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.

Inhalt: 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. Rezension: The Orphan Queen ist ein Roman des Genres YA/Fantasy und erinnert sehr an Throne of Glass, Red Queen oder Shadow and Bone. Dies ist wohl auch der Grund, weshalb sich bei diesem Buch die Geister scheiden, so ist die erste Gruppe begeistert und kann über die Fehler hinwegsehen, die zweite Gruppe findet es jedoch zu vorhersehbar. Das The Orphan Queen das Rad nicht neu erfindet, war mir schon vor dem Lesen klar und ich hatte auch keinerlei Erwartungen an diesen Roman, zumindest in dieser Hinsicht. Die Protagonistin hat auch in diesem Fantasyroman keine bemerkenswerten Eigenschaften, weshalb ihr Schicksal fast uninteressant ist. Ganz im Gegensatz hierzu ist The Black Knife eine so besondere Figur, wie man sie nur noch selten im Genre Young Adult findet: interessant, einzigartig, geheimnisvoll. Auch The Ospreys, ihre Herkunft und Hierarchie haben dieses Buch aufgewertet, leider wurden sie zu wenig in der Geschichte beleuchtet. Fazit: Dies ist kein komplett neues YA/Fantasy-Werk, aber ein solider Roman, der durchaus seine interessanten Aspekte hat.