A lovely well-told romp that relies heavily on Les Miserables for backstory but reads also like Katherine Rundell's Rooftoppers. The fascinating underworld of an imagined Paris is brought to life through the eyes of Nina Thenadier, who is left to face great danger and excitement as she faces the love and loss of two sisters.

Thank you to Harper Collins UK for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I decided to give The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant 4 stars out of 5.

The Court of Miracles combines Les Miserables with Six of Crows to create 1828 Paris with the most wretched of people forming Guilds such as Assassins and Thieves. Together, they form the Miracle Court. It follows Eponine (Nina) as she realises what a cruel city she's living in after her older sister comes into the possession of one of the worst Lords the Miracle Court. Nina decides she willing to break all the rules of the wretched to get her back.

As a big fan of Les Miserables the musical, I loved how it was all linked yet so unique. I really enjoyed spotting all the Easter eggs and references to the musical including the chapter titles e.g. A Little Fall of Rain. I thought, especially in the last two thirds of this book when we follow older Nina, that the writing was lovely and was not too airy fairy as that's not something I typically enjoy.

However, the reason I didn't give it higher than four stars is because at the start, I found it a little confusing as to how old Nina was meant to be. I couldn't tell if she was very young or if the writing was just slightly childish. Though once I eventually wrapped my head around the time changes, I found myself flying through it. Despite it taking a while longer than usual to actually get into it, once I was around half way in, I was hooked and finished the last two thirds of it in one day.

I will definitely be continuing the trilogy as they come out.

I recommend this to anyone who likes a fast paced and action packed historical fantasy (or just Les Mis fans!).

I was utterly captivated by this book from start to finish and devoured it very quickly.
I am not a fan of Les Mia as have never read it so had no idea what to expect with this book.
Although the world is intricate and there is a lot of characters, it felt real and easy to follow. I loved learning of all the guilds and the children and Lords of each.
Nina is a perfect heroine, smart, witty, loyal. I thoroughly enjoyed her character and her bond with Ettie was so sweet.
I will definitely be reading the next book in this trilogy.

I received a copy of this arc from the publisher via netgalley but this in no way influenced my review nor opinions.

I tried to read the whole thing and... I failed.

There had been a lot of hype for this title, perhaps a little too much. Whilst some aspects were exciting (the guilds for instance) which were fascinating, taking on personalities of their own, other parts of this novel felt like your average YA sterotpyes in different packaging. Which is perhaps where my reluctance to finish or even enjoy this book came from.

A brilliant fantasy take on Les Miserables. I loved this. The characters are awesome, the Miracle Court fascinated me, the plot kept me hooked to the end. Really looking forward to the sequel.

The Court of Miracles is branded as a cross between Kipling's The Jungle Book, Bardugo's Six of Crows and Les Miserables; unfortunately the premise was much stronger than the result. The book is an attempted reimagining of Les Miserables, following the characters - had they lost the Revolution. The 'Wretcheds', the lowest in society, created the Court of Miracles to protect themselves and each other, separating into nine different guilds based on varying skills - with a supposedly impenetrable law to bind them together.

Personally, I felt the influences of The Jungle Book were tenuous at best. Each section of the book began with a quote from Kipling's book - while an interesting link, still seemed random. In several interviews, Grant has said that her inspiration for the characters came from Kipling's novel:
'Ettie is Mowgli, she’s the innocent naïve person, thrown into the jungle. Nina is of course Bagheera who is my favourite jungle book character, which is why she’s called The Black Cat. Lord Kaplan, aka "the Tiger" is the equivalent of Jungle Book character Shere Kahn. "Kaplan" is a Turkish word meaning "Tiger"(from kablan ‘tiger’). His character was also inspired by Michael Fassbender in 12 years a slave.'
Though these comparisons are interesting, and I love that they were her inspiration, there is little link to the book itself aside from the quotes at each section. Personally, I think it would have been interesting to include more from that perspective, as it's a very compelling idea. Grant also said on the topic: 'COM is not based on Disney's Jungle Book; rather it is based on Kipling's original Jungle Book stories, subverting Kipling's narrative to free it from its sometimes problematic roots'. Fascinatingly, this does make sense; perhaps the novel is a device for Grant to portray the positive aspects of these books, while abandoning the aspects that render them problematic. Again, this is a very thought-provoking idea, and I feel it could have been elaborated on further.

