Book Review: The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows {Plus Book Club Discussion/Questions}

 

If you've been around my blog for long, you'll notice that most of the books I do reviews on are young adult fiction.  Most recently, I finished The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows (who also happens to be a co-author of one of my favorite books, My Lady Jane--read the review HERE.)  Books have always been one of my favorite ways to escape from the world.  My husband often teases me that when I'm reading a book that I can literally shut everything else out and not be aware of what's going on around me.  I love a book that pulls you into its world and makes you feel like the characters are real people, leaving you wondering what happened to them after the book ends.  I love finding a book that I want to read over and over again, until the book is smudged with fingerprints and can't stay all the way closed because the spine is so broken in.  These are the things I look for in a book.

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My Summary and Review: (5 stars)
The Orphan Queen is the first book in a two part series.  It is told from the point of view of Wilhelmina Korte--who goes by Wil--, a princess whose kingdom was destroyed 10 years before by the Indigo Kingdom during the One Night War.  She, along with other rescued orphan children of nobility, call themselves the Ospreys and their mission is to do one thing: restore Wilhelmina to her rightful place as Queen of Aecor.  As part of their plan, Wil and her best friend Melanie must infiltrate the castle, posing as nobility from a kingdom destroyed by Wraith--a byproduct of magic and the reason magic is forbidden.  But Wil has a secret that she's managed to keep hidden: she has magic.  By day, she must pretend to be someone she's not.  By night, she spends an increasing amount of time with a vigilante only known as Black Knife, helping the weak and poor in the streets of Skyvale, and struggling with her feelings for him.  But the Wraith is coming closer and Wil's magic just might be the only thing strong enough to save them all and give her a chance at regaining the throne of Aecor.

The Orphan Queen kept me at the edge of my seat and I stayed up more nights than I should have reading it.  The book does end with a cliffhanger, but the copy I read had a couple of chapters from the second book, The Mirror King.

Book Club Discussion Questions:

• An osprey is a bird of prey.  Do you feel this name was well-chosen for Wil and her friends?
• Why would Wil and her friends choose a bird to represent the name of their group?
• What was the most surprising revelation/twist to you?
• Do you agree with Patrick's methods?  Would you consider him a good leader?

If you'd like to read the other book club reviews, discussions and questions, you can click on the links below:

*Reviews and/or discussion questions may contain spoilers*

Summer 2016 Reading List Reviews and Ratings
The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows
Shatter Me by Tahera Mafi

Happy reading!