I want to preface this review of The Court of Miracles with saying that I really enjoyed this book, I just had some issues with the way some of the things that went down and how the story was structured. I really loved the characters and the politics of everything that happened with the different factions and groups of people. I have never read The Jungle Book or Les Miserables, but I have seen the film of Les Miserables so I was a little bit aware of the different characters as and when they popped up. One thing I will say was there was a lot of jumping around and there was a lot crammed into one book especially as this is actually a series.

The number of characters in The Court of Miracles felt a little overwhelming at the beginning but that definitely calmed down and became a little more manageable as the book moved forward. I thought the main character was really well done, Nina’s development as a character was brilliantly done, I loved watching her find her place in the world and working out how everything runs. I will say it was a little unbelievable how wonderful she was at everything straight away, and the relationships she develops throughout the books were a little much. I didn’t think the problem I have with the relationships throughout this book was that some of them were really well developed and were great and others felt like an addon that hadn’t been fully thought through.

This book had so many best bits for me and I loved so many moments of it. One thing and maybe this should go in characters but the development of Ettie was so well done and watching her life in motion made me fall in love with the world so much more than anything Nina did. Also the politics that run all the way through The Court of Miracles were so well done, which is something I am always pleased for. This book is obviously based on France during the failed revolution and I was surprised by how well the real life politics translated into this book and how the politics of the Court and the different groups added more to the story, it was really well done.


The one thing I struggled with when I was reading The Court of Miracles was the fact that the Les Miserables part of this story seemed to be an afterthought and it could be a little jarring when it was thrown back in. I don’t think it was as seamless as I thought it should have been. I kinda wish that it wouldn’t have been included and the characters would have stood on their own and without the pressures to suddenly become other characters. I found myself forgetting who was who and then being whiplashed when it came clear. There was also SO much happening all the way through this book that it just felt like too much, we were constantly time travelling and jumping from spot to spot. It just made the reading experience a little odd and jarring and it was the main reason this wasn’t a 5-star read.

I definitely would recommend The Court of Miracles. I loved this book and the characters and I cannot wait to see where this series ends up going and if it carries on with the Les Miserables influence or if it will branch out on its own.

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I had super high hopes for The Court of Miracles because the pre-release hype made it sound really great. Alas, it was not for me. I didn’t realize it was a retelling of Les Mis, which I am definitely *not* a fan of. I couldn’t get on with the characters, and I found it all a bit disjointed. All in all it was a bit disappointing if I’m honest.

I'm not sure how I really expected a book pitched as combining Les Miserables and The Jungle Book to work, but incredibly -- somehow -- Kester Grant has really made it work.

The two plots and both casts of characters blend together perfectly to create a new world that is rich and vibrant. I loved the different factons of the Court and that the animal names were worked into peoples titles so smoothly. I never doubt who Nina, Ettie etc was in relation to the original books, but it never overwhelmed or distracted from this new story either.

The plot was quick and exciting, but for me the characters were the real stars.

The Court of Miracles is listed as book one of a trilogy and in all honesty, I don't really see how that's going to work. I don't think it needs it. Everything wraps up well, and I'd be happy to consider this as a (sadly uncommon) standalone heist. I didn't expect the story to work either though so I'll be happy to be corrected when the sequels come out. If you don't usually read series, don't let that put you off this one.

When I mentioned finishing this one on Twitter, I said that I really struggled with rating it due to something it did/didn't do with rep. I've tried my best to give a star rating that reflects the other aspects of the story, but I couldn't in good conscience not mention this.

It might be spoilery.

The Court of Miracles features many characters from Les Miserables, albeit some with slightly different names. All of the characters retain their original gender however, except one. Javert is now a woman. And the reason soon becomes clear: her motivation for hunting Valjean down is now also influenced by some past romantic betrayal or rejection. And I understand the motivation change! Javert's type of obsession with Valjean (like obsession in Moby Dick or The Count of Monte Christo) is common in classics but one that doesn't necessarily work for a modern reader. However... Leaving Javert as a man would have created some LGBTQ rep in two classics (Les Mis and Jungle Book) which otherwise lack it entirely. And it would be closer to the original, so you can't complain about shoe-horning in unnecessary queer characters. Since Javert is the ONLY gender change, and since The Court of Miracles has no other LGBTQ characters (from the classics or new creations) it really stood out and felt incredibly awkward, and I can see this feeling like hurtful erasure to some people in the community.

