An amazing setting of an Alternative (un)Revolutionary France. Incredible characters. Mysterious guilds. Sneering loyals. Brave orphans. Heists! This book had everything and did everything it promised. More please!

I enjoyed this book so much! It’s fast paced with a no nonsense, tough protagonist in a richly described Parisian setting. There are some great twists and turns with interesting characters.

The world building is well done and complex. Nina is a great lead character. Thoroughly absorbing and a really fantastic standalone fantasy!

Thank you to HarperVoyager for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley.

I was super excited to dive into this book, having heard so many good things about it. It’s been on my radar since I first heard about it – a Les Mis, Jungle Book mashup? Yes please! And it really did not disappoint.

The Court of Miracles follows Eponine (Nina), as she first flees her father and his ally, The Tiger, and joins with the Thieves Guild in the Court of Miracles. When her adopted sister Cosette (Ettie) catches the eye of the ruthless Tiger, Nina has to make a choice. She has to find a way to protect Ettie, but doing so could cause a war between the guilds.

Eponine has always been one of my favourite Les Misérables characters, next to Valjean, but in the various productions (love the musical, tried to read the book and keep meaning to try again but haven’t yet) I’ve usually found Marius and Cosette to be really dull. The other characters just come across as more interesting, and I could never help but find Marius frustrating. Luckily, Grant alters things enough there isn’t really a Marius, Eponine has no unrequited love, and Cosette is adorable and sweet, with these two girls getting a much stronger sister-type relationship. Instead, Marius’ ‘role’ in the story is fulfilled by various characters, who, reading between the lines, seem to pine after Nina, though she has much bigger worries on her mind and no time to deal with these silly men, meaning Romance doesn’t really have huge a place here. (I love Romance. I love reading romantic relationships, but it felt like the way Grant handled it here was done really well.)

It’s fun, too, trying to work out who might be who, as we’re given hints to various characters backstories, including Javert. The way Grant introduces these characters and has them act around each other plays out really well.

And as for where The Jungle Book comes in, the Court of Miracles is set up like Mowgli’s jungle. Roles are named after various animals, though the ‘Ghosts’ are akin to the monkeys, even stealing away various characters. The parallels with Jungle Book are closer to Kipling’s work than the Disney film/s. Like Les Mis, I’m more familiar with adaptions rather than the original, but a few months ago I did listen to an excellent Audible version of Mowgli’s adventures, and through this I can see how Kester Grant has taken Mowgli’s journey and sort of transported it to 1800s Paris.

Like Nina in The Court of Miracles, Mowgli has his adopted family – the wolves or, for Nina, the thieves’ guild – but there are others looking out for them as well. There is no overarching set goal for Mowgli in the version I heard, but instead it was more a set of stories about his various dealings. But for her own goal, Nina has to move about the court, meeting with different guilds and making deals, or finding some way to convince them to work with her. And of course, the Tiger himself is a stand in for Shere Khan, pushed to the borders of society, forced into some sort of exile before returning and claiming anything he believes he is owed.

This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed, and a world I loved spending time in. It’s engrossing, though I would suggest maybe don’t go looking for historical accuracies, as the fantasy element is much stronger. There’s a lot more going on outside Nina’s own quest too, especially in regards to the stirrings of revolution, and Nina is able to, uniquely, move from the court, to the group of revolutionaries, to the presence of the royals themselves.

To me, this book has some really solid worldbuilding, great characters, and a gripping storyline. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for book 2 of the series.

Loved it . 5 stars. I loved every character in this book the storyline was excellent and it all flowed smoothly. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review it and thank you Kester Grant for writing it.

Good read. Good read. Good read. Good read. Good read. Good read. Good read. The cover is also stunning.

📚 r e v i e w 📚
Filed under books I wish I had a physical copy of, seriously have you seen the hardback of this book? It is a thing of beauty.
Anyway, let me tell you about Court of Miracles by Kester Grant.
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I think one if the reasons i put off reading this for so long is because it is loosely based on Les Miserables - it is actually described as a retelling, but being someone who has enjoyed Les Mis in many forms, I think loosley inspired fits better. You’ll recognise character names, we have an Eponine, a Thiender, a Cosette, a Gavroche, even a Javert and a Jean Valjean. And while there are mentions of thievery and prostitution and Javert persues Valjean, this isnt the story’s focus. Instead we turn to Eponine (aka Nina) and her adventures as a highly skilled thief, member of the Guild of Thieves and resident of the Court of Miracles. This is a somewhat fantastical tale of a criminal underworld set against the French revolution with a heist or two thrown in for good measure.
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If you’re a fan of Les Mis like I am, there wont be much more than the names and the time period to remind you of Victor Hugo’s epic. That doesnt mean you should discount it though - the court of miracles is great fhn, Nina is a bad ass (as I’ve come to discover most fictional ninas are) and it is a strong story that keeps you engaged. It isnt Les Mis and it isnt historically accurate, what it is is great fun and really, what more do you want from a heist novel set in Paris’ criminal underworld masterminded by a group borrowed from perhaps one of the most depressing things ever written?

