“The Glittering Court” - 4.25/5

A review for Richelle Mead's latest book series.

Three books. Three girls. Three stories. "The Glittering Court" series follows the twirling tales of three girls that are running to the New World, Adoria, for various reasons of their own. In my review, I will break down each novel and talk about my praises and my issues with each book, along with a basic outline of the storyline. My summaries will be brief and a little choppy in order to avoid spoiling the entire book. All three books are interwoven into each other that you won't quite understand certain parts until you've read the entire trilogy.

"The Glittering Court" (Book 1) - 4/5

"The Glittering Court" is the story of Adelaide Bailey, whose real name is Lady Elizabeth Whitmore.

"The Glittering Court" sets the scene for the world that encompasses the series. The best way to describe the world, according to Mead's website, is a fantasy-esque version of pre-colonial America. The story starts in Osfro, a country based on England but life is similar to Victorian England than pre-colonial. The novel ends in Adoria, the country that Osfro is colonizing, despite the other civilizations living there. The novel gives all the nitty-and-gritty details of the lessons the girls go through. The book also explains how the ranking works in the Glittering Court. The number one girl is the Diamond, number two is the Ruby, number three is the Sapphire. After that is Emerald, and the list then descends into shade ranges for many girls. For example, some girls are all Garnets, others are all Amethysts or Topazes, and so on. All the girls have the opportunity to retake the exams and try to get a higher place.

Brief Summary:

"The Glittering Court" is the story of Adelaide Bailey, whose real name is Lady Elizabeth Whitmore. Adelaide impersonates her maid and joins the Glittering Court to avoid a marriage to her cousin. The only person to know of her deceit is Cedric Thorn. He is the son of the man who created the Glittering Court, and the one who recruited Adelaide's maid to the program.

At the Court, Adelaide meets Mira, a quiet Simirican refugee who seems to not care about love, and Tamsin, a pretty redhead with an ambitious streak. Adelaide tries to keep her upbringing underwraps as she sits through various lessons to turn them into upper-class women. When Cedric ends up in a sticky situation, Adelaide decides to help. Adelaide retakes the exams and gets a perfect score, becoming the new Diamond. By becoming the new Diamond, all placements move back one slot. In doing so, Tamsin is out of the top three, and she becomes angry with Adelaide, causing the two to fight. Tamsin is so angry with her that she switches to the other ship when they set sail for Adoria. During the journey, a nasty storm hits the two ships, and Tamsin's ship is gone, believed to be sunken.

The rest of the novel, Adelaide deals with her feelings for Cedric, but also the intense affections of a wealthy young man named Warren.

Positive Aspects of the Book:

• World Development: Mead weaves a beautiful world that truly envelopes the reader into a world of dresses, upper-class, and politics. This is only novel in the series that shows the most of what happens in the Glittering Court (i.e. lessons, balls, suitors, marriage meetings, etc). This novel is the most out of the three to focus on the the Glittering Court aspect in its entirety. The entire novel revolves around the Glittering Court only, while the other two novels focus on the world outside of the Glittering Court bubble.

• Plot Structure with Subplots: Mead creates an intriguing story that makes you want to keep reading. The plot is interwoven with the subplots very well, and each make the book exciting to read. For example, another way that Adelaide helps Cedric obtain money is by creating and selling a forgery of a painting from his father's house. After the painting is complete, it is mentioned a few times as in a safe place, but there is no other information due to the whirlwind events that follow Adelaide and Cedric in Adoria. Towards the last third of the novel, the painting really comes into play with helping Adelaide in a great time of need.

Aspects in Need of Improvement:

• Pacing: Adelaide's story seems to drag at certain points, which made it difficult to retain attention. However, after reading the other two books in the series, these moments of slow pacing are connected to the other two girls' stories. For example, parts of Adelaide's time during the Glittering Court lessons are boring, but necessary for the world building. The scenes don't show much action and instead focus on Adelaide's inner thoughts, which get a little boring after awhile. Meanwhile, Mira isn't as involved in the etiquette lessons in her book, partially because her story has more action outside of the Glittering Court. The main focus of Adelaide's story is on the actual Glittering Court and the events that take place in Osfro (mainly because she is the Diamond, which makes her the most involved).