Eponine deserved better in Les Misérables, and in The Court of Miracles, she absolutely shines!

Eponine, a girl of only 9 years old loses her dear sister, Azelma when her father, Thénardier, sells her to the Guild of Flesh. Eponine, otherwise known as Nina, vows to do anything to get her sister back. Femi, the Messenger for the Court of Miracles, takes her to steal a jewel straight from the Dauphin's neck and present it to the Lord of the Guild of Thieves. Her gift accepted, she is adopted into the Guild of Thieves as the Black Cat and becomes the greatest thief the Court has ever known. Nina gains another sister, Cosette (Ettie) after years of being apart of the Court of Miracles. However, the Tiger, Lord of the Guild of Flesh, has set his sights on Ettie and Nina must do all she can to keep her promise to save her sister while not betraying the other.

To preface this, this book is claimed to be a cross between Les Misérables, Six of Crows, and The Jungle Book. Out of the three, I only know Les Misérables, and even then I only know the musical.

I likely missed a lot of references for Les Misérables because I only know the musical, so I don't know all the characters from the book, but what references I did get, I enjoyed. However, I think this book is strong enough to not stand with the support of Les Misérables. While there are events and character names that are directly taken from Les Misérables, I genuinely think I would have enjoyed this book without the references. I'll touch on that a little bit later.

Our protagonist is Nina and she's a great character to follow. She has clear goals and doesn't let anything get in the way of them, even her potential three love interests. She's headstrong and hardworking while sometimes a bit naive. Ettie, on the other hand, is completely naive. She follows Nina pretty blindly. While her character can be sweet and endearing, it can definitely get a little old, but you can see why Nina has such a soft spot for her. And Ettie does get better (at the end of the book).

Yes, Nina has not one, not two, but THREE love interests. The revolutionary St Juste, the assassin Montparnasse, and the Dauphin of France. While I'm totally rooting for Montparnasse, I honestly don't know how in the world Nina has managed to string these men along for YEARS. Nina would only have to snap her fingers and these men are ready to be at her beck and call without her even hinting that any of them are going to win her over. It's a little pathetic, I really don't know how they keep fawning over her.

Speaking of stringing these men along for years, the biggest problem I have with this book is the massive time skips. There are about 2 or 3 years in the first time skip and then another big 2 year skip with the occasional skips of weeks or months here and there. The time skips made it a little difficult to follow at times. I'd be reading along and suddenly someone mentions it's been 2 years since Nina's done something and I'm left wondering what the heck happened during those 2 years. I felt a little robbed of story and development, to be honest.

Now I'm sure you're all wondering "WHAT ABOUT VALJEAN AND JAVERT?!?" Well, hold your horses. This is probably the other thing I take the biggest issue with because I don't feel it did justice to Valjean and Javert's characters and it's big points in the column for this book not being tied to Les Misérables. Jean Valjean is still prisoner 24601. He's part of the Court of Miracles, as a member of the Guild of Letters. We find him in prison, but we don't know why. We also meet Javert who is now an overly obsessed (that hasn't changed) red-haired woman. Yes. Woman. She loathes Valjean for what? Well, he rejected her love. Yeah. I'm really bothered by this. It's not a massive part of the book, but the fact that that's how it really really bothers me.

Aside from those negative parts, I adored the world-building. I absolutely crave more of the Court and learning more about each of the Guilds apart of the Court. I'm hoping there will be more world-building in the coming books. I loved the difference between the dark and gritty world of the Wretched and the bright and glitzy world of the nobles. There was a totally different feel in each setting and is was described so well.

A Court of Miracles gets 4 stars from me. There are some flaws like the time skips and how the book really could've been something on its own, not attached to Les Misérables. But despite the flaws, this was a really enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone, even if you don't know the world of Les Misérables. I am really looking forward to the next installment!

