The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows Series: The Orphan Queen #1
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books (2015)
Hardcover (391 pages)
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2016 Royal Challenge, Read 2016
Synopsis
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.
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My Review
Wilhelmina (Wil) is the heir to the kingdom of Aecor. Aecor fell to the Indigo Kingdom ten years ago. Now Wil lives with the other highborn orphans of the One Night War. Patrick, the oldest and self-appointed leader, was the one to save the orphans from the orphanage and train them to be soldiers.
Wil, the future queen of Aecor, has her own secrets. She has magic. Magic has been outlawed since the wraith formed one hundred years ago. If her magic is discovered, it would be just about as bad as if her true identity had been discovered. Wil has many reasons to keep her secrets.
Wil and Melanie gain entrance into the castle by pretending to be Liadian nobility fleeing the wraith that destroyed their home. As Lady Juliana, Duchess of Liadia, and her friend Lady Melanie, the two enter the castle with strict instructions from Patrick for their time there. They are to discover information that will help them take back their own kingdom. They are not to get too friendly with their enemy, Prince Tobiah of the Indigo Kingdom.
During this time, Wil is having run-ins with the vigilante called Black Knife. Black Knife fights wraith beasts, hunts criminals, and turns in magic users. Since Wil is two of those, she has good reason to avoid him. But he keep turning up and Wil isn’t sure what to make of it.
There are still some questions I have about this world that were left unanswered. The main question is how on earth magic use can produce/feed the wraith? The only explanation given in the book is a hypothesis some of the characters hold. To me, that can’t possibly be the real reason but I’m not sure since we don’t know more.
I have to say that some of the twists weren’t all that surprising. I definitely had some guesses about some thing early on that turned out to be correct by the end of the book.
All this said, I cannot wait to read The Mirror King and I hope it answers some questions regarding the wraith. Plus, after that ending, there has to be more.
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