This book is a retelling of Les Misérables and The Jungle Book. I have read neither, but I am very familiar with the Les Mis musical, and not very familiar at all with the Disney movie adaptation, which I imagine is not very faithful to the source material. I would never have imagined these two being mashed together, but it is more of an alternate universe retelling and takes liberties with some of the characters and plot points. Taking place during the French Revolution, a shadow court arises that gives power to the poor and starving masses that suffer under the French Aristocracy – the Court of Miracles. Each guild within the court has a specialty – thieves, beggars, assassins, etc. At the beginning of the story, our heroine Nina is thrown head first into the Thieves Guild and ends up in the cross-hairs of the Tiger, the master of the Guild of Flesh.

On its own, I loved the structure of the story and the intricacies of how the Court of Miracles and guilds work within the Paris culture. I like that the story focuses on Eponine and her mission to save her sisters. On its own, this story is a fast-paced ride through this alternative Paris. I loved the world-building around the guilds and the diversity within the story. The political intrigue and alliances between the guilds is fascinating and fun. I am definitely looking forward to the next installment of the series.

Though part of me enjoyed the familiarity of the characters from Les Misérables, I didn’t necessarily love it as a retelling of that story. The characters in this telling have power and hope that the characters in that story do not. It’s got different bones and a different spirit. There were several tips of the hat to the musical that I disliked and took me out of this story, as well. I am not sure if these will be in the final version, but I think it would work better without them. 3.5/5

3.5 stars
This story was so fast paced and intense, I flew through it in 2 days. It takes the classic story of Les Mis and adds so many new and fascinating changes. Eponine is no longer the girl who sacrifices her life in vain but she gets a dark and gritty story. Her desperation and love for her sister fuels her moves and she's as calculating and fierce as her reputation the "Black Cat" of the Thieves Guild. The story highlighted the real dirty underground of Paris as everyone fights for sheer survival. I'm definitely intrigued to see how the story continues since Goodreads has it written as a duology - it seems like a conclusion of one story arc but Paris is still a lawless place so I'm assuming that's where the story will go.

Oh this book... where to begin? An alluring tale of politics, rebellion, and what one will do for those they love. I held my breath for so much of this story, the plot twists are unparalleled and the violent delight that I felt during certain chapters is incredible. The only reason this isn't a 5 star review is the time-skips, which I personally dislike, however besides that this story was astounding.

The one thing about reviewing a book early is having so few people to talk to about it!

So I first requested this book on Netgalley purely for the cover. I had not seen this book anywhere, never heard of the author, knew nothing about its contents.

Man, was this the best cover pick ever.

I LOVED this book. I honestly thought this was an adult historical fiction due to the writing style, gritty and, at times, gruesome details, and the unbelievably, truly morally grey main character (I say this because grey characters are hard to do and I don't see them done well in YA all that often). There is no magic in this book except for the author's writing and storytelling (another thing I didn't expect). And yet the characters held this story together and kept me enraptured the entire time. This book does involve thievery, and I love that the author doesn't try to overdo the plans or try to mislead you (because, again, this can go awry). And I love that the main character is driven by her passion - something that shines throughout. (It also helps that there weren't any needless side plots thrown in that would dissuade the MC's passion, which I was nervous would happen a few times - if you're an avid reader of YA then hopefully you'll catch my drift).

I don't think this will be a book for everyone - it is slow and simmering, building upon itself with each chapter, but I can see how this can deter some readers. But if you like books about thievery, underground organizations, several murder attempts, and 1800s France, then I highly recommend it!

A dark YA Fantasy debut with unique worldbuilding and compelling characters, that breathed new life into a classic story (that has been the source of more than one retelling).

My thanks to Net Galley and Random House for a review copy of this book. Overall, I was impressed with this novel. It managed to span a significant time period while maintaining conflict and a brisk plot. While this is the beginning of a series, I appreciated that this story had a clear individual arc that was accomplished. There are obviously questions left to explore, but I still felt satisfied after finishing.

I enjoyed Nina as a main character - she was smart and loyal despite facing impossible odds. It was clear the author invested time in developing her deeply, rather than relying on the source text alone to inform the character creation. Additionally, there was diversity within the cast, as well as a variety of side characters that were multidimensional.

The worldbuilding was one of the highlights, offering a much more developed criminal underworld that I've seen before. Do not be misled by the title and cover that suggest a fanciful interpretation, this is a gritty and honest exploration of the lives of those deemed "wretched" by those in power. This focus, on those suffering and how they survive, rather than the glittering life of royalty, made this retelling much more authentic to the spirit of Les Miserables.