• Plot Devices: The story had some unnecessary characters that serve no purpose other than being a plot device. This aspect isn't as bad as "Midnight Jewel", but it doesn't make a lot of sense in the long run. For example, the character, Sully, is not mentioned or brought into the story until the end of the novel to help Cedric and Adelaide. He is mentioned several times by Cedric but is only seen in the story for a few lines and then we never hear from him again.

"Midnight Jewel" (Book 2) 4.25/5

"Midnight Jewel" goes into Mira's side of the events that happened during "The Glittering Court". The novel gives more insight on Balanquans (Mead's version of Native Americans) and the political affairs within the colony. The world building differs from the focus of the first novel, which focuses more on the Glittering Court.

Brief Summary:

Mira is a Sirminican refugee who escaped her country as its civil war descended into chaos. The only family she has left is her brother, Lonzo, who luckily escaped with her. Before the start of the story, Lonzo committed a crime, and evaded the law by selling himself into bonded servitude in Adoria.

Mira's entire purpose of entering the Glittering Court is to find her brother and free him of his bonds. Yet she finds it difficult once she meets a government agent named Grant Elliot. Grant stirs emotions within Mira that she believed died long ago. Mira ends up helping Grant with a case involving rebellion in the colonies against the Crown. The rest of the story follows Mira joining pirates to help find justice within Cape Triumph, locating Lonzo, and the events that ended the first novel.

Positive Aspects of the Book:

• Moral Duality: Mira's entire character development is over her morals. She wants to see justice in the world but struggles between whether-or-not she should serve justice the legal way or through her own means outside of the law. Mira is strongly on the side of doing things the legal way, but she is also aware that the people in charge of justice aren't the right ones to uphold it. Yet Mira is also not against becoming a vigilante and pirate when it gets her what she wants faster. She does later on regret working as a pirate, but she does admit that the gray area is difficult to navigate.

• Pacing: Compared to the first novel, the pacing is better. There are a few moments that are a little slow, but they are so few-and-far between that it isn't too noticeable. The improved pace is probably due to the story being more action-packed, along with a mystery that keeps the reader hooked. We still get moments of just Mira's thoughts with little action, but her thoughts aren't as boring as Adelaide's.

• World Development: "Midnight Jewel" gives more details on Adoria than the first novel does, especially concerning races, politics, and different social classes. For example, the book touches upon the lower-class areas of Cape Triumph, along with Balanquans. It's refreshing to learn and "see" different aspects of the world. The book would be boring if it was only about balls and pretty material objects. The Balanquans is a part of the novel that I enjoyed, even if we don't actually get to see their community physically in the book. The book does touch upon their language and culture, which is just as good.

Aspects in Need of Improvement:

• Characters as Plot Devices: This aspect is mainly due to Mira's main motivations for coming to Adoria. She is looking for her brother, Lonzo. However, while she does look for him and does find out he is safe, we never actually get to meet him. She learns that he is well through a letter (from him) after other characters look for him for her. Mead could have definitely added Lonzo half-way through or towards the end, but either way Lonzo was just a plot device to get Mira to Adora in order to help people and seek justice for the less fortunate.

• Pirate Subplot: The pirate subplot could also fall under the plot devices aspect, but since it's a subplot, it deserves its own category. The issue I have with the pirate subplot is that it doesn't play an important part to the plotline until the end of the novel. It was a good subplot that tied into the story, but I feel that it deserved a little more foreshadowing. Mead could have written in more of the pirates doing immoral acts and Mira going along with the pirates' plans for most of the story, until she notices a clue pertaining to the McGraw case she is working with Grant Elliot. It would have given the pirates a little more showtime, and added onto Mira's moral duality.

"The Emerald Sea" (Book 3) - 4.5/5

The novel answers the most important two questions: "Why is Tamsin so adamant to be at the top?" and "What happened to her ship?"