Miracles by Kester Grant - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thanks so much to @harpercollinsuk & @netgalley for an advanced copy to review! #JoinTheCourt

Paris, but not as we know it. The first Revolution has failed, and the city is a dark and lawless place. Hidden at night, deep among the city is The Court of Miracles - the place where the cities wretched, unwanted and the criminal class gather together in builders of thieves, assassins and worse to protect themselves from those-who-walk-by-day.

Nina joins the thieves guild as a child to escape the life of prostitution her sister has been sold into by their father. Desperate to get her sister back, Nina crosses the man who is holding her, a Lord of The Miracle Court, and someone whom attacking might just start a war... I enjoyed this book immensely. The world building is vibrant and intriguing, and the characters are engaging and I hope we get to find out more of them in the sequel. However, I thought the plot was a bit wayward and muddled at times - especially in the beginning - so go into with a view you need to invest time into getting to know everyone. The plot turns out to be quite clever and if it were not for the muddled moments I’d have given this five stars, but I think it meant that some of the big reveals lost their impact somewhat.

The Court of Miracles is out now - and with a cover this beautiful, this is one I wish I had as a hardcover (@illumicrate are doing a special edition for their next ‘In The Shadows’ box) rather than a Kindle edition!

At first I was a little confused - why was a book that was so clearly taking inspiration from Les Miserables using a song from The Hunchback of Notre Dame as the title. But, like a dutiful bookish person I looked it up and apparently Cour des miracles was the term used to refer to the slum districts of Paris - because it was put about that so many of the people begging for alms would be pretending to have more ailments than they actually had that there were miracles of the lame walking and the blind being able to see every day. Grant takes this idea of the part of the city where the poor live, but turns it into a set of guilds, running the darker underside of the city.

That aspect of the worldbuilding was probably my favourite part of this book. I love any fantasy book that explores gangs and loyalty and criminal families and so on. I thought that Grant managed to capture that in an interesting way, and the way that Nina not only had to fight the laws of the land but also the laws of the gangs was a great way to keep things fresh and to create conflict within the story.

I also really enjoyed Nina as a character, I liked that, while she did have a clear motivation, it wasn't single-minded - she watches over her sister but she doesn't try to keep her completely naive of the world they live in. She expects things from other people but she trusts herself overall. I thought Nina was a great YA criminal heroine who uses her strengths - both intellectual and physical - to her own advantage.

I should have utterly adored this book. So why did it only get three stars?

BECAUSE WHY WERE THE CHARACTERS NAMED AFTER CHARACTERS FROM LES MIS?

I have pondered this for days. I have thought long and hard as to what that added to the story? What did it bring to a narrative that was otherwise very different from Les Mis - I mean yes the events of Les Mis happen to a certain extent - but for the most part it's drastically different. I should say, I have yet to read the original novel, so perhaps more things were similar than I think they were. But at one point one of the characters actually says a line from one of the songs in the musical and I have yet to find that it was also a quote from the book? I think this book would have been exactly the same had you renamed some of the characters and maybe not had the weird Enjolras love interest (especially since I firmly believe Enjolras was gay so that's even weirder?).

The parts of this book that are completely different from Les Mis - the gang hideouts and the prison break to name a couple - are by far the best parts of the book and they're dampened by this weird...alternate universe Les Mis is happening subplot. I think I would have minded much less if Nina wasn't Eponine and Ettie wasn't Cosette and you just had Les Mis happening in the background of things - that might have been an interesting angle, but you can't have half original story and half retelling without me getting very confused and frustrated.

The more I think about it the more annoyed I get - and I genuinely don't know if it would be different if you'd never encountered anything about Les Mis ever...but even then there were weird things - can it be a historical fantasy account of the revolution if you also have women police inspectors (gender flipping Jarvert only to make her be broken hearted over her ex Jean Valjean is another strike against this book)?

I am wholeheartedly confused. Because some of this book is great. And some of this book is weird Les Mis AU and I want to recommend it to people for the parts that are great but how do I explain the weirdness?

I think you'll have to all read it and we can come to a consensus together.

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley - all opinions are my own.