However, this authenticity requires me to add a content warning. There is prevalent abuse, violence, slavery, and more portrayed in this book. While it was clearly condemned, and not overwhelmingly graphic, it could still be a trigger for young readers or survivors of trauma.

All in all it was a compelling fantasy story from an author I look forward to reading more from in the future.

Review to be published to Goodreads 5/19/2020

This was a lot darker than I normally see in YA fantasy. There is a lot of triggering content for all kinds of abuse. This novel is full of twists and turns, and it reads very fast. I think it will appeal to a lot of readers who primarily read young adult and I highly recommended it to those people.

Unfortunately, some of those twists and turns were not executed well, resulting in contradictions or plot holes. There is a weird love square going on and even though the romantic plot is not expended upon, this love square was used as a plot device to resolve many problems for the main character, and I found that to be underwhelming.
We see kids acting as adults and there are time skips that intervened with Nina’s character development. I found Ettie’s character to be inconsistent but I liked the friendship developed between the girls.

It was still an enjoyable read and I see why this could become a favorite for many people. Although I like this book well enough, I will not be picking up the sequel.

I will be posting my review to Goodreads on May 20, 2020 and to Amazon, and B&N on the day of publication.

The Court of Miracles is a loose Les Miserables retelling centered around Eponine "Nina" Thénardier,  a young thief in the criminal underground of an alternative Paris following the French Revolution. It's described as being for fans of "anyone who knows Eponine deserved so much more" so basically this book was marketed directly at me.

The Court of Miracles is a reimagining of Les Mis meets The Jungle Book. If you're like me, this probably sounds both strange and hard to manage, but Kester Grant knocked it out of the park. It was easy to see the influences of both classics while reading, and yet the story maintained its own uniqueness and identity to stand apart from being simply a retelling.

Eponine is my absolute favorite character in Les Mis so I was thrilled to read a story centered around her. Her progression as a character throughout the story was thoroughly fascinating. She goes from a naive, girl to a clever, passionate young woman who will stop at nothing to save those she loves. 

Although I loved the characters and the plot, there were a couple things that I think detracted from the overall story. The book has quite a few time jumps, which were very confusing. A few times they occurred directly in the middle of action which I think did the book a disservice. The plot and action would build to a climax, only to end abruptly and skip ahead. Another issue I had was the romance. Nina has three potential love interests. Yes, three. The prince, Enjolras (!!), and Montpartnesse. Of all the romances, Nina as the most interaction (at least on page) with Enjolras. As self-proclaimed Enjolras trash, I was super excited to see his appearance in this book. I thought all my fan fiction dreams were coming true and we were going to get a well-deserved Eponine/Enjolras romance.

The problem with the romances, is that there is a lot of telling instead of showing. The build-up of attraction either occurs off page, or is told to us by other characters, yet we never get to actually see anything. For instance, Montpartnesse's feelings for Nina are made clear to the reader by a comment made by Ettie. Up until this point, I had forgotten this character had even existed due to his lack of page-time and honestly was under the impression that he was an older man. This trend continues throughout the rest of the book. It feels like the readers are supposed to make assumptions about Nina's relationships but we never actually get to hear her feelings/attraction develop (with the exception of Enjolras). This is a huge example of where showing the readers instead of simply stating it would make a big difference in the storytelling. 

The Court of Miracles deftly combines the elements of two classics, Les Miserables and The Jungle Book to create a smart, riveting story. I was definitely impressed by Kester Grant's ability and look forward to seeing where Nina's journey takes her next.

The story was engaging.enough to read all the way to the end but.I found it very, very depressing. Don't plan to check out the rest of the series.

*ARC via netgalley in exchange for agreement to post review*

I definitely enjoyed this one! I liked how fierce the protagonist was and so freaking determined! I liked the story and though I could do without all the love interests at every corner (though I am routing for you Master of Swords). I liked the storyline and I can’t wait to see what the second book brings! It was fast, thrilling, and you were able to empathize with the protagonists. She was someone who would do anything for the ones she loved, and I love that in a character. The story has thrilling plots and twists and turns. Definitely a fun read!

