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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
I have always been a big fan of Richelle Mead, but for me THE GLITTERING COURT was a big let down. Although the book dazzled me in the beginning, the story soon turned into a repetitive, longwinded tangle of plots lines. I really had to force myself to read through to the end.
When Adelaide is forced into an arranged marriage, she seizes the first opportunity to flee by taking on the name of her maid servant and joining the glittering court—a type of finishing school where young women of the working class are trained in the ways of high society—before journeying across the seas to the new land of Adoria . There, they are guaranteed rich husbands, but Adelaide must keep her identity a secret at all costs, or she will be forced to return home to life she no longer wants.
Adelaide was a strong character but I didn't understand her motives at all. She fled an arranged marriage for the opportunity to go to a hostile country, where another arranged marriage was waiting… only to toss all her careful plans into the wind when she falls into the arms of a man who was by her side the whole time…
Honestly while I liked the adventurous side of this book, the story fell flat. The whole plot rode on Adelaide’s whims and fancies, and with all the twists and turns, I’m just not sure what this book was trying to be. While I did enjoy the beginning— the initial set-up and premise of the story were really strong— this story just goes on and on and toward the end, my attention was definitely wandering.
Not only were the conflicts in the story resolved too quickly, but Adelaide never really suffered any consequences. She got everything she wanted in a nice tidy bow and as a reader, I just kept waiting for something more to happen.
The romance at least was sweet and I did cheer for Adelaide’s chosen man. I liked all the secondary characters and the world itself was beautifully depicted. The book though should have been half the size it was.
It jumped from high society to finishing school, to ship, then onto the wild west with Scottish style savages. It tried to be so many things, go in so many directions that the story felt thin. And although labeled a fantasy, there is nothing fantastical in this book. Despite being set in a made up world, the most magical things were the place names.
All in all, this book was a huge disappointment for me. 2 stars!
When Adelaide is forced into an arranged marriage, she seizes the first opportunity to flee by taking on the name of her maid servant and joining the glittering court—a type of finishing school where young women of the working class are trained in the ways of high society—before journeying across the seas to the new land of Adoria . There, they are guaranteed rich husbands, but Adelaide must keep her identity a secret at all costs, or she will be forced to return home to life she no longer wants.
Adelaide was a strong character but I didn't understand her motives at all. She fled an arranged marriage for the opportunity to go to a hostile country, where another arranged marriage was waiting… only to toss all her careful plans into the wind when she falls into the arms of a man who was by her side the whole time…
Honestly while I liked the adventurous side of this book, the story fell flat. The whole plot rode on Adelaide’s whims and fancies, and with all the twists and turns, I’m just not sure what this book was trying to be. While I did enjoy the beginning— the initial set-up and premise of the story were really strong— this story just goes on and on and toward the end, my attention was definitely wandering.
Not only were the conflicts in the story resolved too quickly, but Adelaide never really suffered any consequences. She got everything she wanted in a nice tidy bow and as a reader, I just kept waiting for something more to happen.
The romance at least was sweet and I did cheer for Adelaide’s chosen man. I liked all the secondary characters and the world itself was beautifully depicted. The book though should have been half the size it was.
It jumped from high society to finishing school, to ship, then onto the wild west with Scottish style savages. It tried to be so many things, go in so many directions that the story felt thin. And although labeled a fantasy, there is nothing fantastical in this book. Despite being set in a made up world, the most magical things were the place names.
All in all, this book was a huge disappointment for me. 2 stars!
*4 - 4,5 sterren. Ik dacht dat het een soort Gossip Girl verhaal ging zijn in een andere tijd, maar hier zat echt zo veel meer achter! Ook een van de weinige YA-boeken waar ik de romance wel kan smaken.
The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead is a book that defies most traditional categorizations. It's sent in an alternate universe, which would imply that it's fantasy, and yet there's not a lick of magic anywhere to be found. It seems like an alternate history until you find out that Icori in the Adorian colonies are not analogues to American Indians. They're white and wear tartans by the Scots. (More on this later.) The main character, Elizabeth, is a teenager, but the themes of finding a husband and setting out on her own path seem more in line with a new adult novel. The one label that truly fits The Glittering Court is romance. The book is chock full of it.
Lady Elizabeth, Countess of something or other (I'm too lazy to fish the book from my shelves at this point), finds herself heading towards a loveless marriage and a totalitarian mother-in-law, all in hopes of saving her family's estate from ruin. She can't even leave the grounds without her servants guiding her back home. Elizabeth nearly gives up hope until she sees her servant Addy, being offered the chance of a lifetime--to enroll in a finishing school called The Glittering Court. All girls who complete the program will travel to the frontiers of Adoria and marry the wealthiest and most eligible bachelors in the colonies. For Addy, this is a huge step up, but the prospect of leaving Osfrid terrifies her. So Elizabeth takes her place, and her name, Adelaide. Our main character is plucky and resourceful, like all of Mead's heroines. However, this one is surprisingly naive...if not a bit ignorant of her privilege. Sometimes her thoughts come across as subconciously racist, but because she doesn't voice most of them, no characters call her out on it. She does, however, have a nice character arc and does grow out of most, if not all, her ignorance.
