The Glittering Court- Richelle Mead (Review)

The Glittering Court- Richelle Mead
Series The Glittering Court # 1
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy
Publication date:  April 5th 2016
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Format: Audio 13 hours, 1 minute
How I got it: My public library 
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 
My rating: 4/5 

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…

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My thoughts:

I read the entire Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead and enjoyed her writing so I figured I would give her newer book a try.  Overall I enjoyed The Glittering Court it has a lot of potential for a series.  

This book follows Adelaide who is an Osfridian countess who is at the age where she needs to marry.  Adelaide’s grandmother is working hard to make her a match and it leads to a cousin.  Adelaide is at the end of her rope and when a man comes to inquire about a servant going to the Glittering Court to transform from a servant to an upper-class lady in the New World she jumps at the chance.  

Adelaide’s personality is amazing.  I think the audio helped to bring her personality through the book.  She has her own opinions about situations and is very open to expressing her opinions.  She doesn’t hold anything back.  She is also very creative in her life and figuring out how to fix any mishaps that might happen.  Adelaide is an extremely strong and diligent character I can’t wait to see where she can go in this series.   She does look out for herself mostly in this book and wants to best for her future well-being.  Adelaide is ready for any adventure that comes her way.

I loved the chemistry that the author created between Adelaide and Cedric.  At first you can see the banter that is growing between them and it just feels so natural.  The romance that develops between them just fits and feels right when you are listening to the audio.   Adelaide and Cedric end up opening up to one another, which I felt made them appear

The author does an amazing job with all the scenery in this world that she has created.  We get a lot of vivid details about the landscape of the book as well as all the clothing that the girls are wearing.  I loved all the color details because it helped me to picture what was going on.

The story itself flows very naturally for me.  I felt like it was easy to listen to the audio and I hated when I had to pause it.   There is a lot more action once they get into the New World, but the buildup was easy to listen too.   I think I needed a lot of the background details to make sense of exactly what was going on.  

One thing I didn’t love in the book was the secret that Cedric was hiding.  I was sort of confused as to exactly what was going on with his secret and I wanted to learn more about it.   I felt like we could have gotten a lot more perspective about Cedric and what was going on in his life during the book.   

The ending of this book does tie things up nicely, but leaves a lot of potential for a next book.  I want to see where the author will take the characters on their next journey since there is so much of the New World to explore.

 

I would suggest listening to the audio of this book.  The narrator for this book was perfect and I felt like she brought the characters to life.  I would also suggest this as more of a weekend read/listen it was easy to get sucked in and want more. 

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About the Author

Scorpio Richelle Mead is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Originally from Michigan, Richelle now lives in Seattle, Washington where she works on her three series full-time: Georgina Kincaid, Dark Swan, and Vampire Academy.

A life-long reader, Richelle has always loved mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away from books (either reading or writing them), she enjoys bad reality TV, traveling, trying interesting cocktails, and shopping for dresses. She's a self-professed coffee addict and has a passion for all things wacky and humorous.

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