The Glittering Court: 1 Paperback – 28 Mar. 2017

I loved this story and got me thinking about how we shouldn't judge people by how they seem. What a lovely story about finding your true self and perhaps someone else on the way.

I really enjoyed this sorry as it is different to what else is out there at the moment. I would recommend this anyone who enjoys a good romantic/adventure story with a twist.Such a great book, so glad I pre-ordered it!

I am so confused right now. Some minor spoilers ahead.It started as a Selection type book but all the girls would end up married and they were just competing to be the top girl and hoping the main character doesn't get found out blah blah. And you're having fun because you're like "it's just building" and a cute little forbidden romance builds (Cedric forever).Then they're finally on the boat and mc falls out with best friend and you're wondering why they were even friends anyway. Once the bidding starts it's all quite interesting and you know that mc and Cedric want to be together but Cedric then you remember Cedric is a heretic going on about his beliefs all the time and that he can die any minute.Then the Selection part ends and what do we get? Gold panning. I kid you not. Cedric rides for a total of 8 hours a day to pick mc up to gold pan together in a river and then drop her off to live with some children. What is happening? And because MC has been pretending to be someone called Adelaide, you're 300 pages in and you actually have no idea what her real name is, and you're not sure Cedric knows either even though he knows she's not Adelaide...So basically this book swaps genres and themes about 10 times. It starts off with Selection-like features, then we get a western, frontier type section, then we get a freedom of religion storyline, and finally a "Native American-like culture take back their land".The next books are the same story told from the point of view of boring old Mira and annoying Tamsin. Definitely will not be reading those for lack of appeal and lack of Cedric, the reason to read this book.

Read all the Bloodline books and loved them and I was not disappointed with The Glittering Court could not put it down. How anyone could give this book a bad review is beyond me. It is a must buy. Can't wait for the next one, please Richelle get writing.

Beautiful. That's all I can say. Even I know that all books places made up names. But couldn't miss reference to Americas colonial times. The Kings brides to new world and all that. But writer stayed true to herself making strong feminine heroine in the book. Can't wait for sequel.

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!

Another good book to add to the pile. Lots of twists and turns, some predictable, others not. Very detailed writing, I could almost feel the dresses the main characters wore. Stunning!

Too many unanswered questions, not enough plot, basic characters, badly written and boring. Also very predictable. Don't bother reading. Such a shame.

Ma fille de 12 ans a adoré le tome 1 (choisi pour un book review en anglais) et me réclame le tome 2 avec insistance me disant qu'il a l'air encore mieux! Que rever de plus?

Loved it

Excellent

Loved this new world and couldn't put it down! I always eagerly await Richelle's new releases and I loved the story and the characters.

This book! Be still my heart, this book!Okay, so I’ll be honest, from the books description, I wasn’t sure I was going to like The Glittering Court. All of the comparisons to The Selection had me weary, because I really didn’t like that book very much. The early reviews weren’t looking all that good either. (But really, they were mostly complaining that this is labeled a fantasy, when it’s really not. It’s a fantasy world, but contains no fantasy elements like magic or dragons.) But you know what? I took a leap and preordered. On April 5, release day, I dove right in and ended up staying up until two am the night of April 7th finishing. #WorthItTHIS BOOK IS AMAZING! Never again will I ever doubt Richelle Mead’s storytelling abilities. I will read anything and everything she writes.If the TV shows 'Reign' and 'When Calls The Heart' had a baby, it would be 'The Glittering Court'.When the young Countess of Rothford is forced into an engagement with her “itchy” cousin, she panics. Taking a risky leap, she assumes the identity of her maid, Adelaide, and takes her place in The Glittering Court. The Glittering Court is basically a finishing school for young women of the lower castes. For a year they are trained to behave like noble women, and eventually are to be sent overseas to Adoria to wed the wealthy men who have made their fortunes in the new world.The first half of the book takes place in the finishing school of The Glittering Court. Adelaide makes friends with her roommates, Tamsin and Mira, and ends up with an enemy in mean girl Clara. You’d think this school would be easy for her, considering she already excels at everything they’re teaching. However, in order to keep her true identity a secret, she has to purposely fail to avoid attention, which is sometimes easier said than done.Along the way, the only person who knows her true identity is Cedric, the son of the man who co-owns The Glittering Court. Their relationship is tenuous at first, if she is caught they’ll both be in trouble. Big trouble. But along the way they become friends as well as partners in crime. Adelaide and Cedric partake in some not so legal activities, but as a reader I couldn’t help rooting for them, hoping they’d pull it off!The second half of the book takes place in Adoria, the new world. Think of it as the wild frontier of America. Everything is new and dusty, men are staking their claim of land in search of gold, and taming the wild frontier.As much as I love everything about the nobility, it was the second half of the book that won me over. Seeing Adelaide so out of her element in Adoria was great. And Cedric, poor pampered Cedric, such a good sport with where life leads him!“Don’t you know that I’d lie with you in groves, under the light of the moon? That I’d defy the laws of gods and men for you?”The romance was the best part of this book. It’s obvious from the beginning that Adelaide and Cedric are meant to be. I spent the whole book with my fingers crossed, hoping they could find a way to be together.And the ending! Oh my, the ending! I can’t say much, except it opens the doors for the next books in this series, which I’ve heard will follow the same time line, but in the POV of Adelaide’s friends, Mira and Tamsin.“You need to stop this. Stop . . . Um, being a heretic.”“It’s not something I can just stop being. It’s part of me.”“They could kill you if you’re caught!”Richelle also explores many themes in the book, weaving them seamlessly into a beautiful story I couldn’t put down. There’s the yearning for true love, and changing your fate to make your own destiny; religious persecution; friendship and betrayal; etc.Something that is very common in books these days, especially YA, is to end on a cliffhanger and keep the audience waiting for the next book. This book could have ended any number of times, but it didn’t. Richelle Mead chose to keep the story going until the actual end of Adelaide’s adventure. Having that true ending helped (a bit) with my P.B.D. (Post Book Depression) upon finishing.This book is 100% worth the read. So much so that even though I already purchased the Kindle edition, I’m going to be buying the hardback as well to have Richelle sign when she’s in town next month.