*****I received this book for free through the Kindle First program.*****

I read the entirety of The Hundredth Queen contemplating exactly why I didn't like the book, but ended up enjoying it enough to look forward to the sequel. It is that confusing dichotomy that has me wondering if three or four stars is the right final rating for this book.

Plot-wise, The Hundredth Queen presents an interesting and at-least somewhat original story, with no lag or wasted words, which is a huge plus. The characters were generally well-developed, although the death(s) of made too little impact on me as a reader, and at least one felt too deus ex machina-ish for me to approve. The writing is solid, which is no knock; King doesn't meddle with too much overwrought scenery or atmosphere.

We have an interesting religious system/magic usage/cultural bias clash throughout, which provides the impetus for the story and motivations for the characters, and I think King pulled it off well. It's no original move to feature warrior women, or base a book around a surprising diamond in the rough sort. But at the same time there's no reason to complain.

I think I liked this book more than my review would make it sound. Hopefully the follow-up will make things clearer for me.

This book was a little tricky for me because... it was like the rhythm of this book only worked for me in fits and starts. Like there would be a series of things happening that I would get drawn in to and really enjoy. Then something would happen to throw me off and I would take a break before resuming my read. I didn't like the way this book ended and it felt like it was going in to territory I would like even less after that. I even went ahead and read the synopsis for the next book... and was slightly disgusted that it seemed to be indicating a love triangle-- first, because I tend to hate those as a matter of course in stories in general, and second, because it felt incredibly out of place after reading book one. Either the synopsis is not a fair indication of the next book, or I expect I will not enjoy the journey that the next book takes me on, so even though I thought this was a reasonably enjoyable book, I am inclined to pass on the rest of this series. This book also committed some 'literary sins' such as instalove, having a dehumanized villain, so as to seem over the top in his EVIL-WAYS (tm), and having a story that **perfectly** matches another synopsis that I have read, for a different book-- RECENTLY.

A wonderfully detailed story of a new and unique world. Great suspense and mystery. Would consider this a quest story with romance.

dnf at 50%

A little predictable in the beginning but some good elements throughout kept my interest. reminiscent of the tales from the Arabian nights.

This book tried to do a lot and tackle a lot of issues, but despite its beautiful writing and compelling characters, the story ended up getting very muddled. Character motivations changed every other page, vacillating between opposing desires so that I often didn’t know what the character cared about most. There were three separate and completely compelling plots going on simultaneously that failed to weave together. While I gobbled up this book, it ultimately left me disappointed because I had lost sight of the plot completely and have no idea if the protagonist achieved what she wanted or not. Looking back, it was never really clear.

An ambitious and commendable story, that would have been better as three separate novels.

3.50

This book is a solid "slightly above average" Kindle First selection. The magical /fantasy elements in the world of this book are interesting, the religion/gods structure is ok, the social commentary & heroes and villains are all ok. Everything is good, but underdeveloped. The progression of the lead character is a bit accelerated, predictably. Certain elements were inconsistent, but overall, a decent read.

This was OK. I enjoyed reading it, but found large swaths of it annoying. The writing felt very pared down, as though King was determined not to make the book too long, and so cut out a lot of description and detail. Overall, it's a decent story, but very very predictable. I have to say too, I found the whole premise of the book just odd. The concept of the rank tournament is bizarre. Also, this is clearly a society where women are expected to be obedient and submissive, but simultaneously they should be trained warriors because they'll need to fight to the death for rank? It just didn't make any sense to me.