Thankyou to Netgalley for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I was impressed in the beginning but as the story went on and unravelled, I found myself nodding off. The world was nice with bots and rivalry between 2 regions but honestly I just wasnt interested in the characters or even the plot. I felt a vague curiosity but that too died eventually and I had to dnf this book. I don't think it was necessarily a bad book, it was bland for me. The story wasn't picking up and I didn't exactly care for the characters. I invest in a book when it makes my adrenaline skyrocket.
Although I have to give 10/10 for the cover!!

The King’s 100 is a light easy to read book and although I did like the different characters in the book and the premise of the ‘King’s 100’, I found the book really boring. I did not like the writing style, the world building especially at the start was lacking and I guess the plot was not for me as I found it slow paced and not interesting.

Although the romance was cute, it was insta-love and I felt like it was dragged on so much that when the characters finally got together I just did not care by then.

2/5

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book!

I honestly don't know where to start with how much I enjoyed this book! I'm a sucker for some good intrigue and romance and this flawlessly combined both without being too much of one or the other. I especially enjoyed seeing Piper/Paris go from a naive emotionless Capalon to some one forming connections with people who truly care for her. I'm glad that it ended as it did because I want more!!

Enjoyed this slow burn of a YA sci-fi book. I think there is a huge need for more sci-fi in YA. it's one of the most sought after in my classroom. Students can't get enough of it. This is a definite must have for your sci-fi fans.

How should I start reviewing this book? Maybe by saying that I was expecting a YA fantasy novel but it's turned out to be a YA dystopia without any fantasy. But it's fine, because nothing in the synopsis let see that there'll be fantasy in it, maybe the cover gave me false expectations. However, I always enjoy a good dystopia, if it's properly explained, exposed and developed, which The King's 100 is not.

We're introduced to a new world order –we know it's a future world because Paris is called "the ancient city of Paris" more than once–, which gives us a glimpse to how the world has evolved to a new kind of society. A society that's divided between two kingdoms: Capalon, a high-tech society, where people act like robots, are forbidden to show their emotions and waste their time on hobbies, and are centered in working for the technological evolution; and Mondaria, quite the opposite of the other kingdom, because their people sing, play instruments, eat what they want and enjoy the little things in life –basically, a 21st century society.
But what I missed was a little bit of "history" to explain us how they got there. Yes, they tell us about the war between the two realms, but a deeper explanation of the world's history was missing to make it all more realistic and to locate the reader into the story.

"You always come back for the people you love."

Apart from this, the story is entertaining, though the premise is quite overexploited and foreseeable –the old "friends-to-lovers" trope mashed up with the classic "lying-about-my-identity-and-then-having-to-apologize" trope. But again, it's okay, because at the end it's a beautiful tale about love, friendship and family, about how important it is to show our emotions and to give more importance to the people than to the technology, because we're human beings and we live through emotions.

Karin Biggs' writing style is perfect for the young-adult public she's writing to, the expressions she uses and the way she explains the scenes are really well chosen, and in a good way there were parts that made me laugh, frown my brow and skip a heartbeat at times. Which I think is a good signal. I think that Karin Biggs has so much potential and I hope I'll have the chance to see it evolve and grow in the future.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Princess Piper of Capalon, who is considered a disappointment due to her exhibiting unnecessary emotions, escapes to the enemy kingdom of Mondaria to find her mother, who she believes is still alive. To search for her, she becomes a singer in the performance court of the King's 100.

Exceptional world building, I really like the tech in this tale like Chip who is embedded in Piper's wrist or the auto-taxis. The antithesis of technologically advanced, innovate minded and strict Capalon with the less advanced, more 'emotional' and colorful Mondaria confuses the protagonist and is such a source of glee for the reader.

Piper/Paris in her naivete is adorable as she crushes over a boy and the author has done such a great job expressing it, you feel like you're crushing too! And you absolutely root for this couple to be together.

With a charming narrative and inviting descriptions, this story is full of instantly memorable characters, amusing antics, danger and mystery. And let us not forget the court drama.

It was more of a romance than I expected, which I really enjoyed, and an awkward situation one to boot. I do wish the 'conflict' happened sooner so the conclusion of the mystery wouldn't have been so rushed. Also a lot of unexpected info seemed to be thrown into the abrupt ending.

Emphasizing on the importance of letting yourself feel and being your true self, this books also shows the beauty of actually belonging and being loved.

