The Orphan Queen: An Epic YA Fantasy of Deadly Magic and a Princess's Fight to Reclaim Her Throne

In all honesty, my review of The Orphan Queen should just read as follows…OMG OMG OMG! WHAT JUST HAPPENED? This book is amazing and you MUST read it now! Like pre-order it now and then just sit by your mailbox and wait for it to arrive. When it does…read it immediately!I suppose I need to give you a little more information on the book though, so I am going to ATTEMPT to give you a semi-coherent review that manages to explain my feelings for this AMAZING book.While reading this book I was reminded of everything I love about the Throne of Glass series, the Grisha Trilogy, and the Girl of FIre and Thorns…all YA fantasy series that feature strong women as the heroine on an epic journey that changes their lives forever. This is my favorite kind of story because it involves amazing world-building, is action packed and I absolutely adore the main character. The Orphan Queen is everything I love in a book and now I just want to know all of the things that happen to Wilhelmina. No seriously, I need the second book in my hands RIGHT NOW! I mean…that ending!! Fair warning, the ending is brutal. In the best possible way though…I think!As with every great fantasy novel, Jodi Meadows introduces us to a complex world filled with danger, intrigue, magic and legend. Every page gave me something new to discover and I absolutely loved exploring the world of The Indigo Kingdom. There was so much going on regarding the use of magic and the effects it had on the kingdom and its people, that I’ve never seen before. Meadows manages to find a fresh and unique way to introduce a concept found in many Young Adult novels these days and I was hooked from the opening pages. There are so many twists and turns, and just when I thought I had figured it all out, I realized that I knew nothing and that I should never be so foolish to assume I know what Meadows has in store for her readers. Although this is the first book I’ve read by Jodi Meadows, I am total fangirl now and can’t wait to go back and read her Newsoul series.The Orphan Queen is amazing, its gripping, it will rip your heart out in the best possible way. I always know I’m reading a great book when I find myself thinking about it even when I’m not reading. I grabbed this book every chance I could get and didn’t want to put it down. If you’re a fan of epic fantasy novels that introduce you to a world and story unlike anything you’ve ever read before, then I can guarantee you’ll love this book. It’s the first exciting installment of what is sure to be a new YA fantasy classic!

Here I was drawn in by a pretty cover and a blurb that sounded like it could well pique my interest. I'd had previous experience with the author's first trilogy, which I was so-so about, but I decided to take a chance on this one.Once I started reading, it didn't take long to realise that Wilhelmina wasn't going to be a character after my own heart. It's hard for me to pin-point what, exactly, I didn't like about her, but there was definitely something there. Her whole personality just rankled me.Moreover, it was a disappointment that none of the characters ever really had to use their quick wits or intelligence for anything. Other characters would just happily hand them everything they needed, and they would carry on on their merry way. I just wasn't fulfilling in the least.The one part of the book that could have been interesting was the trip out into the wraithlands, but that was over almost as soon as it began and we were back to politics.I didn't really feel like I got what I'd signed up for.

I bought this book a couple of years ago because it was the prequel to The Mirror King, which I bought because it had such a good-looking cover (yes, I’m superficial that way). But it proved to be a good book anyway.This book is superficially similar to the Throne of Glass series in that it involves a young girl who is the heir to the throne of a kingdom that was destroyed years ago. Another similarity is that there is supposed to be no magic in the conquering country, where she now finds herself. A third similarity is that something of a romantic interest with the heir to the conquering kingdom eventually develops.But there the similarities end. For one thing, while magic is illegal in the Indigo Kingdom, it hasn’t been entirely eliminated. Apparently, once upon a time, magic was used for almost everything. Industrial magic they called it. And this overuse of magic resulted in a form of magical pollution known as wraith that infected the outlying areas and began spreading, causing anything that came in contact with it to either die or become something monstrous. Decent people have been retreating from it ever since. People believe that using magic now feeds the wraith, and that is why it is illegal.A second difference is that Queen Wilhelmina Korte, now the queen in exile of the kingdom of Aecor, has concluded that she doesn’t want to kill people, or at least not any more than necessary, to take back her kingdom.In contrast, Celaena Sardothian was a trained assassin and had few qualms about killing anybody. Wilhelmina has a significant disagreement with Patrick Lien, the de facto leader of the other children from Aecor, who are planning to help her retake Aecor over this issue.The third difference is that Wilhelmina, while she is masquerading as a duchess from a recently fallen province of the Indigo Kingdom, is singularly unimpressed with Prince Tobiah, the crown Prince, thinking him cold and unemotional. The man she fancies is the vigilante, Black Knife whom she has met out in the city of Skyvale at night while she is out stealing for her small group of other Aecorians. There is not a love triangle in this one, though, because it turns out that Prince Tobiah is Black Knife.As the wraith grows ever stronger and comes ever closer, Wilhelmina has many adventures within the castle, outside in the city, and most notably in the wraithland, where she looks for some means to stop the wraith from advancing.

