strange and random happenstance

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
Published by: Viking Adult
Publication Date: July 15th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 576 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
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Just one step is all it takes to return to their old lives despite the changes they have undergone. Back to the present which Matthew and Diana have been unknowingly peppering with anomalies their family have been keenly following. A portrait here, a book there, signs of their lives for those trapped in the present of those they love in the past. And then a step, a few flights, a drive, and they are home. Matthew and Diana have returned to Sept-Tours. They may be reunited but everything has changed. There have been loses while they were gone, and they must mourn them. Em was brutally taken from them and it taps into one of Diana's worst fears, that she won't be able to say goodbye to those she loves. But more than that, the family must adjust to cataclysmic changes while playing by the rules of the Congregation and Baldwin swinging his dick around. Diana has learned much from the Elizabethan witches, but also from her father who she encountered in the past. They have put her on the right path but her education is incomplete, she must now walk it alone. She is the rarest of witches, a weaver. Which means she makes her own spells and that accounts for why the spells of others never worked for her much to her aunt Sarah's dismay. As much as she wishes she could have stayed in the past to learn from a fellow weaver their position was too precarious and Kit's dislike of Diana took a deadly turn. But more than that, Diana is pregnant with Mathew's children. She had already miscarried a miracle baby once in the past and now she's pregnant with twins. Children Matthew is ferally protective of. Now that he and Diana are married and mated his blood rage is stronger than ever. He could even possibly pose a risk to his unborn children. Which means it's time to put all his cards on the table. Those who are his family must know all the secrets he has been keeping. They must know of the blood rage, they must know of the babies, they must know that Ashmole 782 is made up of the dead, and they must come together to forge their own scion, one that won't be under Baldwin's control. Everyone is given a task, which means they must scatter to the four corners of the Earth, and for Matthew, being away from Diana could literally drive him insane. But the truth about blood rage must be uncovered, Ashmole 782 must be retrieved, the Congregation must be brought to heel, and the Covenant must be repealed. And preferably all before Diana gives birth. In the end there will be a battle, but will it be political or will Matthew's dangerous past come back to haunt him? Because with vampires there are always more secrets.

The first time I read The Book of Life I was annoyed by what I perceived to be too much science in this volume. Or as Gallowglass so eloquently said; "This family was more fun when we had fewer medical degrees." Oh, how I smile thinking about that now. My actual blood rage over Matthew getting a lab position at Yale to study his blood rage. I have to laugh at past me or else I'd cry. Because the truth is all the hoopla over the science and the Covenant are dispatched within twenty pages at the end of the book because of all of Diana's new Dark Willow powers. The science was never the point. The Covenant was only partially the point. The hot mess that is this family was the point. And I am here for it. I am here for people from the past showing up and going, oh, by the way, I'm your grandson and that young scamp you loved in Elizabethan England? Well, I turned him into a vampire and, well, things did not go well. Because vampires are nothing but drama, bring on the Lestat level antics. It's understandable, they've been around for centuries and have amassed so many secrets and names and identities that it's amazing they can keep track of it all. So for Diana to have a full debrief on everything to do with Matthew and his past, well, that would probably take more books than Anne Rice has written about vampires. But the shocking thing to me is that sometimes they just walk away from each other. Oh yeah, there's a whole bunch of vampires in New Orleans that are the children of Marcus, we just don't talk about them. The family is big and unwieldy and has so many grudges, I mean, there really is nothing messier than vampire family drama. Throw in a few daemons and witches and humans and I just can't get enough. They all care for each other, deep down, even Baldwin, but the drama is bloody. Which is so appropriate for them. And the thing here is that the family is reconfiguring with the new scion. Because while Matthew will be the "head" Diana is the "heart." This causes chaos and upheaval and change. And it's the change I'm not so sure about, though it's so messy I'm still here for it. At the beginning of this series Diana was the conduit for the reader. She was fairly normal, aside from the whole witch thing. But over time, as her relationship with Matthew has deepened, she has become something other then human, something more. She is beyond supernatural, which makes her totally unrelatable. She literally is her own tatted up deus ex machina. Convenient? Yes. Believable? Not quite. And seeing as I totally am buying into vampires and witches having babies, that's saying something. But it doesn't make me want to reunite with this family any less. Bring on Time's Convert!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anne Rice, Ashmole 782, Blood Rage, Creatures, Dark Willow, Deborah Harkness, Deus Ex Machina, Diana Bishop, Elizabethan, Gallowglass, Lestat, Matthew Clairmont, Pregnancy, Science, Season of the Witch, Secrets, The Book of Life, Yale