The story did not go the expected route and that was refreshing. Actually I could of never predicted that ending, especially that last sentence in a million years. Looking forward to the sequel

Actual rating 4.5/5* due to some issues with underdeveloped characters. But as a whole, the book blew me away!

The King’s 100 by Karin Biggs follows princess Piper on her quest to discover her presumably deceased mother while learning the intricacies of being a wholesome human. Coming from a land where emotions are considered flaws and only science-oriented skills and stone-cold intelligence have value, she discovers a whole new world of values, friendship, love, and emotions when she ends up in the enemy kingdom of Mondaria.

In order to investigate a mysterious clue regarding her mother’s whereabouts, Piper infiltrates the elite entertainment troupe known as The King’s 100 as Paris Marigold. Knowing full well she’ll be executed if they discover her, our heroine goes through the processes of changing completely.

This is one of the things I loved about this book. Piper’s change, her learning to behave like ordinary humans do felt gradual and natural. She wasn’t suddenly the perfect undercover agent.

Another thing that made me swoon and truly appreciate the book, was the slow-burn romance. I am tired of insta-love and enemies-to-lovers tropes. It all felt innocent, natural, and quite Romeo-and-Juliet like.

But probably the biggest merit of the book is the world Karin Biggs has built. It has its unique qualities, it’s vivid and interesting, and you just want to discover more about it. It’s magical and refreshing, and filled with warmth. For a long time, I believed I no longer enjoyed young-adult SF/F because it’s all the same tropes and archetypes. This felt different in a way I’m not sure I can put into words.

Biggs’ writing style is very pleasant and melodic, not too heavy or annoyingly flowery. It was a pleasure witnessing the world and Piper conquering everything she’d never experienced before. Looking forward to the next book. A big THANK YOU to Netgalley and the publisher for the provided opportunity, it was a pleasure!

I didn't expect to like this book so much. But after a few chapters, I was hooked!

In a nutshell
King's 100 takes place in a futuristic world and the story spans between the two kingdoms, Capalon where life is based on tech and logic and uncontrolled aspects of life, like emotions, are to be contained. While Mondorian life all about freedom, expression, and animosity towards the Capalon.

Our MC, Piper feels trapped and ridiculed in Capalon and seeing her standoffish sisters way of life she craves an escape and a cryptic message just does the trick.
our headstrong MC decides to take it upon herself to take a trip to enemy lands to find her -supposed to be dead- mother. Soon enough, she gets wrapped up in the King's competition for talents, for our MC a passage to find her mother.
But fate has other plans as shes's groomed to be a singer and making friends with whom she should be considering her enemy and questioning if she could at all leave Mondaria unscathed on the inside, when the time comes.

Review

The book was slow to start and the writing felt lower YA for the first few pages then picks up as soon as she infiltrate Mondaria Palace and managed to maintain it till the end. Piper stands out like a sore thumb with questionable made-up history and her practiced stiff demeanor.
So I'd enjoyed watching her go through her awkward moments and how she was still determining if friendship was a good idea when it was thrust upon her by the surrounding characters. She had to deal with strict- tad bit mad -instructors, performance shows, heartbreak, conspiracy, rivalry and at he side...espionage.

LIKED
-Highlights of some of the memorable characters_
The supporting characters made the book a whole lot more fun, they started either all too friendly or all too mean but managed to simmer to a sweet friendship that would make Pier's stay worthwhile and leaving whole lot difficult.
I especially loved Layla, transitioning from being a haughty and unfriendly girl to being Piper's steady companion through the last half of the book.
Then on the highlight we have Ari, how she dealt with their confusing relationship was pretty well done, even though she did react recklessly at times but that what made it more engaging to read.

Her sister, Evelyn, was stiff throughout only thawing towards the end when we discover there was more to her....bt that's where it ended and I'm so hyped to know more! I've tons of theories laid out already.

---Plot---
It had the right amount of intrigue, twists, lightheartedness, entertainment, and emotions but sadly lacked in worldbuilding, which I figure may be compensated in the sequels.
As expected the hunt for her mother isn't easy, and by forming a risky pact with a fellow court man she scours the mansion for her mother...more cryptic messages, scents all directing to her mother keep popping up but before she can get to the bottom of the mystery, her Identity is at risk and so is her heart.
Maybe she'll be the one turning overrides for Capalon or maybe the hostility with Mondaria can simmer down finally....awaiting book 2 to find out more.

