Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher and netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: A Court of Miracles

Author: Kester Grant

Book Series: A Court of Miracles book 1

Diversity: French! Nothing more than that.

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: Les Mis Retelling, books set in France, revolution books

Publication Date: June 2, 2020

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Pages: 464

Recommended Age: 17+ drug abuse, domestic violence, violence, gore, child abuse, TW rape mention and possibly child molestation (honestly I'm unsure of Ettie's age, she acts 10 but could be 16).

Synopsis: In the violent urban jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the city is divided between merciless royalty and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as the Court of Miracles. Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented cat burglar and member of the Thieves Guild. Nina's life is midnight robberies, avoiding her father's fists, and watching over her naïve adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie). When Ettie attracts the eye of the Tiger--the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh--Nina is caught in a desperate race to keep the younger girl safe. Her vow takes her from the city's dark underbelly to the glittering court of Louis XVII. And it also forces Nina to make a terrible choice--protect Ettie and set off a brutal war between the guilds, or forever lose her sister to the Tiger.

Review: For the most part this was an interesting book. The world building was great and the pacing was well done. The book also had an interesting plot and that plot kept me intrigued in the book until the end.

However, this book is a mess. Maybe it's because I got an early access copy and it's been smoothed out since then but man this was a rough read. The second part of the book is where the blurb takes place. This was incredibly confusing to me because, if I hadn't read the blurb, I would have been fine. But because I did I was just constantly confused throughout the first part. The first part is more of a backstory but that could have been told in another fashion, perhaps through flashback sequences. There was too much telling and the MC didn't have any character development or flaws. No one else in the book really had character development either. The book really had that feeling of "I'm watching a show for the first time and it's the midseason finale and I don't have a clue what's going on". The book also felt like it just had Les Mis characters thrown in for the audience benefit. I think it could have had new characters that would have been better developed than the Les Mis ones, but that's a loaded opinion because I generally think Les Mis has zero character development and is a fairly bad play.

Verdict: It was a mess but it's interesting and I'm hoping book 2 is much better.

First - I think this book is poorly served by comparisons to Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom. Though there are heist elements, the cast of characters is never as closely interwoven as the crew in Bardugo's duology. Instead, the selling points are really the setting - French revolution - and the use of elements from Les Miserables.

The book is fun and intensely readable, and never takes itself too seriously. There are some really bananas situations that the lead character gets herself into, and you have to suspend any belief in reality to read them with a straight face. Also Nina (main character, aka Eponine) does an awful lot of winking.

I'm not sure I'll continue the series, simply because I'm not that interested in the time period, but I do think there's plenty of appeal here for any buffs of the French Revolution.

In a world where the French Revolution failed, 1828 Paris is ruled by the royalty and the Court of Miracles, heads of nine underworld guilds. Nina is part of the Thieves Guild, and is adept at stealing and avoiding her father. She has to protect her adopted younger sister Ettie, especially after Ettie attracts the attention of the Tiger, the leader of the Flesh Guild. Saving Ettie might set off a war between all of the guilds, but the alternative is to lose her to the Tiger.

The Court of Miracles is a mix of Les Miserables and Six of Crows, with sumptuous descriptions of the locations. Nina is introduced to the Thieves Guild after her father sells off her sister to slavery, and we get an introduction to the history of guild life in this alternate Paris. We also see how much she loves her sister, and why at first she would think about offering up Ettie to the Tiger in exchange for her sister. Ettie isn't a good thief, is emotional, and impossible to disguise as a boy. She's innocent despite the way Paris is, and relies on Nina for everything. Therein lies the conflict.

The Tiger is a fearsome man to all the courts, not just in how he wrested power from the former Lady, but in how he controls and recruits those under his control. Much of Nina's life revolves around escaping his notice, then trying to thwart him, then try to kill him. She makes alliances with important members of other Courts, and even wins the favor of the Dauphin. Nina is relentless in trying to take care of her adoptive sister and help those without protection, an admirable trait. I was drawn into her story and the struggles she had, as well as the casual opulence of the royal court not far from the Wretched who starved beyond their gates.

The novel has amazing details, and shows exactly how far ambition, sacrifice, and love can go, even in corrupt and fearful courts. It's only reckless and relentless strength of will that can get things accomplished, though it doesn't always look the way you expect. The ending is hopeful and complete, with a few dangling threads that could be wonderful hooks for a sequel.

