The Hundredth Queen

The Hundredth Queen is a vibrant tale of a reluctant heroine cast into a fascinating world of danger and palace intrigue. I could not put it down!

Kalinda is an orphaned young woman chosen by the indomitable Raja Tarek for his one-hundredth and final wife. She suddenly finds herself fighting for her life and her newly acquired throne with her guard, Deven as her only ally. Hunger Games fans will find the familiar kill or be killed theme of the arena style fights a familiar, yet well executed trope.
The historical setting is purely fictional, although based on Sumerian history and mythology. The result is an exotic and believable world with exciting twists and turns at every interval as Kalinda attempts to navigate the dangerous circumstances she finds herself in. The fast pace and mysterious events keeps the pages turning long into the night.
I particularly enjoyed seeing Kalinda’s growth from a character reluctant to accept her role, to a fearless warrior embracing the power she never knew she had, to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.
There are moments where Kali’s lack of training and lack of knowledge of her Bhuta powers seem to set her up for utter failure, yet she always manages to come out on top, but not always in a believable way. The final moments of the book make it all worthwhile as the story arc comes to a satisfactory close, leaving Kalinda ready to face what comes next in The Fire Queen.

Final Verdict:
The Hundredth Queen launches readers into an unforgettable world of forbidden romance, unimaginable powers and a perfectly evil villain. And that is only the beginning.

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.