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: July 10th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 592 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
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Hamish warned Diana. She would have no way of knowing who or what Matthew would be once they timewalked. The man she knew would be gone. In his place would be a far different creature. It took Matthew hundreds of years to become the man she fell in love with and in a different time and place, among old cohorts, he could backslide. Arriving at the Old Lodge in Woodstock outside Oxford in 1590 Diana thought the hard part was over. They'd be able to search for Ashmole 782 and find her a teacher and return to the present ready to take on the Congregation. But timewalking was easy compared to being thrown directly into the middle of the School of Night, of which Matthew isn't just a member but the historically illusive poet Matthew Roydon. The smartest and savviest and most renowned and infamous men of the age seem to view Matthew's house as their home... and they do not care for Diana, at first, or forever as the case may be with the lovestruck Marlowe. Soon it becomes apparent that maybe this wasn't the best idea. As Hamish predicted, Matthew is falling back into his roisterous and secretive ways. Back into his life without Diana. Perhaps she should have taken more than forty days to tie her fate to the man she's mated to. There's destiny and then there's duplicity. Matthew has so many secrets she doesn't know where to get a foothold. It's not like she's in a era where she can just go about her business without the help of a man. Despite having a queen, Elizabeth's England is a patriarchal society and Diana is beholden to the whims of men. What's more, she obviously doesn't fit in. From language to comportment to behavior. She. Doesn't. Fit. With unrest in Scotland witches are being rounded up and soon it looks like nowhere will be safe for Diana. Not the past or the present. And then Philippe summons Matthew. Denying his father isn't an option. He could bring their world down around them in an instant. Travelling to Sept Tours and living amongst Matthew's past is trying for Diana, as is the fact they have done nothing that they planned to do. She remains ignorant of her abilities and Ashmole 782 looks as if it is as elusive in the past as in the present. What's more, they don't have a say in their lives, they are buffeted around by all the people who have a claim on them, from Philippe to Queen Elizabeth to Emperor Rudolf II to the Congregation, from France to London to Prague, they try to fit there lives and their needs among the demands of these great people. As time goes on, there is more and more of a chance of affecting the past and there is more and more of a need for Diana to learn why she has always struggled with her witchcraft and to find a spell to get them home. Luckily, fate does seem to occasionally shine on them and sometimes their tragedies turn into greater joys.

