Kalinda has been an orphan of the Sisterhood for as long as she can remember. She’s known little more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for a servant position, much less that of a courtesan or wife. However, an unexpected visit from the tyrant, Rajah Tarek, disrupts Kalina’s life of peace within the mountain temple. Suddenly she finds herself ripped from her home and trekking across the desert to the king’s city, where she is expected to fight for a place among the rajah’s 99 wives and his numerous courtesans.

Between being faced with a tournament to the death and her growing affection for the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik, Kalinda finds herself facing danger on every side. Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in the power buried within herself.

Set in a harsh world where women are governed by men, The Hundredth Queen is a rich cultural story with influences of the Middle East and possibly India.

While it is a story filled with heavy topics (sexual slavery being key to the story), it is also rich in vivid settings and a fascinating mythology. I loved how the elemental magic worked, and I hope future books in the series will explore the different types of magic more thoroughly. 

However, I did find the story to be predictable in parts (like with the major plot twist) and frustrating in other areas (like the insta-love/obsession with one another). Something I didn’t expect, though, was the amount of death and violence featured, which certainly made the story more gripping.

Overall, I didn’t love or hate this book. It kept my attention and I was always engaged in the storyline.

Rated: Moderate. Violence is high and countless people are murdered or injured, sometimes graphically. Sexual content includes the topic of sexual slavery. Women are shared by the court and insinuations are made to rape, incest, physical abuse, and female children who are used for sex by older men. References are made at least twice to women who are half-undressed in a group setting. A naked character is inspected by a healer, and later naked girls stand blindfolded before a male benefactor who pursues them in a strange sort of auction. Descriptions are also made of a character undressing on their wedding night — including skin-on-skin contact. Characters kiss. There is no profanity.

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