Mixed feelings about this one, I did enjoy it but I just didn't love it as much as I thought I was going to. Will I read the next though ... absolutely !!!

I sadly didn't think too much of this one, it was something that I'd been hoping a bit more from. I think initially I'd gone in with high expectations and they just didn't reach it.

I really enjoyed the setting and there was a sense of the true grit, but I think my issue was the flow of the book, timings just seemed way way off and therefore it kind of threw me off.

While I'm giving this 1 star here. I do feel that if I had the audiobook I may have had less issues.
The writing just wasn't working for me. I felt like I was being forced to read.
Another issue I had was I kept finding myself zoning out which in turn made me lost and confused what was going on in the story.

Thank you so much for my eARC of this book! I so wanted to love this but it didn’t engage me as I wanted. The characters were great but there was a depth lacking somewhere. I didn’t feel the need to pick it up so it was a DNF

I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to the fantasy and mythology genre, but, I am widening my perspectives and so dar loving it. The author has done this brilliantly. The story is beautifully written, the characters come alive on the page, the settings pop and all characters have a believable voice. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Rating based off the synopsis. Sadly did not appear on my dashboard after getting an email approving me once it came out which may be a fault on NetGalley’s end. Shame it’s now been archived! Sounds like a good book and one I hope to read in the future.

Not so much a retelling of Les Mis as heavily inspired, The Court of Miracles was a really engaging read with beautiful world building. Nina is great as a protagonist but that means that all other characters felt sort of side-lined which, whilst not a massive problem, felt like a bit of a missed opportunity.

got approved by netgalley a year after i requested, and the book was already out... still, it was an enjoyable read.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be. I loved the alternative Parisian setting and the reminders of Les Miserables. I could not put this book down and finished it in less than a day.

I'm so excited to see where the story goes and I'm so pleased I've pre-ordered the second book in the series.

This book was very lush and descriptive in the writing, there were so many things squeezed into each page which I thoroughly enjoyed. Will definitely be reading more of Kester Grant's novels. The characters were extremely well developed. The setting was perfect.

Omg......... this book was amazing I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed I was hooked from the very first page. I found it full of twists and turns threw out and it kept me on the edge of my seat all the way threw  I would defiantly recommend this book if you like a good book to keep you reading threw the night hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found myself completely submersed in it. I would highly recommend.

I requested this so long ago that i got a physical copy that i eneded up DNFing it. It just wasn't a book for me.

I had been anticipating this book for so long the wait was agonising unfortunately this definitely didn’t live up to the hype and I’m really sad that I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would, it feels like this story changed so much from announcement to publication

Set in 1828 Paris, years after the failed revolution (where the French Royals didn’t loose their heads) and the city is divided between the royal courts and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as The Court of Miracles.

Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented burglar and one of the youngest members of the Thieves Guild. Her life is mostly midnight robberies, avoiding her father’s fists and protecting her naive adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie).

But when Ettie catches the eye of the Tiger (the lord of the guild of flesh) Nina will go to any lengths to protect her. From the dark and criminal underbelly of the city to the glittering splendour of Louis XVII’s court, Nina’s vow will force her to make a terrible choice, protect Ettie and start a brutal war between guilds or loose her sister forever.

This Les Misérables meets Six of Crows Historical YA is an absolutely breathtaking and adventure filled tale of love, redemption, justice and corruption that I honestly couldn’t get enough of.

I found the writing incredibly fast paced and didn’t even realise how quickly I’d gotten through the book until it was almost over, I loved the setting and seeing an alternate version of events (what would’ve happened had the French Revolution failed).

The Les Misérables elements are very easy to spot especially through many of the character’s (Eponine, Cosette, Jean Valjean,Javert, Gavroche & Enjolras etc.) But, I’d say it’s more loosely based rather than a straight up retelling which, when coupled with the Kaz Brekker-level plotting and heart stoppingly suspenseful heist scenes, creates a wholely unique and original take on Victor Hugo’s classic.

Grant’s attention to detail was amazing and I loved all the little references sprinkled throughout (which were fun to find and really added to my enjoyment) without ruining the narratives’ pace or plot.

It is a revisionist view of historical events, so there are a lot of differences to the real revolution (which makes sense as, in this world the revolution of 1789 wasn’t successful) and if artistic licence/changes to historical events irk you in fiction, it might be best to sit this one out—though personally I loved the tweaks, it was harder for me to guess what happened next.