The Court of Miracles is the first book in the A Court of Miracles series by Kester Grant. A magical young adult fantasy that pulls you into a world of mystery and intrigue. Grant's writing style is captivating yet mysterious keeping you on the edge of your seat. The Court of Miracles is well-written, original, and has great world-building. A lovely read that I did not want to put down!

All wretched are equal and free if slavery . Attacking someone can start a war. There is famine going on. Azelma has been deadly sick for days.Azelma calls for Femi,the messenger. Femis ancestors are from northern Africa.Femi and Azelma have a weakness for each other.Nina is told to hunger and not be desirable.To use her looks and clothes as a mask. Nina's father is overheard to be selling one of his children. Nina has been on bulgaries with her father before and joins guild of thieves.She breaks into the palace for a rumored item.I liked Nina and the world building.Nina is far from a girly girl.Nina will steal anything or break any law to protect her sister and save her.Ettie is very close to Nina. The book was a little slow at first then quickly picked up pace.

I am a sucker for a good Les Mis retelling, and this was one that knocked it out of the park for me. After her sister is sold to a slaver, Nina joins the Thief Guild, one of nine guilds that rules the underground criminal world beneath Paris: The Court of Miracles. As tensions between the Crown and the people increase, Nina is determined to rescue her sister and bring down the Tiger, the powerful Lord of the Flesh guild. Her life becomes a series of clever thefts, intrigues, and protecting her adopted sister, Cosette. Her vow takes her through the intrigues in the Court of Versailles and the Court of Miracles, as well as the revolutionary sentiment that dominates the city in 1832. Soon, Nina must decide how far she will go to protect the people she loves, and whether she's willing to risk her soul to get what she wants.
I love everything about this book. The characters were compelling and their plots were incredibly well executed. The world-building here is nothing short of vivid and astonishing. Grant created a fascinating world that I loved experiencing, blending true events of history, events in the original book, and original events and intrigues of the Miracle Court into something truly seemless. The plot was well-paced and twisty, the writing style keeping me enraptured the entire time I read this book. The Court of Miracles is an exciting adventure through an alternative history of the failed French Revolution in 1832, one that is full of deadly girls, betrayal and heartache. It asks the question of how far we are willing to go to protect the ones we love, and addresses elements of class inequality, freedom, and power. I loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this book! Release date - June 2, 2020

This book was such an awesome mixture of so many things I like. It was an incredible retelling of Les Miserables with Eponine as the main character. It was also an alternate history where the rebels lost the French Revolution. And it was it's own YA universe with diverse Guilds made up of thieves and outcasts and criminals.

I do feel like the EXACT audience for this book is so specific, because there are so many nods to Les Miserables that it was obviously written for fans of that book. One of my favorite moments:

"'Rain will make the flowers grow...,' he murmurs in a singsong voice.
'Are you singing?' I say in horror. I slap him hard across the face."

Totally cracked me up. There are lots of song lyrics sprinkled throughout, and of course many favorite characters make an appearance, like Cosette, Javert, Valjean, Enjolras, Gavroche, Thenardier, and more. Although this is a retelling, a lot of the plot is similar and some major events happen exactly like in Les Miserables. So I definitely feel like to pick up on all these Easter eggs, you'd have to be a fan.

Add to the fact that there is some alternate history happening here where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI don't die in the revolution and their son Louis XVII becomes king and HIS son is the dauphin and a main character, there are a lot of subtleties that many readers won't pick up on.

So yea, I feel like a lot of people who are fans of Les Miserables don't read YA, and a lot of people who read YA aren't fans of Les Miserables. I do think you can be one or the other and very much enjoy aspects of this book, but the target audience is definitely someone who appreciates both. Luckily, that is definitely me, and I really really liked this book.

The storyline was really interesting. I did find that it felt very YA, which is why I won't necessarily recommend this to some fans of Les Miserables. The Guilds were really interesting and well-written and I thought it made a cool storyline, but it made the world feel less like real Paris and more like a unique YA universe. But the adventure always kept my attention and I was rooting for Nina and Ettie the whole time.

So yea, the Les Miserables retelling aspect of this book was my favorite part, and I feel like it's not going to get noticed by most of the readers of this book. In fact, I'm afraid this book may get lost in a sea of YA adventures, even though it is very VERY clever and unique, because without knowing the subtle references and retelling aspects it would feel like a typical YA. Unfortunately it is a book written for a VERY specific target audience, and I hope more people like me find it because it is SO clever in what it set out to be.