This is a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️ read and i’m interested to see where the story goes next.

Many thanks to @netgalley for the copy - sorry it took me so long to read it.
@harpervoyager_uk
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#bookworm #bookblogging #bookblogger #fiction #readerlife #readersofinstagram #bibliophile #bibliophilelife #bookstagram #reading #bookstagrammer #booklover #booksbooksbooks #bookreview #kestergrant #courtofmiracles

I was excited to read this book. I love Les Misérables and I most definitely love fantasy novels. And I did like the premise! Using the backdrop of Les Mis, the characters and the theme of the uprising was a great idea but it wasn’t quite enough. Sure, you could see the references, but I felt they could have been used so much more.

However, I enjoyed it as the characters themselves started to emerge and the way Grant portrayed the underground people, the ‘most wretched’ in fantastical ways. It was fun seeing them depicted as guilds of thieves and assassins etc. There were some great story lines including the use of call signals and the various relations between the guilds. Overall, there was plenty of subterfuge and misdirection to keep me hooked and although the time hops were a little disorientating, it all came together in the end.

If you’re looking for a re-telling of Les Mis, this book isn’t for you. However, if you enjoy fantasy, waring guilds and the underground rising for a good cause, with hints of Les Mis thrown in, then you’ll enjoy this book. It’s all about expectation I think. For me, the overall premise and potential plot is enough to make me want to pursue the series and try the next book! I really hope the references and build up in this book come to fruition more as the series plays out.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. Apologies for the delay, I’ve been recovering from ill-health and just caught up on ARCs.

as someone that is not a massive lover of any type of fantasy, this one pleasantly surprised me. I was hooked from the first page and just couldn't put it down!

This book is an easy read, quick and enjoyable. It is an easy story to guess as it moves along, and doesn't really present any new twists on know materials but it doesn't suffer too heavily for this as long as you're prepared.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought was super engaging, I binge read it and didn’t want to put it down. I also thought that it was really fun to read. Yes, there are some dark moments in this book and a lot of what happens to Nina and the people around her isn’t pleasant 90% of the time but it was still so enjoyable and super entertaining.

I loved that we got a lot of the characters from Les Miserables in this book. Like Grantaire, Enjolras (although his last name is St. Juste for some reason and Enjolras is his first name), Gavroche, Valjean, Javert (who’s a woman), Montparnasse, Thenardier, Azelma, Cosette, and some of the barricade boys (not all of them were mentioned by name).



“I want an animal name—can I have an animal name too? What about the Drunken Ferret? And you, St. Juste. You can be … the Oppressive Eagle of Judgment.”
Grantaire to Enjolras
Chapter 5, page 51


I do wish that the author had just kept Enjolras’ name as Enjolras and not added the surname St Juste. Because it is a little silly.

Also I think that changing Javert into a woman was also a little odd. I would have much preferred if the author had kept Javert a man. Especially as the author hints that Javert and Valjean had a romantic past, which would have worked just as well if they were both men in this book.

That being said, I did really like a lot of the characters. A lot of them made me laugh and I was rooting for Nina and her friends/accomplishes to be the winners in the fight against the Tiger, the Lord of Flesh, and Thenardier.


“You don’t have to come with me,” I say.

“I thought we were friends,” Montparnasse replies. “It would be rude of me not to attend a friend’s funeral.”
Chapter 38, page 364


The story is set over nearly ten years, so it follows Nina as a young girl to a young woman. I really liked getting to see her grow and mature. Learning different ways to survive, manipulate and plan and execute grand schemes. By the end of this book Nina has had a lot of character growth and development, and I loved seeing how much she changed from the start of the book to the end.


