Feb 2018 (Creating & Co Book Club Enchantathon)

I'm about 30% through so far...

And this story doesn't make any sense to me. Why would a king choose his wives from orphanages; rather than from other powerful families to gain political advantage? Why would he want his wives to be violent cutthroats? Isn't the point of having so many wives for them to be like trophies and produce tons of offspring? You can train the children to be warriors once they are of age. Their mothers don't have to be warriors first. What is the advantage for the wives to kill/maim one another? Plus, the famed 100th has to fight court servants as well as the other wives to secure her place? What advantage would the servants have for fighting the last wife? It is stated that all prior wives (dead or alive) count against the 100 limit; so if they kill her, they can't take her place anyway. Assuming they can (maybe he doesn't officially marry the 100th until the trials are over), will the king automatically marry whichever challenger is left standing? Does he have to approve each challenger so he doesn't end up with someone undesirable? It all seems so arbitrary in order to create strife for the main character.

A much better version of a fantasy book with a strong female protagonist is the "Muirwood" series! The main character from that series is also an orphan with magical abilities, but she fights for solid reasons. There is a love interest for her as well, but it evolves over three books. I "believe" in that world a whole lot more than this one.

All that being said, this book is fairly well-written. I am curious to read on to see if my questions are answered. If they are just left to "this is how their world is..." I will be sorely disappointed and skim to the end. I'm hedging on 2 - 3 stars depending on how this progresses.

... OK I had to stop around the 45% mark.

After the above concerns things only got worse. 1.) The wives are only allowed to "be alone" with their husband on their wedding night. After that they only have sex with him in orgies. 2.) The emperor "shares" his courtesans with his generals openly; which further makes me wonder why he'd want to marry one of them if they defeat Kali in the tournament. They are nothing more than servants and "meat" to the court men. 3.) During Kali's official introduction to the court as the 100th queen, the first challenger sits on the king's lap the whole time (on his throne in front of everybody!). He is caressing her face, pouring wine in her mouth, and responding to the people as they walk up. This guy constantly flaunts the fact that he's going to have sex with as many women as possible. 4.) Devin's mother

Spoiler

is a courtesan that is raped by the General. Then, all such illegitimate children are shipped off to a monastery to be raised. So, he has rarely seen his mother and has to work with his raping father now that he is in the army himself. Why did he choose that job?

5.) For some reason, Devin's mother wants to meet Kali. Kali immediately accepts the invitation (why?). When the guards are smuggling her to

Spoiler

the courtesan wing

, Devin warns her that the court men are "indiscriminate about whom they touch". She could get raped just by walking down the hallway? Jesus! What kind of horny deviants are running this place? 6.) On a lesser note, Devin openly touches Kali several times in full view of another guard. He assures her that "he won't say anything." Come on. Kali and Devin would be brutally murdered in public if anybody even whispered a rumor that he was touching the Viraji. He should be smarter than that.

I'm sincerely hoping the remainder of the book is about the women of the court rising up and killing all of the men in the palace. These men are horrible! I could read to find out, but I just hate everybody in this story at this point. I got this book as a freebie from the Kindle First program (thank God). I have about a dozen books that I paid for and want to read waiting on me. I'd rather spend my time with them rather than trudging through this rape-fest to see what happens.

This one is not for me.

„Ich möchte ihn wegstoßen und fest an mich ziehen, ich will ihm sagen, dass er gehen soll, und möchte ihn bitten, für immer zu bleiben.“ (aus „Die letzte Königin – Das schlafende Feuer“ S. 163 von Emily R. King)

Die achtzehnjährige Kalinda ist behütet bei der Heiligen Schwesternschaft aufgewachsen. Doch ein Besuch des Tyrannen Rajah Tarek reißt sie abrupt aus ihrem friedlichen Leben heraus. Sie soll die hundertste Ehefrau des Herrschers werden - ein Platz, den sie gegen die anderen Ehefrauen und Kurtisanen Tareks im Zweikampf verteidigen muss. Ihr einziger Trost in der feindseligen Welt des Hofes ist ihr junger Leibwächter Deven Naik. Ihn zu lieben ist ihr verboten, doch Kalinda begreift schon bald, dass sie niemals die Frau des grausamen Tarek sein kann. Ihre einzige Chance liegt in der verborgenen Macht, die tief in ihr schlummert ... (Klappentext, Quelle: LYX Verlagsseite)

