The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows Series: The Orphan Queen #1
Published by Harper Teen
Published: March 10th 2015
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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.
Fantasy books are a new addition to my reading repertoire. It was never something I thought I would be interested in. I mean I dabbled and enjoyed some and hated others, but the fantasy book reading never clicked. That is until I read the right book and then the next right book and then the next right book. Basically, I became a fantasy reading fangirl looking for the next perfect book. The Orphan Queen, fit right in. So freaking good guys!
The Orphan Queen is about Wilhelmina, a once princess that is now an orphan fighting for her kingdom which was taken from her by a king that is now her enemy. Devising a plan with the Ospreys, the group of people she has been with since the ‘One Night War’, Wil and her best friend, Melanie, go undercover as spies in the palace to gather information to aid in Wil getting her kingdom back. But between Melanie’s strange behavior, the leader of the Ospreys acting sketchy, and the continuing appearance of Black Knife, Wil’s fight gets harder and harder to decide what exactly she is fighting for and why.
I don’t want to lie, I struggled, in the beginning, reading this one. Fantasy books are newish to me so it sometimes takes a while for me to get into them. I’m used to contemporaries that get right into the story or dystopians that start with the action. I’ve come to learn that fantasy books are about the set up in the beginning. It is about getting you to the point that you can’t put the book down and you don’t want to. I had this trouble with Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta and I started to feel sad that The Orphan Queen was going to be like that for me. And then I hit a part of the story and I was SUCKED IN, INVESTED, NEEDED TO KNOW. What was once Finnikin of the Rock now became Finnikin meets Spider-Man and I never wanted the story to end. Jodi Meadows sucked me in with her tale and her characters and I was done for.
Wilhelmina was awesome. I mean she was royalty yet she was also a hardcore fighter. She had no fear which made her an amazing ally and a scary opponent. And with Black Knife (more on him later) by her side, almost impossible to beat. Even having been through everything she had been through she was fighting for her people and being a leader to a kingdom that was under the rule of an imposter. But she was also a teenage girl. She was still trying to figure out who and what she was. She was trying to come to terms with her magic (which was outlawed) and her undeniable attraction to Black Knife. At times she would seem so invincible but then you would see the insecurities and your heart would break. Like I said, Wilhelmina was awesome.
And Black Knife! What to say about sexy, mysterious Black Knife. He was actually hard to figure out in the beginning. He seemed like the bad guy, turning people in without reasoning, just because they used magic. But as you got to know him through his nights with Wil, you saw there was a complex guy under there. And can we talk about the attraction simmering between Wil and Black Knife? I’m still fanning myself. He is just everything! And finding out who he really is?? Oh yeah, that was fun too. 😉
For a book that started out slowish, I freaking loved it. Thinking back on it I now understand all the set up that leads to the second half of the book. The slow burn makes sense now and I can appreciate it for what it was. It set up a phenomenal story of war, fighting, love, and picking sides. It built a world that you as a reader want to see succeed and flourish. It made you feel for these characters. And it made you get to such a worked up level that you almost threw the book when you finished. (Side eyes Jodi Meadows). Pick up The Orphan Queen, and you will 100% know what I mean.
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Along with my review for this tour I decided to dress Wilhelmina. Wil is a very complex character that fights for what she believes in. In the very first pages of the book you will see why I chose what I did for her to wear.
Review/Fan Creations blog tour schedule
3/2 – Andi’s ABCs
3/3 – Hello, Chelly
3/4 – Book Emoji
3/5 – So Obsessed With
3/6 – Tune into Books
3/9 – Ticket to Anywhere
3/10 – Disquietus Reads
3/11 – A Backwards Story
3/12 – Writer of Wrongs
3/13 – Alexa Loves Books
Harper Collins has graciously offering to giveaway a copy of The Orphan Queen to one of my lovely readers. This is for US mailing addresses only and will run from midnight on March 2, 2015 until March 8, 2015 at 11:59PM EST. Please fill out the rafflecopter entry below and good luck!