I did see that it's supposed to be the first in a trilogy. Although the ending was satisfying if it were a standalone, I'm excited to see where it goes from here. I'm hoping that it may take a page from series like The Madman's Daughter, which was a continuous story but every book was a retelling of a different classic. Since this book basically covers the entire timeline of Les Miserables I think that might be likely and it makes me SO excited. If the next books are as good as this one I can see it becoming a favorite.

I was really excited for this book but this book was definitely not for me. I felt like there was so much going at one time yet nothing really happened. I couldn't find the plot. I felt like the story jumped around a lot, and the time jumps were confusing.. it just felt really clunky to me. I love books that are fast paced but this one felt too fast paced and didn't give me time to connect to the characters or understand the world this was set in. The characters felt very one dimensional and half the time I didn't know who was who.
Sadly, this book was just so all over the place that I probably won't remember anything about it tomorrow. This just wasn't for me...

***3.5 stars***

I have mixed feelings about The Court of Miracles. On one hand, it was a super easy read. I flew through the book. However, if I hadn’t had to review it, then it would have been easy to put it down without feeling an immense need to pick it back up to see what happens next.

I will say the last 25% or so of this book was the best part of the book. I didn’t put the book down once. I needed to know what was going to happen and how the book was going to end. That doesn’t mean the other 75% of the book was boring because it wasn’t at all. It’s hard for me to put my feelings about this book into words. Most of the book felt like a 3 star read to me. A 3 star read means I enjoyed the book, but I didn’t love it. Usually, a book gets 3 stars from me when I feel a disconnect with the characters and/or the plot. That’s the case here. Our main character is Nina, also known as the Black Cat. I don’t feel like I know her at all. All we know about her are her skills such as being a successful thief and her cleverness, and that she is very protective of her loved ones. I never felt like I knew her. I just read 464 pages, and I don’t feel like I know any of the characters in this book that well.

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting. Once I heard this was an alternate version of Paris after the failed French Revolution, I was in. The Court of Miracles is about the divide between the royals and the Court of Miracles. The Court of Miracles is an underground criminal enterprise consisting of 9 guilds. We didn’t get to know each guild very well in this book, but we did get to know a few. The guilds we learn the most about are the Guild of Thieves, the Guild of Flesh, the Guild of Beggars, and the Guild of the Assassins. I can’t wait to meet more of the guilds in the next book!

My last complaint about this book is that I had no idea what the plot was supposed to be. I hadn’t read the synopsis in a while, so I forgot the whole book is about Nina protecting Ettie from the Tiger. Honestly, in my opinion, that’s kind of a weak plot. Or at least it felt that way to me. This might be because I never felt invested in the characters.

Despite how it may come across, I did enjoy this book, and I plan on reading the sequel. As always, I recommend everyone to give this book a shot. You may love it or you may feel in the middle about it like me. Let me know what you think once you read it!

"The Miracle Court" can either be considered a retelling story or (well-written slightly AU) fanfiction of Les Miserables. I liked the original Les Miserables... but it took me a couple years to finish. One thing that I liked about "The Miracle Court" is a fast read. There is so much going on in the story that there are very few moments of low-activity. On a less positive note: there are a few time-skips that were a bit strange to read through. It took a bit to realize that a time-skip had happened. Usually a character would mention "Oh hey, it's been two years since I saw you" or Nina (the main character) would bemoan that it's been a few years and not much has changed for the people. The characters didn't see growth after the time-skips. I can see how 2 years would be nothing for an adult, but for a young child- I would think that a two year skip (happening a couple times) would really change the perspective and growth of that character.

Had I been a teenager, I would probably have loved everything about this book. There are so many (handsome) boys swooning for Nina, and although she has a pretty horrible life (it IS set in Les Mis), she really comes out of most things pretty unscathed. If not unscathed, then for the better. As an adult reading this, the adventures are so over-the-top and ridiculous. As someone who is fulfilling the happiness in my still-teenage heart... I loved it.