When rereading a series or a favorite author's work there's always a book you're looking forward to. Now, the more you reread them the more likely it is that there's a sliding scale and it changes every time. At least this is how it is with me and Jane Austen. Seeing as this is only the second time I've read the All Souls Trilogy I was really excited to dive into Shadow of the Night because I loved it the first time around for the fact that the series was fully embracing historical fantasy by being set in Elizabethan London. And I gotta say, while I still love it, I have issues. Major issues. Because Diana is a modern woman travelling back to a patriarchal society she is obviously going to chafe at the restrictions placed on her, which is probably why Matthew didn't warn her in advance of their destination. Me, reading this book in 2012 accepted it for what it was, me rereading it in 2026 after #MeToo and manspreading and the overturning of Roe v. Wade and every other macro and micro aggression that women are constantly facing including our "ability" to handle voting coming into question just made me hate Elizabethan England and the School of Night. But I also blame Queen Elizabeth for this whole attitude, she of the "I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king." As well as referring to herself as a Prince. Yes, she didn't know she'd be one of the most famous female rulers in history, but her couching her rule in terms to make it palatable to the patriarchy just drove me up the wall. Or maybe I'm just having PTSD from watching way too many Tudor dramas of late. Yes, that might just be it. That and the fact that a lot of this book feels like it's spinning its wheel and feels more like a grand tour than a purposeful journey. I felt that we where being led on a tour of Elizabethan England. I was reading a travel guide for the time, not historical fiction. I quite literally cheered when Diana said it was "time to stop treating our sojourn here as an advanced seminar in Shakespeare's England." Because that was what the book was! Hundreds of pages of exposition when they came to search for the Ashmole 782 and get Diana a teacher. I didn't need them playing Elizabethan house for the whole first half of the book! But to play devil's advocate, I think that by having Diana go through this journey she realized that she needed to find out who she was, she needed to reclaim her identity as a witch, not for herself but for her child, which is a profound moment. It actually justifies everything that came before and is a profound step on her Heroine's Journey. She is becoming who she is meant to be, and that is why I still love Shadow of the Night.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: #MeToo, Ashmole 782, Deborah Harkness, Diana Bishop, Elizabethan, Historical Fantasy, Kit Marlowe, Matthew Clairmont, Matthew Roydon, Queen Elizabeth, School of Night, Season of the Witch, Shadow of Night, Tudor England, Witch

A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a wealthy bachelor drops dead at a ball, a young lady takes on the decidedly improper role of detective in this action-packed debut comedy of manners and murder.

Feisty, passionate Beatrice Steele has never fit the definition of a true lady, according to the strict code of conduct that reigns in Swampshire, her small English township - she is terrible at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Nevertheless, she lives a perfectly agreeable life with her marriage-scheming mother, prankster father, and two younger sisters -  beautiful Louisa and forgettable Mary. But she harbors a dark secret: She is obsessed with the true crime cases she reads about in the newspaper. If anyone in her etiquette-obsessed community found out, she'd be deemed a morbid creep and banished from respectable society forever.

For her family's sake, she's vowed to put her obsession behind her. Because eligible bachelor Edmund Croaksworth is set to attend the approaching autumnal ball, and the Steele family hopes that Louisa will steal his heart. If not, Martin Grub, their disgusting cousin, will inherit the family's estate, and they will be ruined or, even worse, forced to move to France. So Beatrice must be on her best behavior...which is made difficult when a disgraced yet alluring detective inexplicably shows up to the ball.

Beatrice is just holding things together when Croaksworth drops dead in the middle of a minuet. As a storm rages outside, the evening descends into a frenzy of panic, fear, and betrayal as it becomes clear they are trapped with a killer. Contending with competitive card games, tricky tonics, and Swampshire's infamous squelch holes, Beatrice must rise above decorum and decency to pursue justice and her own desires - before anyone else is murdered."

Swampshire's squelch holes. Hehe. 

Deborah Goes to Dover by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 177 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dead employer's legacy of five thousand pounds has allowed spinster Hannah Pym to resign from housekeeping and enjoy traveling the English countryside by coach. But adventure soon finds Miss Pym in the form of runaway brides, spirited heiresses, and international refugees, who continue to test her expert matchmaking skills.

Destined for Dover, Miss Pym scents the potential for a match between fellow coachmates when she meets Abigail Conningham, traveling with her mother to a loveless marriage arranged by an uncle, and Captain Beltravers, an army officer still mourning his dead wife and child. And that's just the beginning.

Next, Miss Pym has her matchmaking work cut out for her when she encounters the pretty but hoydenish Lady Deborah Western. Encouraged by an unruly twin brother, the spirited, golden-haired Deborah seems set on dressing and acting the tomboy, much to the dismay of her handsome neighbor, the Earl of Ashton. But with the help of Pym's clever maneuverings, Lady Deborah will soon be well and truly matched."

Again, I am SO HAPPY that this books are being made available stateside. 

Manslaughter Park by Tirzah Price
Published by: Harperteen
Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this queer retelling of the classic novel and third book in Tirzah Price's Jane Austen Murder Mystery series, Mansfield Park is the center of a deadly accident (or is it?) Perfect for fans of the Lady Janies and Stalking Jack the Ripper.