"I feel the street beneath my feet. Through the soles of my shoes, the echo of a song trembles through me. The City sings me a lullaby. She has drunk enough blood tonight. It’s time to sleep."
Chapter 41, page 398


As this is a Les Miserables and The Jungle Book reimaging there are plenty of references to them. I don’t really know The Jungle Book that well, so I probably missed some of the references for it but I did notice that the author used the major theme from the book of abandonment followed by fostering, as in the life of Mowgli but with Nina, Ettie and other characters in the Miracle Court. As once you pledge yourself to a guild the Lord or Lady becomes your parent and the guild members your sisters and brothers.

I noticed more Les Miserables references as I really love that story. Like a lot of chapter titles used lines from the book and the musical. Such as “A Little Fall of Rain”, where in this chapter a character was shot and said “Rain will make the flowers grow…” referencing Eponine’s iconic death scene. Don’t worry Nina doesn’t die. Nor is she the one that’s be shot. Obviously most of the characters were plucked from Les Miserables, so a lot of what happens to them in the book and musical is referred to. Like Enjolras’s red coat, Valjean having been the mayor of a town, Javert having been born in a prison, etc. I loved finding those little nods hidden in the story. And I think that a lot of people that are fans of Les Mis will also enjoy that.

The writing was really good. I thought that the book was well paced. Sometimes I think that pacing can be a bit jagged or feel a bit off when there are time skips, but I thought that it made sense in this book and was done really well. The time skips didn’t disrupt the flow of the story.

The world building was also really good. Obviously with Paris being a real place a lot of the places that appear in this story are real or based off of real places that existed. Plus the Court of Miracles itself is based off of Paris slums and stories surrounding them. Regularly the people of the Court of Miracles were thought to have organized a counter-society devoted to crime and thievery with its own hierarchy and institutions. Also, the Rue Réaumur (Réaumur Street) one of the “miracle courts”/slums Victor Hugo drew inspiration from for Les Miserables.

I really loved all the different guilds of the Miracle Court and their different criminal ways. The main focus is on the guilds of: Thieves, Beggars, Assassins, Letters, and Flesh. With the Smugglers and Dreamers making a small appearance or mention. I’m very interested to see what will happen to the Guild of Flesh in the next book, as their future is a bit up in the air by the end of this book. Also I would like to see more of the other guilds too. As some of them are only mentioned and didn’t play any or much of a role in this story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought that it was really well written and I loved the world building. I liked that this book used a lot of history too and explored what could have become of France is the French Revolution had failed. Like who would rule, what would happen to the revolutionaries, how the everyday people would be impacted and suffer. I thought that it was a really interesting alternative history that Kester Grant created.

I would say that this book felt more influenced by Les Miserables than the Jungle Book, but maybe that’s just because I know Les Mis a lot better.

I thought that the characters were really interesting, fleshed out, and exciting to read about. I can’t wait to see what Nina will be up to next.

At the moment the next book in this trilogy is set to be released in December 2022. So I will have to wait for nearly a year and a half for the next part in this story. Although I did sign up to the author’s newsletter and received a short story, called The Prince, the Rebel and the Assassin, set right after the events of The Court of Miracles. Which I did read right after finishing this book because I just couldn’t help myself.

I would recommend reading this book if you are a fan of Les Miserables; the book by Victor Hugo and/or the musical, like French history, revolution in general, alternative history books, or enjoyed reading; Enchantee by Gita Trelease, And I Darken by Kiersten White, Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, the Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden, and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

This book was really interesting. I absolutely loved the character of Nina as well as the world of the Court of Miracles and the different guilds. The strength of this book definitely thrives in the parts that are completely original and unique to this book. The only thing that I felt took away from the story was the heavy reliance on the Les Mis references. I think the book would have been a five star read if it had just been inspired by Les Mis but had been it’s own original work that stood without it.

I wasn’t sure about this book when I initially started reading it… but I persevered - and I am SO glad I did.

This was AMAZING. I was completely absorbed in every page. The characters were unreal and their adaptation from Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables was just so cleverly done I honestly couldn’t put it down.

I was desperately hoping for more as I finished the book, so I am absolutely thrilled to find out the second book will be released in December! Yes please! More Nina, more Le Maire, more Montparnasse, more EVERYONE PLEASE.

I kindly received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley.

The Court of Miracles was a captivating story set in the underground of Paris. There are secret lords and guilds (sounds like a win already doesn't it?!) that train their members in various different skills e.g assassins, thieves etc.

The story follows a member of the thieves guild who is trying to save her sister from a fate worse than death - being drugged to be used in the house of flesh. So goes a quest to take down a guild.

On this quest we meet all kinds of interesting people and there is a real Les Mis vibe to the story. The characters are interesting, well described and I was routing for them.

