Erin: The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen #1) by Jodi Meadows

Hello!! I have a review for The Orphan Queen for you!  I love Jodi Meadows! She is such a sweet person and so, so kind to readers!  She's absolutely amazing and I adore her! That said, The Orphan Queen was one of my most anticipated reads of 2015 and I can say that it certainly lived up to my high expectations!


From Goodreads:

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.

Erin's Thoughts:

The Orphan Queen is awesome!!! I had such a great time reading it! It's got everything you could want:  thieves, vigilantes, spies, princesses! I mean, what more could you ask for! I loved it! The Orphan Queen was great! It's a really well-done high-fantasy with lovely world building and amazing characters!

I loved Wil! She's such an awesome character.  She's tough, she's fierce, while remaining warm and affectionate to her friends.  She's really relatable despite the fact that I have nothing in common with her, really!

And Black Knife? Ah! You do find out who he is toward the end of the book! And while I see it coming (yay!! I guessed right!), it was still great.  It kept me on my toes and I kept waiting for the reveal to see if I had gotten it right and what would happen after Wil found out and so on!

And aaaah!!! I loved the tension between Wil and Black Knife! It was just so well done! You get to see how their relationship evolves from strangers into friends and then more.  Plus, the mystery of "who is Black Knife?" made everything all the more exciting! There are also clues that Jodi Meadows put in to hint at who he is and I loved seeing it! I loved being excited about who Black Knife might be and I loved guessing who he might be!

Also, the dialogue was phenomenal! It was so sharp and witty while staying realistic and not forced at all.  I don't know how she did it, but the dialogue was just so good! After reading, The Orphan Queen, I read some other books and it only highlighted how awesome the dialogue was (not because the other books had bad dialogue, but because The Orphan Queen was just that amazing!)


Rating:

I'm really looking forward to the sequel, The Mirror King, as well as the four Black Knife Novellas that are going to be coming out!  Ugh, Jodi Meadows is killing me! I can't wait until they come out!!

I highly recommend this book to fans of high fantasy (say, Throne of Glass lovers?) It's an exciting read with a great story and a lot of action! And like I said, SO MUCH FUN to read!

Erin @The Romance Bookie :)