4.5 stars 
 Fantasy books are a new addition to my reading repertoire. It was never something I thought I would be interested in. I mean I dabbled and enjoyed some and hated others, but the fantasy book reading never clicked. That is until I read the right book and then the next right book and then the next right book. Basically I became a fantasy reading fangirl looking for the next perfect book. The Orphan Queen, fit right in. So freaking good guys! 
 The Orphan Queen is about Wilhelmina, a once princess that is now an orphan fighting for her kingdom which was taken from her by a king that is now her enemy. Devising a plan with the Ospreys, the group of people she has been with since the 'One Night War', Wil and her best friend, Melanie, go undercover as spies in the palace to gather information to aid in Wil getting her kingdom back. But between Melanie's strange behavior, the leader of the Ospreys acting sketchy, and the continuing appearance of Black Knife, Wil's fight gets harder and harder to decide what exactly she is fighting for and why. 
 I don't want to lie, I struggled in the beginning reading this one. Fantasy books are newish to me so it sometimes takes a while for me to get into them. I'm used to contemporaries that get right into the story or dystopians that start with the action. I've come to learn that fantasty books are about the set up in the beginning. It is about getting you to the point that you can't put the book down and you don't want to. I had this trouble with Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta and I started to feel sad that The Orphan Queen was going to be like that for me. And then I hit a part of the story and I was SUCKED IN, INVESTED, NEEDED TO KNOW. What was once Finnikin of the Rock now became Finnikin meets Spider Man and I never wanted the story to end. Jodi Meadows sucked me in with her tale and her characters and I was done for. 
 Wilhelmina was awesome. I mean she was royalty yet she was also a hardcore fighter. She had no fear which made her an amazing ally and a scary opponent. And with Black Knife (more on him later) by her side, almost impossible to beat. Even having been through everything she had been through she was fighting for her people and being a leader to a kingdom that was under the rule of an imposter. But she was also a teenage girl. She was still trying to figure out who and what she was. She was trying to come to terms with her magic (which was outlawed) and her undeniable attraction to Black Knife. At times she would seem so invincible but then you would see the insecurities and your heart would break. Like I said, Wilhelmina was awesome. 
 And Black Knife! What to say about sexy, mysterious Black Knife. He was actually hard to figure out in the beginning. He seemed like the bad guy, turning people in without reasoning, just because they used magic. But as you got to know him through his nights with Wil, you saw there was a complex guy under there. And can we talk about the attraction simmering between Wil and Black Knife? I'm still fanning myself. He is just everything! And finding out who he really is?? Oh yeah, that was fun too. ;-) 
 For a book that started out slowish, I freaking loved it. Thinking back on it I now understand all the set up that lead to the second half of the book. The slow burn makes sense now and I can appreciate it for what it was. It set up a phenomenal story of war, fighting, love, and picking sides. It built a world that you as a reader want to see succeed and flourish. It made you feel for these characters. And it made you get to such a worked up level that you almost threw the book when you finished. (Side eyes Jodi Meadows). Pick up The Orphan Queen, and you will 100% know what I mean.