The setting of this book was definitely different from what I'm used to, but it was fresh and fun. It had some nice twists and the characters didn't act to predictably. There were some things that confused me, but were mostly resolved by the end of the book. Sometimes I felt like the characters weren't exactly believable in their actions or words, but it wasn't too often.

The science wasn't really explained in the best way and I found that there were some information missing in order to all make sense.

A fantastic YA debut! The King’s 100 is a light-hearted read set in a future with a kingdom of highly intelligent and technologically advanced individuals(Capalon), as well as a kingdom of regular people(Mondaria). The two kingdoms are enemies. When The Capalon princess decides to enter Mondaria to look for her mother, she faces the threat of immediate execution if her identity is discovered. She becomes a member of the Mondarian Royal Court as a singer as her search for her mother continues. The story follows the choices she makes, relationships she creates, and dangers she may face when someone discovers she isn’t who she says. I loved the lighthearted romance, the court atmosphere, and the slightly dystopia/sci-fi feel! I hope the store continues!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you love a really light YA novel in a warn-torn kingdom and also love princess stories, then this book is for you! :)
The kingdoms in this world are totally different from each other, and each kingdom values different things.
For example Piper's kingdom is fascinated by all scientific things. They are eating healthy, they value knowledge, and tehy seem like robots, etc.
Piper, as our typical Ya heroine, went out on her own to prove something - mostly to herself. She found things that her kingdom desperately needs: joy, love, and humanoid feelings,
The novel also hhad its Romeo and Juliet vibe. So if you are into it, you will definitely love this!

The writing was well-crafted and the book had some pretty awesome twist!
I will be definitely on the lookout for more from Karin Blggs!

I received a free eARC of this novel from Net Galley in exchange of an honest review.

This book by Karin Biggs is set in a time where monarchies rule The Lands. The best of the best is The Kingdom of Capalon, who are so advanced that they have chips installed in their bodies that would scan you for your biological functions and is also a built in tracker. This chip pretty much serves as their ID. Then there’s the Kingdom of Mondaria which has its own court of 100 performers. Singers, Magicians, Drummers, etc. if you have a talent and pass the auditions, you could live in the palace for four seasons, and receive stipends for performing.

The thing is, the two kingdoms are mortal enemies 🙈 They pretty much hate each other’s guts because the Capalons do not believe in showing emotion and dedicates their entire loves for the sake of science and research. It is frowned upon to fall in love, and they make sure that their bloodlines continue based on who gets the highest percentage scores!

Here are some of the things I loved about this book:

1. The setting and storylines are unique

I love the mesh between the “normal” world (a world filled with emotions and art and creativity) and the futuristic one (the advancements in technology, and the investment in research)

2. The world building

I thought that the pace was just right because I wasn’t overloaded by the information that was being fed to me

3. Imagery

The imagery was really something that would suck you in. I was really surprised when I got to the very last page of the book 😅 I didn’t notice that it was already over!

4. The character development was really well panned out

I thought I would hate Layla from the start, but she’s one character that I began rooting for 💜 Princess Piper really owned her stint as Paris Marigold, and I was a tad bit frustrated with her because she really didn’t have empathy. The world she grew up in was so sheltered and focused so much in the scientific stuff that they’re being turned into robots.

5. The love interest

I know it’s kinda cliche troupe to have a royal fall for a non royal, but this story made me root for them so much! I’m really looking forward to how Ari and Piper’s relationship progresses from here 💗💗💗

There are a couple of things that I didn’t like, though.

1. The lack of the performances

It could be just me, but I would have wanted even a tiny bit of the performances described because: a. The performing aspect is something that’s so vital to Princess Piper’s character. Once she let go of her love for singing, she’s turned into a whole other character who’s not afraid to feel.

2. The last few chapters kinda felt rushed (?)

I loved the pace of the story as a whole, but there was something about the last few chapters that just has me scratching my head because things were going too fast for my liking. There’s a difference between feeling rushed because you want to find out what’s coming next vs what the heck was that?

Overall, I loved this book and I would love to read the next one! I’m so excited to find out what happened and what’s up with Queen Evelyn 😍

Karin Biggs's debut novel, The King's 100, is set in a futuristic world, although the specifics of why the situation was the way it was were never explained. It revolves around a princess of one of the countries, whose name I can't remember, who runs away to the neighbouring country in belief that she'll find her supposedly dead mother there.

