Scan barcode
A review by mayas003
The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King
1.0
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.