To start with, I loved the setting. The author did a really good job of establishing the tone and overall aesthetic of the story. The story, like Les Mis, takes place in 1830s Paris. However, in this book the French Revolution was a failure so the monarchy is still in power. In the book, there are 9 total criminal courts that have arisen due to this, but only 5 of them are ever truly explored: the Guild of Thieves, Guild of Letters, Guild of Flesh, Guild of Beggars, and Guild of Assassins. Hopefully we'll get to see the other 4 fleshed out in the sequel. Each Guild is lead by a Lord or Lady and have to abide by a set of Laws, which includes things like no slavery, all Wretched (members of a guild) are equal, do not commit crime for pleasure (only survival), the Guild must provide for all its children, etc. The Tiger, who is the leader of the Guild of Flesh, is consistently breaking these laws but no one wants to do anything about it because they're all afraid of him (shocker). That's where our main character, Nina, comes in.
Nina is a member of the Guild of Thieves, which she joined at a very young age to prevent being sold to Tiger like her older sister was. To become a member, she steals the Pendant of Charlemagne from the dauphin while he's asleep. Years later, Ettie is spotted, and thus desired by, Tiger. Thernadier, Nina's father, tries to sell her to him but Nina whisks Ettie away from him and has her join the Guild of Beggars to protect her. However, this is not enough because apparently Tiger doesn't like it when he's denied something he wants. So starts a spiral of events involving Nina doing everything she can to protect Ettie while also trying to free her older sister from Tiger. In the process, she somehow meets and charms 3 different men even though she's constantly being described as plain, especially when compared to Ettie. She also seemed very one-dimensional, which is weird considering the other characters experience so much growth throughout the book.
All in all, the world-building and the secondary characters are what saved this book for me. While I do typically prefer books that are more plot-driven than character, Nina just didn't have any discernible personality or development. Hopefully, we'll see that in the sequel, which I am still very excited for.

4 Stars

Fast-paced and fun read about those who are unseen in one city that has many worlds.

My review is broken into two main areas, Story and Technical.

STORY

Setting | 5 Stars
When the beating of your heart, echoes the beating of the drum...

I loved the setting of revolutionary France, with the accurate nods to important dates and French tales. The author alternates between a heavy-handed retelling of Les Mis and making it into her own, which I enjoyed. We get a female Javert and a surprise Valjean, along with a cleverly re-imagined Eponine and Cosette. It is dark and gritty, showing all the harshness that comes with the underbelly of an uneasy city. The cutthroat brutality and bonds made only by the sharing of similar struggles is well done. This has been touted as a cross between The Jungle Book and Les Mis, but I had serious Hunchback of Notre Dame vibes with the Court Of Miracles and the Law of the Wretched.

Plot | 3 Stars
The plot was a touch rocky, jumping quickly from one goal to the next. I said above some of the Les Mis retelling was heavy-handed; this comes in the form of exact plot points with revolutionary students and Javert's hunting of Valjean. It is fast-paced, so there was never a dull moment, but one instant our MC cares for nothing more than saving a sister, the next stealing an item that will help overthrow a tyrant, the next to helping a revolution. I was fine with all of it as it was exciting, but some scenes glazed over the full scope of what they could have been and therefore felt a bit lackluster looking back.

Characters | 5 Stars
"Nous sommes d'un sang."

I enjoyed all of the characters immensely, those with Les Mis inspiration and those without. The Black Cat, The Messenger, The Fathers, Masters, Lords...There are a lot of different positions and characters to remember, each with their own mystery.

TECHNICAL

Writing | 4 Stars
"Il etait une fois..."

Written well, and for the most part the ideas are clear and concise. I found no fault with the pacing or style, and enjoyed the inclusion of the French language. I also appreciated the inclusion of tales and lines from texts such as The Jungle Book at the beginning of each Part. My only complaint is the ending, which quite literally just stops after the climactic confrontation. The conclusion is nonexistent. I know authors go for cliffhangers but there still should have been more to close out this chapter. This is my main issue with most of the book, as many scenes should have been given slightly more attention to be fully fleshed.

Editing | 4 Stars
Understand this is not a final copy, so there were some errors that popped up that will no doubt be polished away. Going along with my above comment, a bit more development could have gone into many of the transition scenes and especially the conclusion.

Execution | 2 Stars
This got the poorest rating which will drive down my whole scoring system, mostly because of what I have already stated - the story could have used more development. There are solid bones and meat to the tale, but in areas where it fell back to rely heavily on existing Les Mis plot points I was disappointed. I wanted more of the Guilds, more of the planning behind Nina's "missions," more insight to the characters we only saw at surface level.