I also really loved our protagonist, Nina who’s courageously fierce (I’m literally obsessed with her sassy attitude and light fingered ways) and her protectiveness of her sisters was utterly endearing. Her character progression from naïve child to expert thief with questionable morals was handled exceptionally well. Her adherence to The Miracle Court’s own strict codes of conduct (which are flouted without consequences by those more powerful) also added to the complexity of her already divided emotions.

I also loved that she has not one but three love interests! Her chemistry and interactions with all three were really well written—so well in fact that I couldn’t decide which I liked more.

Overall, this was an absolutely stunning book and I thoroughly recommend fans of historical fantasy, Les Mis or Leigh Bardugo should definitely check this out.

Also, thanks to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the e-arc.

If this had been longer, more detailed, and less focused on Nina, I would have really enjoyed it. There is a lot to love about it but the ridiculousness of the god-like worship of Nina just sours the whole thing. She doesn't really grow or develop - she starts amazing and is amazing to everyone she meets throughout. And she meets a lot of people.

Loved, loved, loved this book.

If you are a fan of Les Mis and Six of Crows, you'll love it. too.

I gave this book a quick try, and ultimately decided to DNF -- my tastes have changed since I requested this. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book!

Will not review.

I was approved for this over a year and a half after requesting it and am no longer interested in reading it and do not think I'd enjoy it.

The Court of Miracles had some impressive marketing shoes to fill, I don’t think I have ever ridden the hype train so hard! As release day drew closer it became clear that I was one of many who had put this book high upon a pedestal. I read it as part of a buddy read which has really helped to solidify my thoughts for this review but my pedestal has hit a giant wobble as I found The Court of Miracles to be a book which at its heights was dazzling, but at its lows became baffling and muddled.

Kester Grant has created a wonderfully dark and complex underworld which is the focal point of the story. Our morally grey protagonist (always the best kind!) Nina finds herself embraced by the Thieves Guild at an early age, she is the Guild’s darling with her ability to get the most coveted of prizes, but ultimately she is biding her time and playing the long game to rescue her sister who has been callously sold to the Flesh Guild by their father. She is singularly focused and despite distractions she never lets go of that driving force. I found the characterisation of the Guild Masters to be well imagined, they are often portrayed as creepy and terrifying and I found that I didn’t know who to trust out of even the most genuine sounding of them, there are some interesting allegiance switches to keep an eye out for! Whilst Paris is an established world, great attention to detail was given to the construction of the Guilds and the Court itself, a really atmospheric feeling and Kester Grant is talented at really sinking deep into the atmospherics, painting both an almost cloying and choking feel for the gutters yet an exuberant and almost extravagant feel for some of the Guilds that hold the streets together.

The heist elements, and I do love a heist, were well written and fast paced, Nina’s time in the Chaetelet was my favourite and brought a gleeful smile as the plan unfolded. This was Nina at her focused best and she was wonderful to read. Unusually where some books have a typically slower middle act, The Court of Miracles bucked that trend and in fact formed my favourite section of the book. I felt completely drawn into the guilds and I adored getting to know all their little quirks and rules as Nina circles through them to garner help on her quest. The ghostly forgotten children of the streets of Paris who form the Guild of Beggars, was starkly heartbreaking in that they were the most feared purely through their sheer numbers. I also found it refreshing that Kester Grant didn’t shy away from spanning long passages of time and it often left me fearing that Nina’s quest was become a lost cause

The parts of the story were wonderfully linked and prefaced with extracts of Kipling, the way the extracts were woven into the book were joyful. Each interpretation becoming strikingly clear and less cryptic as the story went on, I found this to be a unique and imaginative twist.

Whilst I initially found the parallel of the revolution running alongside of, and sometimes intertwining with, Nina’s story exciting, for me it quickly became a heavy chain around the stories’ neck. The closing stages felt like book was being pulled in too many directions and non of them getting the full attention they deserved. Sections taking place in the palace felt tedious at times, with Nina simply recounting lists of things she could see and quite honestly, I felt that these were sections the book could have done without. At it’s core this is the story of Nina rescuing her sister from the clutches of the evil Tiger whilst traversing the tricky honour codes of the guilds, but he revolution element just diluted that so much with distractions and an ever expanding cast of characters which I started to find hard to keep track of. Ettie was not a character that I particularly connected to either, I know Cosette features heavily in the Les Mis story but I kind of felt her reason for being the in story was somewhat shoehorned.

Whilst there were huge parts of this story that I enjoyed, and when I was in these parts I just flew through the pages, I just felt there was a lot that felt muddled and rushed and dare I say anti climactic at times