I'm hoping there's a sequel as I'd love to know what may happen to the queen of thieves.

When I saw that this book was being compared to Six of Crows, Caraval and Les Miserables, I knew that I had to read it. That said, I wasn’t expecting a reimagining of Les Miserables, and was delighted to find that this is, essentially, what The Court of Miracles is. Although the book remains on my shelf judging me for my failure to read it I have seen the musical of Les Miserables so many times that it was easy for me to picture Nina Thenardier and her Paris. I have always loved Eponine, much preferring her to pampered Cosette (once they were older) and so this book appealed to me even more. I adored reading about characters that were at once familiar and strange when seen through fresh eyes, and I particularly loved Nina’s first meeting with drunk Grantaire and Enjrolas St Juste.

The Guilds put me in mind partly of the gangs of Ketterdam and partly of the guilds of Ankh-Morpork, and it was easy to see where the comparison to Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology had come from. If you are a fan of the Grishaverse, then I am sure you will love The Court of Miracles.

There is a sense of magic in the air throughout the book, without there actually being any in evidence. At the same time, Kester Grant creates an almost palpable feeling of threat or danger constantly hiding in the shadows or just around the corner. Nina’s Paris is a Paris hidden from view from so many, an invisible underclass of society, and Kester Grant brings this to life beautifully.

Seeing so many familiar faces reimagined and meeting new ones (to me at least) made me determined to finally read the original Les Miserables and get to know Victor Hugo’s characters properly.

Occasionally, I will read a book on my Kindle that is so wonderful that I have to treat myself to the hard copy too, and with it’s stunning cover, The Court of Miracles was just too lovely to resist and now has pride of place on the shelves I reserve for particularly special books.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this one yet. I love Les Mis, and this was an.....interesting comparison. I'm conflicted. The Les Mis fan in me is screaming 'blasphemy!' at the parts of me that enjoyed it. Maybe if I read it without comparing it to the original, I'd probably have loved it. Confused dot com. But deffo an interesting read!

This was incredibly fast paced and a page turner. Set in the times of the a failed revolution along the streets of Paris, this story follows Nina as she goes head to head with the leaders of the criminal underworld in order to protect her sisters.

In the time of a failed revolution, those of the Wretched gather into guilds: thieves, assassins, dreamers, letters and others. All of these guilds form The Court of Miracles which run by its own law.

When Nina’s sister is sold to The Guild of Flesh Nina promises to do anything to get her sister back, even if it means becoming part of the Court of Miracles and leading her to the Master of the Guild of the Flesh where her sister was sold to.

Nina becomes one of the greatest things the Guilds have ever seen and in doing so she gets closer to finding out where her sister is and how to protect another from the Masters wrath.

So I don’t know anything to do with Les Mis (which this book is said to be inspired by)- the book is very long and I do not enjoy musicals. Saying that, the book did provide me with an excellent french underworld setting where everything appears bleak and hopeless.

Nina is cunning and clever, trying to worm her way into places and jobs which might bring her information over where her sister might be and a way to protect another. This in turn brings her face to other facets of the Guilds and their Masters, as well as Royalty and revolutionary students.

It was great to see all the plans formulate and how Nina achieves a goal, however, these occurred too quickly and seemed too overly simplistic and easy for thieving jobs that are described as “impossible”.

This did have a fantastic story of sisterhood, however, as there were time jumps I would’ve liked to see the development of the sisterhood between Nina and Cosette more.

In addition, while this book wasn’t a romance it did have some potential romantic elements. One of these I had issue with as it seemed this guy just loved her after meeting her on three separate occasions?? Also, with the time jumps, we weren’t able to see how Nina developed these friendships/relationships to get to where they are in the book.

I think if this book was longer I would’ve enjoyed it much more. I would’ve liked a deeper exploration of character relationships and how these were established, progress and grow (these occur between the time jumps so we are not witness to these moments). I would’ve also liked more distinct planning with more details for the thieving encounters as these seemed to happen so quickly and without difficulty.

This book was fast paced and kept me turning the pages. I really enjoyed the set up of the different Guilds and how Nina was able to infiltrate several of these. While this wasn’t a full 5 star read, I still want to read the next book as I have hopes that certain things will take place.

Sadly this is a DNF from me. I was approved for Court of Miracles almost a year ago and in that year i've never had any inclination to pick it up. I am aiming to get through all my NetGalley/Physical ARCs in May and so I finally got around to this one but within a couple of pages I just knew it wasn't for me. The writing style and tone just didn't work for me and so I decided to DNF it.