Overall rating is just under 4 Stars, and I am tentatively excited to see where this trilogy (series?) can go. I'd love to know more about the Guilds, and perhaps even see a story from a member of each of their order. Wouldn't that be fascinating! There is a lot of potential to really expand the universe of the Guilds and go beyond the groundwork already laid by Les Mis' existing framework.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an advance copy of this book!

When I heard about this book, I knew I needed to read it right away. A historical YA Les Mis-based novel where Eponine is the heroine? Sign me up! The nods to the original book and musical were numerous and I enjoyed finding them while reading. The story and worldbuilding in this book are exceptional and the historical aspects are well-researched and portrayed in a fascinating way. Nina is a compelling main character and her oftren rash decisions drive the narrative forward.

The narrative skips around a lot and often jumps many years without warning. To me this cheapened some of the emotional connections between characters, most specifically that of Nina and the boys of the Societe.

The main characters --Nina and Ettie -- have names taken right from the pages of Les Mis. That is where the similarities end. Nina is very different from the lonely pining Eponine of the original, and her relationship with Cosette -- the driving force behind this story -- is significantly changed as well. Woven throughout all of this is an original story line of the Court and the thieves guild that is very engaging and well-written. Some other familiar Les Mis characters make an appearance in one way or another (like Enjolras and Javert), while others are noticeably absent (Marius).

Most of the characters taken directly from Les Mis were lovingly crafted into amazingly well-written characters, but in that process also became so foreign from the source text as to be different characters entirely. I would have almost preferred if the characters weren't supposed to be the same characters we know from Les Mis, but instead were original characters that existed alongside the original story.

Overall, this was a gripping story that definitely kept me intrigued, and contained characters that were interesting and had a lot of heart. Will definitely recommend once it hits shelves. If you want the familiar characters and story of Les Mis, this book is not it. But if you want a new, engaging story with nods to the original Les Mis while somehow adding even more intrigue, this book is for you.

I’m not sure what this had set out to be, but I don’t think it got there in the end. There was so much clunky plot, all linked together with just the barest whisper of continuity, that I had a hard time taking anything that was happening seriously.

Which is really a disservice to the setting because there’s so much that’s *supposed* to be taken seriously. There’s sex trafficking and child abuse and death—plenty of the nastier side from Revolutionary France, but the stakes didn’t feel real. Everything was clipped. The author jumps from one huge plot point to another with no real explanation or breathing room. There’s fast-paced, and then there’s The Court of Miracles. Too much happened too soon.

I liked the dynamic between the characters and there was a lot of potential, but where it reaaaaally dropped the ball was with the world-building. Maybe 80% of the dialogue was exposition? And there was no tension that wasn’t contrived. The initial conflict, Nina’s sister being sold into prostitution, is skipped over quickly, and I guess now she’s older and trying to protect some random girl? That she planned to do the same thing (sell into sex slavery) to, only to get cold feet at the last possible second? It’s a premise so flimsy it’s almost goofy, which is not how I wanted to feel reading about such a grave subject.

What caught me the most off-guard was how much Grant seemed to really want to emulate a handful of other books. When the description said ”Les Miserables meets Six of Crows“, I didn’t think it would be those two stories literally smashed together. I actually had to stop reading at one point and double check this wasn’t a retelling or fanficton or something like that. Turns out, it kind of is? But I didn’t see that detail mentioned anywhere except in user reviews. And other than the time, place and assorted character names, I struggle to see how this would be classified as a ‘retelling’.

I’m curious to see what others think as the reviews keep trickling in, but there’s still some buzz around this one and I can understand why. The marketing is beautiful and the blurb is attention-grabbing, and I actually really like her writing style. But I went into this wanting to love it, to be swept away in a new fantasy series, and I don’t think that’s going to happen at this point.

A little bit scattered with time jumps, numerous characters, etc but an enjoyable read. It took me a long time to get into this one, but I am glad I continued. Enjoyment does strongly hinge on familiarity with Les Miserables which I'm not certain many teen readers have outside of perhaps the musical.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the advanced reader copy.

