Les Mis meets Six of Crows, you say? Sign me the hell up!

This was a truly great, fast paced historical fantasy. I loved the concept of the Court of Miracles and all the Guilds that form it, and can't wait to see it get fleshed out more in future installments. Nina was a great, dynamic character. Her fierce determination to master her craft against all odds, and more than anything her love for those closest to her. She refused to give up on her sister even after all those years, and developed such a close and wonderful friendship with Ettie that they pretty much became siblings.

The timeline was a bit confusing to follow at times, and it would occasionally take me a couple of pages to realise we had skipped a couple of years, but it all made sense eventually. I thought Grant did a good job of keeping it fast paced despite the extended periods of time between some of the events.

I'm not sure how I feel about all three of the potential love interests, but I'm sure these will be elaborated on more in the next book, and I am kinda looking forward to seeing what route this goes down.

Overall, a great book and a world that I hope to read more from in the future.

Massive thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy!

Well, Court of Miracles was one of those books that was SURROUNDED by hype before its release (on Twitter and with fellow booksellers alike) and I am pleased to say it did not disappoint! The nods to Les Mis, the French Revolution, the loyalty, the honour among Thieves...I could go on, but I won’t, I’ll just sit here and wait for book 2...

This book was a pretty average one for me. I think the concept itself is actually really interesting, but the execution left me wanting more than what we got. The world building felt quite surface level, and Nina's skills as a thief did feel a bit over inflated for the sake of giving her something that sets her apart from the rest of the characters. Overall, I didn't hate it, but it definitely wasn't my favourite book I've read this year.

A pleasant enough read, but very derivative and it really did seem to be a retelling of Les Miserables plus it had many parts that could have been taken from other books. The setting was well described. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

After the first few chapters, i was convinced I was going to love this book. The concept was really interesting of different underground guilds and the rules surrounding this society. Nina was an interesting main character and rooted for her in the beginning, but some of the stuff she did made no sense.

Slight spoiler... <spoiler> Nina is trying to save her sister and uses this other girl as a bait for this guy who imprisoned her sister, and then she realizes that she cannot do it and has to save this girl. So then she goes to different guilds to find a way to keep this girl, that WE KNEW NOTHING ABOUT UNTIL THEN, alive! Where's the logic?! </spoiler> but some of the early decisions and directions within this book, did not make it work for me. I really struggled to care. It was far too much good luck and once I put it down, I had no interest to pick it up again. What a shame.

It wasn't for me, but I am not going as far as to say that it was a bad book. I gave it 2 stars because the writing style is pretty and the world building was interesting... shame the plot disappointed me.

There is no character in all of literature I dislike more than Marius Pontmercy.

I'm all for unlikable characters - some of my very favourite books are filled with characters I would hate to meet in real life - but Marius is the only character I've ever read who makes my blood boil with fury and who makes me throw books across the room. I get the feeling Kester Grant must feel the same way. Eponine deserved so much more.

The Court of Miracles was therefore billed as the PERFECT novel for me: a YA retelling of a story I have adored since I was six years old, centring on my favourite character in said story, and completely removing a character I can't stand from the narrative.

It's safe to say I had very high hopes for this novel! I am so pleased that, far from disappointing my expectations, The Court of Miracles exceeded them on every page.

This novel is filled with wonderful characters (and no Marius), all with their own strengths and weaknesses, and lots of secrets and betrayal. Nina was superb, but I also loved Ettie (who was much more interesting than Cosette has ever been), St Juste and Montparnasse. There were hints of romance and lots of flirting, but this novel was always a story about sisterhood, which I loved.

The location was also superb. This is the third book set in revolutionary France that I've read in the past two years and it is a setting and time period I will never tire of. It's so much fun to read about - filled with drama and danger and politics, and there are endless stories to be told.

The court of miracles itself was very well developed. I loved its intricacy and detail and I could happily read more stories about characters in other guilds. The royal court was equally intoxicating, with a strong focus on social injustice.

