Review + Giveaway: The Orphan Queen

THE ORPHAN QUEEN
The Orphan Queen #1
Jodi Meadows
Young Adult/Fantasy
400 pages
Katherine Tegen Books
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY
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.

MY THOUGHTS
The Orphan Queen has all the elements that will thrill avid fantasy lovers, giving us a misplaced royal heroine who can fight better than the man standing next to her and think on her feet just as skillfully, all while hiding an illegal magical ability and entering into a tense and complicated (but exceedingly well done) romance. While there's a bit of an info dump in the beginning chapters as one of Wil's young partners-in-crime recounts the history of their conquered kingdom and the magic that currently threatens their entire world, it does allow us to get our bearings quickly before Wil and Melanie infiltrate the ruling family and uncover more secrets than they bargained for.

Wil, as mentioned previously, is a standout heroine, a young woman torn from her family and forced to live in the shadows with those who suffered a similar fate, theiving to survive and biding her time until she can make a play for her throne. While her royal countenance and ingrained sense of superiority does peek out on a rare occasion or two, on the whole she wants nothing more than to help those she was forced to abandon years ago and defeat a seemingly invulnerable enemy that grows stronger with every passing day. There are moments when she could easily cling to the history of her family and her kingdom as she remembers them, closing herself off to the possibility that all was not as it seemed, but instead she embraces every piece of information she uncovers and allows it to expand her worldview. She's then able to adapt and adjust, becoming the type of leader anyone would be grateful to follow and someone we root for unflinchingly.

The romance between Wil and the vigilante known as Black Knife is beautifully subtle yet thrumming with enough tension to add an extra flutter every time our hearts beat, remaining largely drama free until the very end when the truth of Black Knife's identity is revealed. It's perhaps easier than intended to decipher his daytime alter ego early on, but the fact that the reveal isn't much of a surprise doesn't detract from the relationship itself, and it remains one that will likely prove to be of the stunningly complicated–and painful–variety in the next book. We're left with an epic cliffhanger, so those who dread them should beware, but while things for our characters are looking bleak on the final page, there's still a pervading sense of hope that what's happened can be undone, and we know that if anyone can make it so, it's Wilhemina.

Rating: 4/5

Find Jodi:

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon • B&N

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

• • • • • • • • • • •

TOUR + GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the amazing folks at HarperCollins, I have one finished copy of The Orphan Queen to give away on the blog today! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US only.

A huge thank you to Hannah for organizing this tour and letting me be a part of it:) Be sure and check out all the participating blogs for more reviews, guest posts and giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WEEK ONE:

3/9  - Good Choice Reading (Review)

3/10 - The Irish Banana Review (Guest Post)

3/11 - Reading W/ABC's (Review)

3/12 - Icey Books (Quote Candy Wallpaper)

3/13 - Alice Marvels (Review)

WEEK TWO:

3/16 - No BS Book Reviews (Guest Post)

3/17 - Supernatural Snark (Review)

3/18 - Book Shelfery (Q&A)

3/19 - Addicted 2 Novels (Review)

3/20 - Mundie Moms (Review)

Review: Asunder

ASUNDER
Newsoul #2
Jodi Meadows
Young Adult/Fantasy-ish
416 pages
Katherine Tegen Books
Available January 29th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
DARKSOULS
Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls–and the newsouls who may be born in their place.

SHADOWS
Many are afraid of Ana’s presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes and the unknown. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

LOVE
Ana was told that nosouls can’t love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.

In this second book in the Incarnate trilogy, Ana discovers the truth about reincarnation and will have to find a way to embrace love and make her young life meaningful. Once again, Jodi Meadows explores the extraordinary beauty and shadowed depths of the soul in a story equal parts epic romance and captivating fantasy.

MY THOUGHTS
Asunder reintroduces us to a world that left us a tiny bit confused after the concluding chapters of Incarnate, questions abounding as to the relationship between the temple, the creation of newsouls, and the true death of the darksouls to make us a touch wary when reaching for this second installment. We can't help but wonder if this sequel will follow the formula of so many sequels, simply setting us up for the next book without answering any of our many and varied questions, but luckily for us Ms. Meadows satisfies our curiosity in thrilling fashion. Though the opening chapters with Ana and Sam are a touch slow as we struggle to remember the finer details Heart and the reincarnated souls who make it their home, the story quickly picks up once they return to the city, our protectiveness of Ana and our undisguised disgust for those who treat her so cruelly flaring to life and reestablishing the beautiful connection we formed in book one.

Ana is a character whom, at first glance, appears extraordinarily vulnerable and rather meek, her sheltered upbringing and the emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother making us wonder if she'll ever overcome her inherent desire to belong and instead choose to embrace all that makes her gloriously different. While it takes her a good portion of Asunder to weld a bit of steel to her vertebrae–her natural passivity and desire to refrain from making waves keeping her backbone distressingly pliable for the first half of the book–she does finally find her voice both with regard to the discrimination she faces on a daily basis as well as her relationship with Sam, instilling in us a deep sense of pride when she finally refuses to be disregarded simply for being new.

