Publication date: October 25th
2016Publisher: Random House
Length: 384 pages
Thanks to Netgalley and Random
House for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Aprilynne Pike
comes a truly original new novel—Breaking
Bad meets Marie Antoinette
in a near-future world where the residents of Versailles live like it's the
eighteenth century and an almost-queen turns to drug dealing to save her own
life.
Outside the palace of Versailles, it's modern day. Inside, the people dress, eat, and act like it's the eighteenth century—with the added bonus of technology to make court life lavish, privileged, and frivolous. The palace has every indulgence, but for one pretty young thing, it's about to become a very beautiful prison.
When Danica witnesses an act of murder by the young king, her mother makes a cruel power play… blackmailing the king into making Dani his queen. When she turns eighteen, Dani will marry the most ruthless and dangerous man of the court. She has six months to escape her terrifying destiny. Six months to raise enough money to disappear into the real world beyond the palace gates.
Her ticket out? Glitter. A drug so powerful that a tiny pinch mixed into a pot of rouge or lip gloss can make the wearer hopelessly addicted. Addicted to a drug Dani can sell for more money than she ever dreamed.
But in Versailles, secrets are impossible to keep. And the most dangerous secret—falling for a drug dealer outside the palace walls—is one risk she has to take.
Outside the palace of Versailles, it's modern day. Inside, the people dress, eat, and act like it's the eighteenth century—with the added bonus of technology to make court life lavish, privileged, and frivolous. The palace has every indulgence, but for one pretty young thing, it's about to become a very beautiful prison.
When Danica witnesses an act of murder by the young king, her mother makes a cruel power play… blackmailing the king into making Dani his queen. When she turns eighteen, Dani will marry the most ruthless and dangerous man of the court. She has six months to escape her terrifying destiny. Six months to raise enough money to disappear into the real world beyond the palace gates.
Her ticket out? Glitter. A drug so powerful that a tiny pinch mixed into a pot of rouge or lip gloss can make the wearer hopelessly addicted. Addicted to a drug Dani can sell for more money than she ever dreamed.
But in Versailles, secrets are impossible to keep. And the most dangerous secret—falling for a drug dealer outside the palace walls—is one risk she has to take.
One day I
will probably learn to not get too excited about a book based on its cover and
blurb – but today is not that day! Case in point, ‘Glitter’, that lured me with
in with that gorgeous cover and intriguing blurb and then promptly smushed all
of my hopes and dreams with its lacklustre plot and unlikeable heroine.
The premise
was fascinating – slightly ahead of our own time, a corporation have taken up
residence in the Palace of Versailles, dressing and living as though they were
there in the Sun King’s time. Something that I can easily see happening in real
life. All of the beautiful dresses and courtly manners and lifestyle of such a
sumptuous time period, combined with mod cons and electronics (tastefully)
interwoven? Yes please, sign me up now. Unfortunately that’s about where the
excitement for this novel ends, as any hopes that it gave me were swiftly dashed
upon the introduction of our ridiculously unlikeable heroine and her scheming
plot to sell drugs to everyone around her without their knowledge. She barely
has any qualms about doing it, and seems content to throw literally everyone she knows under the bus for her own personal gain.
If she had
some moral dilemma that was halfway convincing I’d be more on board. If I
really felt any sense of threat then maybe I’d be more on board. But as it was
I was thoroughly unconvinced and just ended up disliking Danica intensely.
Throw in a poorly constructed plot, a romance that made me want to throw things
for the inconsistency, and a *gasp* plot twist at the end, and I ended up
feeling thoroughly disgruntled when I finished this one.
I’m all for plot twists, but they have to still move the story forward and feel
like they’re a suitable payoff for the rest of the story. Unfortunately this
one just made me feel like I’d wasted my time reading the rest of this book.
Despite all
of this it was surprisingly addictive (pun intended) and I found myself wanting
to get back to Danica’s world, to see what (idiocies) she’d get herself into
next, and to escape into this odd hybrid mix of historical and futuristic.
I can’t say I recommend it exactly, because it definitely didn’t offer me enough good things to warrant that, but it was interesting and has piqued my interest enough that (possibly despite myself) I will be keeping an eye out for a sequel next year.
I can’t say I recommend it exactly, because it definitely didn’t offer me enough good things to warrant that, but it was interesting and has piqued my interest enough that (possibly despite myself) I will be keeping an eye out for a sequel next year.
