Review: The Glittering Court

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this in 2016, shortly after I started blogging. I had the post all ready to go, but I never posted it to goodreads or the the blog. I'm not sure why I never posted it, it was nearly ready to go, I just needed to spell check the post. I already put in the work to write up a post so I figured I might as well post it.


This is categorized as a fantasy, but there aren't any fantasy elements. None of the characters posses magic, there aren't any fantastical creatures, its more of a romance and a historical fiction. So some of the problematic elements like the way characters of color are treated and the treatment and actions of women are due to the time period, doesn't make it right, but it fits the historical nature and time period of the book.

I liked this book, but not enough to continue on with the series. I did like the side characters, and I was interested in their books, but I was never captivated enough to go back and read the other books.

This is an interesting take on elite society. Men with out noble titles or a penny to their name, move to the "New World" called Adoria and have found their fortunes and want and made names for themselves. Alone in their newfound greatness, the "new nobles" want wives from their homeland, Osfrid, who are able to match them in their greatness. Enter the Glittering Court, finishing school for young girls without a noble upbringing that transforms girls common birth who have no where to go for whatever reason to become the wives of the new nobles in Adoria. The Glittering Court aims to turn them from rags to riches and arrange marriages for men who intend to make their way into elite society of Adoria. The highest bidder gets a beautiful, genteel young wife to head into the wild frontier. The girls get room, board, and lessons until they are essentially sold and married. They do alteast have a say in who they get to marry.

Our main character Adelaide Bailey or Elizabeth Whitmore, Countess of Rothford, is in a hopeless situation. She must make a suitable match to keep her family namesake alive, but her wealth is quickly running out. She must marry for money but also for pride. She feels trapped and is not interested in an arranged marriage. Her grandmother is in charge of her future and the Whitmore family name. Grandmama is making arrangements for their estate and Elizabeth's marriage when Cedric Thorn comes along to take away Ada, Elizabeth's maid, to the Glittering Court. Ada wants to go to her family farm not to the Court. Elizabeth sees a way out of her predicament by posing as Ada, here they both may find an agreeable future.

Adelaide/Elizabeth already knows everything that the Glittering Court aims to teach its girls as far as how to be a fine lady, but what she doesn't know is how to be a normal girl who is learning to act like a noble. She can't dress her self, cook, clean, sew, do her own hair, but the other girls can do those things. So she learns to do things for herself and not stick out as the know-it-all. She makes some friends, but can never tell them who she really is. Cedric Thorn, the only person who knows her true identity, tells Adelaide to fall somewhere in the middle of the pack so she doesn't stick out and she isn't found out as the missing Countess. After finding out some scandalous information about Cedric she decides to help him and become the top of her class to ensure he can get the best price for her marriage and stake a claim in the new colony.

Through an interesting course of events Cedric and Adelaide find themselves forming a friendship that turns into something much more, yet they cannot act on it as she has to go through with her contract to marry through the Glittering Court. She meets her prospective husbands, one being the Governor's son Warren who is to be a Governor himself. Warren's mother reveals that she know's of Adelaide's true identity and that she is anxious for Adelaide to marry Warren before he leaves for his new land. Adelaide feels trapped much like the situation she left behind with her grandmother. I won't spoil the drama that ensues surrounding her relationship troubles and the conflicts she faces. While there are struggles, everything conveniently resolves itself.



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