The Court of Miracles is out June 4th (at the time of writing)

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The best way to review this book is to talk about AU (alternate universe) fanfiction. The best AUs always add something to the original story that wasn't there before- a new way of exploring the characters, a different perspective that adds marginalised viewpoints the original story missed, or a plot driven by the conventions and aesthetics of a different genre. It didn't take long into Court of Miracles for me to recognise it as this kind of book- an essentially 'what if Eponine was the main character and Thieves' Guilds were a thing' Les Miserables AU- and in some ways it succeeded in the main objectives of an AU. It's fun to follow Nina through this alternate Paris and the descriptions of the different Guilds and how the operate are vivid and engaging. I wanted to know more about these different societies and their workings, the members, the leaders, their hideouts and their politics.

However, where the book falls down is that it doesn't blend the two stories successfully. The parts that I enjoyed had nothing to do with Les Miserables, and most of the time it was easy to read the book and think of Nina as a totally original character. The reminders that this was an alternate take on Victor Hugo's story became more jarring the longer the book went on- I didn't want to get involved in the Revolution! I wanted more on the Ghosts and the Assassins!

In some ways you could see this as a success- Grant has created an interesting and exciting universe and I want to know more about it. However, the basis for that universe, the framework of Les Mis, just doesn't hold it up any more. It's too big a beast.

A painful fanfiction reimagining of Les Mis.

I wasn't aware this book was related to Les Mis until I was a few chapters in. My first impression was of how poor the writing was, particularly at the beginning of the book - the descriptions overdone without any flow and the first person perspective of a young old girl felt way off the mark. It revolves around Eponine who is 9 at the beginning of the book, then time skips - I think she is 12 throughout the majority of the book, towards the end she is 14-15ish following another time lapse. The time lapses make it a disjointed read, particularly at the beginning.

Throughout the book Eponine's character lacked any depth and was wholly unconvincing.
She initially plans to rescue her older sister from Tiger but fails. So with a new plan to save one sister (who has been an opium hooked prostitute/slave for a few years by this point), she decides to set up her younger adopted sister (who we didn't know existed as she has appeared post time lapse). Then as soon as the plan is in motion she changes her mind and the rest of the book is about keeping the younger sister safe (and casually forgetting her older sister). This just doesn't make sense to me.

The plotting is just plain bad - Eponine is apparently an amazing thief, but there is nothing to show how or why she became so good (maybe it happens in the time lapse?!). We don't see the preparation or set up for any of her multiple later thefts/ escapes etc, but everyone she approaches for help is easily convinced and everything she does work out perfectly all the time (except the very first plan to save her sister when she is 9). In the underworld of thieves, spies, assassins, etc, she is the only one who manages to save X or steal Y. Not only is she an amazing thief, she also has 3(!) romantic interests based on limited interactions and all risk themselves to help her.

Continuing the terrible romance theme, Javert has been written as a woman with hints of a romantic past with Valjean, so the complex relationship explored in Les Mis is replaced with common trope.

I am grateful to the ARC from Netgalley and the publisher, however I would not recommend.

The Court of Miracles was a brilliant concept for a book which was executed in a way that didn't work for me.
I read the first 25% of this book and, while there are some positives, I decided at that point this was no longer for me.

I love the way Grant adapted the Jungle Book's characters and hierarchy to work in the context of 19th Century Paris and the relationships between groups would have been interesting to explore. However, I found the plot flat and the characters themselves underdeveloped. The stakes of the first few chapters were high but little to no introduction to the main characters meant I wasn't invested in what was happening. This continued through the poorly documented time-change and until I finally set it down.

I might one day come back to The Court of Miracles and give it another chance, but right now it just wasn't what I hoped for.

I enjoyed this a lot. Great plot, fantasy elements and characters. Loved it! I'd read from the author again.

As a huge fan of Les Mis, I was not disappointed with this book! The pacing was good throughout, and you really got a sense of Nina and her world. I loved the subtle nudges towards the original story (or musical) but there was enough originality there to make it so much more than just a simple 're-telling'.

The prose managed to capture the grimness of the underbelly of Paris, while also presenting (in a strange way) the beauty in the anarchy of the slums. I enjoyed travelling around Paris with Nina as there are many/enough gestures to big landmarks to help you with your bearings.