Furthermore, the book seems to ignore its own descriptors of the Court of Miracles; The Assassins Guild is said to be frighteningly dangerous with none who enter to leave alive. In contrast, Nina is able to walk straight in [and enlist the help of both the Master and Lord of the Guild with relative ease. Not to mention that Nina, a thief with skill not at an exceptional level, was able to break into the most secure prison and rescue the most powerful and dangerous Guild Lord with very little trouble. Again, the perception the reader is given of this individual is very fierce and powerful - and yet he is kind to Nina, with the prison break relatively simple. This also followed with the dauphin which I will elaborate on a little later; it simply doesn't make sense that he would fall in love with her immediately, not thinking to report her at any point. (hide spoiler)]. These aspects make the book less believable and less enjoyable; a book becomes far more entertaining and relatable if the characters' endeavours are difficult, and they have to truly work for what they want.

Another issue I had with the book was the romance - if I can call it that? Without spoiling it, there are three different characters who seem to be attracted to Nina, and for what? Both herself and her elder sister describe her not to be particularly pretty, and her personality is (understandably) rude, frustrated and irritable to the other characters. I am at a loss as to how, despite her looks and attitude, they immediately fell in love with her. Though it became more understandable by the end of the book as they knew her better, it's still difficult to understand and believe for the majority. [ In particular, this was emphasised with the dauphin as a prime example; again, noting that she wasn't pretty and STOLE the CROWN JEWELS from him, why is he so fascinated with her? Equally, the reader sees very little of Montparnasse through the novel, so her seeming preference for him at the end feels unfounded and a little confusing. (hide spoiler)]

For such a long book, Grant includes little character development. As a prime example, Tomasis is a pivotal figure for Nina in accepting her Guild, and there is lots of endearing language to suggest they truly care for each other. Thus, while I enjoyed this dynamic, the end seemed lacking for me as there had been little build of their bond. The reader has very little insight into their years together, making their relationship seem less personal; this may also link in with the time skips that Grant utilises. Through the research I did on this book, Grant has said she wrote the book episodically with time shifts to reflect the writing of Kipling's The Jungle Book; this again is interesting, but personally, I feel the writing would have fared better had it flowed a little easier.

That being said, I did enjoy this book - particularly towards the end. As mentioned, each section was introduced by quote from The Jungle Book, but also stories of the Miracle Court. These stories were a clever way of giving insight into the history of the Miracle court - the guild system and Miracle Court itself being the most intriguing aspect of the book for me!
Class divisions and links to Les Miserables were very clear, in naming the lower castes 'The Wretcheds' (literally, Les Miserables), mimicking several of the characters, and the desperate fight for Revolution and freedom. The portrayal of the Queen and her son was incredibly interesting - but I won't say anymore so as not to spoil it. There was a big emphasis on the class divide, with Nina and many others teaching themselves to limit their food intake, thus being prepared for incessant food shortages or starvation. Though far from historically accurate as a whole, aspects of the book were certainly reminiscent of pre-Revolution times in 18th Century France.

My favourite part of the book was the end; Grant further showed the extent of Nina's love through a multitude of twists and turns that I hadn't even thought to predict. The portrayal of the characters at this point, for me, was second to none and gave the book a new lease of life. As a whole, however, The Court of Miracles felt lacklustre despite its high potential. With the next two unreleased books in mind, I hope Grant is able to fulfil the prospects this book has lined up.

I’ve been looking for a new urban fantasy and this ticked all the boxes. I’m getting a bit bored of books being compared to Six of Crows or those by Sarah J Mass. Its getting a bit like ‘every vampire book being twilights less cousin’ again. But this is by the by. I just wanted to note my rant from the record.

Saying that. As Urban Fantasies go…. This is up there with Six of Crows, at least for me. It may help that I’m a huge fan of Les Mis, both book and musical. So this was a delight. The world building was excellent and I wish I could have lingered in this version of Paris longer. It was gritty and grimy and I just wanted to explore. The story line was rich and complex, even with the threat of the tragic events the revolution will (presumably) spring. I love fantasy mixed with some form of historical events, makes learning fun(!). This book also drew on many of my favourite tropes – so it’s a win for me.

I really enjoyed this book and after reading it myself to review (thank you very much) I bought a copy for my mum to read. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This is the highest praise I can give.

I can’t wait for book two, I want back into this world again!

The Court Of Miracles, Kester Grant

Genre: Historical fantasy, Les Miserables Retelling

Themes: Death, power imbalance, French Revolution

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Where to begin with this deeply devastating, high intensity emotional rollercoaster? I LOVED THIS, although I had to wrap myself in my fluffy blanket and buy romance books to soothe myself. I want to be clear that this book obviously has strong themes of death and graphic imagery. I could see this all playing out in my head as I read the just shy of 400 pages. Usually, long books aren’t my thing as I’ve already mentioned in this post but I couldn’t put this down and I was riveted by the world building and the fast paced narrative.