Aspiring artist Fanny Price is an unwelcome guest at her uncle Sir Thomas Bertram's estate. It's his affection for Fanny that's keeping her from being forced out by her cousins Tom and Maria and nasty Aunt Norris, back to a home to which she never wants to return. But then Sir Thomas dies in a tragic accident inside his art emporium, and Fanny finds evidence of foul play that, if revealed, could further jeopardize her already precarious position.

Edmund, her best friend and secret crush, urges Fanny to keep quiet about her discovery, but Fanny can't ignore the truth: a murderer is among them.

Determined to find the killer, Fanny's pursuit for justice has her wading into the Bertram family business, uncovering blackmail, and brushing with London's high society when Henry and Mary Crawford arrive at Mansfield Park with an audacious business proposal. But a surprising twist of fate - and the help of local legends Lizzie Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy - brings Fanny more complications than she ever expected and a life-altering realization about herself she never saw coming."

There has NEVER been no never will be a better title for a Mansfield Park retelling than Manslaughter Park.

Misfortune Cookie by Vivien Chien
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Vivien Chien's Misfortune Cookie, Lana Lee returns for another delectable cozy set in a Chinese restaurant in Cleveland, OH.

They say fortune favors the bold, and Lana Lee is determined to prove that true.

Lana, now officially manager of her family's restaurant, the Ho-Lee Noodle House, is headed to sunny Irvine, California to attend a restaurant convention with her sister, Anna May, along for the ride. The girls' very Americanized Aunt Grace has asked them to stay in her posh rental, and as the trip begins, it seems to be just what they both needed. Even the restaurant convention proves to be worthwhile and entertaining, especially when Lana witnesses a dramatic cat fight between a fortune cookie vendor and a journalist.

Lana and Anna May can't imagine things getting any better until they learn their aunt has yet another surprise in store for them - a swanky cocktail party hosted for the freelancers of Southern California. But on the night of the party, things go south when a close journalist friend of Grace's mysteriously plunges from the roof top of the hotel. Even more suspicious is the fact that Aunt Grace's friend is the same journalist Lana saw getting into a screaming match with the fortune cookie vendor at the convention.

The police rule the death a gruesome accident, but Aunt Grace refuses to accept that explanation and begs Lana for her help uncovering the truth. Lana, Anna May, Aunt Grace attempt to keep up appearances as they search for answers, but unwanted attention from suspicious colleagues and convention attendees starts to surface, causing Lana to wonder if they'll find the killer in time...or if they'll be the next ones pushed over the edge."

When you've seen a lot of death in your hometown, it's best to go see bodies elsewhere.

Fatal Fudge Swirl by Meri Allen
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A movie production brings drama - and murder - to a close-knit New England village, forcing Riley Rhodes to scoop out the suspects.

Former CIA librarian and amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes is loving her fresh start as the manager of the Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. The leaves are turning, tourists are leaf-peeping, and Penniman, Connecticut is putting finishing touches on the weekend long Halloween Happening. But the village is also buzzing. Former child star Cooper Collins is overseeing the production of a romantic comedy that's filming on the town green and his domineering socialite mother, Diantha, is planning her lavish Halloween themed wedding at her Inn on the Green. Her fiancé has run the Inn's kitchen for years, ably aided by his recent ex-wife, chef Mary Ann Dumas. An old friend of Riley's, Mary Ann turns to her when the bride requests a spooky ice cream wedding cake.

But the weekend takes a frightful turn when Diantha is found dead and suspicion falls on Mary Ann. The cast of potential suspects is long - each wedding guest had a chilling motive to kill the vicious heiress. Can Riley unmask the murderer before another guest ends up on ice?"

Tell me more about this Halloween Happening...

Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"On a creepy island where everyone has a strange obsession with the year 1994, a newcomer arrives, hoping to learn the truth about her son's death - but finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into the bizarrely insular community and their complicated rules...