Overall, this book is readable and enjoyable. I was told it's like The Jungle Book meets Six of Crows. The book comparison that kept coming to mind, however, was Nevernight - although The Court of Miracles isn't strictly about assassins, it has the same sort of darkness and gravitas as Nevernight.

This book absolutely gripped me in its story and characters. The detail put into the building up of Nina's world is incredible and learning about each guild was as interesting as the plot itself. I really can't wait for the rest of this trilogy, I'm certain it'll be bestselling.

The Court of Miracles is being sold as a Les Misérables meets Six of Crows book, and as someone who has read neither… I really didn’t know what to expect. But it told me it’s a fantasy set in Paris after the French Revolution and there’s going to be a criminal underbelly masquerading as a well set out “court”. This honestly just made me think of the Pirate court from the Pirates of the Caribbean, and honestly I was living for it.

Our main character Nina has been trained from a young age to be a thief by her father, who is a master in the Thieves Guild. But when her father sells her sister to the Tiger, the Lord of the Guild of Flesh – our little Black Cat pulls out all her claws. What I loved most about Nina is that despite her being hell bent on revenge and getting her sister back, she learns early on that she should not put others at risk for her own benefit. This is the opposite to her father Thenardier’s dealings, and so she learns to be a better person.

Nina is the Black Cat and some of the best scenes were watching her steal into places. Whether its the Dauphin of France’s bed chambers to steal a jewel (and a kiss), or a Prison to steal a prisoner, Nina is always thinking of ways to get the job done. Despite this, Nina does have flaws, and she makes mistakes. There’s times in the book where her plans go awry, but she still stays confident.

The Thieves Guild itself is somewhere that I would love to explore just a little bit more. The place is filled with gold and jewels stolen by the members, and it contains multiple types of thieves. I loved the introduction to the Thieves Guild as it also acts as an introduction to the Court of Miracles as a whole. Nina’s refusal to call anyone but the Lord of the Thieves Guild her father, and the city of Paris her mother was a great addition to show how important this society is.

Despite also joining the Court of Miracles, Ettie is an absolute sweetheart. She has a heart of gold and can be extremely naive, but she would do anything for Nina. They’re sisters by choice and not by blood, but watching their relationship mature throughout the book was so well written. Ettie starts off by being completely dependent, but soon learns how to survive on the rough streets of Paris.

The Tiger is our main antagonist, and is mainly just a very scary man. There’s a backstory of him being abandoned by the Court, which encouraged him to return and take over the Flesh Guild – and I think this really helped us to understand why he refuses to play by the Courts laws. He wants what he wants, and if he doesn’t get it he will lash out. In the end, I loved the dynamic between The Tiger and Nina as he starts to see her as an adversary and not just a child.

The Court of Miracles is made up of multiple guilds which contain different types of criminals. Despite being criminals and often morally corrupt, everyone under the Court is a family and there’s no judgement due to race or religion in this family. I loved that Grant ensured her cast was diverse and it pointed out issues of class throughout Paris.

The world building around Paris and the guilds really helps to build up this story of the Court of Miracles. I enjoyed the snippets of information that is told to you at the beginning, and that comes back up later. The Dead Lord likes to tell stories, and at times you really do think you’ve fallen into one of them.

Whilst Nina and Ettie are the two main characters, others appear to help them out in their schemes, including an Assassin, a Rebel and a Prince. Montparnasse, St. Juste and The Dauphin of France all see something in Nina that they like. I enjoyed the relationship she had with each of them altered throughout the book, without turning anything into a love triangle.

The pacing is slow at the very start and the middle, but picks up in between and at the end as Nina concocts a plan. The time jumps help to move the story forward at a faster pace, whilst still letting us see the main factors that help both girls grow into what they need to be.

In the end, I loved The Court of Miracles. I’ve read very little books that include this criminal underbelly aspect (the last book I can think of is Into the Crooked Place) and I think I should pick up more like it. I’m excited for the sequel and third book in the series.

Positives of The Court of Miracles
World building
Character Development
Negatives of The Court of Miracles
Slow pace

Confession: I haven't read Les Miserables (Court of Miracles is a re-imagining of this classic). Does this matter? I don't think so, although purists may disagree.