Nina is such a strong and independent character (my favourite type) who will stop at nothing to fight for the people she loves and in her case, who she becomes attached to. She is a woman’s woman who makes it her life’s mission to save her sisters. I loved the dynamics between Azelma and Nina and Ettie and Nina alike. Although, both relationships were different, they were heart warming. Like any other sisterhood, Ettie and Nina are two sides to the same coin, vastly different, dark and light (the Devine masculine and Devine feminine).

I can’t believe I’m saying this as a romance reader but it was gloriously refreshing to read a book that has no romance at all. This doesn’t even have it as a sub narrative. It’s very plot driven and focus primarily on the guilds and the Revolution. Additionally, I love the additional content such as the quotes, the map and the little stories within the book.

The Court of Miracles made me feel an endless scale of emotions from despair, hate, anger, sadness and love. This is truly a great read for anyone and everyone, especially if you love Les Mis, historical fiction or fantasy that deals with secret societies.

“Do not cry for me, I am already dead."
"No, not dead, the dead at least are free.”

The Court of Miracles was a real Jekyll and Hyde of a book for me. On the one side there is a sweeping fantasy story about the unofficial guilds of the city of Paris (including Assassins, Thieves and Beggars) and then on the other side there is bad Les Misérables fanfiction.

We’ll start with the fantasy element, I enjoyed the character of Nina, the Black Cat of the Thieves Guild and our main character through the story. She is fierce and single-handedly seems to save every situation and come up with the solution to every problem she is faced with. I liked having a strong female lead but I also felt the fact she seemed to be able to do at least 3 things that had been written off by everyone else as ‘impossible’ was a little unrealistic. I enjoyed some of the other characters; Ettie although annoying in places also had a naïve heart of gold and the villain of the piece called The Tiger was aptly evil and his treatment of those around him was vicious. The book is genuinely dark in places and I enjoyed that the author pulled no punches with their plot. I also really enjoyed the folklore stories which are told at the start of each act, these have parallels to the action going on and were a good length to be absorbing and not distracting from the plot. I also liked the idea of the guilds, however I thought a lot of them were very under-explored and I got very confused about one of the ones we did meet. Ettie and Nina go into the hall of the Guild of Assassins to meet with the Dead Lord, but then one of them gets joined to the House of Beggars and not the House of Assassins which really confused me – are they part of the same house?

I didn’t like the choppy nature of the acts and the fickle nature of Nina at times though. In Act 1 she has a sister Azelma who is sold to the villainous Tiger. She spends all of Act 1 furious and trying to do everything she could to save her sister. Then Act 2 jumps a few years and suddenly she has an unexplained new sister Ettie who she would give her life for and also tries to spend the entire act trying to save. It seems like she has completely given up on Sister 1 at this point which seemed a little unrealistic. Then Act 3 skips forward ahead in time some more and this is where the Les Mis storyline kicks in.

As someone who works in theatre I love musicals, however I must mention that Les Mis is one of my least favourites. This is not, as I had thought (feared!) a re-telling of the story. It’s more that the author plagiarises the material, taking character names and traits and a few very loose plot points and tries to wedge them into her narrative. This comes across as jarring as the plot is so different and having a character called Valjean and then point out that he is ‘prisoner 24601’ made my eyes roll and really took me out of the fantasy world Grant had painted up until that point.

Overall, The Court of Miracles is a good fantasy book, it’s just such a shame that the author tried to wedge her Les Mis fanfic into the plot as well. For this reason, I don’t think I’ll be on the look out for the next book in the series I’m afraid. Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Collins UK – HarperFiction & Harper Voyager for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting read. It took me a little while to get my head around the storyline. I also kept getting characters confused with one another, but that is probably me! Once the story got going, it was fast paced and enjoyable. I can't wait until the next one!