Thank you NetGalley for this one. Greatly appreciated as always. I associate the Court of Miracles with Hunchback of Notre Dame more than I do with Les Miserables, although 19th Century Paris may very well be a more historically accurate setting for the Court. So, there is no Quasimodo, Frollo, and Esmeralda but this book has plenty of reference regarding Javert, Valjean, Cosette, Thernardier…, although with some surprising twists. This is not a retelling of Miserables, and frankly, if it wasn’t for the fact that people mention Jungle Book, I would not have noticed the connection to Jungle Book at all (well, other than the reference to “We be of one blood, thou and I”). If anything, you could very well have also included Frozen as a story reference because of the theme of sisters striving to stay together to overcome forces breaking them apart. In a nutshell, the story is more of a loose borrowing of the Miserables characters supporting the main player, original character Nina off to save her sister from slavery with an original story involving her along with the members of Paris’ Court of Miracles. The story is Nina and Nina carries the story with the help of the Court’s characters. It’s a nice inside look at the workings of the Court and their counterparts. It’s a story of revenge and redemption, using the tried and proven formula of good vs. evil, the haves vs. the have nots. The story flowed smoothly for me with some slow areas in the middle but a strong start and a strong finish always makes up for any lose parts in the middle (perhaps too much time spent in Tuilleries for my own personal taste). An excellent start to what appears to be a three part act. Nice way to pull down the curtain for the end of Act 1. I will look forward to reading the sequel.

What I liked about The Court of Miracles:
-Even through The Court of Miracles is a Les Miserables retelling, there is so much more that the author added to the story. The characters share similar names and the plot contains similar beats, but there are many changes. We see the story through Eponine's (Nina's) eyes, but she is not only just the mistreated child of an innkeeper, she is a highly respected member of the Guild of Thieves.
-I like the romance that is included in The Court of Miracles, or the lack thereof. Nina has several admiraiers over the course of the story, but she doesn't let any of them distract from her true mission: saving her sister.

What I disliked about The Court of Miracles:
- I felt that there were several odd time jumps that were not pointed out very well. All of a sudden several years would have passed, but the only statement that they had passed was on the Part dividers until several chapters into the Part. This could just be an issue for myself, but I like to be reminded of time jumps. Whether that is trough years on the first page of a chapter or written directly in the story.

Who would I recommend The Court of Miracles:
-Fans of historical "fantasy"/fiction (there's no magic)
-Fans of sisterly bonds
-Fans of Les Miserables (the musical)


Overall Thoughts:
Overall, I really enjoyed this retelling. I thought all of the character's were well written and retained aspects of their namesakes, without being over the top that this was a retelling. I thought that the plot was well paced and there wasn't any part that I felt dragged. As I have not read/finished Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, all of my comparisons are based on the musical version.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Knopf Books for the e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant is a retelling of Les Miserable with magical elements, an enormous cast of characters, and a revolution. There are many different courts one can attend within this gorgeously filled, world building fast paced plot. The characters are each unique and intriguing. There are nods towards Les Miserable, but it’s been so long since I read Les Mes that I’ve likely missed even more appreciative nods towards the work.

This book was long. It was complex. It had plot, it had depth, and it had characters that I fell hard for. It took a solid week to read this book, and that was only because I lingered over it for days, relishing in the excellent fantasy retelling. Most retellings don’t impress me these days, with a few rare exceptions thrown in. This is an exception. I adored this book. I wish to own this book. I’ll probably buy a hardcover of this book.

“Les Misérables meets Six of Crows in this page-turning adventure as a young thief finds herself going head to head with leaders of Paris's criminal underground in the wake of the French Revolution.”
~As quoted from Goodreads

Now, while I’ve yet to read Six of Crows, I have read Leigh Bardugo, and this is a safe comparison to make, as I also adore Leigh Bardugo’s crafting into world building. One would be pleased at the historical elements flung into this book, along with the epic fantasy twists and turns, the thieves, the murderers, the magic that revolves around the various courts. I’d love to dive into the courts, but I barely recall most of them, and I desperately need to do a re-read, take notes, and keep up with characters of whose alive and whose not. I warn readers, do not get attached. That could prove fatal to you, should you do so.

There’s a spark of romance within the pages as well, along with myths thrown in I think, if I recall correctly. It’s admittedly been a bit since I’ve read the book, and as stated above, I need a reread. However, the story is still fresh in my mind enough that I feel safe in giving it 5/5 stars. I highly recommend for all fans of retellings, and that of historical fiction, or classics in general. Please read this. You won’t regret it.

I am a huge fan of Les Mis so when I saw the summary for this book I knew I had to add this to my list. I finished the book in a few days and could not put it down. I cannot wait for the sequel and will be purchasing a finished copy.

"Sometimes we must pay a terrible price to protect the things we love."

Nina: “Black Cat” of the Thieves Guild.

Ettie: Nina’s “little sister”. The root of this war (granted, it was inevitable in time).