Sam is a key figure in this story in terms of our connection to Ana's journey overall, not because he's incredibly sweet and supportive throughout, but rather because he's often the opposite (though not in a malicious way), pushing us away from him and toward Ana until her pain and loneliness are our burdens to bear as well as hers. For as much as Sam tells Ana “I love you” and expresses a willingness to wait for her to figure out what those three little words truly mean before she's able to say them back (something we applaud her for), we can't help but wonder if it's not Ana, but in fact Sam himself, who needs to spend some time pondering the definition of love. Sam's love at times seems conditional–he speaks out in her defense when she's verbally and physically attacked and offers safety and comfort when she needs it, however, when those who have known him longest whisper in his ear, he's quick to reevaluate his entire relationship and often hurts Ana by discounting her feelings as those of someone who's too young to know better.

The tension between them keeps us deliciously on edge, providing just enough angst to ensure we're emotionally involved without taking it so far that we start to develop a nervous tick wondering if they're going to be hot or cold when they're together next. The romantic tension is nicely supported by the anticipatory tension stemming from our unanswered questions about Ana and newsouls in general, and we're finally given much of the information we've been craving since learning of Ana's uniqueness. While there is certainly more to learn by the time we reach the last page, we're inordinately grateful for what we do know, and eagerly look forward to what Ana's fresh perspective will bring to a world gone static thanks to five millenia of monotony.

Rating: 4/5

Creativity Contest: Asunder

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are all having a fantastic holiday season thus far! I just wanted to put up a quick post today to share with you my entries for a creativity contest hosted by Bailey at IB Book Blogging and Jodi Meadows to win and ARC of ASUNDER, the second book in the Incarnate series. These lovely ladies are calling it a creativity contest as the entries do not have to be limited to cover design, but rather can include any type of fan art, poems, playlists, and well, anything generally creative. As I didn't want to scar any of you for life by subjecting you to my sad attempts at poetry, I decided to stick with cover design ;-) Below are my two entries!

ASUNDER #1

ASUNDER #2

The original covers for both INCARNATE and ASUNDER are absolutely stunning and would be nearly impossible to compete with, so instead of trying to find stock photos that might have given me a comparable look, I decided to go with an illustrated design featuring the same butterfly theme for something a little different. I'm pretty pleased with both, but at the moment I'm favoring the second design:)

Review: Incarnate

INCARNATE (New Soul #1)
Jodi Meadows
Young Adult/Dystopian
384 pages
HarperTeen
Available January 31st
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

MY THOUGHTS
Deeply intriguing and beautifully told, Incarnate brings to life a world of fantasy that–for all its differences and its paranormal qualities–manages to highlight an inherent flaw we often don’t like to recognize in ourselves or others when confronted directly with it. Ana, being the only newsoul in a place where the same one million souls have been born again and again for five thousand years, is the epitome of an outcast, and through her eyes we see the disdain, the fear, and the distrust someone who’s different elicits in those who believe they possess the one and only indisputable view of how things should be. Seeing such blatant prejudice portrayed in a way that’s so different from our reality but also so horrifyingly familiar strikes a poignant cord in us as we wish for nothing more than the ability to leap into the pages and assume a supportive position behind, in front of, or beside Ana with the few others who see her as human not anathema.

Ana is a young woman who has our support from page one, her loneliness as visible and as palpable as if she wore it as a cloak about her shoulders and stood in front of us with every vulnerability spelled out on her sleeve, allowing us instant access to the depths of her character with no holds barred. Despite her fear of the unknown, she sets out for Heart with purpose and hope, the horrors of her childhood with an emotionally and physically abusive parent not fully corrupting her faith that not everyone will see her as Li does. At times her suspicions of Sam’s motives and her uncanny ability to read too much into what is said start to irk us, but just as they do we remember that for the past eighteen years her only social contact has been with a woman whose interactions with her have dripped with derision–sharp words wielded as weapons meant to inflict wounds deep enough to scar but shallow enough to ensure she would survive them to endure the torture another day.

Ana’s relationship with Sam is both sorrowful and indescribably wistful at the same time, beginning as a fragile friendship that slowly grows into something greater as trust becomes more than a simple word tossed out to force a tenuous bond, and then quietly transforming into a tangible thing that has been earned with limitless patience and increasing desire. Their actions are never hurried, Ana’s understandable hesitancy to believe the reality of what’s happening between them and Sam’s fear that she’ll continue to misinterpret his feelings for her creating a chasm of space between them emotionally despite there only ever being feet between them physically. Ever-present while reading is an incessant tug in our bellies, a slow twisting that by the end has us thoroughly tangled in knots as tension between the two of them ebbs and flows at the perfect pace to keep us on edge the entire way through.

The only mild complaint is a common one for first books in a series, a great deal of questions and wide open musings plaguing us as we reach the last page, but we are blissfully left without a gut-punching cliffhanger. We definitely want to know more about the few revelations we’re given in the concluding chapters, however, we look forward to the next books with a sense of optimistic curiosity instead of wild desperation, something that will surely make the wait in between books far more bearable.

Rating: 4/5