Now, I found a lot of issues with the concept itself, so let's get into them one by one. The princess is from a supposedly "scientific" country. We are told (not shown!) that all they do is innovate, innovate, innovate. They think the other countries stupid for not doing the same. How come that a princess of such country with supposedly (I'm sorry about this word, I have a feeling it's going to be repeated even more often) top science and computers and basically top everything, can just sneak out? She literally took her hoverboard and just walked away. It's against everything we've been told in the beginning, which if I may add, was so rushed I couldn't keep up. Introducing the reader a little slower would've been nice. Then she comes to this other country with a fake ID (which we don't know how she got) and gets straight into the King's court. Yeah, it's ridiculous. And that's only the beginning.
I'm not going to discuss the plot further in order to avoid spoilers, but let's just delve a little deeper into Piper's (I remembered her name!) behaviour and other things. I wrote notes during reading, so we'll follow them.
1, the author tried to show us how Piper was different because she was brought up in the "robotic" country, yet the only proof we see of that is when she speaks like a ridiculous robot about two or three times in the whole novel.
2, one of the countries was called Mondaria, which I couldn't but replace with Mandalorian at the beginning. A different choice would've been wiser.
3, once again - although supposedly smart, she made terrible and idiotic choices. Also, there were at least two times in the book where she was like, "crap, if I mess this up, my sister's gonna start a war". And she DID NOT care.
4, she kissed and groped a random guy just because she thought, that her crush who already had a girlfriend, would get jealous. And I'm not even going to discuss her whole attitude towards boys-girls relationship, which in her country were prohibited, but she still seeks out a boy and sees no problem in it. If I was being brainwashed for sixteen years of my life, it'd have some effect. On Piper, it had NONE whatsoever.
5, despite the fact that she came to the King's Court to search for her mother, she thinks about her a 1529 times less than about her crush. Also, the unravelling and the "grand finale" were ridiculous. It basically cancelled the whole point of the book. The only reasonable thing was her decision at the very end.

In conclusion, The King's 100 felt like an underdeveloped and badly written sci-fi Gossip Girl with a mystery subplot. Unfortunately, a big NO for me.

Let me start by just saying that the world of this story was terrifying.

Piper comes from a kingdom where they only care about science and becoming smarter. Every aspect of their daily lives is planned to perfection to maximize their studies. These people can’t have sugar because it will distract them, and should they show any emotion at all, they are medicated.

I was a big believer in Piper getting the hell out of there.

One thing I loved about this story was Piper’s reactions to things we would find mundane. Every small detail that had the possibility of not being present in a STEM-focused kingdom was met with confusion. In particular, I wrote down the line “Heather told me to shatter an appendage and displayed a wide smile which I found to be a confusing combination of words and facial expression” just because I loved it so much.

I also really loved “The Maestro”. As a chorus nerd myself, I’ve definitely had a teacher before that was a complete hard-ass, and while I personally loved that teacher for being mean, I could understand others not liking him for actually forcing us to put in effort. The Maestro was the same, forcing the group to focus on perfecting their parts and giving them no breaks.

The returning, older members of the King’s 100 were also some of my favorite characters. I loved how they went through things with absolutely no embarrassment, especially in the scene where they try to get the new kids to crack and laugh at the hilarious personalities they put on.

However, I thought the ending of this book went over a bit too well. While I certainly understand the need for a happy ending, it didn’t feel right to me that everything just fit into place because Piper asked nicely.

This book also sets up for a sequel with a new mystery to solve, but the characters and possible story involved aren’t very interesting to me. I feel like this story would be better suited as a standalone, and I don’t believe I will be reading any sequel that comes out.

The cover of this book really caught my attention, so it piqued my interest recently. I requested to review it after reading the synopsis and finding it was a fantasy read which just sealed the deal for me really.
When it's summertime, I find myself craving fantasy or sci-fi reads more.

Let's see, where to start...

The novel starts by introducing us to our main character, Piper, who is a princess in a complex and very interesting kingdom (if not also downright pitying, I would NOT want to live there!). It was hard to not have instant compassion for the main character after seeing her life and the people in it that she had to deal with. While still being herself and mourning her parents!
Goodness.
Piper's parents died not long ago, and so her older sister became queen. However their kingdom is ignorant of everywhere else in the world really, and instead, its people pride themselves on being oh-so-intelligent and cold. They do not let emotions or sentiments have a place in their lives.