There is great potential in this book. The two main things that I wish had been done a bit more smoothly were the main characters (Nina) relationships with Monteparnasse and St. Juste. There was no real build up to their friendships but I would have loved to see that. How there was a shadow just a little too dark when Nina is out and doing her thieving. Or maybe she passes St. Juste and his friends on occasion and keeps stealing his pistols or something. I would have loved to read about that.
Which ties in with the other thing I would have wanted to be done more smoothly. The timeskips. They felt a bit uncoordinated and I sometimes lost track of where in the timeline we were. But that might as well be just a me-thing.
What I really liked though was the Parisian setting. I felt that was really well done. I also enjoyed the characters greatly and their interactions.
I’m excited to see where this series is going.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

The Court of Miracles sees 19th century Paris be transformed into a glittering underworld, in which nine Lords and Ladies of various Courts rule the city. Years after the failed French Revolution, the Wretched find comfort in their individual Courts, where the word is law, and nothing that Those Who Walk By Day do, can harm them. After her elder sister is sold to the wicked Lord of the Flesh Court, Eponine (Nina) Thenardier pledges herself to the Guild of Thieves and becomes the Black Cat, capable of breaking into the most difficult of places, including the royal palaces, and stealing the crown jewels from the neck of the Dauphin, and into the notorious la Grand Chatelet prison. No matter how comfortable she gets without her Guild, she has never forgotten the cruelty that the Tiger is capable of, and will do just about everything to make sure her foster-sister, Cosette (Ettie), is safe, even if that means working with the Students in a new revolution attempt.

This book was just perfection, simple! I adore Les Miserables, and have done for years now, from reading Hugo's novel, to seeing it on the West End, on Broadway, on tour, and even the film. Anything about Les Mis will always get my attention, so obviously this was a book I knew I needed to read. Now, The Court of Miracles expertly wove together history, and fantasy, and Victor Hugo's Paris in a form that I could barely put down to eat or sleep. Nina, our main character, was everything I have always wanted Eponine to be (she's my favourite, of course), and I was in awe of how strong, and clever she was, and how throughout all that she had suffered, she still thought of her lost sister, Azelma, and her new sister, Ettie. She had many allies throughout the different parts of the books, from the Dauphin, to Enjolras St Juste, to Montparnasse, and even the Lord of the Guild of Beggars, Orso. Her sheer intelligence and ingenuity made her all the better, and I hope she flourishes even more in the next book.

How Grant managed to weave all the different elements of world building, use of source material, and history together, I will never know. Even knowing Les Mis as much as I do, I couldn't see all the twists and turns that were appearing, page after page. The plot line was epic, and seeing some of my favourite Les Mis characters in different forms, especially Gavroche, and even the inclusion of the king and queen's court, was the best thing I could've asked for, in order to finish off 2020. I've seen that this book is only the first in a trilogy, and I am desperate to see what happens next, and where Grant takes her characters.

I have heard a lot about this book and seen it all over Bookstagram, partly because the cover art is absolutely stunning.

This wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be.

The underworld, Court of Miracles, is a vast and complex organism with history, traditions and rules of it’s own. The guilds provide protection for the members.

The book takes the charcters from Les Miserable but that is really the only connection – the story and world created is completely different and the characters could be named anything.

The horror and struggles of life in revolutionary Paris, the starvation and treatment of the working classes by the aristocracy and the passion for change are all there. But the underworld is so separate they refer to non-guild members as day walkers which I struggled with as it seemed to separate the two so completely.

There is lots of fast- paced action and Nina is a feisty and principled protagonist. But the time scale of the book is problematic for me as she seems too young at the beginning.

I found it repetitive in places and sometimes the book slips into an almost fantasty/magical realism that is inconsistent with the rest of the story.

This was an enjoyable read at the time, but the more I reflected on the book the less I liked it. So despite my anticipation this one was sadly not for me. On to the next one.

Thank you Netgalley for the gifted copy in return for an honest review

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this such fun! I'm definitely looking forward to book two, and may even have to reread book one ;)

I loved the concept of the guilds - nothing new per se, but something I thought was used well here. I liked Nina's status within the thieves guild, and how capable she is.

We get some good themes of loyalty throughout, with Nina trying to protect her youngest sister and rescue her eldest (and then rescue the youngest). Her father is a cruel figure and an interesting character. The play around all the villainous characters is actually very well done - they all have a good air of menace.

The heists themselves are both fantastic and fantastical. I do love a good heist, and I also like it when they play well into the concept of the book. I felt that some were a little unnecessary, but they all had the same end goal. But honestly, sometimes she pulls off some insanely impossible things!

Like many readers, I found the time jumps frustrating, and hope that this isn't something continued into the next book. I doubt they will be though because we're into the main action.

4 stars.

Please note review is scheduled for 5th jan.

When I read the blurb and saw the beautiful cover, I thought I was going to love this book but to be honest, it was hard work. It is sold as a Les Mis retelling but I’m not sure why.. the only similarities were the character names and the fact it’s set in France.

