Review: The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows

Title: The Mirror King
Author: Jodi Meadows
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: April 5, 2015

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.

This...If you haven't read the first book, stop reading my review right now.

'I pulled my mask over my face.  "Time to go, Optimistic Knife."

"As long as no one else takes that name."'*

This was everything I could have ever wanted in the sequel to The Orphan Queen and more.  I've now read this twice, and I'm half broken and 100% okay with that.

How do I describe this book?  How do I do it?  There is so much that happens.  I laughed, I cried (really, I did), I raged, I cheered.  I need the final copy of this book in my hands.

We leave off the moment The Orphan Queen ends.  So it's in the middle of quite a lot of action.  If you've read the teaser chapters from the novellas, you know how the novel starts: very gloomily.  But things are never slow in the world of Wilhelmina and Tobiah.  Even preparing for his coronation and his wedding to Meredith, things get so... mucked up.

This book has so much action.  I love it.  We don't see as much of Tobiah as Black Knife, but that's understandable, considering he's now ruling his own kingdom.  And there were times that he just infuriated me to no end.  But that was understandable too.  Gosh, I love Tobiah.  Does he have any flaws?  The answer is yes.  And we find out exactly what they are.  He's hiding a big secret.  And honestly, I had kind of guessed part of his secret.  It was hinted at throughout both of the novels.  But then...

This book is so full of twists.  I don't want to spoil anything, so I will just say that.  It is so full of spectacular twists, some of them I saw coming, some of them I didn't.  And the ones I didn't?  Wow.  Just wow.

Showing this again to show how amazing this book is.

We get to see a lot more of Wil's power in this installment.  Not only that, we see other flashers and how their powers work, which is pretty cool since the only one we saw in action before was Wil.  And we get to see Connor's abilities too.

In fact, the rest of the Ospreys play a larger roll in the second installment of the series.  And what about the wraith boy?  Well he certainly does a lot.

Things I Needed More Of (SPOILERS)

• Kissing
• Hanky Panky (#sorrynotsorry)
• More kissing

And to sum up...

Reasons You Should Read This Book

1 - If you read The Orphan Queen, you're probably dying from that cliffhanger at the end.  And those novellas only help so much.  So you'll need this one right away to help stop all the lamp throwing you most certainly want to do.

2 - It was written by Jodi Meadows.  Having read everything she's published I can fairly say that she is my favorite author.  She combines beautiful prose with witty dialogue and amusing main characters.  And one of the things I have always come to expect from her books is to be sure I have a box of tissues available for all the crying I'll be doing.

3 - The characters are awesome!  The wraith boy is weird, funny, kind of creepy at times, but overall extremely loyal.  He has a huge part to play.  And so does James, one of my favorites from the first book.  James' role is even bigger.

4 - Plot twists are a thing.  This book has a lot of them.  Some of them I saw coming.  Some of them it was like BOOM! and then I was on the floor crying again because that was a thing and I was all "Jodi why have you done this to me?!"  But yes.  Plot twists.  They happen.

5 - The cover is gorgeous!!!  Good reason to read a book?  Maybe not.  But still a reason.  I love covers.

Reasons Not to Read This Book

1 - You haven't read The Orphan Queen yet.  Why haven't you read it yet?  Stop reading this review and go read The Orphan Queen.

2 - You didn't like The Orphan Queen.  In that case, I'm not sure we can still be friends.

3 - I got nothing... Just go read it!!

Overall?

I love, love, loved it.  This book... It's amazing.  If you are in the #OQSupportGroup, you will need this right away.  Sit down with a box of tissues and read to your heart's content.

Note: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review, and that in no way alters my opinion of this book.

*All quotes are taken from ARC hardcover copy and are subject to change.