Meadows' story is compelling, and I literally could not put it down. Four hours after the file download on to my kindle, I was crying over the ending. The characters are interesting and, for the most part, beautifully layered. I would have liked to have seen more of the Ospreys, other than the introduction and fleeting glimpses throughout the novel, but also understand that, given the nature of the plot, it wasn't possible - hopefully in the sequel, it will be. The plot itself needs a fair amount of attention to follow, but if you do, is pretty darn solid. I can't think of any gaping plot holes off the top of my head, just the endless list of questions about and for Black Knife.Now on to the fun (and slightly less coherent? I had four hours of sleep, and am still emotionally compromised over that ending, so bear with me on this) part. Wil was a delight of narrator, and personally I would be honoured to call her my queen. Watching her grow and develop was beautiful, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it happen.Patrick was a douchebag, as advertised. No surprise there, though his dead-set, stubborn need to go against everything that Wil said really pissed me off. This woman is supposed to be his queen, and here he is, basically ordering her around like she's his slave. I hope he gets his comeuppance.A review of OQ wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention Black Knife. Don't worry, dear skittish readers, I won't divulge his true identity - half of the fun is trying to figure it out for yourself and (I'm very proud to say), I guessed rightly after her first encounter with him. I don't care what happens, or what anyone says, if they don't get married, I give up on life. Yes, I am aware that there are numerous things in the way of that, but what good love story doesn't have a little adversity in it? (admittedly, the ending does pose the possibility of more than just a "little" adversity, but still).Melanie really bothered me, and I'm not entirely sure I trust her quite so readily as Wil does. She's too emotionally attached to the cause. I really hope we find out more about that side of things.Was it worth the wait? Absolutely. Hold on to your hats, grab your defibrillators (you'll need it, that ending is just cruel!) and dive in!

A non stop roller coaster of emotions, courage, and suspense. Five stars for this book, look forward to eating the next instalment.

loved this book fastmoving, and a different take on the magic wielding orphan theme

My goodness what a terribly written story. I forced myself half way through only to be annoyed.

Really enjoyed this book. A great start to a new series and a new author to add to my list of people to watch.

A really well written teenage fantasy. Similar in style to Bitterblue. Looking forward to the next in the series.

Wer hätte gedacht, dass eine Geschichte um ein paar Jugendliche oder junge Erwachsene so spannend und großartig erzählt sein kann?Hier wird einem nicht einfach ein Endzeitszenario hingeklatscht und dann gibts ein paar unbesiegbare Helden die die Welt retten. Mich hat die Vielschichtigkeit der Story und auch der Personen beeindruckt. Es gibt keine Längen oder langweiligen Passagen, man will einfach immer nur weiterlesen, um zu erfahren, ob es eine Lösung geben wird sowohl für fortschreitende Vernichtung der Menschen als auch für die privaten Entscheidungen zwischen Pflicht und Herz. Wer Teil 1 gelesen hat wird auch den zweiten Teil lesen wollen!

Der Einstieg ins Buch fiel mir zugegeben etwas schwer. Man wird sofort ins Geschehen hinein geworfen und hat kaum eine Chance, sich erst einmal zu orientieren. Ich habe so die Angewohnheit, mir den Klappentext - wenn überhaupt - nur einmal beim Kauf durchzulesen und danach nicht mehr, um mir selbst etwas die Spannung zu bewahren. Leider wurde ich dadurch von der ersten Szene etwas überrumpelt und es dauerte zwei-drei Kapitel, bis ich mich allmählich zurechtgefunden hatte. Aber dann ...Ja, aber dann hat das Buch seine Krallen ausgefahren und ich war total gefangen. Ich hätte einfach nicht gedacht, wie viel Gutes in diesem Buch steckt, gehofft? ja, geglaubt? nein. Und ich bin so glücklich, dass ich mich dafür entschieden habe, es zu kaufen.Die Protagonistin Wil ist eine starke Persönlichkeit, die schon sehr früh mit dem Gefühl von Verlust und Schmerz umgehen musste, weil sie mit ansehen musste, wie ihre Eltern König und Königin von Aecor hingerichtet wurden. Sie selbst wurde wie viele andere Kinder in ein Kinderheim gebracht, wo sie von dem Sohn des früheren Generals von Aecor befreit wurde. Gemeinsam führen sie die Gruppe Ospreys an (Kinder von Aecor) und hecken einen Plan aus, um Wil wieder auf ihren rechtmäßig zustehenden Thron zu bringen. Leider haben sie nicht mit Black Knife gerechnet, ein Einzelkämpfer, der die Straßen von Skyvale von Magienutzern säubert und ein hohes Interesse an die Ospreys hat.Der zweite, sehr spannende Punkt im Buch ist der Aspekt, dass es verboten ist Magie zu nutzen; nicht weil man Angst vor Magiern hätte, sondern weil man der festen Überzeugung ist, dass das Nutzen von Magie das Wraith kreiert. Etwas Dunkles, das sich immer weiter landinwärts vorarbeitet und alles auf seinem Weg verpestet. Wil fühlt sich dafür verantwortlich, auch hierfür eine Lösung zu suchen, um ihr zukünftiges Reich davor beschützen zu können. Sie begibt sich in große Gefahr und kreiert etwas noch nie Dagewesenes ...Vielleicht hat man es schon an meinem Ton bemerkt, aber ich bin hellauf begeistert, auch wenn ich zunächst dachte, dass das Buch nur ein Einzelband wäre und ich danach ziemlich enttäuscht war, dass es schon wieder ein Mehrbänder werden wird, bin ich jetzt ganz froh darüber, denn ich war noch nicht bereit, Wil gehen zu lassen.

