Series: The Glittering Court #3
The dazzling conclusion to #1 New York Times bestselling author Richelle Mead’s The Glittering Court series.
Meet Tamsin, the Glittering Court’s hard-angled emerald. Her outsized aspirations make her a fierce competitor, rising to the top of the ranks. But when the ship she boards for the New World is tragically lost at sea, she is quite literally thrown off-course.
3 Drink Me Potions
This is the first series I’ve read where all the stories mesh together but it’s from different protagonist POVs. While book 1, The Glittering Court, ravished me in one long sitting, my heart just wasn’t into the second book following one of the other girls.
So with wary expectations, I jumped into Tamsin’s story. After all, it’s partly the same story as what I’ve read twice already!
To my surprise, The Emerald Sea was intriguing. Tamsin’s little secret that made her such a pain in the ass sometimes (or like all of the time)? It’s finally revealed and it’s made some difference in how I view her.
The pacing was slow, but I can’t say that it’s ever boring in the life of Tamsin Wright. From skirmishes with different races of people to living with fringe religious groups, it’s like one bad thing after another comes her way. Mind you, this makes the book unnecessarily drawn out at times.
I wasn’t particularly fond of the romance, but I did like the love interest. Jago Robinson wasn’t your typical nice guy who’d never say or do anything less than polite for the “fairer sex”. He’s sarcastic, and protective of what he thinks is right no matter the consequences for him. I loved their conversations and interactions as they were at times teasing and fun with witty banter.
This book – or series, really – isn’t for everyone. Basically a fantasy version of colonial America and its early settlements, it reminds me a lot of Rae Carson’s Walk on Earth a Stranger series. Thankfully I like historical fictions so it wasn’t a complete turn off for me.
Because of the historical kind of setting, women portrayals were sometimes hard to read. Yet Tamsin’s ability to always “get things done”, no matter the complexity of her circumstances, really pushed the boundaries of what women could or should do in such a society. And for that, it was empowering to follow such a character in such a world as this.
While this is by far not one of Richelle Mead’s better works (I mean, just think of how popular the Vampire Academy series and its sequel series has been!), I enjoyed this book well enough. Clever in its execution as it seamlessly tied together some of the events we’ve seen in the other 2 books, The Emerald Sea made for a good conclusion to this trilogy. But I’m confident in saying that I’m good if I don’t visit the land of Adoria again in yet another POV any time soon.
Overall Recommendation:
The Emerald Sea covers the third protagonist from The Glittering Court, Tamsin, and the adventures she was simultaneously having during the timeline of the previous 2 books. Written in the same slowly flowing pace with a touch of the historical atmosphere, I found it slow at times but never quite boring. Filled with new insights into Tamsin’s character and her motivation behind every action, this was a rather female empowering story given the setting. Intrigue, action and heady romance, this book’s got it all, though I will warn that it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Down the Rabbit Hole 