Book Title: The King’s 100
Author: Karin Biggs
Publisher: Immortal Works
Release Date: July 26, 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Synopsis:
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.
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Author Information
Karin earned her bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Purdue University and served as an event planner for two Big 10 universities and various non-profits for over eight years before becoming a stay-at-home-mom. She enjoys chocolate-covered peanuts, uninterrupted sleep and singing with other people. Karin lives in Ohio with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.
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Author Interview with Karin Biggs
1. Congrats on your book debut! What was your inspiration for The King’s 100?
I was inspired by a mixture of my own life experience as a singer in numerous performance groups, a very vivid dream I had about six years ago, and countless hours of daydreams. Plus, the romantic plot was loosely inspired by my own romantic plot with my husband.
2. Describe your book in 6 words or less.
Romance with drummers, singers, and magicians.
3. What was your favorite part of your writing process?
It took me over one year to write my first draft for the King’s 100. After workshopping it with my critique partners, I had quite a few changes to make and decided to rewrite the whole book! It took a couple months to come up with a new game plan – divide one kingdom into two feuding kingdoms, make the MC more likeable, and up the romance! After that, I had SO much fun rewriting the novel and making it a far more enjoyable story for me to write and read. It took me about five months to complete the rewrite and I enjoyed every minute of it. I would love to avoid being a writer who has to rewrite every manuscript, but I’m currently in the process of doing it again.
4. What was your least favorite part of your writing process and what did you do to get through it?
See previous ‘rewriting the whole book’ answer. 😉 Also, those critique workshops can really sting. My least favorite part of the process is waiting for that sting to go away so you can move forward and get back to work.
5. If you could have your book turned into anything (a TV show, movie, musical, dance number, etc.), what would you choose and why?
OMG — Netflix are you reading this?! Hi, I’m Karin, and my dream would be for you to create a made for Netflix movie-musical adaptation of my book and I would love a cameo….please and thank you. 🙂
6. What has been your favorite part of being a debut author so far?
I’ve really loved connecting with readers. There’s no greater feeling than chatting about your own characters with someone you only know because they took a chance on your book – a paper version of the daydreams you’ve been holding inside your head for years. Before I was a writer, I was a superfan of books – my favorite being Caraval by Stephanie Garber. I gobbled up all the fan art, fan social media pages, and YouTube fan-casting videos I could get my hands on. It’s just as fun being on the other side of that stage!
7. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
You gotta start somewhere, so start! And don’t quit even it’s bad. I love this quote by Jodi Picoult: “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”
8. Is there anything else you would like to let the readers know about your book?
This book is very romance and interpersonal-relationship heavy, sprinkled with mystery, ball gowns, and performing. If you could use a lighter read for an escape, give the King’s 100 a try!
My Review
The King’s 100 is one of those books that surprised me in a good way. To start off, I’d like to note that I devoured this book in a mere 3 hours, which is very difficult for me. I’m typically a slow reader, it usually takes me a good 2-3 days to finish a 300 page book. But with The King’s 100, I had to keep reading. I needed to know what happened next and I refused to put the book down. This story easily grasped my attention until the very last line, which then had me grappling with the fact that the second book isn’t out yet.
The King’s 100 is a wonderful story with a heavy dose of friendship, love, and self discovery. I love that the world building is STEM-inspired with a perfect amount of science fiction and fantasy. I loved the whole idea behind the King’s 100, with the glittering, magical world of performers. I loved that Piper, the princess of Capalon, uses that to try to find her mother, only to be whisked away into a world that starts out frightening to her but becomes her home. Even when she has to hide her identity and take a Mondarian name, Paris Marigold, she starts to realize that her old life was missing the one freedom she really wanted: the freedom to love.
I loved Piper’s character development. She starts out very inexperienced and not knowledgable about the enemy kingdom. Her character growth is absolutely phenomenal. She’s unfamiliar with her surroundings, the people around her, and the difference language. But she learns overtime that she’s not much different from this kingdom’s people. Her vocabulary starts off almost robotic-like, but starts to progress to where she comes out of her shell and illustrates her true desires. But what I also loved about Piper is how she never gave up and fought for her place in this unknown world. She was hesitant to rely on the people around her, the people that were, without a doubt, her friends, but even with her being hesitant, those friendships shined through and helped pull out Piper’s true character.
Because even though this story is originally about Piper finding her mother, the heart of the story is more about Piper finding herself and finding where she truly belongs. It’s about her finding the freedoms that are missing from her life. It’s about her courage and her bravery. I felt such a connection with Piper, which is probably the main reason why I was so reluctant to put this book down (besides Ari, I could not get enough of this adorable cinnamon roll). She was struggling coming to terms with the life she was given and with whether or not her mother was still alive. She was struggling with the idea of a life without love. It’s those struggles, those fears, that I felt a connection with, and Piper’s character journey was one I could easily relate to because I was on a similar emotional path – one I’m sure many people have walked. And it helped that some of the friendships she makes along the way reminded me of my friendships with my close friends.
Her relationship with Ari, though, is by far my favorite. He’s patient and kind and yet, has a haunting past, but he works to not let that define him. His friendship with Piper is the type that helps bring out each other’s strengths. They both lift each other up, even when they have arguments, and even when Piper has no idea what it means to like someone. Their relationship had me smiling at their many interactions; it’s a relationship everyone will easily love – and Ari is definitely swoon-worthy.
As I mentioned earlier, I finished this beautiful book in a few hours, and Karin Biggs writing definitely helped with that. Her writing is light, with alluring lyrical prose, but it’s also heavy in some areas, especially when it comes to Piper deciding what’s most important to her. There were many moments where I was captivated by Biggs’ writing, where I got lost in this lush, character-driven world. It’s a world and story that people will easily get lost in.
The King’s 100 is one of those stories that leaves you reminiscing about your own self journey, but also about Piper and her journey. It’s a story that is filled to the brim with exquisite writing, exceptionally crafted characters, and at the center, heart. It’s a story I can tell that was built on heart and love. And I have no doubt that the sequel will be just as good.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Tour Schedule
Check out the amazing bloggers on this book tour!
Giveaway
Prize: Win a copy of SISTERS OF SWORD AND SONG by Rebecca Ross + 4 myth cards (The Fall of Kirkos, Ari’s Shawl of Stars, The Entrapment of Pyrrhus, and Acantha’s Crown) [US Only]
Starts: September 29, 2020
Ends: October 6, 2020
Thank you, TBR and Beyond Tours, for having us on this wonderful blog tour!
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