As i've DNF'd it i'm going to leave a 3* rating as I don't think it's fair to rate lower!

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book.

I devoured this book and actually changed a bit of my routine so that I could have a bit more time to read. Overall I enjoyed this book but I had a few issues that I will have to address.

Firstly, I had issues with the pacing of the story. Or possibly the editing of time jumps.

I'm the first time jump, the protagonist (Nina) had come up with a plan to save her sister which involved a completely new character who hadn't been mentioned before. Nina had a full plan, a relationship with the new character and also reasonings for her indecision to carry out said plan. And the reader is not aware of any of this and receives this information second hand. A similar thing happens during the next time jump. I'm not sure if the author had written about the missed info and had to edit it out but it was jarring and not very good story telling.

Secondly, I haven't read Les Mis or the Six of Crows so I can't make any comparisons but there were a few redundant characters. There was also a strange romance that was referenced between two characters which may have made more sense if I had read Les Mis.

However, I really enjoyed reading The Court Of Miracles. It was exciting and inclusive (yay a brown protagonist). Nina is a prodigy in her career (of thievery) and is a loyal friend. I liked how her main concern is her sister and her friend instead of a love interest - so her clouded judgement and hastiness seemed more valid to me.

Additionally, Nina seemed to have 3 potential love interests which seemed like overkill but it seemed like she didn't give a shit about romance or finding a lover. I appreciated that Nina had other priorities rather than finding a man.

Overall, this was a solid 4 star book, and I'll probably have to read the sequel.

Historical fiction doesn't normally do it for me but THIS BOOK DID. I am dying for a sequel and can we talk about that cover please?

Trigger Warnings:
Child Abuse/Violence, Death, Blood. Sexual Abuse. Suicide.

Before you continue to read this review, understand that this will not be a wholly positive review. Whilst there were compelling aspects to the narrative, I did not enjoy this book and I DNF’d at 142 pages. If you’ve no interest in hearing a negative opinion, I’d recommend choosing another reviewer’s work instead. Kester Grant has had a lot of positive reviews regarding her work, and whilst this novel wasn’t for me, I’m excited for her that the publisher is pressing forward with the series.

Having DNF’d this book, I do not feel comfortable awarding this book more than one star but I will start with my positive thoughts before moving on. The relationships between characters, though precarious, are well-considered. Grant bridged the gap between action and motivation artfully, and I never doubted the intentions of characters – whether they were good or bad. The opening held a lot of intrigue, especially with the sisterly dynamic (which becomes an important and prevalent theme throughout the narrative). I will always champion platonic female relationships in YA, they are very important. And the driving force which got me to the middle mark of the book was the way Nina and Ettie protect one another.

However, Ettie (Cosette) is a bit of a flake. Her only personality trait seems to be that she’s beautiful enough that people want to protect her. Including a Prince and his court who’ve never met her before. I have a lot of smaller problems which can be umbrella’d into two camps: the first is that the books seems torn in half. And the second is that I just didn’t believe any of it.

So, firstly, in the opening pages of this book, we learn that Eponine’s sister has been sold by their father to a brutal, cruel flesh-monger known as The Tiger. Nina’s sister sacrifices herself to protect her, and sells Nina to the Thieves Guild where The Tiger cannot touch her. The first hundred pages is Nina finding her sister, trying to save her and failing. The next 100 pages is Nina trying to save Ettie instead. Whilst the motivation has been cultivated, there is so much else going on in this narrative that it kind of got lost. And it tore the story in half. Half the book seems dedicated to this story of redemption, and the other half is trying to desperately hold onto the ‘retelling’ portion of the Les Mis description. Characters upon characters are filed in and filed out of scenes, depending on their usefulness to the narrative. They forgive and forget very quickly, and this leads me onto my second main problem. I just didn’t believe it.

I appreciate that there’s a fine line between a retelling and historical fiction, and one of the main hurdles a historical fiction writer is going to cross is the fact their audience is going to know as much if not more than the author. (Or at least think they do.) Half the things that happen (in the first 140 pages to be fair) like a prison break out, breaking into Versailles not once but twice, outmanoeuvring the police force and rival gangs – I just didn’t buy it. (And I’m saying this from a place where, I read A LOT of books with dragons in them. I’m very happy to suspend my disbelief where needed).

Unfortunately, the ‘tell over show’ writing style didn’t help. I grew to dislike the haphazard mechanics of the world and I just lost interest in the narrative as a whole. I put the book down when I reached yet another plot left-turn, and I haven’t picked it up again since.