I wanted to love this, really I did. Unfortunately, The Orphan Queen just didn't deliver as much as I anticipated. While I loved the overall concept (lost queen + magic + battles? yes, please.), nothing was quite what I wanted. 
 So, The Orphan Queen? 
 Wil, the heir to the throne of a defeated kingdom, and her fellow royal orphans have been plotting to take back their land which has A) been conquered by the Indigo Kingdom and B) been ravaged by THE WRAITH! or bad magic. But she's going to get her throne back, so she and her best sidekick friend infiltrate the palace because SPIES. I see...YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION, BOOK. 
 So, this breaking into a palace and finding out all kinds of highly confidential information and sending it back to your teenage resistance group thing is probably going to be really tough, huh? HAHAHAHAJK laughs teenage resistance group and Jodi Meadows. As it seems, forging royal documents, posing as a dead duchess, and climbing in and out of a palace window every night is your run of the mill royal orphan business. Who knew? 
 But, the romance? Eh. I mean I was digging these scenes, just the right amount of chemistry, but it felt thrown in. Like, oh, crap..I forgot the kissing! LEMME INSERT KISSING SCENE. Maybe I also wanted more from that. I'm interested to see where it goes. (view spoiler)[I'm really thinking James is going to be end game romantic interest, right? BUT RIGHT (hide spoiler)] 
 And despite this, I still wanted to love this book. Don't get me wrong, I kept reading. I wanted to know what was going to happen. But I also wanted more to happen. Everything was entirely too convenient (I like a little uncertainty. GIVE ME ANXIETY, FICTIONAL CHARACTERS.) and terribly underdeveloped. 
 But I do give props.. 
 THAT LAST SCENE, OMGGGGG. It hit me in the right thisbookisendingIneedmore feels. Which to be fair, is pretty hard to do when the rest of the book felt a little bland. 
 This all being said, this series has potential. It's a story that needs a little more nurturing and I have confidence that Meadows will blow me away with the sequel. Because, no really, (view spoiler)[ HOW ARE THEY GOING TO GET RID OF THE WRAITH? ALSO, WHAT HAPPENS WITH CREEPY WRAITH BOY?! filed under: things I need to know or I'll die. (hide spoiler)]