Midnight Jewel by Richelle Mead (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Also by this author: The Glittering Court
Published by Penguin on June 27th 2017
Genres: Class Differences, Epic, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Social Themes, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 416
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 book two in The Glittering Court series by Richelle Mead and I was looking forward to reading this book. I liked book one which was from Adelaide’s point of view and I admit, I didn’t realize each of these books was the same timeline but from a different girl’s perspective until I was ready to dive into Midnight Jewel.Mira is a solid character and I was interested in her since book one. She always seemed a bit separate from the other girls and not just because of her heritage. As the story moves forward, it becomes very clear that Mira has some skills that allow her to move around unnoticed and she is an observer so she can gather information fairly easily. These things help her when she notices that one of the men on the ship with the girls happens to have some features very similar to other gentlemen she has noticed since she began her training. When Mira makes the decision to find out who this man is and what he wants, she sees an opportunity for herself and seizes it.
Grant Elliott is the man Mira begins to dig into and when she finds out who he is, she negotiates her way into an agreement with him to be an “asset” and provide information she gathers by mingling with the rich men of Cape Triumph during their parties and balls. The goal is to find out who the rebels are and who is supplying gold to the traitors. If they can do this, Mira might be able to make enough gold to find/release her brother and get out of her contract. If it all happens the way she is thinking, she won’t have to find a husband.
Along the way, Grant realizes just how good Mira is at uncovering information. They also both realize there is an attraction between them but they have a lot of secrets and neither is ready to give them up right away. As the story moves forward, we learn more about both Mira and Grant and their secrets and the impact they have on their futures. While they both continue to work to find out who the rebels are and what they have planned, the feelings they have for each other definitely put a wrench in the plans they have made.
I have to admit, I started this book and got through about the first third but ended up putting it down for a bit. With that said, there wasn’t really anything wrong with it – I actually enjoyed this story but I just wasn’t that invested in the story. I don’t know if it was because it did overlap with book one or if I was something else. No matter, when I did pick it up again, I was pulled right back into this book. Of course, Mira and Grant have their angsty moments but they also have some swoony parts that I loved. The banter between these two was one of my favorite parts of the book.
I have seen a number of people say they liked this book better than book one and I think I liked them equally. The story itself felt a bit more like a mystery and the characters seemed a bit more complex but I don’t know, there is just something I liked about Adelaide and Cedric. I am looking forward to book three which is from Tamsin’s point of view. I can’t wait to see what happened during her disappearances and am curious to get her perspective on events with Mira and Adelaide. Consider checking this book out. Obviously reading book one would provide some additional insight into the characters of this series but I don’t know that it is absolutely necessary to have done so as this felt almost like a companion versus a continuation. Regardless, if you are interested in a story with a smart daring girl, intrigue and mystery, this may be one for you.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
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