Waiting on Wednesday (37)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Page Length: 544 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: April 5, 2016

About The Mirror King (via Goodreads):

Wilhelmina has a hundred enemies.

HER FRIENDS HAVE TURNED. After her identity is revealed during the Inundation, Princess Wilhelmina is kept prisoner by the Indigo Kingdom, with the Ospreys lost somewhere in the devastated city. When the Ospreys’ leader emerges at the worst possible moment, leaving Wil’s biggest ally on his deathbed, she must become Black Knife to set things right.

HER MAGIC IS UNCONTROLLABLE. Wil’s power is to animate, not to give true life, but in the wraithland she commanded a cloud of wraith mist to save herself, and later ordered it solid. Now there is a living boy made of wraith—destructive and deadly, and willing to do anything for her.

HER HEART IS TORN. Though she’s ready for her crown, declaring herself queen means war. Caught between what she wants and what is right, Wilhelmina realizes the throne might not even matter. Everyone thought the wraith was years off, but already it’s destroying Indigo Kingdom villages. If she can’t protect both kingdoms, soon there won’t be a land to rule.

In this stunning conclusion to THE ORPHAN QUEEN, Jodi Meadows follows Wilhelmina’s breathtaking and brave journey from orphaned criminal on the streets to magic-wielding queen.

*screeches* I am so so so so so glad this comes out so soon because I just finished The Orphan Queen and my heart is shattered. I need to know what happens RIGHT NOW. That ending destroyed me and I know people who read this said there were a lot of tears, but I don't even care at this point, I just want to find out what happens.

The Orphan Queen (Review)

The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows
Series: The Orphan Queen #1
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Page Length: 391 pages
Format: Hardcover
Publication Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books

About The Orphan Queen (via Goodreads):

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.

I've never hit such a block trying to write a review as I did with this one. I did enjoy reading the book, it just didn't stand out to me so much, so it's hard to articulate my thoughts. I overall did enjoy the story though! I especially loved the world Meadows created. The concept of the Wraith and the glowmen and flashers and everything… it was really exciting and unique! I would have loved to see it explored more. Maybe it will go even more in-depth in The Mirror King? *hopeful face*

The characters were… meh for me. I feel like there wasn't much interaction between them and I never really felt connected to any of them. At least at the beginning, anyway. None of them made a huge impression on me, and a lot of them seemed kind of flat. (Although Patrick just needed to die in a hole from the very beginning. UGH. He disgusted me so much.)

The only characters I truly liked were Wil and Black Knife, which brings me to my favorite part: the relationship between them. I shipped them SO hard—even though I suspected who Black Knife was all along (and was right). So naturally that ending killed me. And apparently the ending to The Mirror King has left people drowning in oceans of tears, so I guess I'll have that to look forward to.

The Orphan Queen wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but for better or worse, I'm not sure. It was slow at times, and I was actually tempted to DNF at one point, but I'm so glad I didn't. Although it wasn't the most incredible novel I ever read, I did end up really liking it and sped through it. In fact, I finished it late at night even though I had to wake up super early the next morning. (I ended up only getting 3 hours of sleep but I NEEDED TO KNOW HOW IT ENDED AND IT WAS WORTH IT DESPITE THE HEARTBREAK.)

I seriously NEED to know what happens next because the characters may have started to grow on me and also the massive, overly emotional cliffhanger was too brutal to handle *shakes fist and Jodi and curls up in a ball and sobs* I know the second book comes out soon, but will I be emotionally prepared? Probably not. Will I read it anyway? Definitely.

Rating: 3 stars