I ADORED this book. It swept me up into 19th century Paris and kept me fully immersed until I stumbled out, dazed, a while later. Grant vividly creates the sights, smells and sounds of this period and it provides the perfect backdrop for a truly compelling adventure with a wonderful array of larger-than-life characters and a tenacious, brave and enchanting heroine. Mesmerising and unforgettable....I want to read it again, already!

I initially wasn't attracted to this book because I HATE retellings. If I never read another take on Cinderella again I'll be happy. However, I didn't actually realise this was a retelling until after I'd requested it, and I hadn't read a Les Mis retelling before so thought I'd go ahead anyway. And my conclusion is.. this doesn't need to be a retelling!

This book is good on its own. I get why Les Mis has been used because it means you already understand the relationships of the students and between Valjean and Javert, (i'll come back to that later) so there's no need for explanation. However, the time jump from Nina being young to older is incredibly disconcerting. I actually thought it was a jump back to the past and that Azelma was speaking temporarily. I think a nice 'x years later' would have been useful - sometimes you do have to make yourself clear. I also think that if you haven't read/seen Les Mis, a lot of this won't make logical sense to you. There are too many people in this story, and I was only able to keep up because I know Les Mis quite well.

Saying that, this book is good. The underlying story and the setting and the mechanics of the city are really well thought out. I do have to say that making Javert a woman and insinuating that her whole life is dedicated to hurting a man who dumped her feels slightly insulting. I wish there was a more complicated reason for her hunting him down. Maybe this will be revealed in book 2, however at the moment it's being portrayed like that.

I wish this book hadn't been a retelling, and was just a great story on it's own. It definitely has the right elements to be.

The Court of Miracles has been floating around on social media for a while now. There is some real hype building up around this book. After being approved by NetGalley to read and review a copy (I couldn't believe my luck!), I can now see why there is so much excitement around this book!

What I liked…

Nina is an interesting character and was developed really well throughout the book. I enjoyed that Kester Grant showed us her as a young, naive girl who steadily becomes a fierce and brutal young woman! I was really able to connect and feel something towards her. It almost felt that I was on this journey with her and watching her grow up. I was rooting for her the entire time.

Kester Grant provides us with a fantastic cast of characters. They really added to the story and made it an enjoyable read. One of which was Ettie, who was a wonderful and delightful character. Nina adopts her as her "younger sister" and you can feel this relationship in their interactions. It felt so real and it warmed my heart. Like Nina, I wanted to protect and shield Ettie from all the badass in the world.

The romance theme was next to nil - which was so REFRESHING. Sometimes I just wanna read a book with none of that yucky stuff. Don't get me wrong, I do love it. But taking this element out allowed us to really focus on what was happening in the story. To me, this was way more important.

The world-building was spot on for me. I wasn't overwhelmed with so many different facts and descriptions, as this can really put me off a book. We are told that we are in Paris, just after the 'failed' French Revolution; I was able to get a general understanding of what this fictional Paris was like.



What I didn't like…

There were perhaps too many different 'Courts' for my liking. At times it left me so confused as I didn't know which person was from what court. It sometimes hurt my head trying to work it out!

I wanted more of St Juste and Grantaire! This duo was so funny together and made me smile. They were another two interesting characters that I was secretly wishing for more of! Though there was a tad more of one towards the end of the book, I am being greedy and wanted more throughout!

It felt as if there were too many different characters. At times this made it confusing and took me away from the other characters. I am hoping in the next book we get to know these particular characters a bit more in-depth.

I absolutely adore The Court of Miracles! It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and was such a wonderfully written story. I can't wait for the next book in the series! I give this a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Thank you so much to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was one of my most anticipated releases of the year so I was super excited to get my hands on an advanced copy. It’s been billed as a retelling of Les Misérables and The Jungle Book meets Six of Crows, which are certainly very attention-grabbing comparisons. This is a dark reimagining of 1800s France and that darkness and grittiness comes through really well. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t as good as I’d been hoping. I enjoyed reading it. I was engaged and absorbed throughout thanks to the great writing, but I didn’t connect with it.