Seit das Buch bei der Lesejury vorgestellt wurde, schlich ich drum herum. Für die Leserunde hatte ich mich nicht beworben, warum weiß ich mittlerweile auch nicht mehr, denn ich bin nachhaltig beeindruckt von dieser Geschichte!
Auf den ersten Eindruck wirkt das Buch vom Cover her wie ein historische Roman, weshalb ich mich für den Klappentext zunächst überhaupt nicht interessiert habe. Spaßeshalber habe ich ihn mir dann doch mal durchgelesen und war überrascht, dass dieses Buch zumindest von der Beschreibung her voll und ganz meinen Lesegeschmack trifft.

Kalinda erzählt die Geschichte aus ihrer Ich-Perspektive, so hat man als Leser immer den besten Einblick in die Gefühle und Gedanken des Protagonisten und das liebe ich! Ich habe sehr schnell eine Beziehung zu ihr aufgebaut und mit ihr mitgefiebert, Kalinda war einfach sympathisch und authentisch.
Der Schreibstil ist, obwohl es scheint, als spiele die Story in einer weiter zurückliegenden Zeit, anschaulich und unkompliziert trotz etwas geschwollener Ausdrucksweise der Adligen hier und da, sehr detailliert und man kann sich alles gut vorstellen kann. Ich bin schnell in einen stetigen Lesefluss gekommen, sodass das Buch nach einem Tag leider auch schon beendet war. Ich war so gefangen in der Welt, die die Autorin konstruiert hat, dass ich noch Tage hätte weiterlesen können!

Kalinda mausert sich im Laufe der Geschichte vom schüchternen, zurückhaltenden Mädchen, das nach der Forderung am liebsten wieder in ihre Schwesternschaft zurückgekehrt wäre, zu einer starken, selbstbewussten jungen Frau, die für ihre Überzeugung kämpft und lernt, sich durchzusetzen, ganz zu schweigen davon dass sie auch noch eine übernatürliche Begabung besitzt.. Mir als Leser war Kali von der ersten Seite an super sympathisch. Sie war nicht die typische schlagfertige Alleskönner-Protagonistin aber auch nicht das standardmäßige Mauerblümchen, sondern irgendwas dazwischen. Ich mochte die Mischung sehr und hätte mir keinen besseren Hauptcharakter wünschen können als sie.

Die restlichen Charaktere waren ebenfalls überzeugend ausgearbeitet, begonnen mit Kalis besten Freundin Jaya, über den Soldaten Deven Naik bis hin zum grausamen Herrscher und seiner Hauptfrau Lakia. Manche hat man gehasst, manche hat man geliebt, aber faszinierend waren sie alle gleichermaßen, wie ich finde.
Die Beziehung von Deven und Kali steht jetzt nicht so sehr im Mittelpunkt, wie ich finde. Es gibt keine übertieben kitschigen Momente zwischen ihnen, aber dennoch merkt man, was sich zwischen den beiden entwickelt, denn dass sie sich begehren ist von Anfang an offensichtlich. Mir gefällt es, dass der Fokus mehr auf Kalidas Leben im Palast, ihren Fähigkeiten und den Machenschaften des Rajah liegt und die Liebesgeschichte nebenher läuft.

Generell finde ich die Geschichte mit der Welt, die geschaffen wurde, bis ins letzte Detail unfassbar faszinierend. Seien es nun die Schwesternschaften, in denen Mädchen großgezogen werden, die Forderungen, bei denen Herren junge Frauen auswählen und mit sich nehmen können, oder der gesamte Palast mit seinen Strukturen und Hierarchien, alles habe ich aufgesogen wie ein Schwamm. ^^
Wenn jemand eine ganze Welt konstruiert anstatt nur ein paar Details an der jetzigen zu verändern, finde ich das immer bewundernswert und auch in diesem Fall wurde ich ganz von der Story und dem Geschehen gefesselt.

