Author: Emily King
Publication Date: June 1st 2017
Publisher: Skyscape
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.
Emily R. King is a reader of everything and a writer of fantasy. Born in Canada and raised in the USA, she has perfected the use of “eh” and “y’all” and uses both interchangeably. Shark advocate, consumer of gummy bears, and islander at heart, Emily’s greatest interests are her four children. She’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and an active participant in her local writers’ community. She lives in Northern Utah with her family and their cantankerous cat.
The Hundredth Queen is by far one of my favorite books of 2017. I received an ARC of this incredible book before it even had a cover and I was completely obsessed after just reading one chapter. I am one of those readers who is usually drawn to a book because of the cover so when I received this book I read it just because the synopsis sounded intriguing.....and WOW am I happy that I gave this book a chance! The Hundredth Queen blew me away.....I literally could not put the book down and finished it in one weekend.
The Hundredth Queen was full of magic, suspense, fantasy, action, betrayal, and swoon-worthy romance. Emily's writing is beautiful, captivating, and full of emotion. Each character is unique and fascinating in their own way but the main character, Kalinda, is the heart of the story. Kalinda is a strong female heroine who beats the odds to become one of the Rajah's queens.....most importantly his Hundredth Queen.
Kali is torn from her peaceful and serene life at the Sisterhood's temple and brought to the Rajah's palace where she will fight for her life in a tournament against his other ninety-nine queens and also his courtesans.
When Kali is pulled from the temple she is escorted to the Rajah's palace by Deven, a high-ranking palace guard. I loved the immediate connection between Kali and Deven and how easily they became intertwined with each other. Deven's fierce protectiveness toward Kali was beautiful and breath-taking and their romance felt like it was destined to be.
“His warm smile squeezes me breathless."
Another aspect of the story that I loved was how Emily portrayed the importance of strong female relationships between the characters all throughout the story.
The Hundredth Queen is a sweeping YA fantasy that is full of incredible world-building, breath-taking romance, and a magical journey that will keep you intrigued until the last page. There were so many fascinating twists and turns throughout the story and each turn of the page seemed to be more suspenseful than the last. Each chapter was so exciting and intriguing and I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. I literally cannot wait to read The Fire Queen to see what lies ahead for Kalinda and her journey to become the One Hundredth Queen.
The Fire Queen (Emily King)
In the second book in The Hundredth Queen Series, Emily R. King once again follows a young warrior queen’s rise to meet her destiny in a richly imagined world of sorcery and forbidden powers.
Though the tyrant rajah she was forced to marry is dead, Kalinda’s troubles are far from over. A warlord has invaded the imperial city, and now she’s in exile. But she isn’t alone. Kalinda has the allegiance of Captain Deven Naik, her guard and beloved, imprisoned for treason and stripped of command. With the empire at war, their best hope is to find Prince Ashwin, the rajah’s son, who has promised Deven’s freedom on one condition: that Kalinda will fight and defeat three formidable opponents.
But as Kalinda’s tournament strengths are once again challenged, so too is her relationship with Deven. While Deven fears her powers, Ashwin reveres them—as well as the courageous woman who wields them. Kalinda comes to regard Ashwin as the only man who can repair a warring world and finds herself torn between her allegiance to Deven and a newly found respect for the young prince.
With both the responsibility to protect her people and the fate of those she loves weighing heavily upon her, Kalinda is forced again to compete. She must test the limits of her fire powers and her hard-won wisdom. But will that be enough to unite the empire without sacrificing all she holds dear?
**The quotes from this book have been taken from an Advanced Reading Copy and are subject to change when the final book is printed. Please refer to the final, finished copy for exact quotes!**
**I want to say Thank You to Skyscape Publishing for the opportunity to review this book!!**