*tour banner by Rachel at Hello, Chelly
Eeee that’s a difficult question… Princess would be nice with all the pampering, and plus you’d get all the complex politics and trying to hide things while at court! I love princesses when they’re all twisty and intelligent, and I’d hope to be one like that. Yeah actually I’d be a princess since I’d hope to be a great ruler one day – I’m just not fit enough to be a spy 😛
Definitely a princess. It doesn’t take a spy to know things. Being a spy just sounds like a lot of hard work, and I’m way too clumsy to be stealthy.
I’ve seen a lot of you guys rave about this one and I’m really excited to check it out! I’m intrigued by this black knife person! Re: princess or spy…I want to say princess bc think of the awesome dresses! But ever since the show Alias I’ve kinda wanted to be a badass spy so I’ll say spy. 🙂
That’s a hard one, I guess I would have to say princess because I really want to wear pretty ball gowns all the time, and because I do not think I am stealthy or cold-hearted enough to be a spy.
I’d like to be a princess who’s also a spy who helps her kingdom by going undercover while visiting other royalty 🙂
AWESOME review!!
I have a US address but rafflecopter might show my location outside US because I’m doing a semester abroad
thank you so very much 🙂
I’d definitely rather be a Princess! All the yummy food, amazing gowns, and cute boys.
I love the outfit that you picked for Wil! It’s definitely how I imagined that she would dress. I just read this book over the weekend and loved it. Can’t wait for the sequel, especially after that ending =(
Oh and for the princess/spy, can I cheat and be both? It’d be nice to be a princess w/ all of the skills of a spy.
I think I’d like to be a princess AND a spy!
Can I be both? Spy Princess ?
Hmmm. That’s a tough one, but I think I’d rather be a princess. I just don’t think I’d make a very good spy because I’m not very sneaky.
I would much rather be a spy. I couldn’t handle wearing the dresses that come with being a princess.
Great question, I think I’d rather be both. I think being a spy and a princess would be fun.
I would much rather be a princess than a spy! I could send other people to spy for me while I sit on my throne and read all day long!
I can only be one?! They both have their advantages and disadvantages, but I think always being in the spotlight would be horrible, so I guess I’d rather be a spy. Only in a fantasy world, though, not in the real one.
I love the clothes you picked for Will. This book sounds so awesome! I like how a princess can kick butt. I don’t think I’d want to be a princess or a spy really. Thanks for the giveaway.
Honestly both….But mostly spy 🙂
I think I would rather be a spy because then I could stay more in the background rather than have everyone’s eyes on me… of course I am much to clumsy to be a spy.lol
That’s a tough question. Part of me wants to be a princess because I’d love to be pampered, and plus I’m sure there is a feast everyday. The other part of me would want to be a spy because…common! Stealth and fake identities and general bad assery! In the end, I think I’d end up choosing being a spy because I don’t have the patience to deal with politics.
I’m psyched for this.
Def a spy! Action and adventure!
I would rather be a spy.
I just finished the Gallagher Girls series so SPY! All the way. Especially if I can find myself a Zachary Goode. 🙂
I’m a horrible liar, so I’ll go with princess.
I AM SO HAPPY YOU LOVED THE ORPHAN QUEEN! I agree about it starting off a bit slow because it’s setting up, but the pay-off is totally worth it. I seriously get feels just thinking about Wil and what happens to her throughout the entire book. (Also, the “Finnikin meets Spiderman” comment made me laugh! But it’s accurate.) Also, LOVED the outfit you picked out for Wil! Thanks for being part of the blog tour! <3
Considering I can’t go up 3 flights of stairs without dying, I think I’d rather be a princess.
If I’m a spy, can I also be a detective? My dream is to be Veronica Mars. Hahaha. No, but seriously, it is.
The thing that’s always struck me with these whole “reclaiming the throne” is that it’s hard work and some characters don’t realize that. I’m glad that Wil does and I can’t wait to see how this goes.
Spy. You have more freedom that way and more fun.
I would love to be a princess! Thank you for this amazing chance! 🙂
I would love to be a princess! 🙂
I would like to be a princess with spy like abilities:)
I would be a spy with abilities, more freedom that way.
princess
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Great review! I agree that the book began slowly, but it needed to, in order to build up the action. Black Knife was definitely sexy, and his relationship with Wil was wonderful!
I agree with you on Black Knife but what made him sexy for me is the fact we fell for him masked. Not for his “perfect” features like most YA heroes. One of many reasons I adored this book!