The Glittering Court
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3.9 • 13 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER
The Selection meets Reign in this dazzling trilogy of interwoven novels about three girls on a quest for freedom and true love from #1 internationally bestselling author Richelle Mead.
"Brilliant and original, Mead’s new series starts off with a bang and will leave readers on the edge of their seats until the very end."
—School Library Journal
For a select group of girls, the Glittering Court offers a shot at a life they’ve only ever dreamed of, one of luxury, glamour, and leisure. To high-born Adelaide, whose wealthy family is forcing her into a loveless marriage, the Glittering Court represents something else: the chance to chart her own destiny, and adventure in an unspoiled, prosperous new land across the sea.
After a chance meeting with the dazzling Cedric Thorn, Adelaide poses as a servant to join the crop of impoverished girls he promises to transform into proper ladies. But her familiarity with upper class life comes with a price: she must hide her identity from her new friends, mysterious refugee Mira and fiery former laundress Tamsin, and most importantly, from Cedric himself—even though she’s falling in love with him.
Everything begins to crumble when Cedric discovers Adelaide’s ruse, and she catches the eye of a powerful young governor, who wants her for a wife. She didn’t leave the gilded cage of her old life behind just to become someone else's property. But nothing is as daunting—or as wonderful—as the potent, forbidden attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. One that, if acted on, would make them both outcasts in a wild, dangerous, uncharted world, and possibly lead them to their deaths.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A 17-year-old countess trades Elizabethan luxury for frontier life in this absorbing fantasy. Lady Elizabeth Witmore is intrigued when Cedric Thorn arrives at her home, recruiting for the Glittering Court. After maidservant Ada is offered a place in the court but is hesitant to leave, Lady Witmore poses as Ada for the chance to make a new life on the frontier of Adoria, across the Sunset Sea. There's a catch: in the Glittering Court, she will be groomed to marry a man of "new nobility" who is able to pay a price for her hand, but when she falls for Cedric, the future looks even more uncertain. Writing from "Ada's" sharp-witted perspective, Mead (Soundless) delivers an enjoyable fish-out-of-water tale that plays gritty frontier adventure against the finery of the Glittering Court. The uncomfortable notion of "ladies for sale" is balanced by Ada's indomitable spirit, and although the worldbuilding is somewhat scant, Ada's friendships with roommates Tamsin and Mira are well-realized, and themes of religious freedom and racism are woven smoothly into the exciting narrative. Ages 12 up.