Tiger: Lord of the Guild of Flesh. Lord Kaplan. No Lord will cross him.

Montparnasse: Loves Nina. My lover. Master of the Assassins Guild. Willing to lay himself on the line for Nina, even if he has to betray his guild.

St. Juste: Loves Nina. Everyone in his family was killed. Leader of the rebellion of people who aren’t in a guild.

The Dauphin: Loves Nina. Prince of France. Nina steels from him at a young age. They see each other later and help each other out. Has a mother who is always on the verge of handing him a glass of poison.

Orso: Has an army of “Ghosts” aka little kids. The only Lord who will stand up to the Tiger.

Thernadier: Nina’s dad. Beats her. Will do anything for whoever offers the most money, even betraying his own.

Tomasis: Lord of the Thieves Guild.



"if he kills you, I’ll take his head from his body and I’ll set it on a pike in the middle of the Lords’ table in the Miracle Court, and none will ever take it down. There it will rot, the worms will eat it to bone, and all who see it will remember you. Even if Corday asks my life of me in return, I’ll do it. I swear."

Can’t get any more romantic than that!



Things I Liked:

Secret societies. I love the idea of secret societies being known for specific talents. I love seeing the atmosphere from each unique faction. I’d love to learn more about how these came about and a look deeper into each society.
Unpredictable. I did not predict one particular event to happen in this novel. That never happens!
The world-building. Grant made this incredibly easy to follow.


Things I Didn’t Like:

Hunger Games vibes. If you interchange Nina for Katniss and Ettie for Rue/Prim, you pretty much have the Hunger Games novel.
The beginning. I was ready to DNF right away, honestly. But, I’m not a quitter, so I kept on trekking, and I actually really enjoyed the novel.
The timing. I followed this pretty well through most of the novel, but I got a little confused at times by home much time passed.
Everyone guy loves her. Give me a break! I’m so over the main character having all of these guys wanting her. Not reality!


The Court of Miracles is a story about war, ambitious power, and adversity. People who enjoyed The Gilded Wolves and Six of Crows would enjoy this novel.

Content Warnings: slavery, revolution, discrimination, prostitution, human trafficking, drugged use, poisoning, whipping, and torture

Going into this book I didn't really know much about Les Misérables other than it's incredibly long and a lot of people die, plus a few names. That made me a little nervous going into this, but I after reading this I don't think it's required to have read (or watched) Les Mis. However, it definitely made me want to watch the movie which did help me understand what was different and what was the same between this retelling and the original.

I'm not normally the kind of reviewer to point out writing styles mainly because I truly don't notice most of the time, but in this case I certainly noticed how BEAUTIFULLY written this is! I was hooked immediately and couldn't stop reading! 

I know that the synopsis says this is Les Mis meets Six of Crows, and while this is truly a retelling of Les Mis I don't totally agree with the Six of Crows part. Normally when you think of Six of Crows, you think found family with deep connections and a heist. There is certainly a found family aspect in The Court of Miracles, but those relationships felt very surface level. There was also sort of the opposite of a heist, because Nina is trying to keep Ettie away from someone who wants to steal her.

I do really wish that there was more development of the characters other than Ettie and Nina, because you don't really get a sense of who they really are and they all seem like brilliant characters! I think part of the reason I felt like there was no development between the characters was because of the time jumps, which were hard enough to read because they could be 3+ years but it doesn't really let you know how far ahead you are moving. There was clearly time where these characters were together, but it didn't always translate in the scenes we saw. 

There are three love interests (yes, three) but I hesitate to really call them love interests. Nina doesn't seem to be interested in any of them for most of the book, it's more acknowledging that she finds them attractive and it's never acted upon. There was one particular love interest that I found wanting her to be with, despite not really knowing much about him as a character on his own. 

Despite these unclear time jumps, the pacing was fast and the story was interesting and I was completely engaged every time I picked this book up. I didn't even notice until I finished that despite this being listed as a fantasy book, there was no magic at all! That just shows you how fascinating this setting and plot really is. I also found myself wanting to know more about the different guilds and how they operate and I was so relieved when I found that there would be a sequel because I just want more of this world and to dive deeper into who the characters are!

I definitely see myself picking up the next book, and I think that if the few cons I had are worked on in the next book (I think this was a debut novel, but I'm not 100% sure) this could definitely be added to my favorites list.

Review will be posted to my blog (www.meltingpages.wordpress.com) on 5/13/2020