Really, the biggest problem is Mead's erasure. If one is going to mirror her fictional world to the West of the 17th and 18th Centuries, why replace Native Americans with Scots? If any of the heroes of the story are racist to them in the beginning, they aren't at the end. In fact, the only people of color in this novel are the Sirminicans.
There are also points in the novel that bored me. I'm not big on pioneering stories, and the last third of the novel largely deals with staking a claim and trying to make it profitable. Not really my cup of tea.
All that said, there are a lot of beautiful things to be found in The Glittering Court Mead has yet to write a nonalluring love interest, and Cedric fails to disappoint. Mira is probably my favorite character, and I can't wait to read The Midnight Jewel, as it looks like her story will be the most interesting. A refugee who has little desire to get married? Yas. All the yas.
Mead also has a knack for creating interesting belief systems in her worlds, and the tension between the mainstream religion, the heretics, and the fundamentalists (who are viewed as more of a cult than anything else) is scrumptious. Elizabeth serves as a great lens to view these through, as she rises above her ignorance and selfishness to a true hero.
Lady Elizabeth, Countess of something or other (I'm too lazy to fish the book from my shelves at this point), finds herself heading towards a loveless marriage and a totalitarian mother-in-law, all in hopes of saving her family's estate from ruin. She can't even leave the grounds without her servants guiding her back home. Elizabeth nearly gives up hope until she sees her servant Addy, being offered the chance of a lifetime--to enroll in a finishing school called The Glittering Court. All girls who complete the program will travel to the frontiers of Adoria and marry the wealthiest and most eligible bachelors in the colonies. For Addy, this is a huge step up, but the prospect of leaving Osfrid terrifies her. So Elizabeth takes her place, and her name, Adelaide. Our main character is plucky and resourceful, like all of Mead's heroines. However, this one is surprisingly naive...if not a bit ignorant of her privilege. Sometimes her thoughts come across as subconciously racist, but because she doesn't voice most of them, no characters call her out on it. She does, however, have a nice character arc and does grow out of most, if not all, her ignorance.
Really, the biggest problem is Mead's erasure. If one is going to mirror her fictional world to the West of the 17th and 18th Centuries, why replace Native Americans with Scots? If any of the heroes of the story are racist to them in the beginning, they aren't at the end. In fact, the only people of color in this novel are the Sirminicans.
There are also points in the novel that bored me. I'm not big on pioneering stories, and the last third of the novel largely deals with staking a claim and trying to make it profitable. Not really my cup of tea.
All that said, there are a lot of beautiful things to be found in The Glittering Court Mead has yet to write a nonalluring love interest, and Cedric fails to disappoint. Mira is probably my favorite character, and I can't wait to read The Midnight Jewel, as it looks like her story will be the most interesting. A refugee who has little desire to get married? Yas. All the yas.
Mead also has a knack for creating interesting belief systems in her worlds, and the tension between the mainstream religion, the heretics, and the fundamentalists (who are viewed as more of a cult than anything else) is scrumptious. Elizabeth serves as a great lens to view these through, as she rises above her ignorance and selfishness to a true hero.
adventurous
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I really enjoyed this. It was long and there were a lot of plot lines going on but I enjoyed the characters and the story. I'm hoping there's a sequel so I can learn what happened to Tamsin and Mira.
Elizabeth Whitmore’s life is constantly in motion which she has no control over. When her Grandmama set up a betrothal to her distant cousin, a barley plantation owner, she despises where her life is headed toward. Elizabeth joins a meeting with her maid, Ada, who has been recruited to join The Glittering Court, which will train them to be an upper-class woman in the new world, Adoria, and marry into a wealthy family. Elizabeth decides to take the place of Ada and call herself, Adelaide and join The Glittering Court in an adventure of her lifetime. But, the New World and The Glittering Court isn’t entirely what she expected and when she begins to develop an attraction to Cedric, the son of the owner of The Glittering Court. This fantasy world has a lot of similarities to The Selection trilogy, but its setting that could very well be our own world in the distant past. Adelaide is a strong character who stands up for her friends and believes in having her own voice and her story will keep readers turning the pages to find out what happens to Adelaide’s life.
adventurous
medium-paced
Recensione anche sul blog
Avrei voluto terminare questo libro in tempo per l’uscita, in modo da darvi subito un’opinione, ma si sa, la vita non sempre ci fa fare quello che vorremmo e vari impegni si sono infilati nelle mie giornate. Sono comunque riuscita a leggere il libro e quindi eccoci qui.
Conoscevo la Mead, ma sinceramente ho letto la sua serie “Vampire Academy” anni fa e mi ricordavo poco del suo stile e del suo modo di raccontare. The Glittering Court mi ha ricordato la serie The Selection, ma allo stesso tempo ha qualcosa che lo rende di fatto molto diverso.