This book didn’t meet my expectations for a retelling. In some ways the Jungle Book retelling element works better than the Les Mis element does. The villain of the book is known as the Tiger and (thanks to the actions of our protagonist) is after Ettie, which seems to be representing the tiger from The Jungle Book, Shere Khan, being after Mowgli. It includes most of the characters from Les Misérables and there is the element of the revolution and the barricades, but it doesn’t retell the book in any meaningful way. To be honest, I felt that this book might actually have been stronger if it had not been written as a retelling of Les Misérables. It just didn’t really feel like a retelling. For many of the characters, there’s too much reliance on readers’ knowledge of the original characters, rather than doing something different with them or developing them as individuals separate from the original work.

The book is set into separate sections with some quite big time jumps in between that make for a disjointed reading experience. The one that caused the most problems for me comes early on in the book. We rejoin Nina about to enact her plan to get her older sister, Azelma, back from the Tiger, but at the cost of her younger adoptive sister Ettie. After setting this in motion, Nina very quickly changes her mind and ends up needing to protect Ettie (who she put in danger in the first place) and then the rest of the book revolves around keeping Ettie safe from the Tiger. But we don’t know anything about Ettie or her relationship with Nina due to the time jump, so this shift comes a bit out of the blue. We don’t have any understanding of their relationship or why Nina would move heaven and earth to protect a character we only just met.

At the start, Nina is driven by her goal of helping Azelma. But then when her goal shifts to protecting Ettie it’s like she’s completely forgotten about setting Azelma free. Because of the time skip, this sudden shift in the protagonist’s goal is jarring. We’ve only just met Ettie and there isn’t anything at first to show that Nina cares about Ettie as a sister. Their relationship develops well and I enjoyed seeing the two characters interact later on. But at first, there’s nothing to show why Nina would suddenly change her mind and give up on her plan to save Azelma and instead focus on protecting Ettie, a character we know nothing about and don’t yet care for. One moment, Nina is willing to sacrifice Ettie to save Azelma, which she has been carefully planning, and the moment she puts that plan in motion she makes this sudden u-turn.

What stopped me from connecting to this book was the characters. I liked Nina as a protagonist but she doesn’t experience much growth. Also, she’s amazing at thieving and breaking into places, but she feels a bit like a Mary Sue. At the beginning of the book she breaks into the palace and steals a necklace from round the neck of the Dauphine under the instructions of another character. But the details of how she manages to achieve this astonishing feat are pretty light.

I only got a vague impression of most of the characters and felt very distant from them. I didn’t feel I got to know any of them. The best way I can think to describe it is that we get the sketch of the characters, without them having been coloured in. Montparnasse is a shadowy figure, which makes sense since he’s an assassin, but we know no more about him at the end of the book than at the beginning even though he’s a really key character. The same goes with St Juste. He’s a passionate revolutionary but that’s all we know about him. So all of the characters felt very one-dimensional.

I also have to mention the fact that Nina has three potential love interests, which is just too many, especially since we hardly get to know them. The romance element is very much a minor part of this book, but there are three characters clearly alluded to as love interests. We hardly see Nina interact with them or get to know them, so there weren’t really any connections between these potential couples.

The Tiger, however, was a well written character. He’s a powerful figure in the Court of Miracles and the other Guild Lords are afraid of him. He also has a back story that shows why and how he’s become the ‘villain’ of the story.

It’s possible that this book is just trying to do too many things at once, with elements from both Les Les Misérables and The Jungle Book in there plus the world of the Court of Miracles which I would have loved to have seen more of. If the author had more room to develop all of these elements the novel would have been stronger. A lot is crammed in, meaning things are skimmed over in a way that makes it hard to connect with the story. There are strong stakes and motivations for the protagonist, but the characters and their relationships aren’t explored enough to make me care about their story.

The writing is very absorbing. It has lovely flow and there are some great descriptions. I read this book really quickly and I think that’s because the writing is just so enjoyable to read. But as much as I wanted to love this book, I just didn’t connect with it because I felt too distant from the characters. I won’t be continuing this series, but I loved Kester Grant’s writing style, so I’ll definitely consider picking up other books of hers in the future.