While the ending is not a cliff-hanger, it does end pretty abruptly. In my ARC copy of this book, the last page wasn't followed by anything except the last words in the book- it threw me off because it felt unfinished. Thankfully, "The Miracle Court" continues in book 2 (and apparently a book 3 according to Goodreads). I am already eagerly awaiting book 2!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would honestly give it a 3.5 stars, but since Goodreads doesn't have half stars, I am still happy to give it 4 stars! :)

**I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for a review.**

This book was "okay" at best. It was nothing to write home about. The time lapses threw me completely off. The book had several jumps in time that you didn't realize until at least halfway through the chapter. The royals were horrible, no good, terrible people - all except the one that was infatuated with the MC. This book isn't something that I would immediately recommend, I would honestly forget about it.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was so psyched to get this ARC. It’s been pretty hyped for months. And it was pretty good....but not everything I was hoping it to be. Nina is a member of the Thieves Guild and is trying to save her sisters, one who protected her and one she swore to protect, from the Flesh Guild. None of the Guild Masters in the Court of Miracles are willing to go against the Tiger, so she wages war against him without their help. She is bad ass, but I don’t know...it was good, but not great for me.

3.5 Stars

I was really excited to read a Les Mis retelling and this did not dissapoint! I have always loved Eponine. She is my favorite character, so when I heard this book was also about her, I jumped at the chance to review it!

Eponine is a spit fire. She is on a mission to save her sister (then sisters), from an evil man. I loved her personality. She is fiercely protective but she also knows her own limits. I really liked that she wasn't a can-do-it-all girl. I loved her story and am nervous it still might end up like in the real Les Mis! Dear Grant, please don't! Please give Eponine the ending she deserves!

I really enjoyed the world building as well. I loved there were 9 different guilds all with their own purpose. There are definitely some gray areas. I did however want to see a bit more of the thieves guild where Nina (Eponine) is from. She was mostly on the streets or staying with another guild.

I liked the side characters. Montparnasse of the Guild of Assassins was my favorite. He was soooo mysterious and I totally ship him and Nina. In fact, I would love more on his story!

What I didn't like; this would have been a 4 star read for me, HOWEVER, I struggled with the flow of the book. It was choppy. It would be something like this: I did this. Then I did this. *Time Skip*. I am doing this now. And I couldn't figure out the love quad going on. Nina had 3 boys after her? And she seemed like she couldn't make up her mind. Like I said, I am hoping for Montparnasse!

This book was still very entertaining and I can't wait for book 2!

*Review will be up on my blog and Instagram when it is my date to post for Fantastic Flying Book Club.*

3.5 stars. I wish GR would get half stars!

I was just a little disappointed by this book. It's advertised as Les Miserables meets Six of Crows. Listen, if you put Six of Crows in your description, I will read your book. I don't care what it's about Six of Crows is one of my all time favorite books. The problem with this is that my expectations are high and this book just didn't live up to them. It wasn't a bad book by any means. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

I did really love Nina. She was very unapologetic in using the people and things she needed to. She had a purpose and she would stop at nothing to reach it. I loved this about her. You could see her growth through out the book. She didn't miraculously turn into a good human but you could see her humanity growing. She was a very complex character. I think the author did an amazing job with her. She was real and had many flaws but you still love her.

This book is dark and gritty. There is no apology in how truly awful this world is and how awful the people who live there are. There seems to be no hope and yet our characters find something to fight for!

Thank you so much for an early copy of this book.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Court of Miracles is Kester Grant’s debut novel and the first installment in her YA fantasy “A Court of Miracles” series. It’s an ambitious novel, advertised as a reimagining/retelling of Les Miserables with some Six of Crows vibes thrown in. Those are two of my favorite books so I was excited to give this new series a try.

As with the original Les Mis, The Court of Miracles is set in Paris at the time of the French Revolution. In The Court of Miracles, however, the revolution has failed. The ruthless royals still rule the city, and there is now an underground society called the Court of Miracles, which is comprised of various criminal guilds, including a Guild of Assassins, a Guild of Thieves, and a Guild of Flesh, among others. It was a little confusing at first, but the worldbuilding for this underground society ended up being one of my favorite parts of the book. It’s a dark and fascinating world that sometimes appears lawless, but in reality, has its own set of laws that they loosely abide by.

