Review: Midnight Jewel by Richelle Mead (@jessicadhaluska, @RichelleMead, @RazorbillBooks)

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead
Series: The Glittering Court #2
Published by Razorbill
Published on: June 27 2017
Genres: Half-fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

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In MIDNIGHT JEWEL, Richelle Mead goes beyond the glitz and glamour of the Glittering Court, delving into the dark, political underbelly of Cape Triumph through the eyes of one girl who dares to fight for her freedom.

A refugee of war, Mira was cast out of her home country and thrust into another, where the conditions were inhospitable at best. In a life-altering twist of fate, she is given the chance to escape once more, and she takes it, joining the Glittering Court.

Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. There, Mira finds herself subjected to persecution, not only from her fellow Glittering Court jewels, but from her suitors, as well—men she would potentially be expected to give her life to.

By day, she goes through the motions, learning the etiquette and customs that will help to earn her anonymity, even making a couple true friends in the process, the forthright ladies’ maid Adelaide and the ambitious laundress Tamsin. But by night, Mira hatches a different plan entirely—one that, if exposed, could get her hanged in the highest court of Adoria.

MIDNIGHT JEWEL is the extraordinary story of a girl with few options who courageously forges a new path, finding love, passion, lifelong friendships, and maybe even a way to freedom.

Last year THE GLITTERING COURT was one of my most anticipated new releases, and despite discovering that it 1. Had nothing to do with Fae, and 2. Was half-fantasy, it was one of my top ten books of 2016.

MIDNIGHT JEWEL was even better.

BUT.

The story doesn’t pick up where it left off, with Adelaide and Cedric beginning their HEA in Adoria’s version of Rhode Island, it returns to the beginning, and tells the same story from Mira’s POV.

I wasn’t bothered by this at all. I didn’t reread TGC, but I remember how, as the story progressed, the girls had less and less daily interaction, so by the time they were on the ship, sailing towards the new world (which happened way quicker in Mira’s tale), their paths had completely diverged.

So no pesky “refresher” plot summaries from the first installment, which IMO are what ruin POV-switch stories.

Also, as much as I liked Adelaide, once you get past the whole cash-poor-blueblood-running-away-to-choose-her-own-destiny thing, falling in love with a fervently religious type isn’t super exciting.

SPOILERS from The Glittering Court past this point.

Mira, on the other hand . . . I had figured her out long before her story was told, and I wanted to know more.

B/c PIRATE.

Or Robin Hood-like land pirate, but whatever, a pirate is a pirate, and it was obvious that Mira was sneaking out the attic window to play Lady Aviel—so much more exciting than Adelaide, who was sneaking out the same window to see a boy and/or warn him that his secret worship service was about to be crashed by intolerants.

Mira’s story was plot-twistier too, and being an anti-hero pirate was only one of her secrets.

It all added up to a better second installment, which, as we all know, is rarely the case, especially in YA series.

Now all I can do is impatiently wait for Tamsin’s version of the same events, and given how both installments end with her showing up to Cedric’s trial with an army of Icori, I’m confident that Mead’s latest series will out with a bang.

Highly recommended.

The Glittering Court:

My Review

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