The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

The Orphan Queen (Orphan Queen, #1)

by Jodi Meadows

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.

Reviewed by Silvara on

3 of 5 stars

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I really loved Wil. She was smart, and really cared about the people around her. She wasn't perfect, but she admitted her mistakes and tried to be a better person. I also really liked the Black Knife. I had a suspicion as to who he was early on, then thought it might actually be someone else. But his duality was a neat twist to read about.

The good and bad wasn't as clearly defined as in some books. Even though the kingdom Wil was infiltrating, was responsible for the downfall of her own kingdom. And even though that king had been directly responsible for killing her own parents, she was still able to see the good in the people of that kingdom. The good in some of the nobles as well.

There were bad characters, they just didn't turn out to be the expected ones. And they weren't bad in the usual ways I'm used to seeing them portrayed in YA books.

I found the Wraith intriguing. I want to know what's going to happen with it now that a major change has been introduced. I want to know how Wil (or anyone?) will be able to stop it killing off humans. And I want to know if the origin everyone believes to be true, is actually how the Wraith came to be.

The ending of the book though? That should totally be illegal. It is totally the mother of all cliffhangers, and had the next book been out in print already I would have gone right out to buy it. I still recommend reading this book, I did really like it! But if cliffhangers bother you at all, I would wait until closer to the release of book 2.

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon

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