Adelaide è un personaggio un po’ prevedibile, bellissima, bravissima in tutto ciò che fa e oltre a questo è capace di adattarsi alle varie situazioni e ha sempre la risposta pronta a tutto. È sveglia e mi è sembrata una persona che una volta decisa la sua strada non ci ripensa più di tanto. Non so dove vogliano andare a parare con la sua storia nei prossimi libri, ma sono comunque curiosa di scoprirlo.
La ship di Adelaide con Cedric parte immediatamente e inevitabilmente. La Mead non ti dà nessuno scampo. Non c’è modo di voler vedere Adelaide con nessun’altro e a me tutto sommato la cosa va bene. È facile voler bene ad entrambi e voler scoprire di più su di loro e vedere come si evolverà mano a mano il loro rapporto.
Mi aspettavo una reazione diversa per quanto riguarda la rivelazione del segreto della ragazza, ma non voglio dirvi nulla, quindi sappiate che sono rimasta solo un pochino perplessa.
Di personaggi secondari ce ne sono parecchi e tutto sommato hanno ognuno il loro carattere e il loro scopo, anche se la descrizione di alcuni, soprattutto delle amiche di Adelaide è molto molto ripetitiva. Mi piacerebbe esplorare di più personaggi come Tamsin, Mira e anche Nicholas e spero ne avremo la possibilità dei prossimi libri.
Dopo le prime 100 pagine o giù di lì la narrazione è rallentata parecchio e non sapevo più come andare avanti perché non trovavo la motivazione per continuare, ma per fortuna ho resistito e piano piano la storia ha ripreso ritmo. Mi aspettavo qualcosa di diverso come trama per questo primo libro, invece la Mead è riuscita a sorprendermi. Il finale mi è piaciuto, ma leggermente affrettato, soprattutto le ultimissime pagine. La Mead ha tirato più o meno tutte le somme, almeno per le questioni più importanti. La cosa mi ha spinto a pensare che forse i prossimi volumi non saranno incentrati interamente su Adelaide, ma ovviamente è solo una mia sensazione.
Concludo ringraziando Edizioni LSWR per avermi dato l’opportunità di leggere il libro in anteprima.
Avrei voluto terminare questo libro in tempo per l’uscita, in modo da darvi subito un’opinione, ma si sa, la vita non sempre ci fa fare quello che vorremmo e vari impegni si sono infilati nelle mie giornate. Sono comunque riuscita a leggere il libro e quindi eccoci qui.
Conoscevo la Mead, ma sinceramente ho letto la sua serie “Vampire Academy” anni fa e mi ricordavo poco del suo stile e del suo modo di raccontare. The Glittering Court mi ha ricordato la serie The Selection, ma allo stesso tempo ha qualcosa che lo rende di fatto molto diverso.
Adelaide è un personaggio un po’ prevedibile, bellissima, bravissima in tutto ciò che fa e oltre a questo è capace di adattarsi alle varie situazioni e ha sempre la risposta pronta a tutto. È sveglia e mi è sembrata una persona che una volta decisa la sua strada non ci ripensa più di tanto. Non so dove vogliano andare a parare con la sua storia nei prossimi libri, ma sono comunque curiosa di scoprirlo.
La ship di Adelaide con Cedric parte immediatamente e inevitabilmente. La Mead non ti dà nessuno scampo. Non c’è modo di voler vedere Adelaide con nessun’altro e a me tutto sommato la cosa va bene. È facile voler bene ad entrambi e voler scoprire di più su di loro e vedere come si evolverà mano a mano il loro rapporto.
Mi aspettavo una reazione diversa per quanto riguarda la rivelazione del segreto della ragazza, ma non voglio dirvi nulla, quindi sappiate che sono rimasta solo un pochino perplessa.
Di personaggi secondari ce ne sono parecchi e tutto sommato hanno ognuno il loro carattere e il loro scopo, anche se la descrizione di alcuni, soprattutto delle amiche di Adelaide è molto molto ripetitiva. Mi piacerebbe esplorare di più personaggi come Tamsin, Mira e anche Nicholas e spero ne avremo la possibilità dei prossimi libri.
Dopo le prime 100 pagine o giù di lì la narrazione è rallentata parecchio e non sapevo più come andare avanti perché non trovavo la motivazione per continuare, ma per fortuna ho resistito e piano piano la storia ha ripreso ritmo. Mi aspettavo qualcosa di diverso come trama per questo primo libro, invece la Mead è riuscita a sorprendermi. Il finale mi è piaciuto, ma leggermente affrettato, soprattutto le ultimissime pagine. La Mead ha tirato più o meno tutte le somme, almeno per le questioni più importanti. La cosa mi ha spinto a pensare che forse i prossimi volumi non saranno incentrati interamente su Adelaide, ma ovviamente è solo una mia sensazione.
Concludo ringraziando Edizioni LSWR per avermi dato l’opportunità di leggere il libro in anteprima.