Review: The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows
SYNOPSIS:
Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.
She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.
She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.
She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others.
Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.
REVIEW:
I have been sitting on this book forever, like years. I have picked it up 3-4 different times and it was just never the right time, so I would sit it back down and stare at it longingly willing my brain to click. And now we have reached the point where I am back on my YA fantasy binger. So I picked the book up one more time and I was sucked down a fanciful rabbit-hole.
First off, I have to gush about the characters, Wil is fantastic. I love a heroine who is strong, independent, and fierce. Wil fits the bill with her ability to excel at hand-to-hand combat, her endless love and tenderness with the younger Ospreys, and her determination to reclaim her kingdom and stop the Wraith. But the delicious part is her nightly encounters with the mysterious and elusive Black Knife *cue the swoon*. I LOVED HIM…I still love him. He is playful, witty, a master in stealth and he stole my heart. Much like he eventually stole Wils.
The beginning of the book starts off a little slow, Jodi is laying the foundation, building the world and giving us a brief history lesson. But after a few chapters, the story picks up and you can’t help but be sucked in. The lines between good versus evil are blurred, friendships are challenged, betrayal cuts deep, and Wil will be left wondering just who is on her side. A true high-stakes read where failure is going to lead to a dystopian world but success doesn’t seem likely…at least not now.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I guessed the Black Knife’s identity pretty early on and I will go down with this ship. Seriously, even thought I guessed it, the reveal still had me grinning ear to ear. I am fan-girling something fierce. The ending ripped my heart out and made me so happy to have book 2 ready to go, because I cannot handle a cliff-hanger. With everything in limbo it will be a challenge to see how Wil faces all these new battles in her future.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
