of less than three stars, but this will no longer be my policy.
I kept seeing The Hundredth Queen pup up as a recommended read, and I was asked by a friend to read it and give her a recommendation if to read it or not. So, I found a Barnes and Nobles copy and bought it. I decided to give it a shot. Now I want my money back.
Lord have mercy; this story is one big cliché extravaganza. It has little to no world-building, the characters are flat, and the romance is best described as instalove. You have your share of mean girls and nasty people, but for the life of me I am still wondering why Kalinda was selected to be the hundredth wife if she was described as plain. If she is bad at fighting then how in the world, in the first few chapters she defeats a strong opponent? If she is plain then why is she called "beautiful" by many others?
In the very start of the book, we see Kalinda meeting the guy who will be the love of her life. What did he do to reach that level of admiration? Okay, puppy love, love at first sight, I am willing to accept it. But what about the guy? Deven is supposed to be her protector, and throughout the story, he does a piss poor job at guiding and protecting her. Which begs the question, how did he ever achieve his position? And where is the chemistry between him and Kalinda? There was no romance progression, and I was left thinking this must have been a mistake.
So, this is a story about women fighting to gain status in a royal setting. However, why and what would it be the purpose of moving up in the rank? I still don’t know.
So Kalinda gets chosen to be Rajah Tarek's 100th wife. I am still trying to figure out why. Then she finds out she must compete with the other 99 wives in a rank tournament, why? I am not sure why, so I am going to say, I don’t know. I think it has something to do with a god that had 100 wives.
There is a love triangle that is absolutely nonsensical.
Now, you will find a side plot hidden in between all the tournaments to the death, and the women being bitches to each other in the palace. Why they are bitches? Simple, because everyone hates Kalinda and Kalinda hates everyone, why? I don’t know because the book doesn’t say.
I am assuming that is because when you have 100 bitchy women fighting to the death and for control and one man, you have war. But because this is a fantasy story you must have magic and because the author used India as the basis of the culture the magical creatures are called the bhuta. They want something that Rajah stole, and then I got a brain fart because I did not care what happened to any of them. I was hoping Alien and Predator would come and start fighting in the tournaments and they be the final winners and then Rajah had to use them two as his one and two only concubines for life.
This book is the first I give a review with a one star ever. This book could have been a great story, but it needed the tender loving care of a developmental editor. To be completely honest the last ten chapters I only skim through them; I lost interest. Maybe in the future, I will sit and give those last few chapters my full attention, but it will not be anytime soon.