The trilogy's final novel follows Tamsin Wright, the fiery redhead determined to win, as she travels to Cape Triumph. The novel answers the most important two questions: "Why is Tamsin so adamant to be at the top?" and "What happened to her ship?"

Tamsin's tale shines a light on the world outside of the colonies. It touches on the Icori (Mead's version of Scottish Highlanders), the Heirs (Mead's Puritans), their ways of life and the conflict between the two.

Brief Summary:

Tamsin's story answers questions about happened after her ship is hits a storm in the first two novels. We learn about her life before the Glittering Court and the events that lead up the the storm, which causes Tamsin's ship to veer off cause.

The ship ends up in northern Adoria, which is outside of the Osfro colonies and near Balanquan lands. Tamsin's group discover a group Balanquans, who decide to take them to the Heirs' territory. The Balanquans are with a group of Icori, whose leader befriends Tamsin. The Icori leader, Orla, tells Tamsin to find a man named Jago Robinson for help on getting south. She tells her that Jago can help secure spots on an Icori trade-ship towards the end of winter.

Tamsin's tale shines a light on the world outside of the colonies. It touches on the Icori (Mead's version of Scottish Highlanders), the Heirs (Mead's Puritans), their ways of life, and the conflict between the two. The rest of the story follows Tamsin's attempt to get to Cape Triumph, and what happens after she does. The novel ends with the final chapters focusing on the same event that happens in the other two novels. There is a small love triangle involving Tamsin and two men she meets. One man is the handsome minister Gideon Stewart, who is the only pleasant Heir. The other is a smuggler named Jago Robinson, who is helpful in Tamsin's journey to Cape Triumph.

Positive Aspects:

• Characterization: Mead truly makes the reader feel the emotions of Tamsin throughout this novel. For example, as I was reading "The Emerald Sea", I hated the Heirs and their hypocrisy of their beliefs. They left Osfro for Adoria because they were judged for their beliefs, but when someone has an issue with their ideals or doesn't follow the holy book of Uros (Mead's Christian god) then they deal out harsh punishments. There is one character, Dinah, who is so hateful that she makes me see red whenever she is mentioned.

• Plot Development: As I described in my summary, "The Emerald Sea" answers the questions surrounding Tamsin and the events involving her that aren't shown in the first two novels. The story moves at a good pace and the plot interweaves with the subplots well, just as the first book does. The subplots help move the plot forward and add depth to the story. For example, the subplot about the tension the Heirs have with anyone outside of them (i.e. Icori or Balanquans) helps move the main plot of Tamsin getting to Cape Triumph.

• World Development Mead truly makes the reader feel the emotions of Tamsin throughout this novel. For example, as I was reading "The Emerald Sea", I hated the Heirs and the hypocrisy of their beliefs. They left Osfro for Adoria because they were judged for their beliefs, but when someone has an issue with their ideals or doesn't follow the holy book of Uros (Mead's Christian god) then they deal out harsh punishments. There is one character, Dinah, who is so hateful that she makes me see red whenever she is mentioned.m more interesting to read about because neither of these groups of people interacted in our histories, which makes me wonder if they would have not liked each other as the book described them.

Aspects in Need of Improvement:

• Character Description: Mead is very sparse with her character descriptions in this novel. She relies heavily on the character's names, which gets a little annoying due to the repetition. The best example is with Jago Robinson. Mead mentions his hair looking a certain color in lighting, which is difficult to understand. Actually, his entire character description is very vague that I entirely missed his hair color. I just thought he had brown hair (he actually has "sun-bleached blonde" hair), which confused me later on in the story. I'm a person who loves imagery, so the character descriptions were very lack-luster.

Conclusion

I think that "The Glittering Court" series was a good follow-up series after Mead's "Vampire Academy" series. However, the series felt too quick and short. Mead is a phenomenal writer, but she didn't fully bring out her skills with these novels. However, all three novels are still a good read, so I can't be too mad in the end.