Synopsis: 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.
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Previous books in
the series:
My thoughts:
As soon as I finished The Orphan
Queen, I dreamed about The Mirror
King and I wanted it like yesterday. And, surprisingly, I got it back in
September -- thanks to the Edelweiss gods. And then I read. And read. And read.
But I was in no way invested into the story. I was probably not in the right
mood, but suffice it to say, I dropped it at 43%. Still kept it on my currently
reading shelf though. And now that it was finally published, my conscience
dictated -- get your shit together and
finish the damn book.
And I did.
And *gasp* I actually liked it!
“This
was love without masks.”
There were several big flaws that led to the initial dropping. First and
foremost, the first half was, simply put,
B-O-R-I-N-G. Uninteresting. Moving at a snail's pace and without an
adequate plot. Not even Tobiah's and Wil's sexy chemistry were able to keep me
glued to the pages -- the situation there was already effing weird since Tobiah
was on his way to marrying Meredith, which I quite liked. Coming back though,
there was a clear juxtaposition of mere secondary plot lines thrown into our
faces without bringing out the big guns. Imagine, I was downright disappointed.
Secondly, the problem that irked me to no end was how the romantic
closure was handled, I mean -- come on, we all knew and expected that Tobiah
and Wil will somehow end up together; it's just one of that predictable aspects
every series has. AND I WAS PUMPED FOR
THAT. But still, even if the cliche is there, you wish for it to be handled
in a clever manner. And that is certainly not what happened in TMK. It's the
reason why I dropped it, the reason why I thought I'd DNF it. Because it
angered me, disgusted me and simply left me speechless at such a crap way of
twisting the plot to the author's liking. I wanted something plausible,
something sneaky, not something so straight-cut it's basely. I was pissed off
and thank goodness I was because in the end that's what prompted me to give it
another shot and another go -- which, in turn, culminated with a higher rating than
the one I would've given it if finished then (probably 1 or 2 stars).
Thirdly, Wil -- she was stupid
stupid stupid. Not on the whole -- she had a fantastic character
development, she was standing her ground, becoming a young and fair leader;
kind, resourceful, bold, all attributes a queen should have and I admired her
for her queen like demeanor.
No, she was stupid in one department only -- her relationship or rather
her communication with the wraith boy, Chrysalis. Everything that went awry in
the first part, eye-roll inducingly so, could have been avoided if she had sit
down, overcome her prejudices and understand and unravel this creature she
conjured into being. Living under the impression that by locking him away into
a closet all problems would be solved only managed to render her an idiot and
trigger lousy plot-developments. I was embarrassed by her embarrassment, for
goodness's sake!
Thank the heavens, that also changed once we crossed the half threshold.
I'm not kidding, it was like a totally different book, at least that's the vibe
I got. Suddenly, the book was unputdownable.
I was hooked. I was enjoying the political undertones and Aecor's dilemma of
red vs blue. And, most importantly, I loved seeing Wil develop on her own,
separated from Tobiah, proving that she's just and has lots of integrity.
Not to mention those two jaw-dropping twists I seriously did not see
coming -- James; Tobiah. The one concerning James I prepared myself for since
it was hinted at from the prequel, but I didn't have a clue what it could
possibly be about. And oh dios mio!
That kind of revelation messes with your head. And I was instantly grateful I
finally found the cleverness I wanted woven into the plot.
The Tobiah one, on the other hand, left me shell-shocked. I had to pick
up the remains of my mind after being blown away. Consequently, these two
twists combined to offer surprises in a wonderful manner.
I'm not gonna lie, the wraith business felt all over the place during
both books. No rules, no clear understanding of how it works, how it can be
fought and how it must be approached. Add Chrysalis into the mix and,
essentially, the weirdness is at a whole other level. It did provide thrills,
however. And honestly, this particular spin on magic was compelling. It's just,
you know, a superficially constructed "villain".
Other things I should mention: I liked the tension that Prince Colin and
Patrick brought to the story and I loved a certain brilliant (although gut-wrenching
at the time) twist that enabled Wil to inherit what was rightfully hers.
Melanie and the remaining Ospreys were nice and supportive. Meredith was a
great character as well. James was from another planet, because he was
practically perfect. It was like seeing Chaol under a new personality. On top
of that, his dynamic with Tobiah was all Chaol and Dorian, Dorian and Chaol and
my heart was quadrupling itself whenever they were around each other. Also, the
friendship between James and Wil was sweet and gave me giddy feels.
Despite my issues with the romance, I did not hate THE ROMANCE. You get me? That I adored. Tobiah and Wil are so head
over heels in love with each other and the few and far off between times in
which they got hot and busy were deliciously torturing and addictive. They
truly complete each other. THE SHIP HAS
LANDED IN THE HARBOR AND MY SOUL SINGS SERENADES.
“I
want every part of you. The nameless girl. The Osprey. The vigilante. The
queen. Wilhelmina, you have a hundred identities and I love every one of them.”
But oh those final scenes killed me from so many points of view. First,
there was a sob fest and I wanted to hide under the covers and cry for the rest
of the night. Prepare yourself, it's cruel. Afterwards there was an avalanche
of heartwarming, fuzzy FEELS
starting from the idea of an army of tiny vigilantes and that freaking perfect
list that had me grinning like a moron. I was in LA-LA-LAND. So happy and satisfied. It was a good, strong
conclusion, with the emotional turmoil set to make it unforgettable at least
for a while.
For all its faults, I still loved this book. It just occurred to me that
was my same stance on the first installment. It's kind of my guilty pleasure --
enrapturing, chaotic and eternally romantic. The Mirror King has the subtle magic of a light, entertaining read
and the icing on the cake is that it has flavors of forbidden love, political
schism and innovation. Proper tasty, indeed.
ENJOY!
<3
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