This was such a long review but I had a lot of feelings about this book! I’m sure many people will absolutely love this book. Perhaps it just wasn’t for me.

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. This book truly sunk its claws into me and i could not stop thinking about it. It is so readable that I very much could have read it in one sitting.

Court of Miracles is a retelling of Les Miserables, set in an alternate history where the French Revolution failed. The main character of our book is Nina, Eponine, a well regarded thief in the thief in the theives guild. The Court itself is made up of all the main players you would expect in a seedy underworld, an assassins guild, master of poisons, a guild who run the paris brothels, the theives and so on.

Eponine is determined to save her sister Ettie, Cosette, from their father Thenadier who is scheming to sell Ettie to the master of the flesh guild because of her beauty. In order to protect Ettie, Nina finds herself having to break into the palace, come face to face with the Dauphin, break into the bastille and do the bidding of every guild in the court.

The characters from Les Mis are revealed slowly, so it builds and you realise that this person is a reference. Many of the characters are different from their counterparts if you are familiar with the book, film or stage show, so far as they can be removed from them and thought of seperately. There are lots of hidden references for fans of Les Mis throughout the book though so don't worry.

The book has been compared to Six of Crows, which I can understand, it is very much a heist book, but for me it felt like The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon, and particually The Mime Order. The machinations of the court are just as important as what is going on with Nina. They are pervasive and effect everything that Nina does. You cant second guess them!

My only point of contention with the book is kind of the key premise. It is set in an alternate history where the French Revolution fails. That's fine, but adding the characters from Les Miserable to this makes it a little problematic. The revolution depicted in Les Miserable was not "The French Revolution" but a much smaller student revolution which did fail. It was quite small and insignificant and arguably would have been completely lost to history had Victor Hugo not been sitting across the street writing his novel. So in some respects, using these characters gives them more siginifance than they need. In fact, it almost doesn't need the addition of these characters and perhaps would have been just as good using original characters.

Still an incredibly fun read and I cannot wait for book 2!

From GoodReads;
Really wanted to love this. Found a bit of a mixed bag.
Alternate history of Paris focussing on the criminal underworld - sounds great.
Really interesting range of characters but didn't really feel I got to know them well.
Bit confusing and lumpy with all the fast forwards in time.
Devoured parts and laboured with others.
Will I read the next - very probably.

It's getting really boring seeing, "great book meets other great book" as a selling point for a novel because inevitably it sets the book you're currently trying to read on the path to a poor comparison. The Court of Miracles, when pitted against Six of Crows and Les Miserables, didn't stand a chance; I think at one point The Jungle Book had even been thrown into the mix. And that pretty much sadly sums up how I felt about this book - it was confused about where it was going and it didn't match up to the titles it promised to compare to.

It is 1828 amidst the failed French Revolution and the city is in mourning - a really interesting alternative to the original Les Miserables. Guilds of assassins, thieves and the wretched gather in the quiet, dark corners of the city to form The Court of Miracles. A young girl, Eponine ("Nina"), barters within the Guild, and outside of it, to rescue her sister who her father shamelessly sold to a corrupt man named the Tiger to work as a slave. However as Nina becomes a highly coveted thief within her rescue mission she realises that in order to rescue her sister she must give the Tiger something he would want more - her other sister Cosette.

I really struggled with this concept. No matter how good the plot could have been, the logic in selling out one sister to buy back another is just nonsense to me. Nina does realise this for herself after a short while, but it was just confusing and made the first half of the novel really quite redundant. The Court of Miracles is actually quite difficult to read because of the confusing approach. It is incredible choppy, jumping between events without smooth transitions, and the characters all seem to blend into one. I think this might be because the author has based the characters, very loosely (which is good), on known characters from Les Miserables. Whilst this shouldn't detract from their development, it felt as though those characters were presumed to be known to us as readers instead of being developed as new concepts themselves, so the finer details about these characters felt lacking; I just couldn't connect to any of them.

The writing is quite pretty, and the descriptions are really beautiful but I found myself constantly disengaging from the story and ultimately became bored. I think this novel needed a little bit more time to be the dark and complex tale it ought to have been.

ARC provided from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.