I didn’t particularly like or connect to any of the characters, in fact there were too many characters to keep track of, that along with all the random time jumps made it feel choppy and hard to get through, it actually took me a few separate attempts over quite a few months to read it so I don’t think I’ll be picking up the sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of Les Miserables so I was super excited to get into this book. I am not sure if this helped or hindered me though to be honest. The names were a little confusing in some points but the further I got into the book the less it mattered to me. I do think this story would have been easier to follow if the characters had their own names.
The story didnt really have anything to do with Les Miserable except for one mention at the barricades and even then the story was changed but the book isnt exactly a retelling.

I loved the world building and felt like I could easily envision the places that the story was describing. I like that there were different aspects of the story to show the different social classes ad the guilds were super interesting.

I feel like this book read in three parts for me, I am not sure if that was the intention. I loved the first and the third parts and I was a little lost during the middle parts. I am not sure how all of these people all of a sudden owe Nina so much that they would die for her and go against their laws and guilds.

I would have loved to read more about the relationships between different characters and their back stories. Montparnasse as an example.

I know I have pointed out a bunch of things that are not great but I actually did enjoy the book. I think that it had a really interesting stories and there were points of the book that I hadnt read anything like that before I would like to see how the second book goes and see if any of the relationships develop.

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review

I love a historical romp, and this is indeed a historical romp, but I think some of the characters/chemistry fell a little bit flat for me.

I admit that I enjoyed reading this, but it doesn’t really distinguish itself from the genre and it’s a fairly thin retelling of Les Miserables that skims over a lot of the revolution in order to make every male a love interest for Nina. I haven’t actually read Les Mis, it’s on my list, but I have seen a production and watched a TV adaptation. And whilst it is complex and multi-faceted, this is more like a single character arc with none of the complexity.

The setting was well done, although again brings very little more to the table than we have already seen in the genre. But the criminal underworld is far better set-up than either the evil nobility or the frankly naive and revolutionary group. Side characters within the underworld had real character and I found myself falling into the world almost despite myself, only to be treated to the cold water shock of how thin everything else felt when we stepped outside the Guilds. The nobles are almost uniformly evil, with little character development among the lot of them so they feel like a faceless bad guy which you can’t engage with. The revolutionaries are hapless youngsters; all idea, no substance.

I think my biggest niggle though has to be just how similar this felt to other works I’ve read in the genre; there aren’t just hints of The Lies of Locke Lamora for instance, it felt almost as inspired by that as it obviously was by Les Mis. Except the characters are far better developed in the original, which goes for the Les Mis comparison as well. Lack of originality isn’t necessarily a sin, but if you are going to set yourself so closely to other novels then you have to exceed them... and this just didn’t quite manage. However the writing was engaging, so I’ll probably be tempted into reading the sequel at some point.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.

I loved the sound of the blurb and the cover. That was what drew me in.

But I struggled with this. And I really tried. I tried three times throughout 2020 to read/audiobook this but it always fell a little flat to me.

It's very much a "It's not you, it's me" situation as there is nothing wrong with this book. Nothing at all. The writing is good, the characters are ok, the ideas behind this (Les Misérables meets The Jungle Book) sounded appealing and yet... and yet, I struggled to keep reading/audiobooking this. There's something missing from it, something I can't put my finger on, and because this missing element to the story, it always felt a little "meh" and there was no pull to bring me back to the story.

The Court of Miracles grabbed me from the first paragraph and kept me enthralled for the rest of the book. As I was reading it, I could fully picture the roads and alleys of Paris, see the inside of the Courts, watch Nina as she crept in to the Palace to steal from a sleeping prince. It was cinematic. And this was just the first couple of chapters. I thought that this couldn’t possibly keep up for the whole book: the pictures, the movie in fact, in my head would lose it’s momentum. It didn’t.

As for the characters, I was fully invested in them. Nina is brave, an adventurer with a strict moral code, the naive, innocent Ettie who needs protection from Nina’s wicked father, Thenardier, who would sell his own daughter to a ‘Flesh Trader’, as well as the evil Tiger (the man Thenardier sold his eldest daughter to). These are all such colourful characters - I could see them all as I read about them. I’m a very visual reader. I have a definite picture in my head of the characters I read about. This book made that easy.

I’m really looking forward to the next book in this (I’m assuming) trilogy. The Court of Miracles has really captured my imagination and my heart.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this, and the publisher for making it possible. And thanks again to The Pigeonhole for helping to put a dent in my NetGalley reading list!!