If you love Les Mis, in any of its many forms, you should definitely read this book. There are lots of little nods to the original story in chapter headings, and dialogue. Grant retains the intricacy, the character names and the social themes of the original story, but turns them into something that is entirely her own. However, I also think readers with no knowledge of Les Mis at all will fall in love with the characters in this story.

First of all, Many Thanks to NetGalley, The Publishers and The Author for this wonderful e-ARC!

I really did enjoy the book and it matches its interesting description . The plot was developed well and visualizing the characters wasn't difficult. This book gives us a moral to be brave even though you might be broken, to stand up for poor and week and most of all to defend whats right.
Can't wait for the second book and hope it will be as amazing as the first one!

The Court of Miracles is a Les Misérables retelling, kind-of, that draws the Revolution into a whole new, underground world of criminals and thieves. It cleverly throws Eponine (now Nina) and Cosette (Ettie) into a whole new context, giving them their own secret lives and fascinating plots that make you forget that you ever thought you knew characters with these names before (a feat, when you’re in love with Les Mis). We follow them on a gripping and terrifying journey as Nina navigates the criminal underworld in search of ways to save her sister from the evil Guild Lord that has snatched her.

You do not have to have watched Les Misérables to appreciate this book, but I found the parallels to be well-done and incredibly entertaining. The two plots diverge greatly and some of the characters are barely recognizable (Javert’s new character in this book is art), so I truly think any fantasy or historical fiction lover would appreciate this book. It is a fast-paced story that paints a brutal picture of Revolutionary France, with a strong-willed, incredibly powerful protagonist to tell it, and an artfully invented underworld that sucks you in completely.

On the topic of characters, every single one was completely fascinating. Nina is strong from the beginning, but the confidence, capability and cunning that she develops throughout make her one of the toughest protagonists I’ve read for a while. Ettie was sweet and instantly likeable, developing alongside Nina in a way that it’s implied the world forces them to be. And the boys in this book all had their own charms: St Juste, with his indignation and dedication, was my particular favourite, but Montparnasse with his obvious soft spot for Nina despite his villainous role in the Court, and the Dauphin, who only became more fascinating with every meeting, were both equally interesting to read as well. I could go on about all of the Guild Lords, and villains, and even Those-Who-Walk-By-Day, but I would strongly encourage you to discover them yourselves.

The story is incredibly fast-paced, and I found it really impressive that Nina could do so many insanely dangerous things in this book, but have them all seem so believable and doable for her character. I loved slowly developing an understanding of the workings of the Court and absolutely need more about this world and these characters as soon as possible.

In case it’s not clear, I adored this story. Five stars is not enough for the masterful writing and completely engrossing world that Kester Grant has created, and I would encourage anyone looking for some escapism to get absorbed in this book. I cannot wait to see what Kester Grant writes next, and will waiting desperately for next year, and book two.

I had really high hopes for this book and it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

I think that knowing and loving the story of Les Miserables didn't work for me, as I felt that some characters were only introduced in order to include characters from the original story.

It felt like this book was setting up for bigger things to happen in the rest of the series, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped to. It started strong but became a slower read as the book went on.

Would I continue with the series? Unsure.

*thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for the eArc to review*

What if the French Revolution failed?
This fast paced, exciting adventure asks just that, from the perspective of a girl nicknamed the black cat. The story never takes a breath as we are plunged from one action filled scene to the next, winding through the rooftops of Paris, attending balls at the palace and melting into the catacombs that lie beneath the city. The rhythm of the narrative is the truly unique thing about this book, it's a YA fantasy that spans years, and yet blends the chapters as though they all take place over one night. The world building is fascinating with the various guilds making up the court of miracles, the history interwoven with what really happened and the major players all being revealed throughout.
An exciting read!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
When I first heard about this book, I was very interested as I’m a big Les Mis fan (seen the musical, watched the BBC adaptation, even read the over 1000 page book!) However, after reading the blurb, I was a little confused. It mentioned being set in 1828 (whilst some parts of Les Mis do take place earlier, the revolution takes place in 1832). It also referred to the court of Louis XVII, who actually died in 1795. Whilst I’m aware that Les Mis itself is a work of fiction, the fact is that historically, it could have happened. There was no changing of important historical events or bringing back kings from the dead. With all this in mind, I went into reading The Court of Miracles with some reservations.

