Review to come! 
 Update 5/20/16: 
 This is such a difficult review to write because I wanted to like this book so much. After reading Soundless, I had high hopes for this novel. Even more, this is a difficult book to rate because the first part of this book was actually quite enjoyable. And if the book would have ended maybe around the 220-250 page mark, I think I would have rated this book much higher. But the problem is that this book is 416 pages long, and after those 220-250 pages, this book becomes extremely boring and lackluster. I felt that the book did a complete 180, and had no clue what happened. It was because of this that I had to give this book 3 stars instead of 4. Please don't get me wrong...this was a good book (bordering on great) for those first 200 pages. I was swept away in Richelle Mead's world of glittering jewels, pretty dresses, and forbidden romance. But afterward, everything fell extremely flat. 
 For the first part of this book, I loved Adelaide's character. She was amusing and sassy. Plus, because of the situation she put herself in, well let's just say it makes for some rather comical situations. She quickly falls for someone she shouldn't, Cedric Thorn, and this is ultimately where my first problem began. I never bought their romance. Towards the end, I guess I saw it more, but honestly there wasn't much even then. Their attraction grows at a normal pace (which major props for no insta-love), but I just never actually felt their attraction towards each other. There was no chemistry like I have felt with the previous characters Richelle Mead has created. Ultimately, they were extraordinarily forgettable. There is a bit of excitement with Cedric's "secret," but even this was so tame I could barely call it a twist or juicy. 
 The other problem I had was how monotonous the story became. There was very little action and no surprises. I knew exactly what would happen, and even when something shocking came along, I knew that there was really nothing to worry about. Additionally, I do believe this was marketed as fantasy, which to me...it's not. This is more historical fiction/dystopian. There is no magic or supernatural elements. This was an expectation on my part, and I thought this might have been the mysterious "secret" Cedric held. I geared myself up for this shocking revelation when things would finally get interesting, and then was let down. 
 While I have never read The Jewel or The Selection, I feel like fans of those books would probably be fans of this story. As I said, this wasn't a terrible book by any means, but it let me down in more ways than one. If this book would have been much shorter, I would have loved it. But alas, that didn't happen, and because of that I can't say that I would really recommend reading it unless you're in the mood for a mix of Elizabethan/Frontier era romance. 
 Happy reading :)