Tipico fantasy YA, niente di più e niente di meno.Davvero, non c'è niente di nuovo in questo libro, ho indovinato la vera identità di Black Knife dopo pochissime pagine (e non indovino mai niente di solito!!). Però allo stesso tempo un capitolo tira l'altro e la storia generale è carina.

Jodi Meadows' The Orphan Queen is the book that got me through the recent floods. So thank you Jodi for that :)What I loved about this book was that the reader was not subjected to an overload of information, which is sometimes where fantasy authors can go wrong. For a fantasy book, it was an easy read so for those of you that see the word fantasy and turn away, DON'T. It is not a high fantasy novel that can be difficult to follow it is on the lighter end of the fantasy side. The Orphan Queen would be a great read for fans of Sarah J Maas. It has the royalty, the espionage, the magic and the danger. I can see Wil and Celaena being close friends :)The Orphan Queen is Princess Wilhelmina Korte. Ten years ago the Indigo Kingdom invaded her homeland, Aecor in what became known as the One-Night War. She is one of the leaders of the Ospreys, a group orphans who are all that remains of Aecor's nobility. Rather than being taken to live in the Indigo Kingdom's capital the Osprey's escaped their orphanage and the Indigo Kingdoms grasp. Now the time has come for them to put their plan into action so that Wil can take back her throne and their kingdom. Wil will learn that she has to find her own path as a ruler and forge her own destiny. Friends and foes are easily mistaken in The Orphan Queen.At first I found it difficult to grasp the magical element of the novel. Essentially magic creates the Wraith, the Wraith is a by-product of magic and the Wraith is toxic. The Wraith kills, I imagine it to be something like a gas cloud. To stop more kingdoms from falling to the Wraith and to slowdown the spread all magic has been outlawed. That much I understood but I could not understand why and it was driving me crazy, I couldn't predict how it was going to be defeated. Then I realised I couldn't understand it because the characters don't. They don't know where it came from and how to stop it.Sometimes an author's characters can appear to be overconfident; because the author knows all. The author knows that the character will survive and the journey that it ahead of them (and sometimes the ending). But with The Orphan Queen I truly felt like I was on the quest with Wil, that we were seeking answers together. I would be interested to know how much of the bigger picture Jodi has fleshed out. Perhaps it appears so authentic because Jodi herself does not know. That and the fact that she is an awesome writer!I stumbled across The Orphan Queen as a kindle recommendation and when I finished the book I was quite disappointed to learn that it had only been released in May 2015 and that the second book The Mirror King is not out until April 5th 2016 :( In the meantime there are several novellas that can help ease this burden; The Hidden Prince (out now), The Glowing Knight (out September 1st), The Burning Hand (out December 1st) and The Black Knife (out March 1st). To summarise the suspense is killing me!

I've read this book twice now and honestly, I liked it even more the second time.Wilhelmina is such a strong character and I love the way the story unfolds. It's so much more than the story of an orphaned queen fighting to reclaim her kingdom.The characters are very believable and it's easy to understand their motivations.I read several books by Jodi Meadows in the last months and I like her writing style a lot. It's easy yet detailed and very enjoyable to read.If you read this book, which I recommend to everyone, prepare for an awful - in a good way - cliffhanger at the end. It kind of broke my heart again, even though I knew it was coming.Also this book contains one of my favorite kissing scenes ever!There are also four novellas covering the story of the vigilante Black Knife which really add to the story. Even though the novellas take place before the events in The Orphan Queen I'd recommend to read them afterwards.

I loved this novel when i first read it when it came out.

And Jodi Meadows has yet to disappoint me.

Really enjoyed it!

Worth a read :-)