I actually ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. It is definitely not a retelling or even a reimagining of Les Mis. I think it can be best described as loosely being set in the world of Les Mis but with some key differences. Whilst it uses the names and parts of the backstories for some Les Mis characters, there are significant differences in their motivations and behaviour. Plus, in this story Nina (Eponine) is our protagonist so the tone of the book is completely different to the original as the author and the main character have a totally different story to tell that just happens to be set in a similar world.

It might seem from what I’ve said so far, that I didn’t like this book, but actually there were many things that I did enjoy.
Whilst there was some romance (pretty much every young male character seems drawn to Nina and Ettie is constantly mentioning how handsome they are), this was not the focus of the book as the plot centred more around Nina’s schemes and the challenges she had to overcome. Speaking of the scheming, I though this was quite well done. Nina’s plans had several layers to them and there were several satisfying moments when different parts of her plans came together. I also appreciated how sometimes to solve one problem, Nina ended up creating further problems for herself.
I liked this author’s writing style. I found it easy to read and for me it contained the right amount of description, enough to make the writing exciting, not so much that it got boring. The world they created and described felt real from the slums and prisons to the royal palace. The world building overall I found quite interesting. There was a lot to take in concerning all the different guilds, their leaders, masters and names for the various members. However, this was well-explained and reminders were woven into the narrative to keep you informed about the important parts. One part that I really enjoyed was the fairy tale-like stories at the start of each part. These were beautifully written and I loved how they fed into the main story.
There were several characters from Les Mis who the author found creative ways to include. Each time this happened, I stopped for a moment to appreciate how clever the author had been in taking key parts of their Les Mis character but also making them a character that felt natural in this book. There were of course many differences between the characters and their Les Mis originals, but as I had already decided I wasn’t viewing this as a retelling, for most of the characters, it didn’t bother me too much.

What I didn’t enjoy
There are a lot of time jumps in this story. I don’t have a problem with time jumps if they are used to skip boring parts like characters travelling many miles or being asleep for many years. However, here, we skip from Nina joining the thieves guild as a scared child, to 5 years later when she is a skilled cat burglar carrying out intricate plots and taking on powerful guild lords without seeing how this transformation happened. Then later in the book, there is a 2 year jump and again, we just hear in passing about all the exciting things that happened during this time.
There was one character who felt unnecessarily changed from the way they were in Les Mis. This change didn’t add anything to the plot and for me it actually created a plot hole as I had a hard time believing that such a character would have existed in either Les Mis or the world of this book.
Anyone who knows Les Mis or the history it is based on will be aware of the heart-breaking inevitability of what happens. There was a part of this book that felt like it was building up to that emotional moment. Words used by the author clearly wanted us to think that this was the case as well. And then when the moment came…it was such an anti-climax. To have such a powerful moment and not include it. I can’t understand why the author did this. After this, the ending as a whole felt rather rushed and much less believable.

I believe this is book 1 in a series. Will I be continuing on? I’m not sure what more story there is to tell and the ending didn’t leave me needing to know what happens next so probably not.

Trigger warnings:
References to sexual assault and sexual slavery
Drug use
A very gory/violent scene with quite graphic description of what is being done to the character

Guilds, thieves, murder and sisterhood! A re-imagining of Les Misérables - set in an alternate 1928 Paris - that is a real adventure, when it gets there. Heists, jailbreaks, sisterly love and (un)trustworthy criminals in a city besieged by hunger, revolution and ghostly assassins. If you gloss over the awkward time skipping in the first two sections, this is a fun read. No knowledge of Les Mis needed.

A fast-paced tale loosely based on 'Les Miserables', 'A Court of Miracles' tells the story of Nina, a cat burglar, who risks the wrath of the 9 guilds of the criminal underworld in order to save her close friend, Error, from the deadliest guild Lord, the Tiger.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and think my readers will too, even if they're not aware of the story of 'Les Miserables'. I'm always a fan of strong, female characters, so I was rooting for Nina, and was glad that she was stubborn, yet would accept help from other characters.