Mein Fazit:
Ich bin begeistert! Wunderbar ausgearbeitete Charaktere, ein faszinierendes Setting, was ein bisschen was von Aladdin hat, und ein fesselnder Schreibstil sorgen für ein Leseerlebnis, was ich so schnell nicht mehr vergessen werde. Ich freue mich schon auf den zweiten Teil und werde hibbeln, bis ich endlich herausfinden kann, wie es mit Kalinda und ihren Gefährten weitergeht.

3.5 stars

Full review on:
https://thelittlebooknerds.wordpress.com/2017/11/14/the-hundredth-queen-book-review/

so fun fact I read all four of these books in like a span of a week or something. I had found them on a website and just read them all and now I can't remember a single plot point. All I know is that I read them but I couldn't tell you a single thing about these books or anything. Yikes oopsie.

This book was quite interesting. I loved the idea of the plot, as well as how the author executed it with lots of action and interesting info. (And of course romance).

A cliched story that has elements of entertainment. It's tough to get through several scenes (abusive, non-consensual, violence), but the rest of it stumbles through okay.

I found this series on my Kindle that I read a few years ago. it was fire.

“Let the sky lead me, the land ground me, the fire cleanse me, and the water feed me.”

The Hundredth Queen is an imaginative fantasy that blends beautiful imagery and persistent characters. We follow Kalinda, an orphan ward of the Sisterhood, as she’s chosen to be the hundredth queen for the tyrant Rajah Tarek. Kali must fight for her place in the palace, while hiding a dangerous secret about herself. The Hundredth Queen is filled with mystery, romance, and a beautifully imagined world of power, control, and retribution.

Things I Liked:
Kali was a pretty solid main character. I love that she was inquisitive and hard working, determined to better herself and dedicated to the values of the Sisterhood. She tries to take all the agency she can in this heavily patriarchal society. Though she is naive and rash, she fights for her beliefs and those she loves, and that is always admirable.

I absolutely loved everything about the Bhutas. They were my favorite part of the story. I’m a sucker for elemental magic and I loved the power displays and the history they brought to the story. Bhutas >>>>>>.

I really loved the imagery in the story. Everything felt very vivid and clear, it made it super easy to become enveloped and invested in this world.

Things I Didn’t Like:
Even though this story is clearly a fantasy novel, it was hard for me to not connect the fantasy setting to the real-world influences. It made the setting feel just slightly off, and not quite as distinct as I would have liked.

I’m not usually an insta-love hater. I understand it’s place in the story and can usually get behind it, or at least be okay with it because I understand it’s purpose. However, this was a little heavy on the insta-love. It was a little too much, a little too quickly. I like the relationship that develops between Kali and Deven, but the start was a little rushed for me personally.

While I loved the imagery, and it captivated me enough to become invested in the world, I would have liked some more information and more world building. Kali and others constantly mention the 5 godly virtues, but they are never mentioned all at once (and if they are I missed it - sorry). It would have been nice to establish the culture and religion more, so I could connect this with the world the characters live in. I felt like the actual tournament provided good action, but we only really knew 3 of the girls competing so the deaths held little impact, besides fueling Kali’s anger. I also felt like Kali really didn’t have enough time to learn/practice her powers. For the book to focus on her trying to understand what powers she possess, and what she’s capable, we really didn’t get to see her explore them much at all.

I felt like most of the side characters were not really developed outside of their relationship to Kali. I understand this is her story, but the other characters really just felt like they were along for her story, they didn’t have much on their own.

The Hundredth Queen is a solid fantasy story, that brilliantly sets up it’s sequel The Fire Queen, to have more action, more challenges, and more powers. This is a richly imagined story with fantastic magic wielders and slightly weak characters and world building. The Hundredth Queen is a good story, with an even more promising future.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.