The protagonist Nina, Eponine in the original Les Mis, lands in the Court of Miracles after her father betrays both her and her sister. Quick, quiet, and resourceful, Nina can break in and out of anywhere and can steal anything and therefore finds that she fits right in with the Guild of Thieves. Nina is a great character, very complex and well-drawn – she’s smart, passionate, and she can also be impulsive and headstrong, often throwing herself directly into harm’s way to protect those she loves. Her bond with little Ettie, Cosette from the original Les Mis, is wonderful too. Even though Nina is originally ready to betray Ettie because she thinks it will help save her own sister, she quickly grows to think of Ettie as her sister as well and is willing to lay down her life to keep Ettie safe. The leader of the Guild of Flesh becomes obsessed with getting his hands on Ettie, and it’s Nina’s determination to protect Ettie that actually drives much of the action of this first book. It’s an exciting and dangerous mission and it kept me on the edge of my seat!

If you’re a fan of Les Miserables and especially of the character Eponine, I think you’re going to enjoy this one. A very solid start to what I think is going to be an exciting series!

I was excited to read this book, not only was it Les Mis inspired, but there was also going to hints of Six of Crows and apparently the Jungle Book. The first chapter did a really strong job of pulling me in and I wanted to know more and I felt for Nina's plight and wanted to see her succeed in whatever she did. And that feeling basically carried me throughout the entirety of this novel.

My biggest problems, and what overall had me deciding on a rating of a 2 were the time skips. I felt like there were so many that happened at pivotal points of the book and it felt jerky and I really had no idea how far the jump had taken me until several pages later and it left me disoriented and anticipating another jump without much explanation. I also feel like the time skips took out of some important world building and I really struggled with the whole Courts situation and what that meant.

I also didn't understand the number of love interests. I understood a love triangle, to an extent. But then a potential third love interest, I felt, was too much in terms of this specific novel, maybe if it later expanded to three in the later books, but there was so much going on that it didn't feel necessary. Especially with the backdrop of the French Revolutionary War, the actual Court of Miracles, the sex trafficking, the love story/ies shouldn't have gotten as much of focus as it did.

Overall, I feel like this book tried to be and to do too many things at once. From the plot twists that had me trying to put things together, to the many elements that this book tried to incorporate. I spent the majority of the novel confused and trying to see when it would come together -- especially since we saw none of Nina actually plan anything. Hopefully the sequel will bring together these threads.

3 stars
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It's supposed to be Les Mis meets The Jungle Book meets Six of Crows in an 'alt-universe' where the French Revolution failed
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I didn't love it. I didn't hate. I find that pretty much sums up my thoughts, and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had the opportunity to read it in a better climate/head space. But unfortunately, it is what it is.
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My struggle is that outside of the revelation of beloved characters from Les Mis (it greatly helps to have been introduced to this classic to enjoy this read) is that our MC, Nina (Eponine) may be tough and smart but I just never found myself connecting to her drive and motivations. It felt to me as though she just bounced from one cause to the next when things don't turn out the way she'd hoped without any real care for why she was walking away. I couldn't connect to what made Ettie (Cossette) important enough to justify any of the actions that were driving the plot forward.
..
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review.

3.5 stars. This is a hard book to rate. On one hand it is beautiful. It’s a retelling of Les Mis, and for that alone, I adore it. Getting to know Gavroche and Cosette and Eponine again was amazing. Seeing them in a different light was incredible. I loved the similarities that I could find and see how it was lining up with the original story.

But it wasn’t all good. The writing is hard. It’s beautiful at times but difficult at others and it took almost half the book before I fully understood what was going on. The ages of the main characters were very difficult to discern and I found it jumping months or years when I wasn’t aware, which just added to the confusion. There were many, many characters. The ones I could connect with the original story I felt I could keep track of better, but some I had a hard time remembering and what group they stood with.

I wanted to love this book. There were definitely parts I did love but for the most part, it was just difficult to read and follow.

Thank you to Random House Children’s, Knopf Children’s and NetGalley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book comes out June 2, 2020.

I wanted so much to love this book. I just didn’t. It didn’t hold my attention and I simply didn’t enjoy it. It’s my dislike for historical books. The characters were well thought out, and I tried to like them. I loved the concept just couldn’t get into it.

I'm not sure how I really feel with this one. I think it had the potential to be a great book but it just fell flat. There was a lot of jumping around in timelines that got confusing and there was sooooo much going on it was hard to keep up at times. I think had there been more background on why things were the way they were and how things really worked in this world this would have been a much better book.

I do have to say this author's words are wonderful, they just need to be put together better. I'm not sure if I will read the next book in this series or not.