Clifford Island. When Willow Stone finds these words written on the floor of her deceased son's bedroom, she's perplexed. She's never heard of it before, but soon learns it's a tiny island off Wisconsin's Door County peninsula, 200 miles from Willow's home. Why would her son write this on his floor? Determined to find answers, Willow sets out for the island.

After a few days on Clifford, Willow realizes: This place is not normal. Everyone seems to be stuck in a particular day in 1994: They wear outdated clothing, avoid modern technology, and, perhaps most mystifyingly, watch the OJ Simpson car chase every evening. When she asks questions, people are evasive, but she learns one thing: Close your curtains at night.

High schooler Lily Becker has lived on Clifford her entire life, and she is sick of the island's twisted mythology and adhering to the rules. She's been to the mainland, and everyone is normal there, so why is Clifford so weird? Lily is determined to prove that the islanders' beliefs are a sham. But are they?

Five weeks after Willow arrives on the island, she disappears. Willow's brother, Harper, comes to Clifford searching for his sister, and when he learns the truth - that this island is far more sinister than anyone could have imagined - he is determined to blow the whole thing open.

If he can get out alive...."

I spent every summer in Door County as a kid, my brother loves to talk about our trips, so for him, where is this island and when can he visit?

The Night It Ended by Katie Garner
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Intertwining the narrative with the transcript of an anonymous interview, this stunning suspense debut from Katie Garner will take you on a twisting path where nothing - and no one - is what it seems.

Finding the truth seems impossible when her own dark past has her seeing lies everywhere she looks...

From the outside, criminal psychiatrist Dr. Madeline Pine's life appears picture-perfect - she has a beautiful family, a successful mental health practice and a growing reputation as an expert in female violence. But when she's called to help investigate a mysterious death at a boarding school for troubled girls, Madeline hesitates. She's been through tragic cases before, and the one she was entangled in last year nearly destroyed her...

Yet she can't turn away when she hears about Charley Ridley. After the girl was found shoeless and in pajamas at the bottom of an icy ravine on campus, the police ruled it a tragic accident. But the private investigator hired by her mother has his doubts. If it were Madeline's daughter who died, she'd want to know why.

Arriving at the secluded campus in upstate New York, Madeline's met by an unhelpful skeleton staff and the four other students still on campus during winter break. Each seems to hold a piece of the puzzle. And everyone has secrets - Madeline included. But who would kill to protect them?"

Boarding schools with a few students left for the holidays is like my catnip.

The Ghost Theatre by Mat Osman
Published by: Overlook Press
Publication Date: June 27th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A wild and hallucinatory reimagining of Elizabethan London, with its bird worshippers, famed child actors, and the Queen herself; a dazzling historical novel about theatre, magic, and the dangers of all-consuming love.

London, 1601 - a golden city soon to erupt in flames. Shay is a messenger-girl, falconer, and fortune teller who sees the future in the patterns of birds. Nonesuch is the dark star of the city's fabled Blackfriars Theatre, where a cast of press-ganged boys perform for London's gentry. When the pair meet, Shay falls in love with the performances - and with Nonesuch himself. As their bond deepens, they create the Ghost Theatre, an underground troupe that performs fantastical plays in the city's hidden corners. As their fame grows the troupe fans the flames of rebellion among the city's outcasts, and the lovers are drawn into the dark web of the Elizabethan court. Embattled, with the plague on the rise throughout the country, the Queen seeks a reading from Shay, a moment which unleashes chaos not only in Shay's life, but across the whole of England too.

A fever-dream full of prophecy and anarchy, gutter rats and bird gods, Mat Osman's The Ghost Theatre is a wild ride from the rooftops of Elizabethan London to its dark underbelly, and a luminous meditation on double lives and fluid identities and the bewitching, transformative nature of art and power, with a bittersweet love affair at its heart. Set amid the vividly rendered England of Osman's imagination and written in rich, seductive prose, The Ghost Theatre will have readers under its spell from the very first page."

