Review – The King’s 100 by Karin Biggs

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.**

Title The King’s 100

Author Karin Biggs

Description from Amazon

Sixteen-year-old princess, Piper Parish, is a disappointment to the citizens of Capalon, a STEM-structured kingdom where innovation is valued above all. Her older sister, the queen, views Piper’s tears during their parents’ funeral as a weakness, not to mention her strange affinity for singing. When Piper receives an anonymous note stating her mother is still alive and living in the enemy kingdom of Mondaria, Piper chooses to risk death and flees Capalon to prove once and for all that she’s not just the queen’s defective little sister. Posing as a Mondarian citizen named Paris Marigold, Piper bumps into a cute black-haired boy named Ari who encourages her to audition for the King’s 100, an esteemed performance court of singers, magicians, and drummers. Piper lands a spot as a singer and dives head-first into a world of glittering dresses, girl-code, sugar, blackmail, and physical contact-all while taking direction from an evil maestro.Under Mondarian law, Piper will be killed if her identity is revealed. But living a life without the freedom to love might actually be the most dangerous risk of all.

Release Date July 21, 2020

Initial Thoughts

This was a “Read Now” title on NetGalley and it sounded interesting. Ok, full disclosure, I don’t need any more titles in NetGalley 😂 – I have plenty of unread books in there. But, I wanted to read this one because it featured a really interesting premise.

Some Things I Liked

• I liked that Piper valued science. I thought a kingdom that was super STEM oriented was really interesting and I was curious to see how the romance would play out.
• Contrast between art and science. Again, I liked that the kingdoms were grounded in one or the other and that Piper and her friends could see the value of both.
• Mystery / missing person plot. I liked the secrets and detective portions of the story where Piper searched for her mother. I also liked Darden and Reese’s secrets as they gave a lot of relevance to the other characters.
• Nods to Cinderella. Maybe it was just me, but I liked that there were hints of Cinderella throughout the story.

One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About

• All of the romances were pretty underdeveloped. I think a sequel is needed to really flesh out a lot of what happened there and Ari and Piper’s relationship seemed to escalate more quickly than what I thought was plausible.

Series Value

I’d read the next book in this series. The ending left me wanting more and hinted at a larger conspiracy between the kingdoms.

Final Thoughts

This book was good. I’d read the sequel. It’s not a “drop everything the sequel is out” kind of story for me, but it was enjoyable.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

• To Best the Boys by Mary Weber – if you liked the idea of STEM oriented society, try this standalone by Mary Weber.
• Kiss of the Royal by Lindsey Duga – if you liked the concept of a society that doesn’t really believe in love, try this standalone by Lindsey Duga.