However, my niggles were also based around Nina. Despite not giving out romantic vibes, she had not one, not two, but three romantic interests after her! My other major annoyance was that everything came far too easily to Nina, being able to break into all the places which no other thief has managed before, with what seemed like very little preparation time.

I'd buy this book in, but not sure I'd recommend it over other YA offerings.

Honestly I found this one a real slog. There were too many characters to keep track of, there were too many random time jumps and a lot of historical inaccuracies. I didn't really feel connected to the characters or the story and I don't think I will be reading more from this author.

I LOVED the setting in this world- seeing Paris through the lens of the underbelly was fascinating.

Initially I found the Courts quite complicated, but as the story developed the connections (and power dynamics) between them became clearer and kept me engaged to know more.

I adored the subtle Les Miserables references- and FULLY agree with the author's note that Marius was the most dull love interest, and leaving him out was the best decision!

Overall a really fun and quick read- I look forward to more!

I was really intrigued by this as everyone was raving about how it's a Les Mis retelling, and as I have never seen/read Les Mis I got to go into this story with fresh eyes and no real expectations. So on that note, although I had no expectations on the retelling side, I did expect this to be a great book (and boy do I love a book with a heist). I thought this was brilliantly written and I cannot wait for the sequel.

I really enjoyed how a lot of the characters were very morally grey, Nina for example is a theif and also essentially uses other characters as bait, sometimes regrets it instanty and trying to fix her error. Without a doubt, Nina is my favourite character, she's clever and the way she gets into certain places to steal is absolutely genius - the prison was my favourite. I really liked the Prince, although he is definitely a sheltered royal who could learn a few things about the world outside the palace, but I felt like we didn't get enough of him in this book, I'm hoping we see a bit more from him in the second book, as I think he could bring so much more to the story. Ettie really grated on my nerves at some parts but I loved that she did because it was just a reminder that she's still a child, she's naïve and Nina has tried sheltering her from the monstrosities she's experienced and the childhood she herself lost.

I think my favourite part of this was the different guilds, their system and rules were so interesting and I really hope we get to see more, although it was also majorly flawed how they all seemed to be under the unspoken control of one guild lord in particular. Although there is no real romance in this, there are three possible love interests for Nina, and while I instantly ruled out one of them, I was a bit fan of the idea of another in particular but near the end my opinion on that changed completely to the third so I'm definitely interested to see where that actually goes, and if it actually goes anywhere in the next book.

I'm not normally a lover of historical fiction it's just not my bag. That being said I knew this was right up my street when it mentioned Les Miserables which is my all time favourite musical. I loved it! The names of some of the characters are kept the same but there are alot of new ones and I found myself singing the songs from the show as I went. This story really packed a punch. What a ride. Full of twist and turns that kept me on my toes. Nina is seriously bad ass! She was so strong and smart. I loved the whole idea of the guilds and the court it was so interesting. What a fantastic read

I love this kind of book - fantasy, mystery, darkness and power. Was intrigued to read it and it didn't let me down.

Set in Paris around the time of the revolution, Nina is one of the wretched, those who struggle to have a place in society. The Black Cat of the Guild of Thieves, Nina's life is one of nighttime, darkness, and intrigue as she seeks out wealth for her masters... yet what she seeks above all is her sister, Azelma, sold into the Guild of Flesh.

The characters are well-written and vivid, the scenery atmospheric, and the narrative flows freely. A great read.

The court of miracles is enchanting and unforgettable. The story keeps you gripped and guessing throuout and the characters are believable.

This is the first Kester Grant book I have read, and was really pleased when I was chosen to review it on Netgalley as I’d heard so many positive reviews of it. I certainly wasn’t left disappointed either. A historical fiction with an engaging heroine, hints of Les Mis, and a plot that keeps you wanting to read on. Overall, a captivating story which will keep the reader enthralled.