So the fact that Piper, their princess, grieves for her parents still and believes her mother might be alive is a big no-no to them.
Right after that was all made clear, I was all for Piper to go on an adventure to find her mother and get out of that suffocating kingdom!

Their technology in the story and everything had me thinking it was a sci-fi novel and not a fantasy after all.

I initially thought the novel was slow, and that it took forever for things to pick-up and get to where things actually happened. But once it did, crud, I was not putting it down!
Okay, admission: I'm a sucker for romance. So when that was introduced I HAD to finish it in one sitting. But anyway...back to the plot 😂

While it did take a bit for things to start picking up, somethings picked up a little too much towards the end...


Piper finds herself in her enemy's kingdom looking for her mother and evidence she is still alive. To do so she poses as a singer in the king's court. (The King's 100 if you want to be exact.) She changes her name to Paris (which I personally loved, but I also have a All-Things-Paris-Obsession), and I loved some of the side characters in this part of the story.
Some of them I strongly disliked, and some of them I really could've cared less if they even died in the story (which would explain why I don't remember if they even did die or not...).


While I liked Piper, she made some very...not quite stupid, but close, decisions. And honestly, that would be because the last half of the book was really just...drama.
Romance was in the air, which of course I was rooting for because I really liked her love interest, but Piper lost sight of why she even went to the other kingdom. She was so focused on the emotions she was caught up in while telling herself she couldn't have those emotions for these people.
Which lead to some needless things happening in the plot, that while they weren't bad, they just weren't necessary. They were pretty much filler scenes.


I did like some of the friendships that Piper made and the interactions were sometimes so funny!


The ending was very good and made me enjoy it all again. I wished there'd been more to the conclusion, but oh well.
Though...the last two pages or so definitely has some explaining to do. But good news: I heard the author is planning a sequel!


One thing I still have a little bit of a hard time with is rather hard to discuss without spoiling, but I will try. The climax and big reveal/discovery part, that I'd waited for the whole book with anticipation was rather a let down to me.
Yeah, it still is.


What I really enjoyed:

- The romance
- The original plot was intriguing (though the author rather strayed from that a bit sadly)
- The side characters and the main character (if I don't care about the main character, there's a problem)
- the secret identity part, lately I've been on a kick for that in stories and movies so when I find one done well... bravo! 👏

My Rating: 3.5 stars!

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this read. I love books based around music, so when I read the description, I knew I had to read this book. It was a fun, lighthearted read set in a very future, dystopian world, when the rational and the emotional are the basis of two enemy countries at war. There was enough sci-fi to keep it interesting, but without overwhelming us with tech-speak and jargon. I wish there had been a little bit more time spent with her feelings towards music, but the plot moved along really well, I rarely got very bored. I will definitely be reading the sequel.

Meh. Honestly, this book bored me and I thought it was utterly predictable. I thought it would be more...i don’t know, magical? I found the characters boring, the world flat, and the plot just uninteresting.

This isn't at all what I was expecting. While I don't think this is a bad book, it definitely feels like it's directed at a younger YA audience—more around your sort of 13 to 15 age mark, I think. I found the writing style and characters to be quite juvenile, while that made this easy to read through, I was hoping for something a little stronger. The pacing felt very strange—I was expecting more of a build-up to Piper leaving her kingdom, but it just happened straight away. I think this is perfect for fans of something like The Selection, but with a bit more of a sci-fi twist.

The King's 100 was quite entertaining. If you are a fan of books with royal concepts infused with science, I think this is for you. Although the book was quite difficult for me to get into, especially since I just personally found it difficult to like Piper' at the start, I slowly started to appreciate the book once I found myself anchored to the mystery about her mother and to the world itself. I loved the worldbuilding and the different concepts and structures made for each kingdom and I do hope we get to learn more about it in the future. I also liked how the character developed through the story and her relationships and dynamics with the different characters. Piper is quite relatable and I just found her immersing herself in a place that is truly different from her home interesting to read. I also just loved her friendship with Ari and how Ari also grows in the book. Although there were some parts and dialogue that made me cringe, it wasn't that bad and the plot was there to keep me going.

Overall, the book is quite an easy and light read. You can say it's such a YA book and if you found books like The Selection to your taste, The King's 100 would most likely be good for you.

I had a very good time with the characters, I became very attached to them.
The story itself is well done. The plot makes us want to finish our reading as soon as possible to know the end. I wasn't disappointed with the ending. The writing of the novel is fluid, the sentences are quite simple if you are French-speaking like me. I recommend this story.