I received this book for free from a fellow blogger (thanks for sharing!) in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows Series: The Orphan Queen #1
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on March 10, 2015
Genres: Fantasy YA, Magic, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: ARC
Source: a fellow blogger (thanks for sharing!)
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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.
Despite much urging from people in the know, I’ve never read any Jodi Meadows books. I’ve meant to. I’ve got some. But for whatever reason, the first time I dove into her writing was with THE ORPHAN QUEEN, and I’m kind of REALLY GLAD ABOUT THIS. It’s a pretty awesome first impression to make. First of all, it’s a fantasy and we all know that I love those. Second of all, there’s spies, and we all know that I love those too. Third of all, there this character called Black Knife and he reminded me of the Dread Pirate Roberts, which is excellent. Of course, there’s magic and romance and intrigue and all kinds of other gripping things that I love reading about, and that made THE ORPHAN QUEEN most enjoyable indeed.
So THE ORPHAN QUEEN is about kingdoms in danger of being overrun by evil magic, and the exiled princess who might be able to save them. Wilhelmina, or Wil, is the last remaining heir to the throne of Aecor, a kingdom wiped out by the Indigo Kingdom in an effort to stop the spread of the wraith, a literal cloud of nasty magic that corrupts all it touches–including people. Now, Wil and a gang of young people from her kingdom are holed up outside Skyvale, thieving under the auspices of the Ospreys, but also using their forays into the city to gather supplies for when Wil and her best friend, Melanie, will infiltrate the palace of their enemy to do some recon. Of course, things don’t really work out according to plan. Wil begins running into a famous criminal called Black Knife, Melanie starts disappearing and acting weird, Wil and the prince of the Indigo Kingdom, Tobiah, have a childhood history together that makes Wil’s intentions a little awkward, and the leader of the Osprey’s, Patrick, is full of vengeance and anger, and is a bossypants who is just WAITING for an excuse to fly off the handle.
As you can see, there’s lots of drama surrounding Wil. She’s got a lot on her shoulders, not the least of which is avenging the loss of Aecor and her parents at the hands of the Indigo Kingdom’s soldiers. She’s also the figurehead leader of the Ospreys, a gang of noble children bent on taking down the kingdom that took down their own. But things don’t start out on the best footing for Wil. She struggles to make big decisions by using her head, something that causes some tough spots in her relationship with Patrick, the Osprey who’s basically the shot-caller. I loved Wil, though, especially as we see her confidence grow. It’s easy to see that she’ll be a good queen. She has a lot of responsibilities to deal with, but as THE ORPHAN QUEEN progresses, Wil begins to see the Indigo Kingdom in a more positive light. Believe it or not, this is the result of Wil thinking more of the future than some of the other Ospreys who are bent on revenge. I liked reading about Wil coming into her own and developing opinions based on her own smarts and observations.
The thing that killed me, though, was Melanie and Patrick. It bummed me out and then pised me off that Melanie wasn’t a more reliable companion for Wil once they infiltrated the palace. She was shady and went missing almost every night, and was cagey when approached about it. These two girls were bffs, so it was sad and frustrating that Wil grew to feel like she had to take matters into her own hands in the palace, a dangerous environment for both of them together. Melanie gave me angry face. But SO DID PATRICK. I never liked him. He’s loyal to Wil, but also bossy, fanatical, and controlling, often taking advantage of Wil’s early weakness to bend her to his way of thinking. The roles they both play in the bananas ending of THE ORPHAN QUEEN didn’t do much–if any–to improve my opinion of them.
You know a character I DID love? BLACK KNIFE. THIS GUY. THE SWOONS ARE REAL. His identity is a secret for most of THE ORPHAN QUEEN because he wears a mask over his face, but I figured out who he was before we were told. Didn’t really matter. I still loved him and his humorous banter with Wil. They have GREAT tension and chemistry and I loved reading about their encounters on the streets of Skyvale late at night, attacking the wraith monsters together.
Speaking of wraith, I really enjoyed the world-building in THE ORPHAN QUEEN. So wraith: in this world, magic is against the law because the aftereffects of it coalesce and grow into this creepy, evil smoke/mist stuff that is capable of destroying land and corrupting people. Wil, however, has some undefined relationship with it. It’s totally intriguing.
Things in general were going along really nicely in THE ORPHAN QUEEN, guys. I was digging Wil a lot, loving the magic and world-building, shaking my fists at Melanie and Patrick, and coming down with a serious case of hearts-for-eyes for Black Knife. AND THEN THE END HAPPENED. CURSES, JODI MEADOWS. CURSES ON YOU! (But not really because keep writing.) I have some theories, but I’ll just have to suffer through the wait for book 2 to see if I’m even close! This wait is going to be torturous, friends.
I’m so glad that you loved The Orphan Queen! It’s definitely an excellent novel, even if you can guess a couple plot twists (like Black Knife, for instance) right away. I loved the world, and the story, but most of all, I loved these characters so dang much. Can’t wait for the next one!