Synopsis:
Big and sweeping, spanning from the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.
Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training, and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.
When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and then when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.
But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands…
Rating: 🌟🌟
2.5 stars. This isn't really fantasy. It would be more accurate to call it fantasy lite, or even historical fiction except all the places and people are made up because Richelle Mead was too lazy to do research.
I don't have any beef with Mead, I just think this novel would've been more impressive if it was actually historical fiction.
The Glittering Court started out promising. I had heard it compared to Kiera Cass's The Selection, and I freaking LOVE those books. They're shallow and trashy and full of drama and dresses, and I was hoping this novel would be a better written version of that. It was - for the first fifty pages or so. But by page 200 it was your standard YA romance featuring a romp through the pseudo-American wilderness and the fake Gold Rush.
Yeah, I didn't expect it to go in that direction either.
I can't even compliment the world-building because it's a copy&pasted British colonization of the Americas, complete with native "savages" and religious intolerance, but simplified so Mead didn't have to do as much work through researching. It just makes the world seem lazy, and leaves something of a bad taste in my mouth.
The characters were fine. I didn't feel particularly strongly toward Adelaide, her friends, Cedric, or even the "villain." They weren't bad - except perhaps the villain, they weren't very well developed or complex - but there was nothing remarkable about them either.
Really, what it comes down to is that this novel is boring. I wanted to dnf it at around 300 pages, but I was already 3/4 of the way through so I thought I may as well finish it. Finishing it truthfully made me dislike it more, so maybe I should have dnfed it. The ending felt not only rushed, but I think Mead jumped the shark with the plot points leading up to the ending. It wasn't a good time.
Originally I thought I'd at least try the next book, but after that ending I don't have any desire to spend more time in this world.