Can I can I read this now please!?!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 1994, Door County, Elizabethan, Jane Austen, Jimmy Juliano, Julia Seales, Katie Garner, M.C. Beaton, Mansfield Park, Manslaughter Park, Mat Osman, Meri Allen, O.J., The Ghost Theatre, Tirzah Price, Vivien Chien

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead
Published by: Razorbill
Publication Date: April 5th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Lady Elizabeth Witmore, the Countess of Rothford, can't stand her life. Orphaned and raised by her grandmother on their ever diminishing funds she is being forced into a marriage with a distant cousin who has a very overbearing mother. Her household is being scattered and she is surprised to find out that one of her maids, Ada, has been approached by The Glittering Court. The Glittering Court is in essence a mail-order bride service for those wealthy men who have a pioneering spirit and have relocated to the New World, Adoria. The Court spends a year training the girls in all the skills Elizabeth has had drilled into her since birth and then they are sent to Adoria where hopefully a bidding war will ensue. The Court makes money and the girls are given a chance at a life they could never have dreamt of. Though Ada seems oddly reluctant. She'd far rather go home to her family's dairy than go to Adoria. Which gives Lady Elizabeth an idea. She will take Ada's place. The idea formed in her mind has to be acted on quickly. The Court is picking up Ada that night. Elizabeth quickly sends Ada off to the dairy of her dreams and feigns a headache. As soon as she is alone she dons Ada's clothes and leaves her house as Adelaide, leaving "Lady Elizabeth" behind.

The first hurdle happens almost immediately. Cedric Thorn, whom Ada and Elizabeth met that afternoon, is in the carriage and soon the alarm is raised for a missing Countess. But Cedric keeps her secret and when they arrive at the manor where "Adelaide" will be taught they reach an agreement, Cedric explaining how she mustn't excel, she must reign in all that is natural to her, and he won't tell anyone who she really is. Over the following months she feels freer than she ever has before. She has real friends in her roommates Mira and Tamsin. She has a future that is of her own making. But soon her heart starts to betray her. She's falling for Cedric and he's the number one person she shouldn't be falling for. As it turns out Cedric himself has secrets, and their bond grows stronger through the sharing of their true selves. Yet if anything, this friendship doesn't dampen "Adelaide's" desire to succeed, she throws caution to the wind and becomes the diamond in the crown of the Court. This might not have been the wisest plan, making herself so visible, but it affords her the greatest leeway in choosing a husband as well as helping to protect Cedric's big secret. Yet truth will out and soon life in the New World is more dangerous than just worrying about the natives.

When I was listening to the buzz surrounding this book I was all like, yeah, Elizabethan YA awesomeness, I'm so there! And yes, there's Elizabethan, but there's also Jamestown and Salem and the California Gold Rush and Braveheart and and and... there was too much and. The Glittering Court felt like a book with a multiple personality disorder, or to be more accurate a multiple period disorder. Richelle Mead clearly didn't know what time period she wanted to emulate so instead of forging the story's own unique blend she borrowed liberally from all these different periods. The key problem is this lack of integration. When the book is Elizabethan it's obviously Elizabethan, when the book is Salem it's obviously Salem. These abrupt shifts in period are jarring and take you out of the story. You never once get a true feeling for the world of Osfrid and Adoria, they are just aspects of our own past that aren't filtered through the narrative but clumsily transitioned to from one to the other. Each time period feels uniquely of it's own time never merging the story into a cohesive whole. Therefore the narrative never has a chance to be anything other than a clumsily told story that could have been so much more but instead is so much "other" that it never had a chance to be itself.

While these period shifts became more and more jarring I was surprised that I actually latched onto one of them. For a short while the book actually captured my attention. After Adelaide and Cedric have declared their love for each other and been ostracized from Adorian Society they try to make it panning for gold. This is obviously the California Gold Rush/Oregon Trail period of the book and totally not the Elizabethan book I had signed on for, but somehow it worked. By stripping the narrative of all the extraneous characters and customs and eras, by stripping it down to the bare minimum, all of a sudden I liked it. The book no longer had these multiple periods fighting for dominance and it proves 100% that if Mead had forged her own unique and simpler path then perhaps this book could have worked. Adelaide and Cedric panning for gold was delightful. For the first time you really felt their connection. Their relationship was no longer a plot contrivance and the HEA we were working towards. It was no longer them being thrown together, it was them coming together and forging their future. Plus, seeing the two of them outside their comfort zone and dealing with new challenges and everything this new environment threw at them was priceless. Cedric's lack of carpentry skills is truly a highlight of this book.

