ARC Review: The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King

As an orphan ward of the Sisterhood, eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for even a servant’s position, let alone a courtesan or wife. Her sole dream is to continue living in peace in the Sisterhood’s mountain temple. But a visit from the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life.

Within hours, she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik.

Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death—and her growing affection for Deven—Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her.

In Emily R. King’s thrilling fantasy debut, an orphan girl blossoms into a warrior, summoning courage and confidence in her fearless quest to upend tradition, overthrow an empire, and reclaim her life as her own.

★★★(3 stars)

For Kalinda, a lifetime of peace in service to the Sisterhood is all she ask. Her recurring fevers has never made her a candidate for the Claiming, what more of becoming a wife.
But things changed when the Raja suddenly favors her to be his Hundredth and last rani.

With the rank tournaments fast approaching and a tempting love brewing, Kalinda has to face the truths that are slowly surfacing and embrace the person she is ought to become.

• It has a very intriguing plot. One of the reasons why I opt to finish the book is because of its very absorbing plot. Who wouldn’t be enthralled to read about a girl who suddenly became the raja’s one hundredth wife? That’s a lot of women to be competitive for, don’t you think? (Smiles)

• Every big reveal sure is to impress. Though it seems that some of these reveals are quite predictable and common, it still makes me feel thrilled, enough to find it impactful.

• For those who are looking for action packed female battle scenes, this is the perfect book for you. 

• Instalove. This hasn’t been an issue for me up until I reached one third of the book. Their love story is so ironic and so contradicting that I have been debating countless of times whether or not I should stop reading the novel.

• The author is telling the story and not showing it. This is one of those novels wherein the plot is so interesting, it braces you to your seats but the writing style is so sloppy that every potential of the book is diminished. Yes, the idea is there, but it could have been better, epic even, if not because of the too descriptive and too dragging writing style.

• The second lead syndrome. Aside from my complaints above about the main lead’s insta love, I think I prefer the second lead even more. I don’t know if those who have read this one would agree with me but I am kind of exasperated by the blunt actions of Deven towards Kalinda that I can’t even fathom myself shipping him with her. I won’t spoil you on things but I really think Kalinda will do better if she chooses the second male lead rather than Deven. (Smiles)

Thank you so much for being here today. I still don’t know if I would be picking up the next book of the series once it gets published or when the ARCs becomes available, but rest assured, I still enjoyed reading this nevertheless.

I hope you’ll have a nice day!

Till my next review!