The Orphan Queen
Ratings7
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.9
Adventure, intrigue, and romance combine in a new fantasy duology from Incarnate series author Jodi Meadows. When Princess Wilhelmina was a child, the Indigo Kingdom invaded her homeland. Ten years later, Wil and the other noble children who escaped are ready to fight back and reclaim Wil's throne. To do so, Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate the Indigo Kingdom palace with hopes of gathering information that will help them succeed. But Wil has a secret—one that could change everything. Although magic has been illegal for a century, she knows her ability could help her save her kingdom. But magic creates wraith, and the deadly stuff is moving closer and destroying the land. And if the vigilante Black Knife catches her using magic, she may disappear like all the others. . . . The Orphan Queen delivers epic fantasy, perfect for fans of Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, and Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.
Series
2 primary books5 released booksThe Orphan Queen is a 5-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by Jodi Meadows.
Reviews with the most likes.
Actual rating 3.8. Mild spoilers ahead.
I really liked this book. It has its objective mistakes but overall the good parts were good enough (for me) to oversee the bad ones.
Yes, it has some of the standard tropes of YA literature (i.e: lost royalty, court infiltration, badass with weapons main character, first person pov, forbidden magic, etc. etc.). (Read Jessica's review to see the things that got beneath my skin but I let go: review)
I specially liked two things. The pacing and the romance (and I'm kind of picky when it comes to the latter).
I was on the edge of my... bed? I was lying down, ok? You get me. The wraithland part was very nice, it is just you, Wilhelmina and the mysterious lurking secrets that dwell on the wraithland waiting to be discovered.
The romance, tho, the romance. Look it's great when you have a real sexy, real handsome love interest, I'm all for it, but if you insist on shoving it down our throats every ten lines (I'm looking at you Obsidian and Princess of Thorns) I'm gonna end up kinda hating him. The thing about this is that everything is more about what he makes her feel and not (spoiler?) so much about how he's ripe to eat and the crown prince. Don't get me wrong, he is... but by the time we get something remotely romantic we're more than half the book down and I don't care about how he looks but the fact that he ToUCHEd her arm, this is some 2005 Pride & Prejudice Darcy's wild unchaperoned taking of Lizzy's hand to help her get on the carriage sort of thing here. Ok? Ok. (I actually think I liked the book only for the way the romance plot was written)
I quite enjoyed the read but wouldn't recommend if you're tired of the aforementioned cliches/tropes and/or if you are craving a complex story.
Also there were like three or four infodumps that could've been put out of their misery.
