The Emerald Sea by Richelle Mead

SYNOPSIS

Tamsin Wright is unstoppable. She must become the Glittering Court's diamond: the girl with the highest test scores, the most glamorous wardrobe, and the greatest opportunities to match with an elite suitor in the New World. Training alongside other girls in the Glittering Court, Tamsin immerses herself completely in lessons about etiquette, history, and music--everything a high-society wife would need to know. Once she's married, she'll be able to afford a better life for her family, so the sacrifice is worth it if she can be the best.

When her friendship with Mira and Adelaide, her roommates at the Glittering Court, threatens her status as the top-ranked prospect, she does the only thing she knows will keep her on track: she cuts them out of her life. But when her voyage across the sea goes off course, Tamsin must use her unrelenting grit and determination to survive the harsh winter far north of her intended destination in hopes of making it back to the Glittering Court in time to secure a proposal--and a comfortable future for her family.

Experiencing new cultures and beliefs for the first time, Tamsin realizes that her careful studies haven't prepared her for everything, and with new alliances formed with roguish tradesman Jago Robinson and good-natured minister Gideon Stewart, Tamsin's heart begins to be pulled in different directions. But she can't let her brewing attraction get in the way of her ultimate goal: protecting the secret she holds closest to her heart, the one that would unravel everything she's worked for if it's uncovered.

Synopsis from Amazon

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​PERSONAL REVIEW

In the finale to The Glittering Court series, we are FINALLY given Tamsin’s story. Since starting the series, I’ve been the most curious about Tamsin, her secrets, and how her story would play out...and I’m really happy that she got such a great ending!

Tamsin is the Epitome of a Strong Protagonist
In every book of this series, Richelle Mead gives us strong female characters who save themselves (and often their romantic counterparts) and ultimately take charge of their own future. This is amplified in the case of Tamsin, who not only save herself but also the other Glittering Court girls on her ship and literally prevents a war between different clans. She uses her intelligence, charm, and determination to get out of numerous deadly situations, all while finding love in an unlikely place. Since we first met her in The Glittering Court, I’ve been wanting to learn more about Tamsin. Her abrasive nature in the first book quickly gave way to the protective and brilliant woman we learn that she is. I’m so happy that her story lived up to my hopes for her.

Brilliant Storytelling
I’ve mentioned this previously, but it bears repeating that I love the way Mead has chosen to tell this story. Instead of jumping between POVs and storylines in a single book, she delves deeper into each character by starting every book at the same point and having us following a specific girl instead. First Adelaide, then Mira, and now Tamsin; in every book, we are covering the same amount of time but from dramatically different perspectives. I thought it was such a unique way to tell this story and I loved getting to see how each of them sees each other. With each book we learn move about this new world and Mead is able to paint a rich picture of the country, the many different people who live there, and the women themselves.

A Little Too Much Time in Constancy
If I had one complaint is that I felt like Tamsin spent a little too much of the book in Constancy. While it was definitely an interesting (and intense) place, I wish we had the chance to see more of Tamsin and Jago with the Icori — I thought they were incredibly interesting! I do understand that part of having her there so long was to build up her relationships with both Jago and Gideon, but I felt like both of those were pretty solid early on and that we were simply trapped at Constancy with her. There were other moments that I would have loved to learn more about that seemed a bit more rushed because we had spent such a huge chunk of the novel in Constancy. Regardless, I still thought it was a great novel!

Mead gave us a lot of clues about Tamsin’s life leading up to us actually learning about her, and I love that she kept giving us new twists along the way. Tamsin had always seemed the most interesting of the three girls (although I really do love them all), and I’m so happy that the wait was justified. Her story was a great way to end the series (although I wouldn’t mind if Mead came out with some novellas about what happens after the books end).

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FINAL RATING: 4.5/5