But this one little slice of the book didn't make up for how predictable and just plan meh it was overall. Literally each and every single "twist" was seen coming so far in advance it was like Mead was telegraphing the punches to come. Semaphore anyone? I mean as soon as I heard they had to sail to Adoria I'm all, shipwreck! And of course there is. But by that point I was all shipwreck fake out, and of course that was the case again. If I hadn't been trying to force myself to finish this book I might have been laughing at the book, instead I was groaning. I mean, seriously, the country they sail across the Sunset Sea to is Adoria!?! Horrid saccharine backlash, teeth aching from the sweetness. If at some point in your book about mail-order brides there is an attempted rape, perhaps tone down the Disney Princess vibe? The closest example to what this book reminds me of is the TV show Reign. Because despite being ostensibly about Mary Queen of Scots, it has modern pop music and dresses that sometimes look like they were designed by Dior. This combination of the Elizabethan time period and Gossip Girl works because of one key element, they know they are camp and play it up to the hilt and therefore it is fun. This lack of self-awareness, this inability to see what The Glittering Court really is it's downfall.

Yet even if Mead had camped it up or bothered to do some worldbuilding the book still couldn't have worked because of Elizabeth/Adelaide. I have so many issues with the lead I just want to smack her. Some of her faults could be blamed on her upbringing but keep in mind, she's fictional! So her tunnel vision, her self-absorbed, self-centered ways don't come off as quirks or obstacles to overcome, they just come across as annoying. Even when she's "helping" others it's really only to help herself. Oh, and her grief over her lost friend? Um... that seemed like self-indulgent whinging. Yes, there's pain, but she freakin' caused it by being so self-centered. If she had been a little self-sacrificing, perhaps she could have been redeemable, but even working the gold claim with Cedric is just so she can get Cedric. Every. Single. Thing. She. Does. Is. For. Herself. The ONLY aspect of her personality that I found interesting was her ability to forge artwork. This could have led somewhere, but instead it is a contrived plot device used as the deus ex machina. Imagine if this ability to mimic was used as a commentary on "Adelaide" herself? A girl who could be the perfect society woman, who could mimic what all the others did and in fact surpass them but in the end could never be unique. Now that would have added some depth to this book.

Yet, with a book titled The Glittering Court I should have realized it would all be surface, no depth. The old saying all that glitters isn't gold, just points out this is all glitter, the kind that rubs off onto your hands and gets everywhere. Because time and time again there were opportunities for depth, and time and time again they were pushed aside, and have resulted in a major plot hole. The central conceit of the book comes down to the feasibility of an actual "Glittering Court." Does this idea for fantastical Elizabethan mail-order brides seem possible? Well yes and no. Yes, what we've seen of it seems to work, but no because what about the previous brides? THIS is the plot hole. The previous members of the "Court" are mentioned ONCE in passing. Aiana is mentioned as an employee of the Court who checks up on the previous wives. But why is this the only mention of them? Don't you think that perhaps a goodly portion of these women are probably living in the main town in Adoria? Why don't we meet any of them? Don't you think that they could sell us, the readers, as well as the hesitant girls on accepting marriage proposals and the viability and success of this operation? But no, that's too much thinking for this book. Perhaps it will be addressed in a later volume. A volume which I won't be reading.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Art Forgery, Deus Ex Machina, Dior, Elizabethan, Gold Rush, Gossip Girl, Jamestown, Mail-Order Brides, Mary Queen of Scots, Oregon Trail, Reign, Richelle Mead, Salem Witch Trials, Shipwreck, The Glittering Court, YA